amazing buildings.
From Old structures that captured history to New structures that displace the scientific,
design achievements and capital of some of our best minds and developers.
It is real estate at its best.
The Following is an informed article that seems to suggest that there is plenty of room for a correction in the Condo market and concern for investors to not over extend.
Be very careful if you are thinking of investing in a condo in Toronto.
The supply is coming on strong however the supply may not be there to support prices or values when it come time to selling or flipping your agreements. You should always seeks expert advise before you act and working with a realtor and a lawyer is always good advice.
Study the market and the building ( location ,etc ) and the builder before you commit money to the real estate condominium project. Establishing your financing needs first is also good and get you confidence to move to a specific price range. Stay within your resources, as there will be closing adjustments plus professional fees ( legal and accounting ) on closing. Keep a reserve of atleast 5% of purchase price for any unanticipated costs which may arise.
There are different considerations for buying to live in the unit versus investing in this product.
Again get the assistance you may need from the professionals, your realtor should beable to help in this area by providing you with three names of competent professionals. As you discuss and interview each one of these professionals, determinne which one is the best fit for you.
www.envoycapitol.com Providing a learning experience with every transaction.
![[cancondo1]](https://i0.wp.com/si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-PH418_cancon_G_20110823213642.jpg)
Bloomberg NewsBank of Canada Governor Mark Carney has warned that theTORONTO—A condominium-building boom is lifting Canada’s largest city into the
same stratosphere as London, Sydney, Vancouver and Miami, but deepening the
worries about a potential tumble.
Buyers snapped up 1,986 condominiums in Toronto in July, up 28% from a year
earlier, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Average prices have
surged 8% to 9% a year for the past five years, climbing to 304,000 Canadian
dollars (US$306,900).
Rows of sparkling condo towers line the shores of Lake Ontario, while cranes
dot the inland skyline near the tony neighborhood of Yorkville, a magnet for
visiting pop-music and Hollywood celebrities. In May, a local real-estate
developer announced that an undisclosed foreign buyer paid a record C$28 million
for a sprawling unit in a tower of luxury condominiums anchored by a Four
Seasons Hotel.
Juwan Howard, who plays for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball
Association, recently toured the city by helicopter with Toronto-born teammate
Jamaal Magloire, looking to buy a condo as a second home or investment.
“I’ve been hearing a lot about the Toronto market,” Mr. Howard says. “I’m
impressed by the fact that this market has been able to do so well despite what
the U.S. market has done.”
In Miami, an invasion of foreign buyers inflated a speculative real-estate
bubble that burst disastrously. Condominium values plunged, foreclosures soared
and glitzy condo developments stood half-empty. Now, sales are rebounding
because of bargain hunters, some of them from Canada.
Toronto is a long way from Miami, but the condominium boom north of the
border has begun to evoke ominous comparisons, even among real-estate agents.
The Toronto area is home to 1,198 condo projects with 210,000 units, according
to research firm Urbanation.
About 40,000 additional condominium units are under construction, including
16,000 set to hit the market next year. “There’s more supply coming than the
market really needs, unless we have a stronger economy than we have today,” says
independent housing economist Will Dunning.
In June, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney warned that the “ample pipeline
of developments…and heavy investor demand reinforces the possibility of an
overshoot in the condo market” in Toronto and other cities like Vancouver.
Toronto’s condominium-sales volume and average sales price slipped 2% in July
from June, the Canadian Real Estate Association said. Prices still are rising
faster than rents, hurting buyers who lease their condos to renters rather than
live in the units. If too many squeezed buyers decide to sell, even more supply
would spill into the market.
Low interest rates and a resilient economy are boosting property values
throughout Canada. High commodities prices have supported rises in some of
Canada’s oil and mining hubs, like Calgary and Saskatoon. Real-estate prices are
soaring in Vancouver, propelled by non-Canadian, especially Chinese, buyers.
Last week, the Canadian real-estate trade group boosted its sales forecast
for Canada’s housing market.
Toronto has always had some of the steepest home prices in Canada, but the
condominium boom is an eye-popping twist. Located about two hours by car from
Buffalo, N.Y., Toronto still is dominated by neighborhoods of semiattached or
stand-alone homes, much like cities in the Northeast.
About 60% of new-home sales in Toronto in the first half of 2011 came from
condominiums, according to the Building Industry and Land Development
Association. “It’s a crowded skyline now,” says Gary Wright, head of Toronto’s
planning division.
Sales in the past three- and six-month periods were higher than any previous
period, according to consulting firm RealNet Canada Inc.
Toronto real-estate agent Hunter Milborne says many of his high-end clients
come from India, Pakistan, the Middle East, Europe and China. Many foreign
buyers pay cash, according to real-estate agents, allowing them to avoid the
conservative lending restrictions at Canadian banks.
Under new rules imposed last year, investment buyers who want
government-backed financing must make a 20% down payment.
Bloomberg NewsAbout 60% of new-home sales in Toronto in the first half
of 2011 came from condominiums.
As many as 60% of recent condominium buyers in Toronto are investors who
bought their units from developers before construction began—and then sold their
condos, Urbanation estimates. “A lot of people, in the last five years
particularly, have made a lot of money just flipping condos,” says Andrew La
Fleur, a condominium broker with RE/MAX LLC.
But buyers whose condominiums are investments are getting squeezed. Stagnant
rents make it harder to cover mortgage payments. And many economists expect
Canada’s interest rates to move higher by the first half of 2012. Higher rates
would pressure some investors to sell and hurt demand from first-time condo
buyers.
“The longer we are in this superlow interest-rate environment, the greater
the potential for a big correction,” Mr. La Fleur says.
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