CRAZY CONDO MARKET

A few months back we took the grandkids into Toronto to see The Lion King. Thought it might be cool and a little less stressful taking the GO Train. Which it most definitely was. As we hit close to the lakeshore I was really set back by the number of condos rising in that area. Don’t get me wrong. Many of you see that every day but because you see it every day you don’t really get a chance to reflect at just how much building has gone on. We lived at Jarvis and Front for a couple years back in the early 80s at a time when most of the downtown was spotted with empty ground level parking lots. Which are ALL now condo buildings or some such. Talk about progress. Or is it? Seems the condo market is struggling right now because of the plethora of palaces being built. Heck when we were there it cost us $275.00 a month and that included one underground parking spot. The unit also had a 4 by 8 storage room. We were in 7^th heaven. Or at least we thought. Great location. Right close to the St. Lawrence Market. Didn’t really need a car. And I will say this. The vibe in downtown Toronto on a Sunday afternoon at ANY time of the year was really cool. The world really was our oyster. Fast forward to a few years back when I was helping clients look for a condo to rent in the city core. We found one all right but holy cow. It was 470 square feet (the bathroom was the biggest room in the unit) with no parking and no storage locker. The cost? A cool $2,500 per month. Yep, you read that right. And the landlord made us think she was doing us a favour. It was right when there was a panic to rent downtown by just about everyone. Same client decided to move 2 years later so away we went. Found one in Liberty Village for less money (think it was $2,200) but much bigger (740 sq ft) They were pleased. Shortly after that I repped another client looking downtown and again found them a 400-500 sq ft place for that same $2,500.00. That seemed to be the going rate. Pandemic hit and everyone fled downtown for obvious reasons. Rents dropped. Vacancy rates soared and it looked like a sort of equilibrium was on the way. Which there was for a bit. But condo owner/landlords are a greedy lot. They don’t seem to care about whether their place is vacant or not. They want their price and that’s that. Take it or leave it. That’s why we have seen so many vacant condos in the last few years. And it will get worse. Latest data drop had stats on what they are charging for parking places. Yes PARKING PLACES. That has become a real bone of contention. 6 or 7 years ago clients would pay approximately 200 per month for a parking space downtown. That number has risen significantly. And yet these crazies continue to build more high rise units in the expectation they will all be sold or rented. Good luck with that –they’re going to need it.