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The biggest problem both cities have is that everyone seems to only want a detached house. Condos are cheap in Toronto and they pump them out constantly but ev

The biggest problem both cities have is that everyone seems to only want a detached house. Condos are cheap in Toronto and they pump them out constantly but everyone still wants a fully detached house.

Pxtl 9y ago
To me the frustrating part is that condos aren't cheap. The housing crisis wouldn't look so awful if you could get a 3-bedroom in a decently located mid rise for a half-million dollars... But instead they're all tiny one bedrooms. Which is just insane.
- sanswork 9y ago
  Plenty of larger units towards the edge of the city. The core is for DINKs.
CountSessine 9y ago
Condos are cheap in Toronto Not for long. In Vancouver condos were pretty cheap, at least until the average detached house topped $1 million. That puts them out of reach of middle class families and then everyone is competing for those condos. 3 bedroom condos are approaching $1 million now.
hourislate 9y ago
What do you consider cheap? 500k for 400 sq/ft? Toronto has some of the highest sq/ft prices in the world. There is nothing cheap. If you have ever been to Toronto you will notice that most of the homes are semi's and only outside of the city in what can be considered the suburbs (Etobicoke, etc) will you find detached homes. Lots are no more than 20-25 ft wide in the city.
- sanswork 9y ago
  You can get a 1+1 for $500k downtown. You can get a 2 bedded for 300k is Saugua. Where did you get that it has some of the highest ppsf? A quick search shows just about every other major city I could check being higher.
  - hourislate 9y ago
    I suppose it was when the CAD did not lose 40% of it's value against the USD. It knocked Toronto out of the top 10.
    - sanswork 9y ago
      Where are you seeing those figures? I'd be amazed if it was even in the top 20.
derefr 9y ago
I wonder if a city could just decide to turn all the land titles that detached homes sit on, from freehold titles, to life-estate titles. So, it'd be like eminent domain, but you can keep living in the property (if you do live in the property) until you die. But, if you were to try to sell the land, you'd only be allowed to sell it to the government, at the market rate (as they would pay in under eminent domain); where the city would then tear down the detached home and (presumably) re-zone the land for highrises or mixed-use buildings.
- catmanjan 9y ago
  Canberra, Australia sort of does this - houses were originally built by the government and have a 99 year lease hold, the first of these leases is expiring now.
nikanj 9y ago
Condos in Vancouver have been appreciating at over 30% YOY for a while now.
- sanswork 9y ago
  From what I could find quickly Toronto has over 2.5x as many new condo development projects under way.

Pxtl 9y ago

To me the frustrating part is that condos aren't cheap. The housing crisis wouldn't look so awful if you could get a 3-bedroom in a decently located mid rise for a half-million dollars... But instead they're all tiny one bedrooms. Which is just insane.

sanswork 9y ago
Plenty of larger units towards the edge of the city. The core is for DINKs.

CountSessine 9y ago

Condos are cheap in Toronto Not for long. In Vancouver condos were pretty cheap, at least until the average detached house topped $1 million. That puts them out of reach of middle class families and then everyone is competing for those condos. 3 bedroom condos are approaching $1 million now.

hourislate 9y ago

What do you consider cheap? 500k for 400 sq/ft? Toronto has some of the highest sq/ft prices in the world. There is nothing cheap. If you have ever been to Toronto you will notice that most of the homes are semi's and only outside of the city in what can be considered the suburbs (Etobicoke, etc) will you find detached homes. Lots are no more than 20-25 ft wide in the city.

sanswork 9y ago
You can get a 1+1 for $500k downtown. You can get a 2 bedded for 300k is Saugua. Where did you get that it has some of the highest ppsf? A quick search shows just about every other major city I could check being higher.
- hourislate 9y ago
  I suppose it was when the CAD did not lose 40% of it's value against the USD. It knocked Toronto out of the top 10.
  - sanswork 9y ago
    Where are you seeing those figures? I'd be amazed if it was even in the top 20.

derefr 9y ago

I wonder if a city could just decide to turn all the land titles that detached homes sit on, from freehold titles, to life-estate titles. So, it'd be like eminent domain, but you can keep living in the property (if you do live in the property) until you die. But, if you were to try to sell the land, you'd only be allowed to sell it to the government, at the market rate (as they would pay in under eminent domain); where the city would then tear down the detached home and (presumably) re-zone the land for highrises or mixed-use buildings.

catmanjan 9y ago
Canberra, Australia sort of does this - houses were originally built by the government and have a 99 year lease hold, the first of these leases is expiring now.

nikanj 9y ago

Condos in Vancouver have been appreciating at over 30% YOY for a while now.

sanswork 9y ago
From what I could find quickly Toronto has over 2.5x as many new condo development projects under way.