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CONDOS - Toronto South Side

The pace of condo development in Toronto has been frantic: 17,000 new condos were sold in Toronto in 2005 and 13,000 are expected on the market in the last six months of 2006 according to Urbanation, a market research company specializing in condos. Still, demand is expected to exceed supply in Toronto’s core (south of the 401 and west of the Don Valley Parkway) were available real estate has been largely gobbled up. Demographic changes will also drive future demand, with industry insiders pointing to empty nesters downsizing from suburban single-family homes to urban townhomes and condos. And for many first-time buyers, condos remain the most affordable way to get a foot in the real estate door (Toronto Life - Online).

The best areas to buy condos? The more urban amenities, the better. That means anything south of Queen Street is likely to appreciate, particularly in the city district of Waterfront Communities -The Island, around the great restaurants in the King Street area and at Harbourfront (Toronto Life - Online).

Young professionals and urbanites who excitingly want to own their own property have very few choices: to annoyingly scour Toronto neighborhoods for homes that have been neglected for years and needing plenty of TLC (i.e. major repairs and renovations) in hopes of using that excuse as a deal maker. And secondly, search for new condos. Today’s young professionals, bachelors, bachelorettes and urbanites between the ages 20 and 30-something have proven to buy their first home in one of Toronto’s booming industries - fueling the condo market.

Many of these urbanites are choosing to live downtown - but many are worried about condo developers/builders that do not take neighborhood considerations into account (i.e. buildings that are way too tall, impact of traffic flows that change the well-known character/culture of already existing neighborhoods).