New Condos in Toronto and what right for me?

Consistently Toronto has been considered one of the best places to live in the world by various publications. No wonder why the real estate market and especially when it comes to the new condo in Toronto has been on the rise. Existing and New condo growth since the early 2000’s can only be considered fast and furious and currently Toronto has more construction cranes in the sky then Chicago, New York and Seattle put together. You would be hard-pressed to recognize Toronto if you saw pictures of it from the early 1990s and compared it to today. Most of the skyline has changed because of the great demand for condo living in the city and for the next few years that Skyline is set to evolve even further. The demand for condos in Toronto has never been higher.

Toronto is on various different top 10 list for best cities to live in which includes
Business Insider

The Economist

And CNN

All of which praise its economy, stability, education, health care and low levels of crime.

Toronto is the largest by population city in Canada and only Mexico City, New York and Los Angles are larger in North America. Over the next few years with the additional housing and immigration Toronto will start catching up to Los Angeles.

New Condos in Toronto investment opportunities

If you are one of the lucky or smart ones that invested in the Toronto real estate market right before it’s boom in 2009 you would be looking at a return of over 100%. The average one bed condo in 2010 was 280,000 now that same condo in 2020 is 580,000.

1 year 7.36%
5 year 68.9%
10 year +104%

These numbers are roughly the same 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom condo units. So as long you invested in the market you would have made a great return. But don’t worry there are still great opportunities to invest in a new Toronto condo.

Real Estate Growth – New Condos Toronto

Over the past 20 years the desire to live in the core of Toronto has grown immensely and with that the density of real estate is growing. It was not uncommon to see $300 dollars per square foot in the early 2000s that number has ballooned to an average of $1,000 per square foot. There are even some projects in the city that are seeking as much as $2,000 per square foot.

Before 1967 Condominiums were not even legal in the city. However in the last few years it is actually seen as the only option for affordable living in Toronto’s red hot real estate market. With many millennials considering see it as the preferred choice as they require less time and maintenance then a standard detached home. Growth over the decades has been consistent in the 1990s roughly 50,000 units where added in the greater Toronto area. A majority of those or purchased to be rented out as their desirability wasn’t quite so high in the late 90’s due to demographic shifts that including boomers that were downsizing and younger couples that growth started to escalate. Once considered a bit of a novelty in Toronto’s real estate market, new condo growth exploded in the early 2000s was growing full force. Adding roughly 105,000 units which was double the amount in the 90’s.bIn 2008 when the global financial crisis was in full swing due to the US housing crash Toronto stayed relatively strong. There were several projects back by American investment companies, but those condos building would eventually be sold off to Canadian investors and builders and continue forward. Growth was even stronger in the 2010s as of 2018 Toronto has added an additional 110,000 units with many of those being purchased by millennials, investors and first-time home buyers. Along with the growth came the increase in price per square foot and in an effort to slow down the market the government issued new mortgage rules, which they seem to have little effect on price. Toronto’s desirability which stems from its strong economy, leisure and lifestyle will continue to drive growth and prices for the foreseeable future.

Neighbourhoods that you can find New Condos

Toronto unofficially is broken up into four separate sections, Toronto, Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough. To clear up this confusion these were all individual cities, but in 1999 those regions were amalgamated into what today is known as Toronto. However locals still commonly use these names to differentiate the areas within the city. Some of the more popular an exciting areas are listed below.

Downtown
North York
King West
Park Lawn
Liberty Village
Yorkville

It doesn’t matter which neighbourhood you prefer all of them have new condo buildings that will meet your needs.

Economy

Toronto’s main economy is centered around Canada’s Big 5 Banks, all of which have its head offices in the city. They are not only the major contributor to the economy, but employment and various other businesses that interact with them. Unlike the United States the majority of the Canadian Financial system is heavily regulated. When the economic crisis that hit the United States and many parts of the world in 2008 because of toxic mortgage funds, the Canadian banks were in a far better financial position. Canada was able to weather the storm and in fact our economy continued its growth. In turn it’s real estate market stayed strong unlike the majority of places in the United States. Some areas such as parts of Florida saw the price of real estate plummet as much as 40% or Atlanta where a majority of lawns had foreclosure signs on them. Even the desirable places in California couldn’t overcome the economic hardships of the financial crisis, unlike Toronto.
Toronto and its neighbouring city of Kitchener are considered to be Silicon Valley North with a great deal of startups and existing Fortune 500 companies having he presents in the city. Just some new notables companies wealthsimple, borrowell and flipp.

Most large Canadian corporations have their headquarters in Toronto which includes the Woodbridge company, Manulife Financial, Rogers Communication, Canadian Tire Corp, Sun Life Financial and Brookfield Asset Management. Along with that, most international companies have a presence here – Microsoft, Apple, Paypal, Ebay and Coke-a-cola.

The majority of Canada’s economy is centered around Toronto and it plays a vital role in Canada’s future.

Transportation near my New Toronto Condo

There are two major highways that service Toronto. the Gardiner Expressway which partially through becomes the Don Valley Parkway is the major artery through the downtown core. Running parallel most of the way is the 401 Which runs through the northern part of the city and is part of the Trans Canada highway system. Connected to the both of them is the 427 which runs north and south.

The public system for the city of Toronto is called the Toronto Transportation Commission or TTC for short. Toronto has a unique combination of subways, streetcars and buses that deliver users to their desired location. Toronto has four different subway lines, line 1 will connect you From downtown Union Station all the way to the Vaughan Metropolitan Center or Finch station. Line two starts at Kipling Station travels to bloor-yonge where it connects with line one or if you choose to continue all the way to Kennedy Station. Kennedy Station is also the starting point for line 3 which takes you to Scarborough’s McCowan station. The North York line connects at Sheppard Yonge station and has five stops going all the way to Don Mills. In total Toronto’s subway system has 75 stations that travels a total distance of 77 km.

Two new lines are currently in the works one that will service Eglinton and another that will travel along Finch.

Something unique to Toronto is the PATH system It is a series of underground and ground level walkways That Encompass many shops services and entertainment. it is over 30 km long and is the largest shopping complex in the world, according to Guinness World Records. On an average business day PATH will have over 200,000 commuters use it and it is connected to over 50 office towers. some of its major attractions connected to it include the Scotiabank Arena CN Tower, Rogers Centre, Hockey Hall of Fame and Eaton Centre.

The Go train system Is what connects Toronto to its neighbouring cities and towns. The above ground train system has 8 separate lines that travel in all directions with its main Hub being Toronto’s Union Station. The most used line the system is the Lakeshore West line that has stops in Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, St Catharines and even as far as Niagara Falls with plenty of stations within each community. The GO’s other train lines also connect other communities in the GTA such as Kitchener, Brampton, Newmarket, Barrie, Richmond Hill, Pickering, Markham, and Oshawa. Daily the GO train system carries 200,000 Riders on as many as 322 trains.

Ironically Toronto’s international airport, Pearson International is not located in Toronto but its neighbouring city of Mississauga. Despite that it is Canada’s busiest airport and in 2018 handled over 470 300 flights. With 48 International carriers stopping in Toronto you can bet that you can get almost anywhere in the world from Pearson International Airport.

Sports in Toronto

Toronto is home to a professional sports team for every Major League in North America (with exception to the NFL). None more important than the Toronto Maple Leafs. Canada’s national sport is hockey and no team has the same following as the leafs. The Maple Leafs are as important to Toronto culture as the New York Yankees are to New Yorkers.

The Maple Leafs share the Scotiabank arena, formally the Air Canada Centre with the Toronto Raptors, which is the only Canadian team in the NBA currently. An expansion team in 1995 the Raptors have been relatively successful in the past few years with winning their first championship in 2019.

Toronto’s professional baseball team, the Blue Jays play out of the iconic Rogers Centre. One of only a handful of stadiums that has a retractable roof. the Rogers Centre formerly known as the Skydome is one of the buildings that make up the iconic Toronto skyline.

Rounding out the other major sporting leagues is the MLS and CFL

What to do near my new Toronto condo

In terms of entertainment Toronto is world class only falling behind New York and Los Angeles in North America. Most concert tours and attractions that have a stop in Canada will stop in Toronto. 2019 saw the likes of KISS, Ariana Grande, Queen and Adam Lambert and even Elton John. Just to name a few and 2020 is gearing up to be even better.

As stated above, Toronto has a sports team in every major North American League with the exception of the NFL – sort of. Over the years the Buffalo Bills have been playing a few regular season games north of the border here in Toronto.

And of course one of the things Toronto is most known for besides Drake is the CN Tower. It has been part of the iToronto skyline Since 1973 and for the longest time it was the world’s largest free-standing structure at 553 metres. The CN Tower has two major purposes one as an attraction as it has an observation tower that patrons can visit and get a 360 view of the surrounding areas plus the 360 restaurant. It hosts a variety of fundraisers, two of the more popular ones are for the United Way and WWF Canada. Both have fundraising race up the stairs to get to the top of the CN tower as quickly as possible.

Relatively new to Toronto is the Ripley’s Aquarium that is located just feet from the base of the CN Tower. The original concept was to build the aquarium in Niagara Falls, however in the mid-2000s that plan fell through and eventually Toronto picked as the new home for the aquarium which opened in August of 2011. Some of the unique exhibits include Planet Jellies which has various species of jellyfish that change colours and the Dangerous Lagoon it’s home to a tiger shark, sandbar shark, stingrays and green turtles.

Just north of the city you can find Canada’s largest amusement park, Canada’s Wonderland. Built in the 1980s this park has evolved over the years to include 17 roller coasters. That places it second for most in the world after Six Flags Magic Mountain. As for visitors it is the second most visited amusement park owned by Cedar Fair, Only knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park has more. One of its main attractions – the brand new Yukon Striker roller coaster. At the time of its opening the ride was the fastest, tallest, and longest dive roller coaster in the world. More locally there are yet equally fun amusement parks. Centreville amusement park, Fantasy Fair,Pladium and Casa Loma just to name a few.

Just south via the Queen Elizabeth Way is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Niagara Falls is by far the most powerful waterfall in the world. Every minute over 168,000 cubic metres of water fall making this truly one of nature’s grandest beauties. Surrounding the falls is a Bevy of entertainment not limited to restaurants, arcades, gift shops, bars, and other amusements.

Will I be safe in a new condo in Toronto?

Simple answer is yes. The crime rates are very low compared to most other major cities. The Economist ranked Toronto as the safest city in North America and fourth saftest major city in the world out of 60 cities. Included in that publication from North America was Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Jose, Montreal, San Diego and Portland.

New Condos in Toronto and why it’s right for you.

Toronto definitely is the financial capital of Canada

Whether you’re looking for work or to start a new business opportunity – investing in and starting in Toronto is a smart move.

Amazing opportunities for employment

With all of the financial institutions and Industry that serve them Toronto has a collection of some of the highest paying and most sought-after jobs in North America.

It’s cultural diversity

Nearly 3 million people from every corner of the globe call Toronto home, the most Multicultural city in the world.

Its Hollywood North atmosphere

There’s always a film or movie being shot with some of the most famous actors and actresses from around the world.

Never a dull moment

With its collection of sports, music, festivals and amusements – you have no excuse to be bored.

Toronto over the past two decades has seen some amazing growth not only in real estate and condos, but in opportunities and entertainment. it’s not too late to invest in one of the most livable cities in the world. A new condo in Toronto might be one of the best investments around.

Some of the condos that we highly recommend are listed below, but every buyer investor or eventual resident has their own list of needs. Using Condo Wizards search page it’s all there for you to find. Happy condo hunting!