Housing Prices in Toronto area...

[lewd]

I think many don't realize how much of that mortgage they're paying each month goes to interest.

Sure you can have a million dollar home...but if you don't make any headway into paying off the principal, you'll won't be alive to see it paid off.

Of course one could flip it down the road...assuming prices continue escalating.

 

[21pro]

guys, i make over $200k take home from my business, and i'm ready but scared to buy a house in this environment... i feel bad for my newly hired, soon 2B pink slipped $80k salaried employees... they can't even afford a semi in Brampton right now.

A good Tradesman commands a good salary. Simple as that. Alsways has been a good career choice in Canada and you will always have work, even in slow times. A good tradesman can easily make 100 k plus a year. If his wife is working, all the better. Affording a million dollar home and a BMW in that situation is not a stretch.

true. always a good salary. but, NOT ALWAYS in demand. 1000's of them had to find new careers following 1987. and I know it is becoming more difficult to make over $100k as a carpenter in 40 hours even as the business owner. construction expenses are eating profit big time right now. and contractor fees are teetering above sustainable levels. one of the reasons sighted for declining sales at RONA, Home Depot and Lowes Canada.

 

[dreamblade]

I make a decent wage right now, just under 50k and will be seeing my salary increase 10-20k in the next 2 years with the certifications I'm working on.

Still, there is no way I see myself ever affording a house here in TO. I will not buy a condo, because I refuse to pay rent on a place I own, and I can shovel my own walkway, thank you.

When it's time to buy a house, I'll be moving back to Montreal, prices are a little more realistic there.

For those of you familiar with both cities, compare house prices in High Park to those in Ville Emard. Both areas are rather middle-income, residential, and about the same distance from the downtown core. High Park houses START at 500k, and those are the money pits. In Ville Emard, you can get a decent, ready to live in house for 250-400k.

Seriously, what's wrong with this city? When you earn less than 27k you're almost at the poverty line. You can barely afford renting a place, much less ever dream of owning one. That's insane!

 

[Top Northerner]

The experience in Japan and the US says otherwise

Both the US decline and the previous Japanese decline came during low and lowering interest rates. I would suggest that it is credit availability and NOT interest rates that decide on housing prices (among other things). Ask your banker whether they are loaning as freely in the mortgage market and you'll see that low interest rates don't necessarily mean a lot.

It's very simple kids.

As long as interest rates are low, the prices are not going to crash anytime soon. Those of you hoping for a "crash" are going to be waiting a long time. You may see a very slight correction or a plateau and that's about it.

In the early 90's interest rates went up to 12 or 13 percent I believe and real estate corrected by 34%.

You can get a mortgage right now for 5 to 5.25. Wait a while and it will be even less.

Interest rates are actually falling as the FED keeps lowering in the USA as a result of the sub prime mortgage crisis (Canada has no such similar crisis in the offing due to banking laws here being more conservative.) As the FED lowers state side, the Bank of Canada MUST also lower because the dollar is so high. If the BOC does not lower, the C$ will take off over parity. Our manufacturing sector simply can't handle that, in fact, it's already in crisis.

I have no doubt that if the dollar was at 65 cents, the BOC would be RAISING rates right now, but fortunately for us debtors, little Jorge Bush has doubled the US debt in 7 years, started a stupid war he can't win that has cost trillions, allowed the entire subprime fiasco to occur, and cut taxes to boot. All of this has caused the loonie to soar.

So, to repeat, the only thing that will pour water on the Toronto housing market any time soon is interest rates rising and or unemployment rising or any combination of both.

Interest rates are not going to rise anytime soon, UE may spike up, but not enough to cause anything significant to occur to housing prices.

 

[vex]

Interesting article on Toronto housing prices in the March issue of Toronto Life magazine. The article doesn't seem to be available online, but you can still find it in bookstores.

http://www.torontolife.com/covers/2008/3/

 

[Fuzzi]

If you have the extra money i would buy in the states right know. low intersest rates and canadien money at par or better.
I purchased my house during the recession of the early 90s, made some good cash on my house.
you know what they say, buy in a recession,sell during a boom.
peace.
ps for what its worth intersest rates will continue to go down in my opinion.

Where are you gonna live when you sell?
I am planning on getting a place too but these high prices are insane.

 

[toronto04]

guys, i make over $200k take home from my business, and i'm ready but scared to buy a house in this environment... i feel bad for my newly hired, soon 2B pink slipped $80k salaried employees... they can't even afford a semi in Brampton right now.

I hear you, I made just over $100k last year I rent a basement apt at below market rents. Everyone I know can't figure out why I do this but I believe the price increases in the past several years is not sustainable. I could always be wrong but I'll take my chances.

 

[james t kirk]

Both the US decline and the previous Japanese decline came during low and lowering interest rates. I would suggest that it is credit availability and NOT interest rates that decide on housing prices (among other things). Ask your banker whether they are loaning as freely in the mortgage market and you'll see that low interest rates don't necessarily mean a lot.

Actually, I just went to RBC to see about refinancing my mortgage to do some major renovations and they are falling over themselves to loan me money.

Now that said, my current mortgage will be paid off in a few years and I'm a good client (never missed a payment) and they'd love to extend me more credit.

There's always a limit though.

The guy I was dealing with was telling me that a great many people he sees are mortgaged to the HILT. They think their house is worth a million bucks and then the appraisal comes back at 800 and they can't have anymore and they get upset with him.

 

[canucklehead]

When it comes to housing Toronto is pretty cheap compared to ...say London England..... 600,000 pounds for a 500 year old row house.... the market may slow down... but between immigration, poor transportation, and low interest rates.... the housing in the city of toronto proper will continue to go up..... as far as the GTA ...with gas prices, length/time of commute you will see those prices drop. On my street i see multiple bids and homes selling way above asking still. Last weekend... open house on saturday ..bids on monday...asking 389 for a shitty tear down... sold for 509.... monday night

 

[catchall]

When it comes to housing Toronto is pretty cheap compared to ...say London England..... 600,000 pounds for a 500 year old row house.... the market may slow down... but between immigration, poor transportation, and low interest rates.... the housing in the city of toronto proper will continue to go up..... as far as the GTA ...with gas prices, length/time of commute you will see those prices drop. On my street i see multiple bids and homes selling way above asking still. Last weekend... open house on saturday ..bids on monday...asking 389 for a shitty tear down... sold for 509.... monday night

The last part is a bit hard to believe since in my neighborhood with multi million dollar homes- the prices are dropping 50K at a time and nothing is moving. Same story all over Toronto yet in your area they are bidding 150K more? Yeah right.

 

[landscaper]

the housing market in england, new york or japan for that matter is different from here, England has 60 million people in an area the size of the great lakes , Japan is worse and New York city is a collection of islands. Yopu cant build a house if you don't have somewhere to put it.

 

[21pro]

When it comes to housing Toronto is pretty cheap compared to ...say London England..... 600,000 pounds for a 500 year old row house....

not a comparable market. unless you want 80% of residences to be rented out... which is the case in London.

a better comparable to Toronto could be a relative hypothetical city that takes into effect prices in Montreal, Ottawa, the Bay Area of California and Houston Texas.

Toronto has the highest property taxes, highest home valuations and highest utilities of that comparable.