One of the most famous houses in TORONTO and North America has just sold for $18-million, along with a $13-million home in Forest Hill, and a $9-million condominium in Yorkville. In this pandemic market, these would seem to be all positive signs. 
Integral House was commissioned by the late mathematician and musician JAMES STEWART. Five storeys tall, it was finished in 2009, built into the side of a Rosedale ravine. It cost around $24-30-million to build, plus an additional $5.4-million for the original home which was torn down. GLENN LOWRY, director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, calls the house “one of the most important private houses built in North America.” The 18,000-square-foot curvaceous home has 5 floors, a concert space, a stairwell ensconced in handblown blue glass, and heated limestone floors. It took six years to build. The concert space seats 150. 
Small theatre groups, music festivals, dance companies and fashion designers have all used the house for fundraisers and/or concerts. JAMES STEWART passed away on Wednesday, December 3/2014 from a rare form of cancer. “My books and my house are my twin legacies. If I hadn’t commissioned the house, I’m not sure what I would have spent the money on,” he once said. <INTERIOR PHOTOS by James Dow, Edmonton, Alberta>
Tag Archives: Toronto real estate
THERE ARE SIGNS THAT TORONTO’S BOOMING CONDO MARKET IS SLOWING DOWN – URBANATION INC.
Until now, the condo market has been the last remaining bubble in TORONTO’s overheated real estate market, with prices hitting a record high in 2018 – and the average unit selling for more than $1,000 a square-foot. – URBANATION
Demand for new projects has slowed and long lineups have virtually disappeared. “I think those days of the modern gold rush, where every developer was selling out within 30 days are gone,” said real estate agent ADAM BRIND of Core Assets.
“You can’t just throw up a sign and say ‘we’re launching this’, and have a huge lineup.” Some see this as a healthy return to a normal market.<PHOTO ABOVE – condo listings on Bay Street in 2017>
PADMAPPER (AN APT. HUNTING WEBSITE) REPORTS TORONTO IS NOW CANADA’S #1 HIGH RENTAL CITY
The top ten Canadian cities for median MONTHLY rentals of 1-bedroom apartments, December/2018 – #1 TORONTO ($2,260); #2 VANCOUVER ($2,100); #3 BURNABY ($1,570); #4 MONTREAL ($1,450); #5 VICTORIA ($1,390); #6 BARRIE ($1,210); #7 KELOWNA ($1,250); #8 OTTAWA ($1,250); #9 OSHAWA ($1,200); #10 HAMILTON ($1,180).
TORONTO continues to reign as the most expensive city in the country with one-bedroom rents growing 1.8% to $2,260 while two bedrooms increased a slight 0.7% to $2,850. Notably, two bedroom rent is up 15.9% since this time last year.
VANCOUVER remained second with one-bedroom rents decreasing 0.5% to $2,100, while two bedrooms dropped 0.3% to $3,150.
HAMILTON, Ontario moved up two spots with one-bedroom rents jumping 5.4% to $1,180, while two bedrooms saw more modest growth, up 2.1% to $1,450.
To search the rental market in both Canada and the United States on PADMAPPER visit – https://www.padmapper.com/
BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK HEADLINE – “TORONTO MAKES NEW YORK LOOK CHEAP”. WHAAAT?
According to BLOOMBERG, TORONTO is the world’s fifth most unaffordable housing market relative to income. “There are a handful of cities that make New York housing look cheap by comparison. Among them: Hong Kong, London, Miami, Los Angeles, Sydney and TORONTO. Home prices in Canada’s biggest metropolis have soared almost 60% in the last five years and are up another 3% already this year.”
TORONTO’s residential property market ranks as the fifth most unaffordable relative to income, according to consultant DEMOGRAPHIA.
HUY DO IS HOPING TO FIND AN AFFORDABLE CITY CTR. APARTMENT BEFORE JUNE
HUY DO, 27, has created a widely distributed movie poster starring himself in the hope it will help him find rental accommodation in TORONTO’s core by June. It’s become a difficult task. The downtown vacancy rate is 1%, its lowest percentage in 16 years.
A one-bedroom apartment in the core now rents for an average of $1,614 a month. A two-bedroom $2,252. Governments are trying to help with rent control, but the numbers aren’t getting much better.
Compared to a national average purchase price of $481,000 across all housing categories from condos to detached houses, TORONTO comes in at $736,783 according TREB (Toronto Real Estate Board)
That word “manhattanizing” is creeping more and more into local political lingo. “As we Manhattanize, we are building a city of inequalities, deepening inequalities,” said Councillor JANET DAVIS. The greatest fear is that TORONTO will become yet another ‘playground for the rich’.
A ‘WHOPPER’ DOWNTOWN TORONTO PENTHOUSE IS UP-FOR-SALE AT A ‘WHOPPER’ PRICE
For sale a four-bedroom, 9,000 square-foot penthouse apartment in the heart of TORONTO’s Yorkville, with four separate terraces, 24-hour concierge service and it’s own elevator. Ready to move in. Its owners have begun divorce procedures. The penthouse is on top of the 55-storey Four Seasons Private Residences Tower. But don’t get your hopes up. It’s on the market for $36-million.
A LITTLE GREEKTOWN HOUSE HAS TORONTO’S REAL ESTATE ‘JUNKIES’ A-TWITTER
Built in 1912 this modest bungalow on Muriel Avenue was purchased in 1966 for $10,000. It was assessed in 2012 for $143,000, and in 2016 for $645,000. On February 2 the ‘little-house-that-could’ sold for an astonishing $1,050,000 – $370,000 higher than the asking price. Hold onto your hats East Yorkers! Real estate values in your neighbourhood are about to skyrocket.
Bank of Montreal chief economist Douglas Porter argues that foreign buyers have shifted their attention from Vancouver to the Greater Toronto Area and Victoria BC. “In what is already a very tight and hot market, to add net new buyers can have a very big influence on prices. With modest employment growth, there is something else going on.”
SOME EXTREMELY HOT NUMBERS FROM TORONTO’S SOARING REAL ESTATE MARKET IN OCTOBER
Despite the federal government’s attempt to cool things down, it seems TORONTO’s real estate buyers and sellers aren’t getting the message. In October, sales in the GTA hit a record high and prices went up by double-digits. The Toronto Real Estate Board says there were 9,768 sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) — up 11.5% from the same month last year. The average selling price for all types of homes rose by 21.1% to $762,975. “A 21.1% year-over-year rise is not normal,” according to BMO Nesbitt Burns. <PHOTO – Postmedia News>
IMAGE – http://www.betterdwelling.com Sales of $3-million-plus homes were up 86% in the TORONTO area; 41% in VANCOUVER. In OAKVILLE, an affluent suburb west of the GTA, sales of $1 million-plus homes increased by 111% year-over-year, driven by price appreciation and increased interest from foreign buyers.
FOR CLOSE CONTACT WITH THE NEIGHBOURS, BAY STREET’S CORRIDOR FILLS THE BILL
Once this neighbourhood was called Clover Hill. Now it’s the Bay Street Corridor, an ever-growing condo gulch, home to thousands of high-income cliff dwellers. Sandwiched between Yonge Street and Bay, close to the Ontario Legislature, Bloor Street West, the University of Toronto and Queen’s Park, the district has changed from low-rise to high-rise in no time at all. <PHOTO ABOVE – condominiums either sold or available in a Bay Street realtor’s office window> 
<PHOTO ABOVE – the Bay Street Corridor a couple of years ago, before they really started building. Panoramio Google Maps>
“START SPREADING THE NEWS” . . . TORONTO IS JOINING THE ‘$1,000,000 FOR A HOUSE’ CLUB
Realtors can’t keep up with demand despite the Arctic Vortex. In April/2014 the average sale price for a detached house within TORONTO briefly touched the $1-million mark. Then it sank to $965,670. According to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) February/2015 sales within the 416 area code have now passed the $1-million mark. Demand remains high for some detached houses (or tear downs) with short commutes or inside city limits. Further out, it’s less expensive.
Condominium sales also went up – 10% year over year – while prices remained relatively steady despite an escalating increase in supply. The average price for a condo in the 416 in February was $369,655 and in the 905 outer suburbs $322,055, narrowing the gap between suburbs and downtown. <PHOTO ABOVE – Brandon Tarek>
<Editorial cartoon, Monday, March 9, Terry Mosher for the Toronto Star>
Toronto Savvy 