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U Condominiums: Tower 1 58% Sold

U Condominiums by Pemberton at Bay and St Mary’s is one of the projects that probably wishes they had a time machine and could launch their sales just a couple months earlier than they did. They started selling in the fall of last year, just weeks before the stock market crashed and there was a fundamental shift in the Toronto real estate market.

That being said, they are doing pretty well in terms of sales and definitely better than other projects that launched in the second half of 2008. 212 out of 366 units have been sold in the first tower to be released. That’s just under 60% sold. TD bank has told them they need to acheive 70% to secure their financing. That works out to roughly another 45 units to go. Don’t expect to see the second tower released any time soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t even release it at all in 2009.

Many of the prime units at U are now gone, and prices certainly have increased since the initial launch back in the fall, but there are many units still available. Prices for most are in the mid $600s per square foot. This number may seem high, but it is really not out of line with what is available and selling in the area. My own feeling is that over the long term, the Yorkville area centred at Bay and Bloor will remain one of the preeminent neighbourhoods in Toronto. 

For more information on U Condos, please contact me.

Links

Recent Globe and Mail article on U Condominiums

Developer’s official site

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Toronto Resale Market Slows; New Developments to Follow?

Interesting article in today’s Globe and Mail about more anecdotal and factual evidence that the Toronto resale market is slowing down.

Agents are starting to see conditional offers more and more, negotiations are actually taking place, and sellers who price their property too high are getting a rude wake-up call to the new realities of the marketplace.

Gone are the heady days of 2007 when a seller could simply list their property at seemingly any price and they would usually be rewarded with an offer.

So what about the market for new condos? What is the market like today and what will it look like heading into the final quarter of 2008 and into 2009? I spend most of my time helping buyers enter into the pre-construction condo market in Toronto.

A new report from Urbanation, a research firm run by the folks behind Market Vision-a brokerage specializing and new developments-seems to suggest that new condos will be following the trend currently happening in the resale market.

“We’re expecting a slowdown in 2009,” said Jane Renwick, editor and vice-president of Urbanation, a condominium market research company.

“So we would say that we were at 22,000 [condo] sales at the end of 2007. We’re predicting 16,000 sales to round out this year. And we’re expecting sales to dip beyond that in 2009.”

Urbanation released a report yesterday about the Toronto condo market’s second quarter of 2008.

Following record condo sales in 2007, she said, the market is now back to 2005 and 2006 levels.

Anecdotal evidence, evidence on the ground from my own experiences and the experiences of my colleagues who also specialize in new condo developments, suggests that the market is currently still hot. People are still lining up for condos (overnight in many cases), and prices are still rising. However, there is a sentiment that slow times are ahead and smart buyers are proceeding with caution, not just jumping into any development that comes along. If you are looking to flip a condo and make a quick profit overnight, it is probably not the best time to buy.

If you ever have any questions about new condos or Toronto Real Estate, please give me a call or send me an email.

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