The news reports have been saying over the last month or two that our housing market here in Toronto was starting to get back to normal … well not totally normal, but close, and now I have true proof that it is indeed getting better. recession
My brother and his wife who live just outside of town decided to buy a Condo around the beginning of May. Their kids are in their 20’s and they don’t need a big house and all the maintenance that goes along with it anymore, so I guess that’s why they decided to move to a Condo.
They put their house up for sale on May 10th and it was sold on the 27th … not bad for a housing market that’s not quite as hot as it was two years ago! Hmmm I wonder if the people that own the house next door (currently inhabited by renters that are slowly driving me nuts) might decide to put that house on the market again soon? That house needs a lot of work though so I’m sure it wouldn’t sell fast without at least some of the work being done.
I was talking with my brother this evening and he was telling me about their new condo. It’s 1,400 square feet so it’s a good size. Two bedrooms, kitchen, sun room, living room/ dining room, balcony and all the amenities that go along with a condo such as party room, swimming pool, sauna and rooftop barbecues I think. Sounds pretty nice.
The building is about twenty years old and my brother says the kitchen is outdated so they are doing to renovate the kitchen shortly after moving in. They redid the kitchen in their current house too so I joked with him that he’s going to be a professional kitchen renovator by the time he’s finished the condo kitchen! They don’t know exactly what kind of kitchen reno they’re going to do just yet – ie tile floors or hardwood, stainless steel appliances or who knows maybe even copper sinks but I’m sure they’ll enjoy figuring it out and of course the finished product. It’s the work in between that might be a pain! LOL
I used to say I’d never live in a condo – especially after living in an apartment for 14 years before we bought our house. But now that I’m so sick with Crohn’s I can see the advantages of not having to trudge upstairs to use the bathroom and not having yard work and home maintenance to do!
How is the housing market in your area? Did it bottom out once the recession hit and is it recovering now like ours here in the General Toronto Area (GTA)?
14,000 square feet? A condo?
LOL wow I didn’t realize I made that typo! Obviously I meant 1.400 square feet … 14,000 square feet – that would be massive and probably cost millions! LOL
Thanks! I corrected my error.
I live in Central Alberta, We live in a small town, we had 2 houses on our street that were foreclosed on by the bank, sadly, both young families with kids , it is so sad, we live in a nice neighbourhood with working families, but you can’t work when there is no work. Weird to say considering we are in Alberta and Alberta was the happening place to be just 2 years ago. Both these houses were for sale for over a year with very few showings. The one house must have went through 3 realitors and multiple price drops. It seems to be slowly turning around, there have finally been some sales around lately. Which is good, Our taxes continued to increase for the 4th year in a row since we moved here, so the town must think it is worth the $ LOL.
You’ll have everybody moving to Toronto!
Well it’s about time the economy started picking up. We can’t be in recession for the rest of our lives, can we?
The economy here in NC is still bad. The company I work for normally has about 175 employees, we are down to 130. We do commercial HVAC & plumbing and the jobs are hard to come by with so many others bidding. I live in a condo and out of 113 units we have had 5 foreclose. Thankfully we are all older people with no small children but it’s still bad for people in their 50s and up to have to start over somewhere else. As to living in a condo, I love it. It’s something like an apartment but also like a house. I have no yard work but I do have several areas that I can actually grown flowers. I sometimes slip in an herb now and then. I like the fact that at 59 I don’t have to worry about cutting grass and trimming hedges. I also enjoy not having to paint the outside and replace the roof if needed. So, unless I become one of those that goes into foreclosure, this is my last stop before the nursing home.
we used to live in a condo. it wasn’t so bad. better then living in this place i tell you what.
In the UK we seem to be creeping out of the delicate and slippery hole that is the recession – one false move and we’ll go sliding back down into the sticky depths…fingers crossed though, things are definitely picking up.
Unfortunately, this is not true yet for UK 🙁
Housing is still dead here in Virginia. Even rental rates, think news was saying 22% of rentals are vacant in the state!
Stateside we are also (fingers crossed) seeing the beginnings of recovery; there are a number of programs that offer incentives to first time home-buyers (one is an $8k tax credit) that is encouraging increased buying. Also with the advent of such programs as Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program, allowing borrowers in bad loans to modify their mortgages, foreclosures are being avoided in many cases. We still need to do something about unemployment though!!!
My cousin bought a home in Mississauga, near the Erin Centre (exit Winston Churchill) on the 403, with three bedrooms for 390000. I bought a home in Markha, Ontario for 400000 with 4 bedrooms. The prices have definitely fallen, and houses are getting sold faster than they used to. Markham area is getting built up pretty fast. They are building homes past my area, into 14th avenue and the box groove by pass.
It’s good to know that the recovery finally arrives in Toronto. I hope that the situation here in Florida can achieve the same moment.
I agree that things are recovering. It sounds like your brother got a great deal.