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A record year for home sales in the Greater Toronto Area

2015 was a big year for Toronto real estate.

Today, the Toronto Real Estate Board announced that last year 101,299 homes were sold through the MLS. (This does not include homes sold privately outside of the MLS.) That’s a 9.2% increase from 2014.

At the same time, the average selling price increased by 9.8%, to $622,217, from $566,624 last year. That means that over $63 billion worth of homes were bought and sold last year in the GTA.

If you also assume that the average real estate commission rate was, say, 4%, this also means that about $2.5 billion was paid out to brokers and agents.

These are huge numbers. 

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And we’re back!

We’ve been quiet for awhile. Really sorry about that. But know that we are hard at work on our real estate project: online public profiles for buildings and communities. Our mission is to create massive amounts of transparency in real estate.  

We’ll be starting first with one condominium building in Toronto and then slowly adding the functionality that we have envisaged. Once we’re happy with how that has turned out, we’ll work on rolling out our platform for other condo buildings in Toronto.

If you���d like to be first to know when we go public, go to unlyst.com and make sure that we have your email address. In the mean time, you can also follow us on Instagram and Twitter. We post cool stuff.

Talk soon :)

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House prices around the world

The Economist recently published an interactive chart that allows you to compare housing markets around the world. You can compare them based on a house-price index; prices in real terms; prices against average income; prices against rents; and by percentage change. It’s an interesting chart that’s definitely worth a look.

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Bidding wars suck

We spend a lot of time meeting and talking with homeowners and prospective buyers in the city. And one of the things we consistently hear is that bidding wars totally suck. 

You get excited about a house. You mentally prepare to throw down large sums of money. You make an offer that your agent then presents (without you in the room, which seems to be another big frustration). And then you discover that there were 12 other offers on the table and you were outbid by $100,000.

It’s soul destroying and a huge letdown.

Part of the problem, we think, is that there isn’t a lot of transparency and there’s a big information asymmetry. It’s not a live auction (which is probably the closest approximation) where you get to physically see everyone else and their offers. It’s happening largely behind closed doors.

How do you feel about bidding wars?

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HYTTE FEMUNDE Aslak Haanshuus Arkitekter

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An early release

Today we’re thrilled to announce that we’ve launched an early release of our marketplace product. You can check it out at unlyst.com.

It’s very much in an infant stage, but we wanted to put it out there to start getting real feedback and engaging in discussions with you.

As some of you will know, our residential marketplace is based on the concept that every home is for sale; it’s just a question of price. And we’re doing that by creating a private marketplace for homes that aren’t yet on the market.

One way to think of it is as LinkedIn for your home. 

Similar to how an online resume opens you up to opportunities -- even when you’re not looking for a job -- we want Unlyst to be where you get feedback on your home, where the market tells you how much they think it’s worth, and where you get exposed to potential offers from buyers. We want to help you make the most out of what is probably your largest.

If you have any questions whatsoever, please feel free to reach out via email (hello@unlyst.com) or on Twitter (@unlyst). And if you’re ready to unlyst your home, please click here. It’s entirely free.

This first release is only the beginning of that vision. But everything has to start with a first step.

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Source: Innerstadsspecialisten

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Source: Erik Olsson

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A comparison between low-rise and high-rise housing costs

Earlier this week the Globe and Mail reported that the average price of a house in Toronto has risen to $613,933 and that the average price of a detached house has risen to $1,042,405. Those are a big numbers.

Low interest rates are a big part of this story. But there’s also a supply story at play here. The low-rise housing market in this city is heavily supply constrained and so we have an environment where people with more money simply outbid those with less money.

The high-rise side of the market, on the other hand, is creating lots of new supply. And in my opinion that’s why its price growth has been more moderate in recent years and why the pricing spread between low-rise and high-rise housing continues to widen.

Assuming these trends continue, one of the things I’ve thought about and written about in the past is whether we’ll eventually seeing a point where high-rise housing actually becomes a more affordable option for families. Because right now, if you’re in the market for a 3 bedroom home, a low-rise house is likely your most affordable option.

Here’s a quick comparison that I did up this morning between a detached house and a high-rise condo:

For the detached house, I assumed 1,800 square feet at a price of $1,042,405. That’s the average price mentioned above. 

For the condo, I assumed a 1,500 square foot 3 bedroom home. I priced it at $650 per square foot (which would be above average for the city) and then added $40,000 for a parking spot. Here you have a slightly smaller condo, but it’s also priced slightly less.

I then compared operating/maintenance costs. For the condo, I assumed a maintenance fee of $0.59 per square foot (which I think is reasonable) and then added $100 per month for electricity. Typically electricity is billed outside of maintenance fees.

For the detached house, I tried to create a similar living situation. I assumed that the owner wouldn’t be cutting their own grass or shovelling their own snow. I assumed that money would be put away each month as a capital reserve for future house expenses (similar to the reserve fund in a condo). And I assumed a gym membership since most condos have a gym. I ignored property taxes and insurance.

The detached house still works out to be a less expensive to operate in this scenario, but not by much. Overall, the two appear quite comparable. Which is why I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a tipping point in the future where all of a sudden families start finally adopting the mythical 3 bedroom condo.

I have published my spreadsheet to the web in case you disagree with my assumptions and want to create your own.

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Milford Residence  |  Zaik Associates & Jessica Helgerson Interior Design Location: Portland, USA  | Source: Dwell.com

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Juliette aux ComblesL. McComber

Remodeling of a third-floor single-family dwelling in Plateau Mont-Royal.

Over five feet high, two distinct sloped structures made with thick layers of tar and gravel formed the roof of this old duplex built in 1880. Replacing this structure with an insulated open-truss roof liberated impressive 13-foot ceilings.

Read More

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Source: Stadshem

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History meets modern luxury in this stunning private residence located in New York City, USA.

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Tolix Armchair and Tolix Sidechair Collection

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E/C House, Pico Island, Portugal by SAMI-arquitectos | via

From the architect: A ruin was the starting point for the design of a holiday house in the island of Pico. The project came from the will to maintain a ruin and thinking of a house that would value it, a house that could be modelled to it and take advantage at the same time, offering the most diverse and complex possibilities of living than the former typology.

Since the building is approached at the level of the covering, because of the slope of the land, we designed all the covering of the project as if they were decks, allowing to be used as sitting places or for contemplation.

The house, modelled inside the walls of stone, was designed with generous openings, for light to come inside and to contemplation of the landscape. These openings are sometimes lined up, and sometimes not, with the former openings of the ruin, creating new frames and relations with the original limits of the house.

Photography: Paulo Catrica

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