Can condos ever house families?
Units have to be flexible if groups other than students can ever move in
Now
By: Fraser Abe
18 March 2015

It's no secret to anyone house hunting that prices in Toronto are high.

The most recent figures from the Toronto Real Estate Board puts detached houses in the 416 area at an average price of $1,040,018. So what's a young family to do?

A detached home is a pipe dream for the typical buyer. Those same figures indicate that even semi-detached homes in T.O. are too pricey, at an average of $702,035.

Condos are becoming the only option

Condos are becoming the only option for many families that want to stay in the city.

Trinity-Spadina MP Adam Vaughan has long been a champion of the three-bedroom condo as an urban option for a young family of four or more.

I am sure that Adam Vaughan is talking about high rise apartment units rather than condo townhouses. Readers must understand that a three-bedroom condo apartment unit in downtown Toronto goes for $850,000 to over $1million; the same price as a semi, a townhouse or even a detached house.
—CondoMadness

But builders are often reluctant to include three-bedroom units, Vaughan says, because they're much more difficult to pre-sell.

"You can't sell a three-bedroom pre-sale, which is how developers make money. A project may not be ready for one, two or three years, which is not much of a problem for singles, but when there are kids involved, you need a home for them."

Functionality also comes into question.

Many three-bedroom units are listed as 2+1 bedrooms, which typically means two bedrooms with windows and one windowless room listed as an office or den that could double as a third bedroom. That may work for an infant or toddler, but older kids (or adults) might feel claustrophobic in a space like that.

New condominiums have to be looked at like Toronto's older Victorian houses, says Vaughan.

"It could have started as a duplex, then became a rooming house, then someone turned it into a single-family dwelling."

Condos need to have a longer life cycle

Condos need to have a longer life cycle than a few years (or decades).

What is Mr. Vaughan saying? That apartment condos in his ward last for only a few years or decades? He makes them sound like they last longer than an igloo and maybe as long as a house trailer. I sure would appreciate Fraser Abe writing a follow-up article explaining what Mr. Vaughan means by condos need to have a longer life cycle.
—CondoMadness

vertical rooming houses

Even if families aren't the first occupants of three-bedroom units (many owners opt to rent them out to students), Vaughan believes that eventually, as prices come down, families will move in.

While families are waiting for the prices to drop, do the other unit buyers realize that they will be living next to a rooming house? How long will it take before the prices come down? Are the original buyers aware their MP expects the prices of their new homes to drop?
—CondoMadness

The ability to knock down interior walls to build bigger units will also come into play. But new condo developments need more than a great sushi place around the corner - they need infrastructure like schools and TTC service, he says.

The prices of condo apartments will really have to come down for people to be able to pay for two side-by-side condos and convert them into three-bedroom units. The original designs will have to allow for this prior to construction.

Don't forget about parking for the family minivan and storage for toys, seasonal clothes and sports equipment! Are you sure all of this will be cheaper than buying or renting a townhouse?
—CondoMadness

Families will always find a way to remain in the city if that's where they prefer to raise their children, but there are still a lot of issues to address.

Housing prices, the most pressing issue, are predicted to remain high. According to a report by TD Economics, the plunge in oil prices, which has lowered the Canadian dollar, will be a boon to manufacturing provinces like Ontario. This, along with foreign investors, will keep the Toronto housing market hot for the foreseeable future.

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