Investing in Toronto Real Estate

The Toronto real estate market is on of the most popular in all of North America. Whether investing in a new downtown condo, commercial real estate or a family home, the Toronto real estate market has opportunities at all levels. If you decide to purchase real estate in Toronto rest assured that you will be living in a city with great amenities, services, facilities and entertainment.

Toronto's real estate market and availability is ultimately based on demographics: there has been an influx of over a million new people to the Greater Toronto Area over the last decade and there is still a massive shortfall of housing to meet the demand of these new residents.

Furthermore, the sub prime market crisis in the United States has many home buyers wondering what the affect will be on housing markets in Canada, opening the door to uncertainty and speculation on the Canadian market. The good news for Canadians is that the housing market has been setting records for volume and units sold for five consecutive years now despite the problems coming to light in the US.

"The statistics show just how dynamic the Canadian housing market was in 2007 in virtually all parts of the country," said Ann Bosley, president of CREA. Historical analysis of the Toronto market in particular shows that real estate for the city, despite occasional dips, continues to do well. Take the Toronto real estate luxury market as an example with house sales in the million dollars plus range across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) increasing by more than 20% in 2007 over the 2006 figures.

A thriving Canadian economy has many suburban dwellers leaving the burbs behind to move back into the cities. If you fall into this category, when searching for Toronto homes or condos for sale, you will need to collect information about the different areas of the downtown core to determine if you are looking in a "buyer's market" or a "seller's market". Intense market competition ensures that pricing cannot be raised artificially, so the people buying homes and condos are mostly families or the downtown workforce, not speculative investors.

Not only is the Toronto housing market doing well, but newly constructed toronto condos are also in very high demand. With each passing year, Toronto condos are becoming a bigger part of total Toronto real estate market. Exciting new homes and condos are being constructed in areas like Eglinton / Yonge and King St. / Bathurst that offer residents access to the excitement of downtown Toronto while still being in a calm, clean and safe area. The most popular areas to invest are projects along the subway, close to downtown and at key intersections along the Yonge - Bloor corridors.

The Toronto condo market is an excellent alternative to home ownership particularly if you are a first time property buyer or looking to downsize your current investment. The ever increasing cost of a home in todays Toronto real estate market is making it very hard for a large percentage of the population to become home owners. Condos also represent sound Toronto real estate rental investments allowing would be owners to increase the value of their equity. Most home buyers want to get good value for their money while at the same time getting a property that is in an area geographically that they are comfortable with.

If and when you do decide to invest in the Toronto real estate market make sure to secure the services of a professional real estate lawyer. In any real estate transaction a real estate lawyer will handle; the deed, the bill of sale, mortgage arrangements, promissory note, title commitment and the closing statements on your behalf. Getting a good interest rate on your mortgage is also crucial to being able to afford your investment and avoiding foreclosure.

There are many stories in the news recently about small towns in the United States that are full of new homeowners that are not able to afford the mortgages for their new homes and are losing money in their investment due to the sub prime crisis. While this situation may be an unhappy one for the people involved, buying in an urban market such as Toronto can help to mitigate problems by offering increased investment flexibility. Whether you would like to purchase a new family home, commercial real estate for your business or a luxury condo, Toronto can provide you with numerous options to choose from.