Myers, the editor and executive VP of the market research firm, Urbanation, writes that he gets asked whether Toronto is in the midst of a condo bubble. His article goes about explaining exactly why there is no condo bubble in Toronto.
His comments below:
•A bubble is characterized by rapid increases in valuations of real property such as housing until they reach unsustainable levels and then decline
•The average sold index price in the Toronto CMA new condo market increased 7.4 per cent annually from $462 per square foot to $496 per square foot. Urbanation does not believe this is a “rapid” increase
•People presume we’re oversupplied since they see cranes everywhere and there are a record 42,573 high-rise condo units under construction in the third quarter
•If the market was oversupplied there would be a rise in the resale sales-to-listings ratio (SLR) and the listings-to-total units ratio (LUR) as sellers would be waiting for scarce buyers
•50 per cent SLR and 4.2 per cent average quarterly LUR in 2011 are in line with the 5 year averages
•According to the new Urban Rental report, the rental market is hot!
•Even though a record number of condos were completed in 2011, there is still a shortage of units available for lease
•The average condo unit took just 18 days to lease in Q3-2011, down from 29 days in Q1-2011
According to Myers, we’re seeing “a fundamental shift toward high-rise living.” 

“Many demographic and cultural changes will continue to tip the scale toward apartment living, including longer commuting times, the desire for Greener living, the fact that people are getting married later in life, the continued appreciation in low-rise housing, lifestyle changes of the baby boomer generation, and the lasting influence of new immigrants more accustomed to apartment living,” 

So what do the experts say? Unfortunately they don’t all agree but again they tend to measure the future value of real estate in Toronto based on whether Greece and Portugal are going to require another bail out? I still can’t wrap my head around this. What do the slowing economies around the world have to do with the value of my 2+den on the 53rd floor facing south east? I mean I’m sorry to hear about the financial crisis and how it is effecting others but how can this effect the value in our properties when we are already seeing an enormous migration from these cities and cities around the world as they see Toronto as a Mecca or safe haven for investment and living. Why do the same experts continue to advise us on investing in financial markets that continue to disappoint and against the investment of Real Estate? Maybe it is because they are not realtors and therefore not compensated for these types of investments?