It’s hard to overstate just how important Toronto is to Canada. Toronto has an allure that attracts people from every province in Canada, and just about every country on Earth. At first glance the Toronto real estate market can seem a bit out-of-reach for most people. Homes for sale in Toronto are priced higher than in just about any other city in North America, let alone Canada. The key to understanding Toronto real estate requires a subtle shift in thinking away from home prices and towards home value. So put your worries about listing prices aside and check out these top 5 reasons to buy a home in Toronto.
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1. Supply and Demand Are In The Homeowner’s Favor
Toronto housing is limited by space. The city has expanded some thirty kilometres in all directions, and filled most of that space with single family homes, the majority of which were built fifty years ago. This scarcity of new homes cannot keep up with the demand of people moving to Toronto from within Canada and from around the world. Most people who come to Toronto rent, but a sizable amount also come and buy up these single family homes, most of which don’t stay on the market for longer than a couple weeks.
The demand is there, because owning your home is always a much better idea than renting it in the long run. If you’re looking for a reason to buy a home in Toronto, know that you’re almost sure to sell it for a profit so long as you wait out the short-term rise and fall of the market. Remember, there are always people coming to Toronto and there are always people looking to get out of their apartments and make an investment in a home. So long as your property is in a good neighbourhood and is not falling apart, somebody wants your house .
2. You Have Plenty Of Options
Toronto is huge, and to the uninitiated it might look like there are too many neighbourhoods to choose from. We guarantee that somewhere in those 400 square miles there’s a home for you. Some neighbourhoods are dense and urban, some are spread out and almost feel rural. The only thing that remains constant across Toronto neighbourhoods are the home values. Almost without exception, all single family homes start around the same baseline of $1,000,000.
Because homes in Toronto almost all share this lower end limit, your options have more to do with the area you choose to invest in, not the home itself. With this in mind, you should focus more of your attention on investigating what schools you’re interested in, how close you want to live to the city centre, and how much quiet and privacy you need. So long as you use common sense about the house you choose to buy and where that house is, you should see your home’s value appreciate steadily over the coming years.
3. Toronto Home Appreciation Rates Show Long-Term Stability
We can write all day and speculate about all the little factors that are influencing Toronto’s recently high appreciation rates. To cover our bases, we’ll say simply that the rate is appreciating faster than normal, and that you should not base your investments on a bet that the rate will stay this way for the duration of your time in Toronto.
Instead, take a look at Toronto’s real estate history for the last fifty years and take comfort in the fact that, despite every short-term boom and bust, home values in Toronto have appreciated steadily thanks to high immigration and a consistently low housing supply.
At times there are going to be shakeups in the market, shake ups which will either benefit your home value or not. On the long-scale though, your home’s value is almost sure to increase. Just be smart about the neighbourhood you buy into and the actual quality of your home and you’ll be able to ride out any disruptions in the market without too much stress.
4. Toronto Has Great Schools
The Toronto Public School District is robust and serves over 200,000 students, 80% of which go on to attend college. We challenge you to find a neighbourhood in Toronto that doesn’t have at least one public elementary school. In fact, most neighbourhoods in Toronto have enough schools scattered across their streets that it’s feasible for children to walk to school rather than have to take public transportation.
In addition to public schools, Toronto has a wide variety of private schools, both secular and religious, that offer specialized courses and study programs, giving their young students a competitive edge in a rapidly changing world. It’s well worth your time to put in some serious thought and research into the schools of every neighbourhood you’re interested in living in, because Toronto’s educational opportunities are some of the best things about the city in general.
5. Owning a home in Toronto is cheaper long-term than renting
Owning a house in Toronto is expensive in the same way that going to the gym makes you tired. It’s worth it in the long run. When you buy a home in Toronto you’re going to probably pay about 30% more than you would if you rented an apartment. However, when one day you sell that house, all that money you spent on your mortgage, all that money you spent fixing up your house, all that money you invested into your home, you’re going to get it back, and then maybe ten or fifteen thousand dollars extra.
Compare that to spending $25,000 a year in rent which your landlord collects and which you will never see again. Anyone who is aiming to live long term in Toronto and who can afford to buy a house, should buy a house. It just makes good sense, and if you can’t afford a detached home, the Toronto condo market has been making impressive strides in recent years. Condo values are increasing at just as healthy a pace as single-family homes in Toronto, and many Toronto realtors are looking at condos as serious areas of growth for Toronto real estate.
Whether you decide to buy a high rise condo or a big suburban home, know that the Toronto real estate market rewards patience and common sense, and that where you buy your home will be more important to your ROI than what home you buy in the years to come.
