|
| In
the past two years, the planning and development office at City
hall has sliced Toronto into 240 geographic pieces in order
to counteract the monolithic proportions of the megacity.
I have chosen
to represent to you several of the most active and
attractive neighborhood in Central Toronto,
where I personally have sold properties. Of course there are
others, and I have done business in many, so this list is
by no means the limit of my representation. But it does give
you the highlights of the market.
Neighborhoods (from the 2000 Toronto Life Real Estate Guide) "The most accurate description of the current Toronto real estate market sounds at first like an oxymoron: it's a restrained boom. It is indeed a sellers' market, with increasing prices, short on-sale periods and bidding wars, particularly on well-priced homes in the central core.
"Two reasons
for the current boom are the increase in condominium developments
in the center of the city, and the neighborhood revitalization.
"What creates
a neighborhood, and what makes it thrive? Well, history forms
some, marketing schemes invent others. A community may take
shape around a school, a subway station or a park."
|
 |
 |
contact
form:
|
|
To outsiders, the street
plan seems impenetrable. There is nowhere in downtown Toronto where
more people get lost. After a while, strangers realize that the
natives like it that way.
Unpredictably twisting
streets help create an atmosphere of privacy, a quality especially
valued in a district so close to the city core. Rosedale shows
no signs of economic weakening. Of Toronto dwellings that sold for
more than $1 million in 1999, 19 per cent were in Rosedale. Selling
prices have gone up with the market, increasing on average by a
bit more than $100,000.
House Sales In 2007
Solds: 64
Sold Price Range $995,000 – 7,050,000
|
Condo Sales 2007
Solds:130
Prices: $227,000-$2,320,000
Condo Rentals
Rentals: 30
Price Range: $1,050 – 3,795
|
 |
contact
form:
|
|
|
Seen in broad outline,
Forest Hill runs parallel to Rosedale. In both places,
about two-thirds of the dwellings contain no children. Both
of them mix the grandest possible houses with relatively humble
dwellings; both of them have elite reputations and send many
of their sons and daughters to private schools and U.S. Universities.
|
 |
But in style these
two one-time-suburbs, now both completely Central, differ
sharply. Rosedale seldom seems anxious to make an impression;
Forest Hill is always on display. Rosedale's lots are
small, Forest Hill's (by comparison) vast. In Rosedale, florid
new houses are rare; in Forest Hill, there have been so many
teardowns and so many huge new "neo-traditional" houses built
that they are slowly changing the district's character.
Forest Hill
cherishes traditions at least as venerable as anything in
Rosedale. Forest Hill contains Bishop Strachan School
and Upper Canada College, arguably the leading private
schools of the land. Beginning in the 1950's, Forest Hill
attracted a fair sized Jewish population, whose goals were
reflected in the high standards of Forest Hill Collegiate
and the district's elementary schools.
|
House Sales 2007
Sales: 298
Prices: $490,000 - 15,780,000
House Rentals
Rentals: $1,050 - 8,400
|
Condo Sales 2007
$247,000 - 1,585,000
Condo Rentals
$840 - 4,700
|
|
|
 |
 |
contact
form:
|
|
Recent real estate data demonstrates what everyone in Moore
Park knows intuitively: this is a highly desirable place
to live, and at the moment, it's as hot in sales terms, as
a district gets. The many sturdy old houses here (often Tudor
and Georgian) built between 1908 and 1930) tend to hit the
market only briefly before being sold. The safe streets
(and the nearby schools) appeal particularly to young, affluent
families: more than half of Moore Park's houses contain children.
Just about everything
is close, from stores to public transport, but what Moore
Park has in magnificent plenitude is open green space-more
of it than any other Central-city neighborhood.
|
To
the north, there's the huge and wonderfully interesting Mount
Pleasant Cemetery. To the south, east, and west there's a magnificent
ravine system, which means that many residents open their back
doors onto wilderness, and the others are five minutes' walk
away. A creek trickles south from under the cemetery land, pops
to the surface here and there, and then bubbles through the
Vale of Avoca on its way to the Don River.
|
House Sales 2007
Solds: 92
Prices: $440,000-$2,750,000
House Rentals
$1350- $5,000
Condo Sales
$247,000 - $1,192,000
|
|
contact
form:
|
|
 Toronto, the City of Neighbourhoods is changing with the latest
“cool” destination for the young and hip being Leslieville the new “Queen West” on the Eastside!
Leslieville began as a small working class village back in the 1850’s, which grew up around the Toronto Nurseries owned by George Leslie and sons, after whom the community is named.
Today, Leslieville is a study of contrasts. Although much of Queen Street East between Don River and the Beaches is rather run-down and shabby after years of industrial abuse, gentrification is definitely happening! The young professionals are rediscovering and revitalizing this bohemian village, with a bit of a hard edge. New and restored buildings are interspersed among the less well-maintained store fronts. You can still find old automotive shops next to trendy boutiques, amazing cafes and chic restaurants like Bonjour Brioche and Hello Toast.
 Its cozy houses and tree-lined streets, seem surprisingly serene and peaceful considering Leslieville’s close proximity to downtown Toronto. Leslieville is well served by public transit which operates bus or streetcar routes on Queen and Gerrard as well as link ups with the Bloor-Danforth subway line. Motorists can be downtown in minutes.
“Queen Street East is the New Queen Street West” - The Toronto Star, August 2006.
 
House Sales 2007
Solds: 352
Prices: $230,000 - 830,000
 |
contact
form:
|
|
 What
Cabbagetown offers above all is an atmosphere of casual urbanism.
It's a sophisticated, highly professional community, where the
people tend to be well-educated (about half have college degrees),
relentless renovators and, more often than you might expect given
the modest size of the lots, ambitious gardeners.
Walking the flower-lined streets in the evening is as pleasant here
as in any corner of Toronto. The architecture (dating primarily
from the 1860s to 1890s) expresses at its best a particular style
that developed in Toronto: the narrow, re-brick and bay-and-gable
house, which combines a touch of flamboyance with the ultimate in
solidity.
  |
Riverdale Park West on Cabbagetown's east side is spacious and friendly,
especially for those who bring their dogs, and the Riverdale Farm-one
of the most charming places in Toronto for small children and farm
nostalgic adults-makes a good neighbor. About half the households
have children.
House Sales 2007
Solds: 296
Prices: $210,000 - 1,137,000
House Rentals
$800 - $4,000 |
 |
contact
form:
|
|
|
In this district,
some of the Edwardian and Victorian houses are improved beyond
the dreams of those who built them and first lived in them.
Once fairly humble,
Summerhill has for years been heading for real estate heaven,
and the condos on nearby Yonge Street only push its property
values higher.
What's the secret?
Convenience is a crucial factor. Summerhill isn't
far from anything: not from Bloor, not from St. Clair,
not from Avenue and Davisville. Another factor is parkland:
people who live here can chose from among the huge Rosehill
Reservoir, David A. Balfour Park and Lionel Conacher Park.
Plus, Summerhill is one of the city's safest neighborhood.
|
House Sales 2007
Solds: 12
Prices: $680,000 - 2,600,000
Condo Sales 2007
Solds: 22
Prices: $362,000 - 4,000,000
|
 |
 |
 |
contact
form:
|
|
|
Reaching from
Eglinton Avenue to the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, between Yonge
Street and Bayview Avenue, South Eglinton is an economically
more modest area than its neighbors, such as Chaplin Estates,
and Deer Park. It's convenient, rich in recreational spaces,
and the local secondary schools, North Toronto Collegiate
and Northern Secondary School, are equipped to offer specialized
training to pupils ranging from the deaf to the highly musical.
A major attraction
in the district is Mount Pleasant Road, which keeps evolving;
its changing mix of antique stores and restaurants seems to
grow more upscale all the time. At the southern end of the
district, condos and lofts are multiplying on Merton Street,
which faces the Mount Pleasant Cemetery. All this, plus an
excellent safety record makes South Eglinton desirable
for hordes of young couples and their children.
|
|
 |
 |
House Sales 2007
Solds: 261
Prices: $435,000 - 1,640,000
House Rentals
$600 - 6,400
|
Condo Sales 2007
Prices: $155,000 - 2,500,000
Condo Rentals
$800 - 2,500
|
 |
contact
form:
|
|
|
Bloor West
Village has slowly matured into an exceptional mingling of
big-city convenience and small-town (some say village) atmosphere.
|
|
It's a small community (population 5,987) with a clear focus
provided by the shopping district that stretches east from
Jane Street along Bloor; and grows so lively on Saturdays
that it feels like a festival. The people are house-proud
(slightly more than 70% are owners) and the quiet streets
leading away from Bloor have a cared for look. The community
feels very East European and safe; you never worry about the
kids here.
House Sales 2007
Solds: 219
Prices: $315,000 - 2,200,000
Condo Sales
Solds: 35
Prices: $219,000 - 528,000 |
 |
|
contact
form:
|
|
Bedford Park has become
one of Toronto's top selling neighborhoods in the past year, which
may be in large part due to the area's great access to amenities:
doctors, places of worship, restaurants, malls, and grocery stores.
 |
At Yonge and
Lawrence, there's a family-oriented shopping district:
at Avenue Road and Lawrence, on the other hand, you can find
the city's most ambitious, and recently renovated-gourmet
grocery purveyor, Pusateri's Fine Foods, which invariably
has a lineup of cars waiting to get into it's jam-packed parking
lot. A couple of parkettes with playgrounds are used regularly
by the neighborhood's children.
|
|
|
Bedford Park Avenue
itself, which runs from Bathurst to Yonge, three blocks north
of Lawrence, has for seven or eight years been a street in
the process of radical transformation.
Typically, a tired and tiny bungalow from
the 1950s is sold for about $350,000, torn
down and replaced by a much bigger $1,000,000
house with four bedrooms + 4 bathrooms. The street at the moment
shows an exceptionally wide variety of building forms.
House Sales 2007
Sales: 357
Prices: $570,000 - 2,295,000
Condo Sales 2007
Sales: 37
Prices: $149,000 - 839,000 |
|
|
|
