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Affordable Toronto Neighborhoods for Families

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Toronto real estate has been on the rise for well over a decade now – a trend that has prompted the spread of the city to the suburbs where housing is often far more affordable for families. However, with hour-long commutes and increased stress for families who want to balance work and life properly, a growing number of young homebuyers are returning to the city. The problem, however, lies in how a family can to live close to work while still being able to afford their mortgage? Here we will explore those neighborhoods that offer a good compromise for families – with characteristics such as affordability, proximity to good schools, accessibility of transportation and/or highways and community services.

We will start off with the first community: Vaughan Road. Quickly shedding its negative reputation, this central neighborhood is seeing rapid gentrification. Running northwest between Bathurst Street and Oakwood Avenue, this up-and-coming neighborhood still boasts single family homes on good-sized lots for under $600,000. Given its ideal location very near the downtown core as well as the access it offers to transit, Vaughan Road definitely gives value for money.

Our next affordable Toronto neighborhood runs along Lake Shore Blvd West between Parklaw Road and Islington Avenue. Mimico used to be a low-income community with properties selling in the mid-$300,000 range. The trend is changing, though, as new condo developments and word-of-mouth are edging the price points of this neighborhood up. While increasing in price, families can still find exceptional value with most listings selling for just over $700,000 for single family homes and just under $600,000 for semi-detached properties.

Dufferin Grove Park is the next neighborhood that is attracting new homebuyers in the Toronto real estate sector. Area residents have created and maintain quality services that the community in general works hard to continue. As the population of the neighborhood changes, so too are the businesses that run along College and Dundas. Store owners are reinventing themselves to better serve today’s generation. Although listings are still in the mid-$500,000 range, often times properties are selling for above asking.

For families looking outside of the central neighborhoods, to the west of the city Lorne Park is definitely a current hot-spot. With a higher price-point, it will be more attractive to affluent buyers, but it still offers terrific value for the money spent – with bigger lots and more home than buyers can get elsewhere in the west end.

Ajax and Whitby are the best bet for families looking to settle in the east of the city. While housing prices in these areas are up from last year, they are still significantly lower than anywhere else in the city and a very good investment for first-time buyers.

Lastly, the best school district in the city is located towards the North in areas such as Markham. If good schools are what you want in your neighborhood, then heading up is where you should go – especially with housing still in the mid-$500,000 range in many instances.

For more insight check out the articles over here //on.thestar.com/163p00N and here //bit.ly/MvzvR5 .

Canadian Housing Market Outlook 2015

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Real estate in Canada has seen steady growth for many years now. The Canadian real estate market has defied global trends by outperforming markets in other countries year after year. Even after subprime mortgages led to the near collapse of the US housing market in 2008[1] and the dire predictions that Canada’s real estate sector was sure to follow, we continued to post gains in our residential property market. The strength of our real estate sector is due in large part to continued low interest rates, a mortgage market largely insured by the government-funded (taxpayer funded) CMHC and stricter lending practices than in the US. However, according to many experts, the gain train might be slowing. In 2014 the global residential property market was uneven with countries either showing growth or softness depending on the nation’s economy. Canada is one of the countries that came out ahead in this respect, posting housing price increases of 6% year-over-year. While this is a reflection of the country’s average increase, it really is an expression of the strong gains seen in the prime markets of Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto[2]. Short-to-Medium Term Outlook The short-term outlook for the Canadian housing market including the Toronto residential property sector remains rosy but cautious as talk of rising interest rates might dissuade first time buyers from entering the market. However, as interest rates have not yet started to rise, it is likely that those who want to get into the real estate market before the rates increase will do so in the short term. As Toronto is one of the country’s most expensive housing markets, it can expect to see a growth of less than 3%[3], which is less than half of what is projected for the rest of the country. However, given the cyclical nature of the property market, experts are expecting that the upward trend will start to slow and the sector will enter a downward phase in the medium-term. According to Scotiabank’s Global Real Estate Trends Report published on Oct. 9, 2014: “We expect home sales will slow in 2015 and beyond alongside a gradual upward drift in borrowing costs, tempering new and resale prices over the next several years.” While Toronto’s property prices are considered to be stretched in the metropolitan areas, the suburbs and the larger Ontario real estate market have a more moderated outlook as valuations have not yet been saturated by accelerated growth. However, given the attractiveness of living in the urban centre and the desire by many new home owners for a shorter commute to their workplace and a distinct trend in leading a “green lifestyle” by living and working within walking distance of all services, don’t expect housing prices in Toronto’s core to drop by very much either in the short term or the long term. [1] //bit.ly/1y55APD [2] //bit.ly/1z9uEad [3] //bit.ly/1z9uEad