interested
Senior Member
From the Star today: I have bolded the pricing. I point this out as in a previous post it was mentioned that housing would likely descend in a worse case scenario to the cost to build and land. I suspect in Chicago at $300/sq. ft they may be below these amounts. I don't expect this in Canada but again food for thought.
http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/reales...arket-tour-reveals-health-of-ontario-industry
Housing Study: Chicago market tour reveals health of Ontario industry
October 8, 2010
Michael Collins-Williams
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
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CHICAGO—In a tale of two Great Lake cities, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the lake.
Gleaming skyscrapers and a rich history have sadly been unable to spare this great American city from feeling the effects of the worst recession the United States has experienced since the Great Depression. Back home in the GTA, after a brief pause in sales activity while global financial markets plummeted, the real estate market caught fire and took off for nearly a year before settling down to a more normalized and stable pace of sales activity.
During the past year, the housing market and residential construction across the Golden Horseshoe have been significant job creators and, unlike the U.S., this important sector of the economy has helped lift Ontario and Canada out of recession far sooner than our neighbours to the south. We certainly aren’t out of the woods yet, but the housing market along the shores of Lake Ontario is in far better shape than along the shores of Lake Michigan.
During a whirlwind housing tour of the windy city earlier this month — conducted by the Hamilton-Halton Home Builders’ Association and led by executive officer Doug Duke — we viewed firsthand a number of new housing developments struggling to swim against the tide in a depressed American housing market.
The tour group of home builders were surprised — not by the high quality of housing products being marketed, but by the significant price declines builders have offered in an attempt to drive sales traffic in a very quiet market. Builders are still building and buyers still exist, but prices have come down drastically since their peak a couple years ago and sales volumes are a fraction of what they were for most of the past decade. The Chicago experience certainly places the slowing of sales activity in the GTA and Hamilton areas in a very different perspective.
A visit to the Chicago South Loop and the Central Station urban renewal project by Enterprise Development is extremely impressive and dwarfs the size of any large-scale urban project in the GTA.
The Central Station development is the third phase of a massive urban renewal development started in 1975 and is the last section of available land on Chicago’s famous Lakeshore Dr.
High-density condo projects in Chicago peaked in value in the $500 to $600 per square foot range only just a couple of years ago, while today’s prices have dipped to approximately $300 per square foot, with some units in foreclosure going for even less. In the Toronto condo market, prices downtown have continued to escalate and, according to Urbanation, new openings are now averaging $565 per square foot.
The most recently completed tower in the Central Station development is the 62- and 54-floor Museum Park Towers, which overlooks the waterfront and Grant Park. Despite stunning skyline views and an incredible location, many buyers walked away from their deposits and the developer is now selling discounted units in the $350 to $500 per square foot range.
The suburban portion of the housing study featured America’s luxury builder, the Toll Brothers’ master-planned Bowes Creek golf course community in Elgin, Ill. Most residents from Southern Ontario would be surprised by just how much house one can purchase for so little in today’s U.S. housing market.
However, with prices in the 950-home project reduced 20 per cent since their peak a couple of years ago, and sale traffic down significantly, the project will certainly take longer to complete than originally planned. A typical 2,800-square-foot single-family home can be purchased for just under $400,000, and townhomes in the 1,700 to 1,800-square-foot range sell for as little as $237,000. All the homes all feature high ceilings, upgraded standard features, and open-concept layouts situated on very large lots with a city-run golf course just steps away.
A look at the American housing market is a quick reality check and reminder of just how good it is to be Canadian.
With our strong financial sector, strict mortgage lending criteria, lack of sub-prime lenders and responsible home builders that rarely build speculative product, we find ourselves in a far better situation than the U.S.
Home builders and home buyers across the GTA have been experiencing a slower housing market the last few months, but the experience of visiting and discussing real estate with our American counterparts certainly reveals not that we are lucky, but that specific building and lending practices helped insulate the Canadian economy from suffering the blows of a major global recession that has throttled and continues to ravage the American economy.
Michael Collins-Williams is a Registered Professional Planner and is the Director of Policy at the Ontario Home Builders’ Association. Go to wwaw.ohba.ca for more information.
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http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/reales...arket-tour-reveals-health-of-ontario-industry
Housing Study: Chicago market tour reveals health of Ontario industry
October 8, 2010
Michael Collins-Williams
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
More on Real Estate
Habitat for Humanity: A... Home abounds with custom... Treat your mortgage like a... Mother Nature is selling... Alterra: Living in a Post...
Most Read
Why (housing) bubbles aren...
Housing less affordable in...
Canadian home prices...
Absolutely brilliant
A peek at Colin and Justin...
Did you know?
On yourhome.ca you can search for real estate articles
Click now to search
CHICAGO—In a tale of two Great Lake cities, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the lake.
Gleaming skyscrapers and a rich history have sadly been unable to spare this great American city from feeling the effects of the worst recession the United States has experienced since the Great Depression. Back home in the GTA, after a brief pause in sales activity while global financial markets plummeted, the real estate market caught fire and took off for nearly a year before settling down to a more normalized and stable pace of sales activity.
During the past year, the housing market and residential construction across the Golden Horseshoe have been significant job creators and, unlike the U.S., this important sector of the economy has helped lift Ontario and Canada out of recession far sooner than our neighbours to the south. We certainly aren’t out of the woods yet, but the housing market along the shores of Lake Ontario is in far better shape than along the shores of Lake Michigan.
During a whirlwind housing tour of the windy city earlier this month — conducted by the Hamilton-Halton Home Builders’ Association and led by executive officer Doug Duke — we viewed firsthand a number of new housing developments struggling to swim against the tide in a depressed American housing market.
The tour group of home builders were surprised — not by the high quality of housing products being marketed, but by the significant price declines builders have offered in an attempt to drive sales traffic in a very quiet market. Builders are still building and buyers still exist, but prices have come down drastically since their peak a couple years ago and sales volumes are a fraction of what they were for most of the past decade. The Chicago experience certainly places the slowing of sales activity in the GTA and Hamilton areas in a very different perspective.
A visit to the Chicago South Loop and the Central Station urban renewal project by Enterprise Development is extremely impressive and dwarfs the size of any large-scale urban project in the GTA.
The Central Station development is the third phase of a massive urban renewal development started in 1975 and is the last section of available land on Chicago’s famous Lakeshore Dr.
High-density condo projects in Chicago peaked in value in the $500 to $600 per square foot range only just a couple of years ago, while today’s prices have dipped to approximately $300 per square foot, with some units in foreclosure going for even less. In the Toronto condo market, prices downtown have continued to escalate and, according to Urbanation, new openings are now averaging $565 per square foot.
The most recently completed tower in the Central Station development is the 62- and 54-floor Museum Park Towers, which overlooks the waterfront and Grant Park. Despite stunning skyline views and an incredible location, many buyers walked away from their deposits and the developer is now selling discounted units in the $350 to $500 per square foot range.
The suburban portion of the housing study featured America’s luxury builder, the Toll Brothers’ master-planned Bowes Creek golf course community in Elgin, Ill. Most residents from Southern Ontario would be surprised by just how much house one can purchase for so little in today’s U.S. housing market.
However, with prices in the 950-home project reduced 20 per cent since their peak a couple of years ago, and sale traffic down significantly, the project will certainly take longer to complete than originally planned. A typical 2,800-square-foot single-family home can be purchased for just under $400,000, and townhomes in the 1,700 to 1,800-square-foot range sell for as little as $237,000. All the homes all feature high ceilings, upgraded standard features, and open-concept layouts situated on very large lots with a city-run golf course just steps away.
A look at the American housing market is a quick reality check and reminder of just how good it is to be Canadian.
With our strong financial sector, strict mortgage lending criteria, lack of sub-prime lenders and responsible home builders that rarely build speculative product, we find ourselves in a far better situation than the U.S.
Home builders and home buyers across the GTA have been experiencing a slower housing market the last few months, but the experience of visiting and discussing real estate with our American counterparts certainly reveals not that we are lucky, but that specific building and lending practices helped insulate the Canadian economy from suffering the blows of a major global recession that has throttled and continues to ravage the American economy.
Michael Collins-Williams is a Registered Professional Planner and is the Director of Policy at the Ontario Home Builders’ Association. Go to wwaw.ohba.ca for more information.
Editor's picks
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