As real estate activity slows down due to the coronavirus, sellers of preconstruction condominium apartments are finding the old reliable methods to shift units just don’t work under a physical distancing regime. To carry on, developers are trying everything from virtual sales centres to price guarantees.
A presale contract is essentially a bet on the future value of a condominium apartment, and the economic uncertainty wrought by the pandemic has pushed Toronto condominium builder Lifetime Development to make an unheard-of guarantee for the 280-unit Liberty Market Tower, Phase 3 of a development in Liberty Village. Unheard of, because for the past decade or more of rising values, it has been hard to imagine a Toronto-area condo presale unit selling late in a cycle for less than the early access sales price.
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“We launched [sales] a month and a half before we rant into COVID situation, sales were progressing really well. Prior to the slowdown we released 70 per cent of the building, and sold 85 [per cent] to 90 per cent,” said Brian Brown, principal at Lifetime who said the guarantee is to reassure buyers. “When we do get back to business on a normal scale, we don’t see pricing coming down. Whether you buy today or wait three months, nothing is going to change … if you’re looking today, you don’t need to wait three months.”
There are some conditions unique to the Liberty building, for one thing it’s already under construction; the parking garage was already built, and the above-ground structural work has reached the fourth floor. Mr. Brown estimates completion in as little as 18 months, much shorter than the typical five-year wait for preconstruction condo buyers.