Builders are always looking for bargains, so it caused quite a stir when a pleasant backsplit went on the market in North York’s Willowdale area earlier this month for what may have seemed like a crazy amount to anyone else — $1.1 million.
All that counted to the dozens of interested builders who filed through the front door the first two frantic days was the patch of grass and asphalt on which the house has stood since 1961 — all 40 by 131 feet of it.
By Day 3 some 17 offers had been registered. The best was for $1.551 million — more than $400,000 over the asking price.
“Seventeen isn’t so crazy. That’s happening a lot here now,” says long-time next-door neighbour Johnny Yoon, who is also a realtor in this booming Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave. area.
This once-sleepy suburban neighbourhood is one of the hottest real estate markets in Toronto right now, partly due to demand from wealthy Persians and Chinese.
All that foreign interest has spurred a staggering remake of this quiet residential pocket that started some years ago but has exploded, this year in particular, in bidding wars for its relatively tiny postwar homes, simply because of lots, which tend to average 50 feet, but can stretch in some cases to 70 or 90 feet.
It’s also helped skew overall real estate values for Toronto as original houses are replaced with new ones coming on the market at two to three times the former price.
“It’s pretty easy for me to understand why people are doing this — the economics are completely in line with the market when you consider that a detached house in the City of Toronto is worth over $1 million now.
“It’s definitely changing the character of neighbourhoods and it’s certainly not good for affordability. But it’s inevitable. We’re becoming a victim of our own success as a city.”
Values have especially skyrocketed in central Willowdale because its quiet, tree-lined streets are close to two subway lines (Yonge and Sheppard), highways, top-ranked schools and a host of big-city amenities — all of that now at a discount, thanks to the weak Canadian dollar.
“It’s just becoming the Wild West,” says area councillor John Filion who has a dedicated staff member charged with keeping on top of rebuilding requests.
“We have bylaws for a reason and you are supposed to have a good reason to vary them, and a good reason isn’t because you want to make more money.”
Out with the old …
328 Princess Ave.
50 by 131 foot lot
Listed Feb. 26, 2015 $1.28 million
Sold Feb. 27, 2015 $1.518 million
328 Princess Ave, which sold for $1.518 million in February.
331 Princess Ave.
50 by 133 foot lot
Listed March 28, 2015 $1.288 million
Sold March 30, 2015 $1.568 million
331 Princess Ave, which sold for $1.568 million in March 2015.
395 Empress Ave.
50 by 125.5 foot lot
Listed March 16, 2015 $1.288 million
Sold March 26, 2015 $1.534 million
395 Empress Ave, which sold for $1.534 million in March 2015.
Willowdale by the numbers:
46.8 % — GTA house price growth in past 5 years
63.5 % — Willowdale house price growth in past 5 years
$230 to $250 per square foot — average cost of top-of-the-line rebuild
$1.5+ million — average price of original house on 40-foot lot
$1.7+ million — average price of original house on 50-foot lot
13 — applications to sever lots in 2012
20 — applications to sever lots just to October 2015
177 — applications for variances to build bigger homes in 2012
247 — applications for variances just to October 2015
Please read the full post in Toronto Star
