I moved to Toronto sixteen years ago with no intention of staying beyond my university years. I remember looking at this young, concrete city – frigid in winters, smouldering in summers and with only a CN Tower to brag about – and thinking: “one day I will live somewhere better”.
But then something happened.
Toronto became that “somewhere better”. Not even just better. Toronto became “it.” Like some sort of magic trick our city has literally – before your eyes and mine – jumped up on to the world stage. Denise Balkisson from the Globe and Mail nails it:
“Now, all of a sudden, Toronto is it. This is the place where NBAers want to party, where Jay-Z comes to find producers, where international multi-millionaires definitely need to have a fifth condo to hang out in.”
She’s right.
We have become the undisputed financial capital of Canada and fifth largest in North America. Our stock exchange is the seventh largest in the world and the World Economic Forum, in its annual global competitiveness reports, has singled out our banks as the soundest on the planet for the past seven years in a row. And speaking of banks, we are home to the headquarters of the country’s largest five, three of which rank among the world’s largest 25 banks by market capitalization. Forbes Magazine ranks Toronto the 10th most influential city in the WORLD. No wonder why our city has attracted more nationally and internationally top-ranked companies than any other Canadian city to date.
And then there’s the culture. Our rank as one of the world’s most multicultural and ethnically diverse cities exerts significant regional, national and international influence. The stats are incredible: 50% of our population was born outside of Canada and over 140 different languages are spoken within the city every day. As a result, ideas happen here. We have more performing arts venues than anyone else in Canada and the third largest film and television production industry on the continent.
Some more crazy stats: Toronto has North America’s largest continuous underground pedestrian system, the third largest public transit system on the continent, the tallest tower in the western hemisphere, the longest street in the world, an international airport, and globally acclaimed universities. Our violent crime rate is lower than that of any major U.S. metropolitan area making us one of the world’s safest cities to live in. It’s no wonder ‘The Economist’ called us this year “the best place to live in the world” based on 6 of its indexes. Meanwhile, according to ‘Metropolis’, an architecture and design publication, we’re “the most livable”. And according to Vogue, some of our neighbourhoods make us the coolest.
There’s no denying that Toronto is now a global city. We’re still pretty young against the New Yorks, the Londons, the Singapores and the Sydneys…but we’re part of that crowd now. It’s very exciting, don’t you think? We are becoming the place where people want to visit and where people want to move.
So it flabbergasts me when people gasp at Toronto Real Estate prices and ponder why they keep going up. I shake my head as to why the media and critics are still talking about prices evening out or even dropping. Do you really think it is? There’s corrections to every real estate market but the truth is, global cities appreciate at accelerated rates. Especially global cities that are still relatively inexpensive compared against other ones.
Proof in the pudding: Toronto’s soaring prices and year over year over year over year consistent gains:
In case you like numbers like I do, 10% appreciation on a $600,000 home is $60,000 made in one year. That’s insane…and so awesome if you own that place.
So what’s a Torontonian to do these days? Anything you want I say. But if buying Toronto Real Estate is something you want to do, don’t wait too long. Because the 200,000 newcomers to our city every year who want exactly what you want are going to take it from you at some point. Some point – dare I say – very soon.
Contact me, KARYN FILIATRAULT, to learn more about buying or selling Toronto Real Estate.
Like this article? Please share it 🙂