Condo unit in Toronto sold for $140,000

Don't get all excited. This unit was not a bargain.

Blog TO (abridged)
Lauren O'Neil
22 January 2022

Owning a home of any type is getting increasingly difficult in Toronto, especially for first-time buyers, but there are still a few pockets of the city in which mind-boggling deals can be found.

A 320-unit condo complex at 4673 Jane Street is where you can find the least-expensive residence sold in Toronto throughout 2021 — as well as 2020 and 2019, for that matter.

First listed for $197,000, Unit 908 at the Jane Street apartments in North York sold for just $140,000 in October of last year, making it the cheapest condo sale within the 416, according to realtor Scott Ingram.

remarkably shabby

"The first thing one notices about the complex itself is its enormous size. Running up the east side of Jane, it combines mid-rise slabs and small street-level townhouses with tiny front yards. Entrances are also small and remarkably shabby. They set the tone for what follows, which, despite new cladding on the front facade, is rundown and depressing," he writes.

Whatever the case, Ingram says thirteen of the 15 condo sales under $200,000 in Toronto last year happened in one of the four buildings this unit belongs to.

"For the third year running (and probably more but I only started doing this for 2019), the least expensive sale in the city was in the same series of four buildings. They're located right on Jane, between Steeles and Finch," wrote Ingram in his annual MLS Awards roundup for 2021.

"Last year I commented how the cheapest one in 2019 sold for $85,000 (in 4645 Jane), and then it jumped to the cheapest one being $135,000 (4673 Jane St) in 2020, and how that sucked for affordability that the floor rose almost 60 per cent in one year."

The jump between 2020 and 2021 wasn't quite so high at just four per cent, but knowing Toronto, it'll only go up from here.

I hope you click on this link and read the entire article. Then click on this link and read the article that I wote several years ago. In part it states:

1615-1625 Bloor St. W. Mississauga

In 1973, I bought my first condo. My buying choice was between two new condominium developments: PCC # 26 at 1615 & 1625 Bloor Street East in Mississauga and YCC # 82 at 4645, 4673 & 4689 Jane Street.

At both sites, a two-bedroom unit with two-bathrooms cost $17,000. I picked the Mississauga location and I lived there in bliss for nine years.

When I sold my unit, I got $27,000. That worked out to be an average annual compounded increase of 6%. Not bad; not bad at all.

Prices at PCC # 26

Two-bedroom units at PCC # 26 now sell for $225,000, a price that is steadily creeping higher. Incredibly, that condo corporation has managed to continue to appreciate at compounded 6% per year over the last 42 years.

What about YCC # 82?

A unit that went for $17,000 in 1967 now sells for approximately $40,000 on power of sale. There seems to be a lot of power of sales. That works out to be an average annual compounded increase of 2%. Pretty grim.

How do those prices stack up?

In 1973, a unit in both corporations cost approximately ten times the price of a new Toyota Corolla. Today, you can buy eleven basic Toyota Corollas for the price of a unit at PCC # 26 and only two Toyota Corollas for the selling price of a unit at YCC # 82.

I suggest that you read the complete chapter: “Neglected condo corporations”.

Unfortunately, there is more bad news. I will be posting yet one more article about YCC #82 shortly.

“The land has to be worth more than the decaying condo. Nobody come and offer a buyout and redevelopment? With rents no doubt it’s a cash cow for some.”
—R. Brampton

I believe that a developer showed interest in buying out the owners years ago when the the price of units, on power of sale, were as low as $32,000.

In 2021, units sold for $120,000-$140,000. Today they are worth less—a lot less. (Read my next posting to see why.)

If they sell, what can the owners do with the proceeds? (Take into account legal fees and moving costs.) They got to live somewhere. You can’t buy anything south of Moonbeam, Ontario for that kind of money. Renting a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto costs $25,000 a year.

Even landlord-investors may have trouble making money renting units in rundown condo buildings as there is always the threat of expensive Special Assessments arriving unexpectedly.
—editor