Embracing the highrise condo life

I get a kick out of reading the comments section on any article written about the Canadian highrise condo market. A common statement in many of these articles is “why would anyone want to live in a glass box?” I am willing to wager a guess that most of the folks making this remark have never lived in a downtown condo.

Nearly 15 years ago I lived in a basement apartment in Richmond Hill and was searching for a professionally managed rental apartment building in the suburbs. The lack of available properties led me to lease a suite in midtown Toronto. At first I hated it, too much traffic, no places to park, too busy. However, within a few months, I started to really enjoy the access to amenities, how quickly and cheaply I could move around the city via public transit, and I began to feed off the excitement and energy that a high-density municipality exudes. A couple years later I bought a loft condo and have never looked back – maintenance free living in the big city is perfect for me.

For my latest Market Manuscript report (a robust bi-annual analysis of the Canadian housing market, due for release this month), I conducted a survey of Canadian residential developers and builders, asking them: What is the biggest factor influencing urban highrise condominium activity in Canada? 44 per cent of respondents mentioned affordability and 36 per cent said proximity to amenities like employment and entertainment. There are probably a lot of people living in ‘glass boxes’ because it is the only housing type they can afford, but I bet a lot of them were like me, and enjoyed the highrise experience more than they thought they would. I agree with the developers I surveyed, people are putting a premium on their time, and they don’t want to spend it stuck in traffic – they want to be very close to amenities. Additionally, they don’t want the huge expense of a car, which is a must when you are not close to anything.

Who wants to live in a glass box? An increasing number of people according to the CMHC data. In the Calgary CMA, over 27,000 condominium apartments have been built since 2005, 63 per cent more than the previous 10 years. In Vancouver, 84,000 condos completed since 2005, 62 per cent more than the 1995 to 2004 period. In the Toronto CMA, over 158,000 condo suites have occupied since the beginning of 2005, an increase of 170 per cent from the 10 years prior.

Anyone that spends their Friday night in Toronto’s King West neighbourhood (especially the single people), can appreciate what it’s like to live ‘in the action’. Buying an affordable, modern designed highrise condo with quick access to your job, your friends, and all of the downtown amenities, are all the reasons many young first-time buyers need. Different strokes for different folks, but before you throw stones at the Canadian condo boom, realize that hundreds of thousands of domestic purchasers are seeing the benefits of urban highrise living. About time some people started thinking outside the (glass) box. Happy condo hunting.