Expert homebuying advice from Sunny Bao, Aoyuan International (Eastern Canada)

Due to COVID-19 and other factors, prospective new-home buyers are more carefully weighing location, housing type, design and amenities – and affordability – than ever before.

To help you understand all the issues to make a better, more informed homebuying decision, we went to some of the industry’s top builders and developers for expert advice, as part of our 2021 Builders' Annual.

What advice would you like to offer new-home buyers, as we approach 2022?

With the unprecedented escalation in some construction materials that occurred in 2021, and that imbalanced supply and demand issues remain, we can expect GTA housing prices to continue to climb. Hence, I will echo what some in the industry are advocating – don’t wait to buy, but buy and wait.

As the industry is adapting into COVID-19, we are seeing that preconstruction launch activities are picking up, more so for the downtown area. This provides a variety of offerings for investors, so it is important for buyers to do their due diligence by visiting the neighbourhood, “kicking the tires” and understanding the overall development plan for the area. Of course, we expect some of the pandemic-driven behaviours will remain for the foreseeable future – residents preferring space and overall livability of the area over location, solely. So, the overall appetite and investment value for suburban or non-downtown areas are likely to remain high.

There’s been a lot of discussion about wellness and new home design to address emerging needs coming out of the pandemic. What’s your take on this?

This is likely to be a permanent rather than temporary change. As people spent more time at home, the need to incorporate parcel delivery-friendly systems, creating suitable common elements, such as enlarged fitness space and additional work-flex infrastructures, became more important than ever. Smart building features that include touchless technology in common spaces will also be valued by residents.

What is it about your company or projects that differentiates you in the marketplace, that you’d like to stress to prospective new-home buyers?

We believe that purchasing a new home isn’t just buying a room with four walls, it’s about embracing a healthy lifestyle. From land acquisition to development, we try to bring out the unique character of each site and incorporate Aoyuan’s philosophy to bring soul to each project. At M2M, we aim to satisfy the need of the demographic and the neighbourhood by offering family-oriented products, coupled with the right residential and neighbourhood amenities, including a public park, a more than 46,000-sq.-ft. community centre and 11,000 sq. ft. of daycare space. This is a great example of how we bring “building a healthy lifestyle” to life in North York. Our upcoming downtown Toronto project will follow suit in terms of the development process, but for a very different target audience. We are excited to share more details of this project as they become available, so stay tuned.

How is your company addressing the affordability issue? We recently had a federal election, and all the major parties promised to address housing supply and affordability.

We believe that having a healthy lifestyle shouldn’t be unaffordable. We’ve been developing products that aim to maximize horizontal and vertical space by leveraging our unique strength from successfully developing residentials in some of the most expensive and highest density cities in the world. At M2M, we have units that are ideal for multi-generational living, maximizing livability and affordability. Also, in our first phase of M2M, Aoyuan’s A First Home program focused on smaller one-bedroom and one-bedroom plus den suites, and received tremendous response. We were able to offer great suites at a price that helped first-time homebuyers realize their dreams and get into the housing market.

If you had the opportunity to speak directly to the Prime Minister on this topic, what would your advice be?

We believe that the affordability issue should be addressed for Canadians. To rebalance the supply side of the equation would be crucial in addressing affordability. This may be effectively addressed by inducing the private and public sector to deliver more supply via government backed programs, accelerating the planning approval process for developers, and increasing density among transit hubs. Also, measures in making mortgages affordable for appropriate homebuyers would be welcomed by the public.

aoyuaninternational.com