If you live in Toronto, you’ve probably seen some kind of building construction throughout the city.
While the city is known for its demand in condos that sees investors seeking income property and home-hunters looking to buy a home to live in, this year construction of new apartment buildings is also booming, reaching a 25-year high, according to research firm Urbanation Inc.
Some people can’t afford the price of a condo, which may explain the number of rental apartments popping up across the city. There are 26 apartment buildings under construction in Toronto and there may be 43 more to come.
Below is an interactive map of where some of the apartments are being built.
Urbanation Inc. suggests the rise in apartment construction is due partly to demand from millennials who cannot afford to buy condos or houses.
According to Toronto realtor, Addy Saeed, the growth spurt could be due to a number of reasons.
“Toronto has a huge input of people that are moving into the city, including immigrants who are coming into Canada and not all of them can exactly afford a house or condo,” Saeed said.
Saeed says many millennials are still paying off their student loans and should focus on that while saving money for possible future down payments and investments. He also suggests paying off credit card bills on time, keeping an eye on credit scores, and if there’s a dispute with any of their service providers, making sure it gets resolved right away.
A typical new one-bedroom condo in the downtown core would require a minimum of 20 per cent down payment, whereas an older condos can require less, sometimes as low as 5 per cent.
While condos can be expensive to buy, many are available for renters and decent deals can be found.
When searching for a place to rental, Lauren Weisz, 29, lucked out. She and her boyfriend found a one-bedroom condo near Union Station in the heart of the city. They have to pay $3,000 to cover their first and last month’s rent and hydro. The unit comes with a dishwasher and washing machine and the building has a gym.
“One year of your life goes by so fast, and if we’re like ‘you know what, we don’t like this area much,’ no big deal, next year we can move,” Weisz said.
And it looks like they will have plenty of options if they do change their mind. Almost 15,000 new units, from both condo and apartment buildings, are set to hit the rental market every year during the next couple years.