Humber Bay

The history of the Humber Bay neighbourhood began in 1888 with the opening of the first Humber Bay schoolhouse on High Street. Since then the neighbourhood has seen many changes. The latest change has been brought about by the huge appetite for lakefront condos in Toronto. The motels that once line the waterfront are gone replaced by world class condominiums, each laying claim to lake views of the city skyline.

Recently, 2006 figures released by Statistics Canada showed that Toronto grew by only 0.9% from the last census in 2001. The greater Toronto area however grew by 9.2% suggesting that the city was not keeping pace.

Actually, the City of Toronto added the most private dwellings from 2001 to 2006 in all of Canada, with 75,043 new homes constructed. More than 51% of these new dwellings were Condominiums compared with less than 8% in the suburbs.

More than 113,000 new Condominiums were sold in the Toronto metropolitan area in the last 10 years making the city one of the largest Condominium markets in North America. New Condominium development continues to reach new highs in Toronto. New Condominium sales are now a record high of 40% of total new home sales, up from 27% in 2001.

Research shows that more than half of these new Condominium purchasers were first time buyers followed by long-term investors(intending to rent out their units), ageing Baby Boomers or empty nesters and divorced or remarriage families.

An analysis of new Condominium apartment supply in Toronto over the last five years shows the majority (49%) were smaller one-bedroom and one-bedroom-plus den units, followed by two-bedroom and two-bedroom-plus-den (39%) suites. The demand for these affordable, smaller, good quality suites, has been proof the developers responded correctly to this market segment.

Lately, there has been a shift towards more two-bedroom and two-bedroom-plus-den suites being offered in new Condominium projects in response to growing demand from move-up buyers, older now and earning higher salaries and possibly now with a partner (dual income). This segment of the Condo market is looking for more space but much prefer downtown locations, with all the conveniences of a Condo lifestyle.

Condominium developers are required to sell 70% of their units before any bank financing can be provided for project design, architectural, marketing or construction costs. Because of this, developers respond very quickly to these new market demands as we have seen in the past where redesign involves more smaller suites or lately, more larger suites.