Addressing Concerns related to Condo Market/High rise Investments

SYED HASSAN

Royal Le-Page, Royal Brokers

Year 2020, will be remembered in history. This year has left unprecedented impact on everyone, every sector all over the world.

Fortunately the Canadian Real Estate Market and especially the Ontario Real Estate market are among the few lucky sectors. The real estate market remained strong and steady, during this time of the pandemic thanks to the strong financial support by our federal and provincial government.

Still the Condo market has shown weakness and problems in rental and sale. The Condo rental vacancy rate is getting higher by the day and it’s hard to sell condos these days.

The common factors bringing the Condo market down are:

1. Restrictions and closures in city hubs 2. Working from home, not from offices, especially in the downtown core where everything is almost empty 3. Students in Universities studying virtually from home, not returning to campuses and not occupying condos as their place of residence 4. All short term rentals are almost gone, due to lack of travel and restrictions 5. Buyers tend to buy single homes instead of condos to get more space and have the option of working from home. 6. Covid: Sense of more safety in single homes as compared to Condos. Problem areas could be: social distancing, elevators, common areas, closed areas etc. 7. Return on investment is uncertain.

Response and Reasons

The key term is wait and patience. The Condo market will improve soon. Good news is that the Vaccine is around the corner. Once the vaccine rolls out, city life will start coming

back to life. Travel will not only be back but will be booming in coming years as people will come out of isolation and will travel. Short term rentals will be on the rise again. Malls, tourism, jobs, education amongst other things will bring demand for Condos back very quickly.

Immigration will be opened and will return to normal which will increase demand for condos and city living. Do not sell your condo for at least the next 2 years and do not disturb your relationship with your tenant, when it comes to talk of increasing the rent or vacating your current tenant.

All metropolitan cities have their special place in real estate all over the world. This Pandemic has had an effect on all businesses.

Trends are showing that the return to normalcy will be fast and aggressive.

Author: Syed Hassan, Broker, Royal Lepage Exceptional Professional and Educational Background

B.Sc. Electrical Engineer, Real Estate Broker, Financial Advisor, IQCS Certified Lead Auditor & Consultant for ISO Management and Environmental Standards, Certified Total Quality Manager.

Professional Experience and Affiliations

MB Group of companies, Royal Le-Page Exceptional, Royal Brokers, American Express Bank of Canada, Budget Rent a Car, Moody’s, SGS, PIQC.