Toronto condo construction towers over the Big Apple

TORONTO - Emporis, a construction industry researcher from Germany, has provided some more fodder for the bubble debate over Toronto’s condo market.

In its latest look at the number of sky-rises going up in North American cities this month, Toronto once again comes out on top by a wide margin. With 130 new towers under construction across the skyline, Canada’s largest city easily beats out New York City’s 91 projects.

That Toronto has been undergoing a multi-year development boom that likely rivals the city’s biggest on record isn’t new – Emporis for its part has been tracking development numbers since 2011 and Toronto has been the North American leader over that time.

But the number of condo towers going up relative to other markets is startling. Of the 130 towers being built in Toronto, 116, or nine in ten, contain condos. That compares to a relatively tame 32 of 91 projects in NYC.

Condo builders see a robust 2014 market

Ask the leading condominium developers in the Greater Toronto Area how they’re feeling about the 2014 highrise market, and you’ll hear “confident,” “optimistic” and “bullish.”

Indeed, the mood was positive when Jim Ritchie, senior vice-president sales and marketing for Tridel Corp.; Riz Dhanji, vice-president of sales and marketing for Canderel Residential Inc.; Jared Menkes, development manager for Menkes Developments; CentreCourt Developments president Andrew Hoffman; and Lanterra Developments principal Mark Mandelbaum — along with George Carras, president of RealNet Canada Inc. market research — gathered for a round table discussion at the Star. Danny Roth, principal of Brandon Communications, moderated.

discipline, however, and they stress it is industry discipline that ensures the market’s continued sustainability.

In Toronto Condo War, a New Perk: Workout With Madonna

Who better to promote Toronto’s slumping condo market than the Material Girl.

Madonna, whose 2012 tour was the top-grossing act of the year worldwide with $296.1 million in revenue, will lead an “Addicted to Sweat” dance class next month at her Hard Candy Fitness studio inside Aura, a new 78-story condo tower in Toronto. The luxury development will also feature a sculpture-studded public gallery, a marble-lined lobby and a five-bedroom penthouse priced at C$18.4 million ($17 million).

Condo sales decline

The number of new condominiums sold in Toronto dropped by eight per cent in the third quarter, the smallest decline of the year but still on track to see the city sell less than half the number of new condos as were sold in 2011.

Market tracking company Urbanation said Wednesday that a total of 3,049 new condominium apartments were sold between June and September, down eight per cent from the same three months a year ago.