Over the past five years, York Region's high-rise condominium market has blossomed as owners of detached homes look to downsize.
Unlike the more-or-less master-planned "city centre" concepts adopted by several 905 suburbs hoping to spawn a hive of high-density developments, condominium activity in Richmond Hill and Vaughan is centred around transit corridors.
The arrival of the VIVA rapid transit bus two years ago travelling along Yonge Street and Highway 7 has given Richmond Hill enough of a transit identity to support a wave of new projects. But what is really feeding demand in this straight-laced suburban enclave is the high number of long-time residents who've raised families and are now looking to cash out on detached houses that have skyrocketed in value lately thanks to a shortage of land on which to develop new tract housing.
You also can't discount the fact that empty-nesters tend to prefer to stay in the same area where they've raised their families and where a lot of their friends still live.
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Richmond Hill high-rise buyers aren't exclusively from the empty-nester segment. Many suites are snapped up by investor-owners who will rent them out, and condominiums in this area attract a lot of interest from recent immigrants looking to stake out their first purchase in Canada.
When compared to the rest of the Greater Toronto high-rise market, Richmond Hill suites are priced at a significant discount, but on average they're also much bigger.
At the end of 2007, the average square-footage price for a Richmond Hill suite stood at $358 a square foot, about 10-per-cent higher than the average suite price of $325 at the end of 2006, according to data collected and published by RealNet Canada.
But the average total price of $409,092 is racked up based on the larger sizes of suites here, an average of 1,143 a square foot - big enough to accommodate much of the furniture a retired couple might have accumulated over the years without having to worry about discarding heirlooms and favourite pieces.
In fact, Richmond Hill is ranked fourth out of 18 high-rise submarkets by average suite size. On average, the condo suites here are almost 250 square feet larger than the rest of Greater Toronto.
Another unique factor of the Richmond Hill condominium market is the low number of suites still to be sold. As of the end of 2007, the market only had 148 new suites available for sale out of a total of 1,993 active suites either in pre-construction sales or under construction. That's an enviable burn rate in any market, but especially in the 905 where securing a deposit tends to take a little extra effort compared to downtown Toronto.
On the affordable side of the market is Parkview Tower, by Times Group Corp., located on Highway 7 west of Leslie Street. The project's two 12-storey towers are pretty close to sold out, but Parkview is considered something of a trailblazer for the area. Prices range from $280,000 to $296,000 for up to 1,051 square feet, with a parking space and locker included in the price.
Among the more popular upscale condominium projects, not just in Richmond Hill but throughout York Region and the 905, is Tridel's Renaissance on Yonge Street, just north of Major Mackenzie Drive.
This eight-storey project is under construction and set to receive occupants in its 104 units in early 2009. Prices start at $499,000 for 1,434 square feet and go up to $1.25-million for 2,845 square feet, with features that include a European-style design intended to mesh with the turn-of-the-century feel of Richmond Hill's old main street. An added bonus is that it's right next to the GO station.
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