New GTA condos get bigger, more expensive \u2014 so are families buying?<\/a><\/strong>\r\n <\/div><\/p>\nCrook\u2019s blog, \u201c5 Kids 1 Condo,\u201d details his life living in a 1,023 square-foot condo in Vancouver with his partner and five children. Families in Vancouver face similar affordability issues, with the average price of a single detached home in Metro Vancouver coming in at just over $1.5 million last month.<\/p>\n
Crook tells BuzzBuzzNews that affordability and lifestyle are two of the main reasons he prefers the condo lifestyle.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiving here is cheaper in many ways, then if we lived in suburbs,\u201d Crook says. \u201cI don\u2019t have to have a car, we don\u2019t have a big house to take care of. But there\u2019s also the benefit of an urban lifestyle \u2014 the health outcomes related to the walkability of living in dense urban environments are huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crook says that families looking to buy their first home should consider how much space in a single detached home they would actually use.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you really look at how much space you use in your house on a frequent basis, it\u2019s much less than you think,\u201d he says. \u201cFor every 1,000 square-feet of house space, you\u2019re probably only using 400.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to concerns about a lack of community, Crook says plenty of kids live in his building, and he believes more are on the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are about 60 kids in our buildings alone,\u201d he says. \u201cWe certainly feel like we have a community here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moving forward, it seems likely that the number of families living in condos will only continue to grow. While the rate of total families in the region rose only 3.9 per cent between 2011 and 2016, the percentage of families living in condos rose 8.9 per cent, according to Census data.<\/p>\n
Developers are also taking note of families looking for kid-friendly units. In August, Altus group data found that the average size of a condo unit in the GTA was 871 square feet, an increase from 801 square feet the year before.<\/p>\n
New developments, such as Tridel\u2019s Bianca on Dupont Street in Toronto\u2019s west end, are featuring units as large as 1,500 to 1,600 square feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat building\u2026 was designed for end users looking for a bigger product,\u201d Tridel executive VP sales and marketing Jim Ritchie told BuzzBuzzNews.<\/p>\n
Johnston says increasingly large units, coupled with buyer demand, will see the number of families living in condos continue to grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI certainly think this a trend we\u2019re going to see continue, moving forward,\u201d says Johnston. \u201cWhen you look at affordability issues \u2014 how much cheaper it is to buy a condo over a low-rise home, especially in a market like Toronto \u2014 more families will be making the move.\u201d<\/p>\n
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