January 1, 2011: Real estate sales in Roncesvalles Village have been brisk this year, and the number of sold properties exceeded the total sales of 2009 by 24%. 123 properties changed hands in Roncesvalles Village last year. Average selling price rose by 4.6%, but that number was skewed by the fact that many more condominium lofts were sold. While 29 lofts were sold in 2009, 47 sold last year. That is a 50% increase in sales. Since condos are smaller and less expensive than the freehold homes, the average price was thus substantially lowered.

If only freehold homes were taken into consideration, 71 homes sold in 2009 at an average of $626,920, while in 2010 77 homes sold at an average of $678,883 - an 8.3% increase.

Lofts gained in the average price as well, from $355,652 in 2009 to $402,503 - a 13.2% increase.

Fourteen attached homes sold at an average of $583,588, with eleven of them selling above the asking price, one at asking, and the remaining two for 99% and 98%. The average ratio of of list price was 106.4%. and the average time to sell was 10 days.

35 semi-detached homes sold for $632,331 on average (105.8% of list price), with twenty seven of them selling at or above asking, and only one selling 6% below. The average time to sell was 11 days, with a third selling within a week.

27 detached homes had an average of $782,302 sale price (101.8% of list), and fifteen of them sold at or above asking price. Average time to sell for detached homes was two weeks for most, while four took, on average, 72 days.

Freehold homes took, on average, 15 days from the time of listing to the firm sale. more than half of freehold homes sold within ten days, but two properties required two months each of market exposure, and one took 2.5 months.

The average sale-to-list price ratio for freehold residences was 104.5%, higher by 1% from the last year's results, with twenty two listings selling below asking price (seventeen of these only marginally), ten for the asking price, and forty four above asking. Out of those selling above asking fifteen sold for 110% or more, and four for 120% and more.

47 lofts were sold in 2010. Lofts were taking a bit longer time to sell. On average, they required about three weeks from the time of listing to the firm sale, but part of that delay was due to the necessity of fulfilling the status certificate condition, which can take up to a couple of weeks. Only four lofts sold below 95% of the asking price, nine sold for the asking price, and twelve sold above asking.  Average sale to list price ratio for lofts was 99.5%.

One sale was recorded in April in the Baseball Glove Factory lofts on Columbus. It was a large space and a truly excellent buy at $320 per square foot.

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Graphs shown below illustrate the current state of real estate activity in Roncesvalles Village and compare it to the data from 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The graph above shows the number of sales in each month, since January 2007. You may notice the slump in sales that was observed across the board in Toronto in Novamber 2008, December 2008, January and February 2009. But the sales rebounded in March, and by June reached the 2008 activity level. Nothing, however, compares to the number of sales reached in the fall of 2007 - a result of a rush on homes and condos before Toronto Land Transfer Tax comes into effect.

The difference in average prices between January - February 2008 and January - February 2009 is staggering. But by 2010 the homes in Roncesvalles Village have gradually gained their pre-recession values back, with the average price since April above the values reached in the same months of previous years, with an exception of July, August and November, when a larger proportion of lower priced lofts dragged the average prices down.

This graph shows differences in average selling prices for attached, semi-detached and detached homes, and for lofts in Roncesvalles Village. It gives a better picture of the rising property values. Changes in sale numbers of different types of properties make the total price averages less reliable. When we compare the same types of properties, we can see that the average values have been on the rise in all categories.

To bring some light into the statistical information, the graph above illustrates the proportion of properties of various types that were sold in the Village in 2010. Please notice a very large proportion of lofts. The large proportion of lofts among sold listings brings the total average price down.

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Roncesvalles Village

A popular shopping and dining destination, Roncesvalles Village is presently being dug up... Major portion of Roncesvalles Avenue is still reduced to one northbound lane, although the large hole in the centre has been closed and paved over. The traffic is extremely difficult, with only a few intersections allowing for both pedestrian and motorized traffic crossing the street. It is, of course, impossible to park on Roncesvalles, and parking on the small streets is hard to find. Businesses, located mostly on the east side of Roncesvalles Avenue, are suffering. And more digging, apparently, is to resume in 2010.

Current state of the neighbourhood is not encouraging to market a home, and it is not surprising that only few properties are being listed for sale. The ones that become available sell very quickly, most with multiple offers, and well above the asking price.

Toronto's Roncesvalles Village is adjacent to the south High Park to the west and Parkdale to the east and south. The area is defined by Queen Street West, Roncesvalles Avenue, Dundas Street West, train tracks and Macdonell Avenue. North-east part of this area contains a number of old factory buildings, which are gradually being converted into lofts.

All east-west streets have one-way traffic, some of them with a maximum speed limit of 30 km/h. All streets are beautifully treed, and there is very little traffic noise.

Roncesvalles Village is a popular destination for home buyers. For several past years the area east of Roncesvalles Avenue grew in popularity, as young professionals moved in and more properties were renovated and modernized. By now many of the old homes acquired beautiful, modern interiors. Buyers who would once search in North Toronto find here residences that offer more space and equal sophistication.

The area was once frowned upon, and considered undesirable. Now no longer called a part of Parkdale, it became attractive as other, more established areas were growing out of mid-range prices and affordability became a major issue.

One-way streets, easy access to schools, transportation, parks and excellent shopping meant that moving-up buyers were more inclined to stay in their neighbourhood, purchasing larger homes, often on the same street.

Home style varies here from beautiful Victorian, sometimes with elaborate brickwork and detailed woodwork, through Edwardian, American Foursquare and some more recently built flat-roofed East-European residences, popular around 1950s. Majority of homes in this area are semi-detached residences either two, two and a half, or three storey high. Detached houses are mostly 2.5-storey, with a small number of 3-storey homes, and a handful of bungalows.

We watched the real estate price change as the popularity of this neighbourhood grew. While in the early 1990s it was rather unusual to see a house located east of Roncesvalles selling above $300,000, by 2006 it was rare to see a property sell below that price. It is not unusual now to see listing prices above $700,000 and we have even seen homes being listed and sold over one million.

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If you have specific questions regarding this neighbourhood, available listings or recent sales, please contact us at [email protected] .