Is The Future in... Condominiums?

When condominiums were introduced in the seventies, they were mainly a "big city" phenomenon.

Most sales activity was concentrated in a few major urban markets.

Condo buyers typically consisted of three groups:

• empty nesters - retirees
• single professionals
• young couples with small children.

This last group was originally attracted to condos as a cheaper housing alternative.

Condos were seen as merely a "stepping stone" towards moving up to a traditional residential home.

However, the proportion of condo buyers represented by young families has dropped off over past years. The current trend is that people are buying condos – not as a cheaper housing alternative – but rather as a lifestyle choice.

This is particularly true in the area of vacation properties , where buyers want to invest a minimum of their time maintaining a property – and the maximum amount of time enjoying a range of leisure activities and facilities.

To accommodate this trend, newer condominium developments have put more focus on luxurious appointments, and a wide range of recreational amenities. In fact, luxury condominiums are even being built around such facilities as golf courses, community centers, nature trails or marinas.

As our population ages, more and more people don’t want to be tied down to their property. There are now more than nine million [Canadian] baby boomers who have either already inherited, or are poised to inherit their parents wealth.

They will be retiring at a far younger age than earlier generations, and with more disposable income than their predecessors. These more affluent retirees will want more time for recreation and hobbies. The end result will be more upscale luxury condominiums in more communities across the continent.

Another growing group of condo owners are young single professionals, particularly single women, who are seeing condo living as a way to build equity and security without the labour intensive demands of other forms of residential housing.

All these trends will contribute to a continuing demand for the condo lifestyle, which in turn will help to maintain good re-sale values for condominiums versus other forms of freehold real estate.

It’s not surprising then that smaller communities are also seeing increased condo activity. People in smaller centers initially felt that condos would never catch on. Land was relatively cheap, so lower cost housing wasn’t needed.

Now, the trend to luxury condominiums as a lifestyle choice will continue to support the future of the condo in markets across the continent. Ask a real estate agent to tell you more about the benefits and advantages of condo living, and the properties available in your local market.