Condo prices near the Eglinton Crosstown LRT are already skyrocketing
The Eglinton Crosstown LRT hasn’t opened yet, but condo prices along the under-construction transit line have already seen staggering appreciation rates.
A new report from Strata.ca analyzed the average cost per sq ft for all condos around the 25 planned stops on the upcoming line and found that condo values near these stations have increased as much as 135% since 2011, when construction first began.
The Eglinton Crosstown LRT, which has already had its opening date pushed back multiple times, — most recently to fall 2022 — is now facing further delays due to a legal dispute between the construction company and the Province. When it does eventually open, it will span from Kennedy Station in Scarborough to the new Mount Dennis station at Eglinton and Weston Road.
Metrolinx
According to the Strata.ca report, condos clustered around some of the most eastern and western stations saw the greatest appreciation rates. Since 2016, prices near Kennedy station have gone up a whopping 135% — the highest out of any of the stations.
Its neighbouring station, Ionview, saw similar increases, with condos there appreciating by an average of 134%. Over on the western side, condo prices near the upcoming Keelesdale station at Keele and Eglinton rose 103%.
Strata.ca realtor Larry Medina says he has been advising clients to buy near the Eglinton Crosstown LRT because of the increasing prices — something he himself has done.
“As we get closer to opening day, real estate prices are starting to pick up even more around here,” Medina said. “I mean, in our neighbourhood […] we went from $522 per square foot to nearly $640 in just 12 months.”
Broker Cliff Liu says that buyers who purchase a condo in less affluent areas along the new line will benefit the most.
“If you own in an area that has yet to be gentrified, you’re definitely at an advantage,” Liu said. “It may take several years, but the Eglinton Crosstown will breathe new life into these traditionally overlooked pockets.”
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And it’s not just the prices that have been going up either. The number of new condo buildings has increased too, particularly near Eglinton Crosstown’s most central stations.
Since 2011, a total of 44 new condo buildings have gone up within a 900-metre radius of all 25 stops, but more than half of those are concentrated around two stations: Yonge-Eglinton with 16 new condo buildings and Mount Pleasant with 13 new condo buildings. Condo values near both of these stations have risen 63% in the past five years.
The three most eastern stations — Kennedy, Ionview, and Birchmount — have seen just three new developments in the past 10 years, which Strata.ca Broker of Record Robert Van Rhijn says can explain the skyrocketing prices there.
“Many homebuyers want to live near this new transit line, and being further from Yonge is no problem if you can now get to the core quite easily,” Van Rhijn says. “But the housing supply hasn’t been able to keep up with this new demand, and the data certainly illustrates that.”
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