For all the maddening construction caused by the creation of the upcoming Eglinton Crosstown LRT, the consolation for many condo owners along the transit line is that their properties have drastically increased in value.
Real estate platform Strata.ca has released a report that examines how condo values have changed since first phase of construction of the Eglinton Crosstown began back in 2011. While condo values have increased significantly throughout Toronto in the past decade (regardless of the Eglinton Crosstown), with an appreciation rate of 72% from 2016-present date and 117% from 2011 to present, most of those along the transit line are outpacing these figures.
“Any difference in values can certainly be attributed to the luxury of being near a new transit line,” says Strata.ca's Broker of Record.
The perpetually delayed transit line stretches 19 kilometres across Eglinton Avenue from the new Mount Dennis station at Weston Road all the way to Kennedy station in Scarborough. It adds a total of 25 new subway stations.
To reveal the most accurate picture, the Strata.ca team calculated the average cost per-square-foot (PSF) for all condominiums within a 900-metre radius around all future 25 stops. They also identified every new condo development since 2011 within the same radius.
According to the data, the condos clustered around the stations furthest east and west on the transit line have seen the highest appreciation rates since 2016. Most notably, the condos near Kennedy Station (+135%), Ionview station (+134%), and Keelesdale station (+103%) saw the largest price surges.
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Property values began to creep up five years ago, when the transit line had slowly but surely began to materialize, says Strata.ca. The average cost PSF around Scarborough’s Kennedy station, furthest east on the line, was $212 in 2016. Currently in 2021, it’s sitting at $500; a stunning increase of 135%. Around Ionview station, one stop over, condo values have skyrocketed in the same time period by 134%.
On the westerly portion of Line 5, properties surrounding Mount Dennis station have seen a relatively modest increase of 67% (notably, less than the city's average) since 2016. But head one stop east to Keelesdale, and nearby condo prices have risen 103%.
Despite the new real estate opportunities typically offered by the introduction of new transit infrastructure, however, developers have focused predominantly on Line 5’s most central stations, ones located closest to the existing Yonge line of the TTC.
As Strata reports, since 2011, a total of 44 new condos have taken shape have along the new transit system. But of those shiny new condo buildings, more than half were concentrated around just two midtown stations: Yonge-Eglinton (16 new condos) and Mount Pleasant (13 new condos). Interestingly, in the past five years, property values near both of these stations have risen 63% – a relatively modest figure compared to the appreciation rates seen elsewhere along the system.
Further east or west along Line 5, it’s a very different story when it comes to new condos. Within a 900-metre radius of Kennedy, Ionview, and Birchmount stations, no new developments have been built so far. On the west end of the line, Mount Dennis, Keelesdale, and Caledonia stations have seen just three new condos appear in the past 10 years.
“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. But the housing supply hasn’t been able to keep up with this new demand, and the data certainly illustrates that,” explains Robert Van Rhijn, Broker of Record at Strata.ca.
The new transit line makes places like Scarborough and York Crosstown seem less dauntingly far from the Toronto core – something that’s clearly reflected in their over 100% increase in property values.
According to Cliff Liu, those who own property alone line 5, but in less affluent neighbourhoods, will benefit the most from the rise in property values. “If you own in an area that has yet to be gentrified, you’re definitely at an advantage. It may take several years, but the Eglinton Crosstown will breathe new life into these traditionally overlooked pockets,” explains Liu.
Not everyone is as excited about the LRT – rising real estate prices or not. Just ask some Leaside residents.
“I’ve spoken to clients in Leaside, for example, and some of them aren’t thrilled about having an LRT run through their neighbourhood. It makes their community more accessible to the masses, and they worry this may actually bring their property values down,” says Liu.
Only time will tell. In the meantime, construction continues.
