I think you will see more and more people moving in this direction. The burbs were a great model for stable jobs, stable families, and the boomer-era drive to get as much as you can and go as big as you can.
Lifestyles and cultural attitudes are changing. Jobs, careers, and even families are much more transient than they were just a decade ago. The goals of the younger generations are different; they are more interested in being efficient with their time and space (less conspicuous consumption and excess) and close to the areas they work and play. Same with many boomers on the later end who are fatigued with all the maintenance headaches and costs of their large suburban homes and now just want to travel and be more social. Freedom and mobility will be more in demand than big lawns, massive resource-wasting properties, and endless commutes just to get "somewhere".
I agree with others that larger, more established condo units will be the new SFH, and this current stock of low-quality greed-driven shoe-boxes will turn out to be anchors around "investor" necks.
being transient shouldn't make a difference whether one lives/owns a condo or house; one will still have to sell if they need/want to move. renting, however, is a different story and gives one more freedom if things change as you're not constricted by market timing with a non-liquid asset and high transaction costs.
the only reason people are buying 500-600 sq ft boxes instead of say 700-800 sq ft is cost. wages have not kept up with price inflation due to extra-ordinary low interest rates and QE globally.
all things being equal (both efficiently laid out, same exposure, floor, features, etc), if you had 2 units in the same project and price, I'm sure they would take the larger unit.
yes, younger people want to be closer to the areas they work and play, and none of the actual maintenance (work) with SFH.
costs will have to be paid either way; monthly fees with condos or general maintenance with SFH. they are probably cheaper with SFH in the long run because you're not paying for common elements nor wages for security and property management, etc. which are large part of the fees.
I agree that larger
well laid out condo units will be the new SFH.
a family of 3 people can comfortably live in as little as 850 sq ft 2 bedrooms/2 baths; or 4 in 1200 sq ft 3 bedrooms/2 baths.
I find a lot of the post mid-2000s condos have horrible floorplans, even in larger units, because of the desire by developers to squeeze more units in each floor and non-optimal floorplates. (I think it's ~ 80 x 80, so ~ 90 X 90 includes balcony depth)
this current stock of low-quality greed-driven shoe-boxes will turn out to be anchors around "investor" necks.
yes, at least for the next 15 years until the next boom occurs and/or those shoe boxes can be combined (and I question that as many of the newer buildings weren't constructed for that in mind) to form larger units like in other metropolitan cities (ie. NYC, London, Paris, etc).
P.S. One thing that really, really irritates me about the parks around Liberty Village is that there is dog crap EVERYWHERE. WTF is wrong with these people?!? It almost seems like nobody cleans up after their dogs. It's horrible.
It's way, way worse than I've ever seen in neighbourhoods with lots of semis and detached in Toronto with a lot of kids.
I'm probably going to be flamed for saying this, but look at the demographics of the area.
not all, but a lot of under 30 year olds simply lack manners and have sense of entitlement. mommy and daddy did everything for them, and they were always praised so they could never do anything wrong.
