A friend popped by the other day to say that her daughter, in her mid-20s, had just bought a condo. Oh, and by the way, her son, barely out of his teens, had bought one as well. But he wouldn't be taking possession for another four years - when the building is finished.
It was all said so matter-of-factly. No one batted an eye. In fact, when I think about it, there are at least a dozen young people of my acquaintance who own their own condos, usually either down by the lake or in the downtown entertainment area. Others - including the two who shelter for the most part under my roof - are following the ads for studio-sized condos and urban lofts with unusual interest.
For these boomer kids, condo ownership is seen as the ultimate symbol of independence and self-reliance. Though why those in their 20s would want to saddle themselves with 25 years or more of mortgage payments is beyond me.
We are seeing two fundamental social revolutions here. One is an ever-younger desire for home ownership - well before the family-raising years and fuelled mightily by lifestyle advertising. The other is the transformation of the downtown core in once-stodgy, business-tower-only cities like Toronto.
According to one recent market report, Toronto had the most active condo market in all of North America in the first half of this year. It was more bullish even than New York, Miami, boomtown Calgary or Vancouver. No fewer than 53,000 units here were either under construction or on the planning board at that point. Some 18,000 were sold last year.
Most days it feels like every vacant lot, no matter how tiny or how close to an expressway, has dreams of touching the sky. Vistas are changing daily because of all the new vertically gated communities popping up. So is the downtown lifestyle: the entertainment district is open late, seven days a week. People actually walk home from work. Joggers are everywhere, even in the evenings.