Toronto real estate prices are climbing back up, and limited supply has potential buyers weighing their options between a million-dollar condo or a low-rise home for almost double that. But then there’s the three-story 2,100- square-foot Upper Beach condo with a giant spire that’s mixing things up on MLS listings.
The condo at 21 Swanwick is part of a once-historic church, which, like so many other sites across Toronto real estate, was converted into a modern living space with updated mechanicals and all the new fixings in the kitchens and bathrooms. “They’re quite unique, for people who like character,” says listing agent Jen Laschinger, of Bosley Real Estate. “They don’t want to be in a cookie cutter box in the sky.”
On the one hand the listed unit has the white, dark wood and stainless steel décor common to most new homes and condos.
On the other hand, you have exposed brick, cathedral windows and a spire that is akin to having your own bell tower (you know, for those looking to compensate). The unit also has the convenience of living in a condo when it comes to low maintenance, but also the benefits of three stories, a finished basement turned into a rec room, a front door, a porch, a terrace and a deck with a gas hook up for the barbecue.
“It offers a lot of the same pluses as a house without the upkeep,” says Laschinger.
The agent says the home is priced at around value at $1,649,000, about half a million more than the seller bought it for almost five years ago. That’s almost level with the higher than ever average price of a detached home in Toronto real estate.
Home prices across Canada are growing according the Canadian Real Estate Association, with the average sales price across the country up 13.9 per cent in September, year-over-year.
