For $50K you can be a Toronto landowner, but there’s a catch: The lot is 8 inches wide

When it comes to Toronto real estate, bargains are often hard to come by, but for just shy of $50,000 someone can own a 105-foot-deep property on The Danforth.

However, the catch is that the property — located on Danforth Avenue near Donlands Avenue — is not even a foot wide (eight inches to be precise).

“Ever thought of being a landowner but couldn’t afford it? Now you can own a piece of Toronto and wait for developers to knock at your door,” a listing first posted on the Canadian Real Estate Association’s Realtor website at the end of November said.

“Own a piece of The Danforth! A residential address in the city!”

Based on the current assessed value of the land, the annual property taxes are just shy of $70.

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Anthony De Cesare, a real estate agent with Royal LePage Maximum Realty, told CityNews on Wednesday his client purchased the odd-shaped property from the City of Toronto during an auction for around $5,000 as a way to start their land portfolio. He said the current price was settled on because “the market is hot,”

“It’s very hard to develop on,” De Cesare said, adding he hasn’t seen a similar type of property before.

He said he has received around two or three inquiries a day more recently, but at the beginning De Cesare said there were around 10. He added there were two potential offers, but both fell through.

In terms of uses, De Cesare noted it runs partly under a pharmacy and that a possible option could involve trying to erect some sort of signage on the property or buying it for “nostalgia” purposes.

“If anybody purchases it, they can actually put a mailbox there because it has its own civic address,” he said.

TRREB reports record-high sales in 2021

Meanwhile, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) reported record-high residential property sales in 2021.

On Thursday, the organization said based on MLS data there were 121,712 transactions throughout 2021. The previous annual high was in 2016 when there were 113,040 transactions.

TRREB staff said new listings in 2021 were less than the typical annual rate, which contributed to a record-high average sale price of $1,095,475 (nearly 18 per cent higher compared to 2020).

“The result was intense competition between buyers, pushing selling prices up by double digits year-over-year. Looking forward, the only sustainable
way to moderate price growth will be to bring on more supply,” Jason Mercer, TRREB’s chief market analyst, said in a news release.

“History has shown that demand-side policies, such as additional taxation on principal residences, foreign buyers, and small-scale investors, have not been sustainable long-term solutions to housing affordability or supply constraints.”