Toronto Developer Jordan Fletcher Tracks Trends in GTA Real Estate

The Bank of Canada’s recent interest rate hikes are having an impact on Ontario real estate markets, from downtown Toronto to communities across the GTA and Ontario. Home sales are down, delistings are up and prices have moderated in many neighbourhoods.

In some Ontario communities, more homes have been delisted than newly listed in recent months. Some of this has to do with unrealistic expectations of sellers, who have been accustomed to hearing anecdotes about homes that were quickly bid up to more than 20 percent over their listing price, not so long ago.

Sometimes sellers will delist and relist at a lower price. Others will take the home off the market for the foreseeable future. An unlucky few have gotten caught in the strong currents of a changing market: They may have purchased a new home but were unable to sell the old one, resulting in an unexpected change of plans.

The days of bidding wars and huge markups over asking price are probably over, at least for now. But many real estate veterans, such as Toronto developer Jordan Fletcher, president of Gorge Holdings, Inc., point to the fundamentals, which remain strong for the long-term. There will always be incredible demand for housing in our region, he argues, because people want to live, work and raise a family here.

Jordan Fletcher notes that in most Toronto communities, home prices are still up from a year ago, and dramatically higher when compared with pre-pandemic levels. In the broad sweep of market trends, the change is even more astonishing: Canadian housing prices have increased 375 percent over the past 20 years, transforming many once-affordable homes into pricey, sometimes unaffordable purchases.

Looking over the horizon, Fletcher believes that rates will remain high in the short-term, the economy in general will slow, and supply constraints will continue to persist, but these variables will not be enough to suppress demand for long.

Fletcher is not alone in his assessment. For example, John Mollenhauer, president and CEO of the Toronto Construction Association, recently told Canadian Architect magazine: “Since the construction sector is currently so busy in his city, even if a full-blown recession were to hit, it would only result in a modest reduction in activity.”

Nathasha Lebel of the Toronto architectural firm Lebel & Bouliane is similarly optimistic. “We’re in the most successful city, in one of the most successful countries in the world,” she noted in the magazine. “We’re currently feeling the bullwhip effect of a very inefficient construction process from the past year. The bullwhip will snap, and things will realign in 2023. Firms in Ontario and Toronto will be fine — we’re not in a recession, and I don’t think we will be.”

Jordan Fletcher shares this optimism, and is forging ahead with residential and commercial projects across southern Ontario:

In St. Catharines, his company is looking at a project to bring a much-needed residential building to the downtown area. The plan is to develop a luxury rental building consisting of approximately 150 units with protected underground and podium parking, storage space and ground floor commercial space. The target audience would be young professionals, empty nesters and retirees. 

The one-acre property has close proximity to the 406 highway and QEW highway, and is located just a block away from Montebello Park. The location offers great walkability to downtown, and is centrally located in the Niagara region, with easy access to golf, wineries, Brock University, Port Dalhousie, walking and hiking trails, Niagara Falls, The Pen Centre, Niagara on the Lake and the U.S.

In the Welland suburb of Toronto, Jordan Fletcher is completing the servicing of 25 new residential single dwelling lots. The site is ideally located one block from Niagara Street, which has many restaurants, cafes, groceries stores and shops. The property backs onto a commercial plaza already owned by Gorge Holdings.

In London Ontario, Fletcher partnered with local development firm Domus Developments to construct a 60-unit luxury rental apartment building. The goal was to bring a luxurious, French-inspired residential rental building to North London, featuring large, bright and spacious suites that will attract a wide range of demographic groups.

The building is a four-story structure with suites ranging from one- to three-bedroom units. The property, located in North London’s Upper Richmond Village, is surrounded by ponds, parklands and walking trails; and is close to golfing, dining, groceries, entertainment and shopping, including the Masonville Mall.