February 1, 2009: Only four homes were sold in this part of Riverdale in January, and not a single detached residence. Three of the sales happened on a small dead-end street east of Pape in the south part of the area, one was a small attached house north of Danforth. That caused all statistics to fall in a very low range.
At the beginning of February nine listings are available for sale, ranging in price from $439,900 for a small semi in need of renovation in the south part of this neighbourhood to $1,400,000 for an elegantly restored and renovated detached residence with a private drive in Playter Estates.
Following are the statistics on real estate sales in Riverdale and Plater Estates since the beginning of 2008:
The graph above - average number of sales in any given month - shows an activity that is fairly typical for Toronto real estate market. After a fairly busy first half of 2008 the activity dropped substantially in the summer, rose somewhat in September and then gradually dropped. Riverdale, however, held its own better than some other neighbourhoods, and recovered well in March.
After fairly slow July and August, mainly due to the lack of listings, September and October were fairly busy in Riverdale. In November and December sales were slower, but that is typical for the season. 299 listings were signed in 2009, and 214 of these were sold. Ten properties were listed so far this year, and two of these sold in January, together with two that were listed earlier. Nine homes are presently available for sale.
Riverdale has a very diverse mix of homes, with sizes ranging from small 2-bedroom townhouses to large detached residences with five or even six bedrooms. Therefore the average prices vary from month to month, depending on the sizes and quality of houses that were sold in each period. After a high average in May lower priced properties were selling in Riverdale, with the lowest average price in August. That trend changed, and the average prices went up in the following three months, only to drop again in December and January.
The graph above tells us more about the state of real estate market in the neighbourhood. It is clear that while the average selling price was well above 100% of asking in the first five months of 2008, it fell gradually to just above 96% in December, but quickly recovered. The result for July is distorted by one particularly high percentage, and if we discount that one sale the average comes down to a more reasonable 104.6%. But the average selling prices remained well above 100% until November, with some properties selling for as much as 133% above asking. In December that ratio was 100%, in January only 96.5%.
This graph is even more telling. You can see that in the second half of 2008 few properties were selling above the asking price, but that situation has changed dramatically in May and June of 2009. In July the numbers are lower, but still half of the homes available for sale in July was sold, and out of this number nearly half sold above the asking price. And the proportion of properties sold above asking has been increasing. In October three out of every four listings were sold above the asking price, in November that ratio was three out of every five, in December one-third. All sales in January 2010 were below asking.
And the last of the graphs shows that while the other parameters rose, the average number of days that a Riverdale and Plater Estates home takes before being sold decreased in the last four months, after reaching fairly high levels in August 2008, and then in December, January and February. In July the average number of days the listings took to sell was a bit higer, but if we again discount the only one listing that lingered for 45 days before finally being sold, the average drops to just 9 days. In September three homes took much longer than average to sell, and if these three were not included the average would stay in line with July and August, at only 11 days. Most listings were sold very quickly in November, but with four properties having taken longer the average again went up. December was also a bit slower, and in January the average reached a high of 37 days, matching February 2009 results.
Riverdale neighbourhood
Prime Riverdale, otherwise called north Riverdale, is located immediately east of the Don Valley, and reaches from Gerrard Avenue in the south to Fulton in the north and Pape Avenue in the east. That area includes a small neighbourhood of Plater Estates, located just north of Danforth and bordered by Broadview, Fulton and Jackman.
Popularity of this lovely area can be attributed to proximity to vibrant shopping and dining on Danforth between Broadview and Pape, excellent schools, parks, easy access to subway (three subway stops on the Bloor-Danforth line), interesting home styles, tall trees, and great mix of residents, majority of them young, affluent professionals and families.
Home styles range from two and three storey Victorian dating from between 1880 and 1924, through stately Edwardian residences to some modern houses built as infill. Plater Estates homes are mostly Edwardian, rather uniform in style and size, while Riverdale houses differ more in size and style, with some small two bedroom semi-detached homes and twonhouses sitting alongside large detached five bedroom residences.
Withrow Park, located in the centre of the neighbourhood contains tennis courts, baseball diamond, playgrounds, wading pool, an off-leash dog area, washrooms, water fountains and benches.
Schools in Riverdale
- Withrow Avenue Junior PS, 25 Bain Ave., 416.393.9440; Website
- Frankland Community School, 816 Logan Ave., 416.393.9720; Website
- Holy Name Catholic School, 690 Carlaw Ave., 416.393.5215; Website
- Jackman Avenue Junior PS, 79 Jackman Ave., 416.393.9710; Website
- Pape Avenue Junior PS, 220 Langley Ave., 416.393.9470; Website
- Eastdale Collegiate Institute, 701 Gerrard St. E, 416.393.9630; Website
- Riverdale Collegiate Institute, 1094 Gerrard St. E, 416.393.9820; Website
- School of Life Experience (alternative high school), 24 Mountjoy Ave., 416.393.0756; Website
