Living near an LRT stop is suddenly on the mind of a lot of Waterloo residents. Just think of the convenience of leaving your home and striding into a nearby station. So convenient, so hip, so cosmopolitain. The train arrives and you are whisked away to your destination. No worries. No traffic. No parking hassles. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Just think, if you are on your way to Toronto, without even going outside, you will connect with the GoTrain at the King/Victoria Transportation Hub. Or maybe you’re on your way to the Tannery, or Google. Maybe you are going out to see a movie, or meet friends for drinks. There are a lot of great reasons to live near a LRT stop.
But what will it cost?
How much will it cost to buy a home within a ten minute walk to an LRT stop?
I was wondering what it would cost on average, to live within a ten minute walk to a LRT stop. I looked at all the sales data from the past 12 months, at all freehold single family homes and townhouses, as well as all condo apartments and townhouse units. The findings were surprising. There are still lots of places that you can buy for less than the average prices of houses and condos within the region.
Here are some highlights:
1. The most expensive homes near a LRT stop are in Colonial Acres neighbourhood behind the Conestoga Mall. Their average selling price over the past 12 months was $423,000.
2. There are also some nice condo townhomes in the same neighbourhood. Their average selling price was $213,000.
3. The above two statistics represent the largest neighbourhood gap between freeholds and condos.
4. The cheapest freehold homes are near the Mill Street stop. You would pay on average $264,000 last year to buy a home here. The selling prices ranged $175,000 to $370,000 for the 51 homes sold.
5. The cheapest place to buy a condo is near the Blockline stop. 22 units sold in the past 12 months, ranging in price $110,000 to $254,000 with an average sold price of $159,000.
6. Buying a single family home or freehold townhome is more expensive than buying a condo near all but one LRT stop – the Allen stop. There, the average price of a condo is selling for $10,000 more than the average price of a home. This area may see the largest price appreciation for freehold homes.
7. The areas with the lowest prices may see the largest future price appreciation.
8. Construction has begun on the LRT line. I’ve noticed that “LRT” has shows up more and more in real estate advertising.
9. With real estate, location is everything.
10. How will the LRT affect property values?
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Source: Map
