As you walk down the Toronto sidewalks you’ll see just as many women these days hustling about in their business suits and texting and talking away on cell phones. But women have done more than just show that they can dominate the business world just as well as their male counterparts – they’ve taken over the market in Toronto, with 20% of Toronto mortgages now being taken out by single women.
Jim Ritchie, vice-president of sales for Trident, a Toronto condominium developer, said, “I can’t speak for the entire industry. But I can tell you I’ve looked at the past 10,000 transactions for our condo sales and, pretty consistently, about a third of the buyers are single women.”
So what does this mean to Toronto mortgage brokers and real estate agents? For mortgage brokers, it’s just another indication of how far times have come. In the early 70s, it was near to impossible for a single women to get a mortgage on her own, with only one income – no matter how high that income was. And the same holds true for real estate agents, especially Toronto real estate agent, Sandra Rino-mato.
Sandra became well-known in the Toronto housing market well before she started hosting her own TV show, Property Virgins. Now seeing the trend, and wanting to help Toronto women get the home of their dreams, she’s got a new show, called Buy Herself. The show focuses around this subject matter specifically, showing single women different properties around Toronto. And the tag line, “No man. No dual income. No problem,” couldn’t be more fitting.
But real estate agents such as Sandra are also well in tune with what today’s Toronto woman wants. In these high-rises and single family homes you won’t find cottage decor or rooms painted in sweet pastels. “Consistently, my female clients are looking for safety,” says Sandra. “It’s number one or two in terms of priority. While scouting for a condo, a female buyer might say, ‘How difficult is it for someone to get to my floor and to my front door?’ I’ve never been able to sell ground-floor units to women.”
But, another huge priority to the single women of Toronto? Being by themselves. Sandra says that private balconies are also very important to women so that they can enjoy breakfast or a glass of wine outdoors, while knowing that they’re privacy is being protected at the same time.
