Toronto Real Estate and Neighbourhoods Blog | Move Smartly

Most Improved Toronto Schools 2012 (Realosophy Ten Ten Neighbourhoods)

Urmi Desai in Top Ten Neighbourhoods, Home Buying, Toronto Schools, Toronto Neighbourhoods

It's been an exciting week for our Realosophy Analytics spotlight on the relationship between School Quality and Real Estate Values.

Following our first list, Best Toronto Schools for 2012, we were profiled in the Toronto Star.

The feedback we've been hearing from you is consistent with our premise: while we are all aware that EQAO scores tell only a part of a school's story, these scores nonetheless influence your home buying decisions. You've told us that having access to this type of information helps you think about your goals and feel empowered about making your own decisions.

Realosophy Workshop

Many of you have been in touch with specific real estate and schools questions - and we have lots more data and information to share. Sign up for our "Schools for Home Buyers" workshop on Sat Feb 25th (limited seating, first come first served). As part of the workshop, you'll receive a free Neighbourhood Match report which lists out the best Toronto neighbourhoods for your needs. Sign up below (scroll down to the end of this post).

Most Improved Toronto Schools 2012

Now, onto the main show! I'm particularly excited about this week's installment: Top Ten Most Improved Elementary Schools in Toronto for 2012.

For all the controversy about EQAO scores and what they actually measure, we often miss a far more important story. No score is static, and improvement, more than any other metric, may reveal to us what is truly important about any organization - its ability to assess its current reality, successfully diagnosis problems and do better. (RIM, are you listening?)

And what a fantastic story this week's list has to tell. Most of the most improved schools are in affordable neighbourhoods, many of which are next generation emerging neighbourhoods. Seven out of the ten schools improved to an average EQAO score of 70 and above. Improvements ranged from between 24 to 36 in average percentage points.

Above all, this top ten list tells us a story of hard work - the hard work of students, teachers and parents working to make their schools better. And really, isn't hard work the biggest lesson we want to instill in our children?

The Data

• Overall change (in the bright yellow circle) represents the average increase or decrease (in percentage points) in EQAO scores from 2007-08 to 2010-11; average of all six tests written by students (reading, writing and math at the Gr. 3 and Gr. 6 levels)
• Covers all Toronto public schools with an overall average test score above 60 (Note: some schools are too small to report EQAO results and are excluded)
• Average EQAO test score represents number of students obtaining the provincial standard; average of all six tests written in 2010-11
• Average house prices for the neighbourhood in 2011
• 3-Year increase in house prices from 2008 to 2011

1. Kimberley Junior Public School
	Neighbourhood: East End Danforth Grades: JK-6 Enrollment: 271 Address: 50 Swanwick Ave Average EQAO Test Score: 86% 3 Yr EQAO Score Improvement: 36% Average House Price: $487,469 3 Yr Increase in House Prices: 16%
Browse detailed school scores and demographic data for Kimberley Junior Public School

Best Toronto Schools 2012 (Realosophy Top Ten Neighbourhoods)

Urmi Desai in  Top Ten Neighbourhoods, Toronto Schools, Home Buying, Toronto Neighbourhoods

It's school time at Realosophy Analytics! Our month-long feature looks at the special relationship between real estate and schools.

Today's post looks at the top elementary schools in Toronto as measured by the province's latest standardized EQAO scores.

While it's tempting to tape this school list to your goal wall/fridge/dreams and "make it so",  it's important to remember that EQAO scores only tell us so much about school quality. For one, standardized testing results tend to favour advantaged socioeconomic groups, which can make the results more about 'who' attends than 'what' is being taught.

Educators also stress that some school strengths - like special curriculums or educational philosophies - fall outside testing parameters. But interestingly, specialty schools are a strong presence on our list. This is likely due to admissions requirements (e.g., for arts schools) and smaller class sizes.

Realosophy Workshop

Many of you have been in touch with specific real estate and schools questions - and we have lots more data and information to share. Sign up for our "Schools for Home Buyers" workshop on Sat Feb 25th (limited seating, first come first served). As part of the workshop, you'll receive a free Neighbourhood Match report which lists out the best Toronto neighbourhoods for your needs. Sign up below (scroll down to the end of this post).

The Data

• Overall score (in the bright yellow circle) represents an average of the six EQAO tests written by students in 2010-11 (reading, writing and math at the Gr. 3 and Gr. 6 levels)
• Covers all Toronto public schools (Note: some schools are too small to report EQAO results and are excluded)
• 3 Year EQAO Increase represents an average of percentage points change from 2007-08 for all tests
• Average house prices for the neighbourhood in 2011
• 3 Year increase in house prices from 2008 to 2011

Next Up: Most Improved Toronto Schools 2012

 

1. Claude Watson School for the Arts
	Neighbourhood: Willowdale Grades: 1-8 Enrollment: 325 Address: 130 Doris Avenue Average EQAO Test Score: 100% 3 Year EQAO Score Improvement: 4% Average House Price: $488,344 3 Year Increase in House Prices: 30%
Browse detailed school scores and demographic data for Claude Watson

 

What’s Driving Toronto Real Estate Prices Up? The School Factor

Urmi Desai in Top Ten Neighbourhoods, Toronto Schools, Toronto Neighbourhoods, Home Buying

It’s time to get schooled!

We’ve updated www.realosophy.com with the latest 2011 EQAO data for over 1,800 GTA schools and the Realosophy Analytics team have taken a long, hard look at the data. Over the next few weeks, we'll be reporting on the symbiotic relationship that is Toronto real estate and Toronto schools.

Today, we’ll start with an overview of some key trends.

Move Over Starbucks

Look behind the crazy bidding wars in Toronto’s hottest neighbourhoods and you’ll find a lot of good schools. It’s not new that parents are anxious to give their kids the best start in life. (I’m reminded of the advice of a Richmond Hill high school principal once gave to my dad: “Frankly, Mr. Desai, if your kid’s smart, they’ll do great anywhere. If they’re not, well, that’s another story.”) But it’s an anxiety that’s only gotten stronger – or at least become more acted upon – thanks to the introduction of standardized testing at Ontario schools in 1995 and the reporting of results on the internet, a mini baby boom in Toronto and a growing sense that our children will be wrestling out their futures in a highly globalized bear pit of competition. Today, many home buyers with children focus their home search exclusively on school quality.

Forget about the Starbucks effect - it’s all about the school effect.

Toronto Schools are Getting Better

The good news is that our data shows that Toronto schools are improving under all this scrutiny. Compared to three years ago, there are 45% more elementary schools scoring an average of 80% or greater (this is an average of results obtained in the six different EQAO tests elementary school students write - reading, writing and math at the Gr. 3 and Gr. 6 levels). In November, a cross-Canada study carried out by Education Ministers showed that Ontario alone had students placing above the national average in all three examined subjects – reading, math and science.

5 Questions for...a Frustrated Home Buyer Blogger (FML Listings)

Urmi Desai in 5 Questions, Home Buying

The blogosphere has been abuzz about “FML Listings” an anonymous blog launched by a frustrated Toronto home buyer. FML’s MO is as simple as it is addictive: post a not-so-hot house with a whopping price tag listed on realtor.ca and add raw commentary. See for example, this post about a $739,000 house at Jane and Finch:

Does this mean that not only can I not afford to live where I want in North York because of the million dollar bungalows, and I for sure can’t live in my first choice of mid-town, I can barely live in Leslieville because of crazy bidding wars, but now I can’t even buy a reasonably priced home at JANE AND FINCH?!?!  Is this what it feels like to hit bottom?

It’s like the Globe and Mail’s celebrity caption guy for houses. It’s also a tonic for those tired of hearing (and experiencing) that a house is worth what the market (i.e., the next buyer) decides it is.

FML and spouse own a home in Richmond Hill, but after being underwhelmed by suburban life, decided to move to Toronto to be closer to family, friends and work. That was three years ago. The search continues.

***

Urmi Desai: Why did you start blogging about the real estate situation in Toronto?

FML Listings: After seeing so many ridiculous listings, I started to think maybe I was the only one who was wrongly thinking they were insanely overpriced. But then I saw one that just put me over the edge. I posted it to Facebook, and I got a lot of feedback that I didn't expect. Firstly, it made me realize that it wasn't just me who thinks that a million dollar bungalow is out of whack, but more importantly that not many people were actually aware of the situation that was going on with some of the listings around the city. I started finding more and more of these listings, each one worse than the next, which drove me to start the blog so I could show at least a few other people what was really going on in this city. It's really disheartening to go into an open house priced at $600,000 that you know is worth $400,000 and you're sure it's not going to sell, but then the open house is packed with people and it ends up turning into a bidding war situation. So to be able to have this outlet where I see feedback from people actually agreeing that it is ridiculous, it has validated the years that I've spent watching the market, being stressed out, wondering "who's buying these?!”

UD: What do you think is driving the house feeding frenzy in Yonge St. neighbourhoods in North Toronto?

3-Bedroom Subway Access for $500K (Realosophy Top Ten Neighbourhoods)

Urmi Desai in Top Ten Neighbourhoods, Home Buying

Wowza, it’s been much longer than intended since the last installment of our monthly Top Ten list that tells you what really want to know about Toronto neighbourhoods. To date, we’ve examined Best Schools for $500K and Most Walkable Neighbourhoods for $1M. The response to the first list was amazing; tumbleweed comes to mind when thinking about the second. So we (don’t) hear you loud and clear – you love the city, you get it, walkable is great, biking hooray, just how are you supposed to do it when you've got one to two kids and a budget of $500K? Here's how...

Realosophy Top Ten Neighbourhoods: 3-Bedroom Subway Access for $500K

Map: Zoom out if you have difficulties with map orientation. Click on green tab beside "Layers" to shrink box. Click on arrow beside "Legend" to expand legend. Click on any shaded neighbourhood above for details. Unshaded neighbourhoods do not meet criteria (see below).

This week, we look at neighbourhoods that offer a 3-bedroom lifestyle with subway access. The bonus? We’ve gone further to ensure that the neighbourhoods on our list offer walkable access to more than transit so your weekends can be as car-free as your commute to work. Interestingly enough, our data confirms what common sense tells us about home buying and trade-offs: not one neighbourhood on our Best Schools for $500K list makes it onto this list (which means it's less likely that you can get both the best schools and direct subway access/walkability for $500K).

Criteria: Only Toronto neighbourhoods with 3-bedroom houses or condos that sold for $500K or less in 2010, have direct access to a TTC subway station and ranked high on walkability need apply. Walkability is calculated by Walk Score (learn about methodology here).

Ranking: Neighbourhoods are ranked first by walkability and then sales volume (measured by the number of 3-bedroom units that sold in 2010 for $500K or less). This tells you which neighbourhoods have the criteria you want and what your chances of getting into the neighbourhood are (likelihood is a feature unique to Realosophy's proprietary Neighbourhood Match tool).

1. Willowdale (Central) See Profile

A Toronto classic. With the publication of David Bezmozgis’ brilliant Natasha and Other Stories seven years ago and Calvin Tiller’s story on Bathurst and Finch’s heady cash-for-gold scene in the New Yorker last month, North York continues to tell stories about who we really are. And Willowdale, with its single family houses, teardowns and condos, authoritative strip mall food, no nonsense (and dismayingly grey) access to the Yonge and Finch transit hub and seemingly autarkic Chinese, Korean, Iranian and Russian Jewish communities, is probably closest to who Toronto really is.  

Your likelihood of getting a 3-Bedroom for $500K or less: Good (84 sold in 2010)

Introducing Realosophy's Awesome Toronto Neighbourhood Match Tool

Urmi Desai in Realosophy News

We're excited to introduce Realosophy’s revamped Neighbourhood Match tool, our "eHarmony" for Toronto neighbourhoods. Thanks to the hard work of our awesome team, it's now better than ever. Check out our profile in the Toronto Star last week and let us know what you think of the new interface and user experience.

Neighbourhood Match, a online tool powered by proprietary Realosophy analytics, allows you to sort through over 170 GTA neighbourhoods based on what matters to you – budget, type of house, school quality, Tim Horton’s vs. Starbucks vs. indie coffee. Even better, we rank your neighbourhood results by the number of houses sold matching your criteria - giving you a better sense of the likelihood of you finding the home you need in that neighbourhood. For those of you familiar with our earlier version, you'll be happy to find that you can now filter your results by school quality, a key change.

Leslieville Recap: Unveiling the OK OK Diner Mural (Queen East and Bertmount)

Urmi Desai in Leslievillle

While doing some blog housekeeping in these last days of summer, I realized that I forgot to share a great Leslieville event I attended a few weeks ago - the Ralph Thorton Centre Mural Program's grand unveiling at Queen East and Bertmount (on the east wall of OK OK Diner).

The location of the mural - the OK OK Diner - was its inspiration. The artists were particularly taken with the vintage televisions on display in the restaurant. The mural features a retro TTC streetcar and a beautiful level of detail. It's worth having lunch on the patio at OK and OK to see the screened images of Muhammad Ali boxing or Billie Holiday singing inside the television sets.

The artists who apply to the Ralph Thornton mural program are high school, college and university students. A number are enrolled in art programs at OCAD and other institutions. Some are life-long residents of Leslieville and Riverside. Many have participated in the program for years, leading and mentoring newer members.  A few alumni have gone onto to full-time careers in the arts while others tell me they benefit from learning to plan, execute and work with others to execute projects that are (literally) large in scope.

To get new murals up, the Ralph Thornton team requests the participation of landlords and business owners at potential mural sites in Riverside and Leslieville (potential sites are identified by the team of artists at the start of a project). I had a great chat with Shawn Conway, Executive Director of the Ralph Thornton Centre, who is energetic about engaging the business community of Leslieville even more fully through other initiatives. Though global shifts and storms and forces dominate our news these days, it helps to remember that many good things start at the local level. At the very least, it seems wisest to focus on the things we can control - or risk disengaging completely.

Editor's appeal: In today's world, you’re nobody till facebook likes you. So if you enjoy reading the Move Smartly blog, please scroll to the top of the blog and click on the facebook "like" button just under the Relaosophy logo on the right (under the subscribers box). And thanks for the love!

Urmi Desai is editor of the Move Smartly blog and is responsible for Realosophy’s strategy and marketing. Realosophy researches Toronto neighbourhoods to help today's home buyers make smarter decisions. Try our innovative Neighbourhood Match tool to find the best Toronto neighbourhoods for you . Email Urmi

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Why Realosophy isn’t a Technology Company (Hint: It's All About Steve Jobs)

Urmi Desai in Realosophy News, Real Estate Trends, Entrepreneurism

Realosophy was in the Toronto Star over the weekend which was great fun. It was particularly exciting that the piece focused on our innovative business model in the context of a changing industry (it also profiled an adorable family, Realosophy clients, that found our Neighbourhood Match service very helpful to them).

In the article I’m quoted as saying that “[w]e take what we call the Steve Jobs approach — we adapt technology to solve consumer problems in real estate,” and I’ve been asked about this since. Hubris aside, it captures my belief that it’s the adaptation and application of technology to very basic (but not simple) human problems that matters – often more than the technology itself. Roger Martin of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto articulates this very well in his recent post on invention (scientific R&D) vs. innovation (efforts to add value for consumers). 

While we tend to be wowed by the Googles of the world, Martin cites some Canadian examples to illustrate his point that heavy R&D and high tech isn’t behind most business success stories – Four Seasons Hotels based its model on the belief that service matters more than grand architecture, Cirque du Soleil realized that consumers were bored with the traditional circus and Harlequin standardized the number of pages in their books to lower printing costs.

Mr. Toronto Life Leaves Toronto

Urmi Desai in Real Toronto

The Germans must have a word for that feeling of being reluctant to read something that you are sure has been created only to excite you into frothy denunciations on your blog.

Just read this month’s Toronto Life cover story titled “Exodus to the Burbs” (also profiled on CBC’s Metro Morning). Showing more skill at the misleading headline that the whiz kids behind those damn Yahoo News! stories you keep clicking on, Philip Preville’s piece is really about something else – young professional families with last names like Martin, Dunlop and Porter are choosing to semi-retire, job-share or otherwise slow down and move to small towns like Dundas, Creemore and Uxbridge. (Preville, a frequent contributor to Toronto Life, and his family have moved to Peterborough for his wife's new job.)

What follows over six pages is an attempt to make this personal decision into a story about Toronto dying a slow, unlivable death. Perhaps inspired by the sorry state of US politics, Preville goes on to make this about ideology: only our fool moralism (the kind that advocates the superiority of cities) keeps us from seeing this “heart-stopping” truth. His editor, Sarah Fulford, blames our demise on the Spadina Expressway and the Millennium Park that aren’t. But such trophies, even if we were ambitious enough to acquire them, are unlikely to satisfy those profiled by Preville: a long-suffering couple fighting all odds to rush from their downtown 9 to 5 to get to the cottage (they’d still be bitching on the Spadina Expressway) and a woman who would probably find it too annoying to get to Millennium Park anyway (“you have to pack your bags with diapers, bottles, snacks, changes of clothes, all that stuff…only to cut the outing short so you can come home and hurriedly fix lunch”). I won’t even go near Preville’s argument that he needs the watchful eye of his small town neighbours to keep him from being an asshole who litters in front of his children as I am bewildered by this.

The End of Realtor.ca?

John Pasalis and Urmi Desai in Real Estate Trends

If you thought Round One was interesting, Round Two will blow you away.

After reaching a settlement with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to allow flat fee/For Sale By Owner (FSBO) brokerage listings on realtor.ca, ushering in DIY home selling to Canada, the Competition Bureau now wants the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) to allow brokerages to publish detailed listing info on their own websites.

We find that most consumers don’t understand what this means for them, so here’s some background.

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a database that real estate agents use to market homes for sale and research historical sales of properties.  Most people think realtor.ca is the MLS, but the MLS database has a lot more information about properties currently available for sale along with all historical sales info which allows agents to research the market value of a particular property. This info is currently unavailable on realtor.ca.

You may be surprised to learn that today Realosophy (a brokerage) can’t publish all detailed Toronto listing info on our website (the rich MLS database stuff). If our clients want access to this info, they need to come down to our office where we can log them into TREB’s password protected website. 

Now imagine we could give our clients and website visitors a username and password to log into our Realosophy website where they can browse all the same information that agents have access to. More importantly, we could help consumers find the info they want in a smart, fun way – the Realosophy way.

If Competition Commissioner Melanie Aitken has her way, this is exactly what Toronto’s real estate industry is going to look like soon.