Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 677

I've written about this before on the blog, but one of my qualms about architecture school was that it was too often taboo to talk about business and money. Why? Talking about and understanding the realities of the world doesn't have to mean that you're compromising on good design. Constraints are often good for design innovation. Similarly, I've always felt that personal finance should feature more prominently in schools at an early age. It should be considered a basic life skill.

In any event, I came across this tweet thread last night by Naval Ravikant talking about how to get rich (without getting lucky). It's from 2018, but the lessons -- and there are many -- obviously haven't changed. (For those of you who may not be familiar, Naval was the co-founder of AngelList and was an early stage investor in companies like Uber, Twitter, and Opendoor.)

When you see a headline like this it's perfectly normal for your bullshit radar to go off. (In fact, it is one of his points .) But this thread is not bullshit. It's about building wealth. Owning equity instead of renting out your time. Working hard. Taking a long view. Leveraging your time and skills. Understanding compound interest. Partnering with people of integrity. Being accountable. And becoming the best at what you do because you're pursuing genuine curiosity (among many other great points).

Here are a couple of his tweets. But I would encourage you to have a full read .

https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936?s=20

https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103497725173760?s=20

https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103670400417792?s=20

https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103908947263488?s=20

https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002104083694501890?s=20

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board released its 2020 housing figures this week . And I suspect that the numbers are probably directionally similar for many city regions around the world.

2020 saw more home sales than 2019 with 95,151 homes changing hands. This represents an 8.4% increase compared to last year. December was also a record month with 7,180 sales -- a 65% year-over-year increase!

The average selling price in the Greater Toronto Area also reached a new record of $929,699. This represents a 13.5% increase compared to last year. Once again, December was a record setting month with an average selling price of $932,222.

When you look at sales and average prices by home type, the biggest drivers were low-rise homes outside of the city. No surprises here.

But consider the price spread that now exists between condos and detached homes. In the City of Toronto ("416"), we're talking about an average price delta of nearly $850k. That would be an expensive home in many other markets.

Of course, condos tend to be smaller than detached homes. And so different prices per pound. But total price matters a great deal and historically a widening spread has moved many buyers over to the condo market.

I suspect we will see that happen again this year .

Side Gallery opened up a new 700 square meter exhibition space in Barcelona last month that is worth showcasing. It's a beautiful space. Designed by Spanish architect Guillermo Santomà , the space sits within an old 19th century factory that used to house an Italian pasta company. It's minimal and stark white, but the architecture of the former factory still comes through. There's also a prominent greenhouse featuring flora that is local to South America. Fitting given that the gallery focuses on Latin American design. Have a look.

I also love these images from the architect , which (I think) use light to completely transform the space.

All photos via Side Gallery and Guillermo Santomà