Monthly maintenance fees for condo owners have continued to rise, and over the long term it could make investing in a condominium a less appealing option.

The rise in fees follow as the cost to maintain aging buildings goes up even as, statistics show, property values start to decrease.

At Carriage Crossing, a new ‘ultra-luxury’ development in east Waterloo, fees cover a 24-hour concierge, multiple gyms and pools, spa rooms and a yoga studio.

Paul Leveck of Activa Group says “We’ve combined that kind of lifestyle living that you might get in a higher end, upscale Toronto condominium with the resort living that you’d get down in Florida.”

The owner of a 1,000 square foot condo at the development can expect to pay around $400 in fees for the lifestyle.

But it comes with a promise from the builder not to raise the fees during the phased-in construction period.

“During that time, all those fees are locked in and fixed with a guaranteed rate by Activa,” Leveck says.

Residents in older condominiums aren’t as lucky, and the older the building, the higher the monthly fee seems to have jumped.

Some examples of fees for an average two bedroom, two bathroom unit in Waterloo:

  • Bauer Lofts, Age: 3 – $287
  • Condo on Keats Way, Age: 24 - $430
  • Condo at King and Columbia Streets, Age: 30 - $530

Jeff Casello, a planning professor at the University of Waterloo, says high condo fees are mostly a result of poor management during the development’s early days.

“Those buildings with really high maintenance costs probably are a legacy of having too low a maintenance cost previously.”

The rise in monthly costs is one of the main reasons Ontario is re-examining the Condominium Act, as concerns grow owners will be unable to sell their units if the fees are sky high.

Casello says “If I owned one of these older condos and I saw the proliferation of these new condos I would start to think ‘Does my product compare to what these new builders are able to produce?’”

Where that’s not the case, Casello thinks Waterloo Region may want to consider changing property taxes to reflect potential value not the current assessment.

"The last thing the region needs is a whole glut of housing stock underperforming.”

That could allow condo owners to put more money into older buildings to bring them up to the standards of newer building.

Still, it remains unclear what changes could come with a reassessment of the Condominium Act, and how that will affect owners.