Westbank’s Vancouver rental tower approved

Westbank’s Vancouver rental tower approved

B.C. Supreme Court ruled the City of Vancouver’s proposed rezoning of a site on Pendrell Street near Denman Street is OK to proceed. That opens the doors for Westbank to build a proposed 21-storey, 178-unit market-rental tower, which was great news to Landlord BC CEO David Hutniak.

Business In Vancouver

UBC unveils tiny apartments

University students are used to being crammed into tiny spaces when they live in residence. And sharing a bathroom and kitchen, to boot. But this will change, somewhat, when the micro-suite trend hits the University of British Columbia campus in 2019. A new 650-bed student residence is being built above the UBC bus terminal that will include 70 self-contained 140 sq. ft suites.

Vancouver Sun – Vancouver Province – Huffington Post

Podium Developments stresses better student housing

For Bernard Luttmer, 36, and Oskar Johansson, 38 — founding partners of Podium Developments — housing experiences as Olympic competitors in sailing, and as university students, have helped hone the vision they have for their buildings. Podium’s latest project, University Studios, is an eight-storey, 308-unit condominium to be built in Oshawa’s education hub.

Toronto Star – Globest.com – Globest.com – National Real Estate Investor

Lamb says luxury condos delayed by Edmonton approval

A luxury condo project in Edmonton has been delayed almost a year-and-a-half — but it’s not because of economic woes, said Brad Lamb, Toronto’s “condo king.”  “We did not choose to delay it, but it’s been delayed . . . we underestimated the amount of time it would take to get development plan approval for the City of Edmonton,” said Lamb.

Metro News – Calgary Herald – Bloomberg

Calgary condo builders seek to nourish vertical village

A rooftop lounge, urban garden and colourful common spaces were among the amenities that swayed first-time homebuyer Krizia Carlos to purchase a one-bedroom condo in Calgary’s Mark on 10th development. While such comforts in the under construction Beltline building look “super cool,”  Carlos thinks they’ll also serve a practical purpose, of helping her to meet her neighbours.

Globe and Mail

Calgary renters negotiate deals as vacancy rate rises

As apartments sit empty across the city with Calgary in the grips of an oil downturn, many landlords are offering tenants rent reductions and incentives like free parking and utilities. “From a landlord’s point of view, it’s a very difficult market out there right now,” says Gerry Baxter, executive director of the Calgary Residential Rental Association.

CBC News

Bjarke Ingels’ plan for Toronto

“How can architecture build community?” That’s the title of a public talk by Bjarke Ingels and it captures the ambition of BIG’s design for a site on downtown Toronto’s King Street West. The sentiment is warm and fuzzy. The design is radical: BIG has imagined a complex that would be unlike any other building in North America.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

B.C. budget offers little relief for renters: Experts

B.C.’s budget will help stimulate the housing supply and offer a tax break to those buying new homes, the provincial government says, but experts insist there’s little to no relief for renters, particularly in an increasingly unaffordable Metro Vancouver real estate market. 

Globe and Mail

Vancouver realtors urge harsher penalties

Some real estate agents in Metro Vancouver’s booming housing market say they want the Real Estate Council of British Columbia to take much stronger action than it has in the past against agents conducting themselves unprofessionally, whether it’s through increased fines or harsher suspensions.

Globe and Mail – Vancouver Sun – Business In Vancouver – Business In Vancouver

More than foreign buyers driving up prices: BMO

Bank of Montreal has jumped into the debate over house prices, saying there’s much more at play in Canada’s two hottest markets than just foreign buyers. “It’s easy to blame the foreign buyer bogeymen for the home price gains in Vancouver and Toronto,” BMO Nesbitt Burns senior economist Robert Kavcic said in a research note that examined other factors feeding the markets.

Globe and Mail – Business In Vancouver – Bloomberg – CBC News

Housing sector out of sync with home ownership dream

One of the most revealing comments on Canada’s obsession with housing can be found in the budget speech given last week by B.C.’s finance minister. “Is there anything more reflective of who we are as Canadians than the dream of owning a home … and the ability to make that dream a reality?,” Mike de Jong said.

Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

Are Vancouver prices sending buyers north?

If Vancouver’s overheated real estate market is leading house-hunting city dwellers north, local realtors aren’t seeing any sign of them. In the B.C. legislature earlier this week, Premier Christy Clark was taken to task for suggesting people unable to afford a home in Metro Vancouver move to a less expensive city.

Business In Vancouver

Are Canadians pulling away from RE investment?

Not since the days of the financial crisis have Canadians’ sentiments towards investment been this gloomy while attitudes towards real estate prospects are worsening, a Manulife Investor Sentiment index suggests. The countrywide poll forms the basis of the Canadian insurance company’s latest investor sentiment index, which has fallen to 16, down three points from the last reading in May 2015.

Buzzbuzzhome.com – Business In Vancouver

How long will U.S. apartment run last?

For the past five years the U.S. apartment industry has been on an unprecedented run of success culminating with a spectacular 2015. Rents continued a run of spectacular growth around the country, transactions levels hit highs not seen since the Great Recession, and construction starts hit pre-recession highs. 

Multifamily Executive – Forbes – Citylab

U.S. apartment market yet to peak

PODCAST: David Kessler, partner with CohnReznick, noted speculation is growing the multi-family sector is approaching its peak. He rebutted that suggestion, however. “I think (the multi-family sector) has a long way to go still because we’re so far away from the norms as far as supply and demand,” Kessler said.

National Real Estate Investor – National Real Estate Investor – National Real Estate Investor – National Real Estate Investor

Market Conditions

Multi-family market to remain strong: Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac, which helps ensure an ample supply of affordable rental housing by purchasing and securitizing mortgages on apartment buildings nationwide, predicts steady economic growth and key drivers will keep the multi-family market moving forward in 2016 based on the Freddie Mac Multifamily Outlook Report it recently released.

MultifamilyBiz.com – Albuquerque Journal

U.S. housing to get more competitive

The housing market is going to get more competitive in 2016, according to Redfin. “The economy is facing significant headwinds this year. Though housing is positioned for growth, it is also extremely sensitive to the jarring macroeconomy,” says Redfin’s chief economist Nela Richardson.

Globest.com

Latest reports:

* GTA home sales, TheRedPin.com, Marketwired

* GTA new-home sales, Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), Financial Post, Newinhomes.com, Buzzbuzzhome.com

* Windsor-Essex, Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors (WECAR), Windsor Star

* Saskatoon, Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), Saskatoon StarPhoenix

* Florida, Florida Realtors, MultifamilyBiz.com

* Houston, CoStar Group

* U.S. home prices, S&P/Case Shiller composite index, Reuters

* U.S. housing starts, Commerce Department, MultifamilyBiz, Reuters

RENX Market Summaries

Mortgage and Finance

How much of a retirement residence can you afford?

For West Coast retirees, there is a vast ocean of choices in retirement residences. Options range from a glitzy, high-end seniors’ residence to renting a suite in a government-sponsored complex. To help navigate this complex terrain, we’ve broken down the possibilities into three categories based on the amount the retiree has to spend.

Business In Vancouver

Moving mortgage between lenders can cost you

Homebuyers tend to shop around for the best mortgage rate they can find when first purchasing a property. But when renewal time comes around, chasing the best rate might not save enough to offset the costs of moving lenders. Frank Napolitano of Mortgage Brokers Ottawa says the cost of moving a mortgage at renewal time will depend on the type it is.

Financial Post

New Developments

Flatiron boutique condo coming to Toronto

A new flatiron style building is coming to Toronto in the form of North Drive’s new boutique condo, 4 The Kingsway. North Drive enlisted the creative services of architect Richard Wengle, known for his custom Toronto manors, and the award-winning Brian Gluckstein to design the vision and unique aesthetic of 4 The Kingsway. The result is a Beaux-Arts look, mixed with some elegant modern touches.  

Newinhomes.com

Burlington council still opposed to revised condo plan

Burlington still opposes Adi Development Group‘s proposal for a downtown condo development despite changes to the plan. An update on the application was discussed behind closed doors by the community and corporate services committee at its meeting this week. “This is still overdevelopment of the site and does not represent good planning,” Coun. Marianne Meed Ward said later.

Hamilton Spectator

Victoria condo project approved after tweaks

A tweaked plan for a six-storey, 32-unit condominium building in Victoria’s Chinatown has received a thumbs-up following earlier concerns of neighbouring condo owners and the Downtown Residents Association. Council approved the required development permit application and variance requested by developer Conrad Nyren. The project will have two ground-floor retail units and 32 condos above.

Victoria Times Colonist

Renovation, Repair and Maintenance

Torontonian turning heritage home into condo units

Approaching retirement, Carolee Harris wanted to free up some equity for the years that lay ahead. Like many Canadian boomers, she looked to a major investment — in this case, her three-storey historic Victorian home in downtown Toronto. Thing is, she couldn’t stand to leave behind Harbord Village, the neighbourhood in which her 19th-century abode is located. 

Buzzbuzzhome.com

Ottawa major rejects call for demolition moratorium

Against the backdrop of annual Heritage Day celebrations at city hall, Mayor Jim Watson rejected a community group’s call for a moratorium on further demolitions of heritage buildings in Ottawa’s oldest neighbourhood. The Lowertown Community Association accused the city of “dismantling our historic district.”

Ottawa Citizen

Number of Vancouver homes slated for demolition soars

The City of Vancouver has issued an average of 940 demolition permits per year for single-family homes and duplexes since 2012, with the largest number given to property owners in Dunbar and Southlands, according to city statistics provided to the Courier. Dunbar and Southlands are home to some of the most expensive real estate in Canada.

Vancouver Courier

Taxes and Utilities

B.C.’s property transfer tax is on the rise

Effective immediately, B.C. buyers who pay more than $3 million for a piece of property will have to also pay a three per cent fee to the government, up from two per cent, due to a change in the rules introduced in the provincial budget. The new rules apply to both commercial and residential real estate.  The government has provided an explainer on who pays and who doesn’t.

BC Business – BC Business

Natural Disasters

Edmonton seeks extra funds for drainage project

Edmonton’s Mill Woods flood prevention tunnel is now expected to open more than three years behind schedule. Officials will need $6.4 million more to finish a double trunk storm sewer line that ran into soil that acted like quicksand. That will increase the total cost to $81 million, up from the original estimate of $41.4 million. It will be finished in March 2017.

Edmonton Journal

New strategies help keep stormwaters at bay

Engineers and environmental science professionals use many techniques to help control stormwater within a neighbourhood to ensure water flows to the right places. Prior to the 1980s, not a lot of attention was paid to stormwater management. The main challenge then became water quantity — containing and redirecting water, especially during major storms.

Toronto Star

Condominium Management

The ABCs of condo living: Part I

Trying to decide if a condo is right for you? Organizing your pros and cons into ABCs is a manageable way of sorting through them. This week we look at A to E.

Ottawa Citizen

Affordable Housing

Wait for affordable housing in Windsor at record high

The wait for affordable housing in Windsor and Essex County is higher than ever before, with nearly 3,000 people on the list — some waiting as long as seven years or more for subsidized rent. “The list has been steadily increasing since 2010,” said Debbie Cercone, executive director of Housing and Children’s Services at the City of Windsor.

Windsor Star

Millennials thinking small for affordable housing

Harvard law student Pete Davis says he wants to live in his own tiny house. In the meantime, getting a taste of the lifestyle now  — by offering it to others — has been a successful venture. Davis is the co-founder of Getaway, a project that rents out tiny houses in the woods around Boston.

CBC News

B.C. cities must cut red tape for affordable-housing funds: minister

B.C. communities wanting to dip into the province’s new affordable-housing fund will have to show they can get construction for such projects approved quickly, says the minister responsible for the file. Rich Coleman says cities must cut the red tape he argues is bogging down development if they want some of the $355 million dedicated to building and renovating at least 2,000 affordable housing units.

Globe and Mail

Ottawa landlords step up to help Syrian refugees

Ottawa has welcomed government-sponsored 737 Syrian refugees, and 405 of them have moved into their own apartments or townhouses, said Chamrouen Lay, the manager of Maison Sophia refugee settlement house. Usually refugees spend a month in temporary lodging while staff help them adjust to Canada and find a place to live.

Ottawa Citizen

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Homeowners seek help for ‘sinking’ foundations

Montreal homeowners whose foundations are sinking due to unstable soil conditions are seeking help from the city to sway the province to provide a compensation program, while others are considering a potential class-action lawsuit. Resident Céline Benssoussen said soil shifting under her foundation has caused havoc on her home since it was built about 12 years ago.

Montreal Gazette

Quirky Texas town retiree hot spot

Marfa, Texas has many rare qualities, “and America eats up those rare qualities,” as part-time Marfa resident and Montreal-born novelist Peter Behrens sees it. The small town sits in the middle of the West Texas desert, 290 kilometres from the airport in El Paso and 290 kilometres in the other direction from the airport in Midland, Texas.

Globe and Mail

Buying and Selling

Big Fat Deal: A beachside house in downtown Vancouver

Address: 1550 Harwood Street, Vancouver
Price: $5,858,000
MLS: R2017420
The skinny: Four-bedroom, three-bathroom, 3,627-square-foot house in Vancouver’s West End.
The bling: You want to live close to the ocean, walk to downtown, tend your garden and live an old-fashioned quiet seaside life, right? Then this one is (almost) for you.

BC Business

Celine Dion’s Laval mansion sold: Reports

The most expensive property on the local resale market — the former home of Céline Dion — has sold for $25.5 million, according to a news report. The castle near Laval had been on sale for more than two years. In 2013, the asking price was a cool $29,655,500 — listed with as many fives as possible because it was the lucky number of Dion and René Angélil.

Montreal Gazette

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