The Ontario Municipal Board is no more

The Ontario Municipal Board is no more

Upset about too-big condos and wonky zoning decisions in your neighbourhood? You’re not alone. The province of Ontario is introducing a new process for appealing those decisions. The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), the quasi-judicial body that deals with development proposal appeals, will become the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). And many are happy to see it go.

CBC – BuzzBuzzHome – CBC

Anthem, Walton team up on 1,002-acre Calgary community

Anthem has entered into an agreement with Walton Group and its partners to act as development manager for the 1,002-acre Cornerstone development in Calgary. Anthem United will service, subdivide and sell lots in the remaining phases of the development. On completion, Cornerstone is expected to add about 4,500 single-family and 5,000 multi-family homes. 

Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire

‘Unique’ 5,200-acre Batchawana Island for sale

Batchawana Island, one of North America’s largest privately owned islands, is for sale. The undeveloped 5,200-acre island, located about 45 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. in Lake Superior, is being marketed by Colliers Canada for $14.95 million. “If somebody wants a really unique property, this is their opportunity,” said Vancouver-based Mark Lester, Colliers’ senior vice-president of unique properties.

Property Biz Canada

B.C. developers ask for exemption from speculation tax

Metro Vancouver’s development sector is asking the B.C. government for an exemption to the new real estate speculation tax for bare land. Anne McMullin, CEO of the Urban Development Institute, said an unintended consequence of applying the new tax and additional school levies to bare land being stockpiled for future development is to increase the cost of new housing.

Vancouver Province – Globe and Mail (Subscriptiion required)

B.C. landlords expect more rentals after new tax hits

The head of LandlordBC expects some homeowners will start renting out their properties to avoid the province’s new speculation tax, but says it’s too soon to estimate the extent of its impact. When Vancouver’s empty-house tax of one per cent of a property’s assessed value came into effect last year, it prompted some homeowners to become landlords, said David Hutniak, LandlordBC’s chief executive officer.

Victoria Times Colonist – Globe and Mail – CBC – Vancouver Sun

How to rent your Vancouver home on Airbnb

In November, the City of Vancouver voted to approve short-term rentals. The regulations around short-term rentals come into effect this month. Previously, rental stays of less than 30 days were not allowed in Vancouver except for licensed hotels or bed-and-breakfasts in zoned areas. Due to high rents and low vacancy rates, the city has voted to begin allowing short-term rentals.

Vancouver Sun – The Lawyer’s Daily

Revelstoke, B.C., scrambles to create staff housing

The tourism destination of Revelstoke, B.C., is scrambling to build micro-units and dorms for workers. “Our frontline workers are stacking up, quite honestly, 17 deep in a three-bedroom house just out of necessity, are couch surfing or, in some cases, living out of the back of their hatchback for weeks at a time,” said Kevin Dorrius, general manager of Community Futures Revelstoke.

CBC

Eight facts about Metro Vancouver’s condo market

In Greater Vancouver, strong demand for condos continues to be met with limited supply, pushing up prices for what was once an affordable home option. And this trend is expected to persist in the coming months. In February, the benchmark price of a condo was $682,800, a 27.2 per cent increase from a year ago, according to the latest data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

BuzzBuzzHome – Global News – Vancouver Sun

Quebec partially closes back door to Vancouver, TO

Quebec just made it a little harder for wealthy immigrants to walk through a back door into Vancouver and Toronto real estate. On Wednesday, the provincial government announced changes that make it a touch harder to qualify for the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP), a program that offers permanent residency in exchange for making an investment in the province.

Global News – Canada Immigration News

Toronto’s tale of two markets: Hot condos, cold houses

It’s a tale of two housing markets as the GTA gears up for spring selling season: sales of big detached homes are slow, while condo deals are booming. On one side is Karen Berends, who recently put her $1.5-million house back on the market in Oakville after two failed attempts to sell in the past year. She reduced her asking price by about $51,000, but still there are no takers.

Bloomberg – CBC – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Two months into tenant strike, landlord abandons bid to raise rents

A two-month rent strike at a west Toronto highrise is expected to end after a landlord abandoned a bid to raise tenants’ rents by more than double the amount recommended by the government. Property management firm Nuspor Investments issued a letter to tenants of a 189-unit building, saying it had decided to withdraw its application to Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board for the special increase.

CBC

Millennials behind surge in home-buying intentions: RBC

After a winter of depressed sales volumes in most markets, millennials are at the forefront of an overall increase in buying intentions across the country, according to RBC’s annual homeownership poll. One third of Canadians say they are very likely or somewhat likely to buy a home in the next two years — an increase of seven points from last year and the highest level since 2010.

Financial Post – Canada Newswire – PR Newswire

Drop in housing output helps shrink GDP

Canada’s gross domestic product unexpectedly shrank in January, as the economy faces a broad slowdown.  GDP contracted 0.1 per cent during the month, weighed down by sharp declines in oil production and real estate. Economists anticipated a 0.1 per cent gain. After leading the Group of Seven in economic growth in 2017, Canada is widely expected to slow this year as highly indebted households pare spending.

Bloomberg – BuzzBuzzHome

Ten trends in Canadian market to watch: Forbes

The National Association of Realtors predicts an expected 3.2% rise in home prices in the U.S. in 2018, a slowdown after 2017’s 5.5% year-over-year climb, due to continued low levels of inventory. The outlook is markedly positive for not only the U.S., but for our neighbours to the north as well. Here are 10 trends every broker should know about that are currently at play in the Canadian real estate market.

Forbes

Barclays to pay $2B fine over U.S. mortgage fraud claims

Barclays will pay $2 billion US to settle claims for billions of dollars of losses suffered by investors who bought toxic mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the 2007 financial crisis, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday. The British bank denied misleading investors about the quality of the mortgage loans backing the instruments and allegations it committed mail fraud and bank fraud.

Reuters – The Guardian

Market Conditions

Global smart home market to reach $53.45B by 2022

Zion Market Research has published a new report titled “Smart Home Market (Smart Kitchen, Security & Access Control, Lighting Control, Home Healthcare, HVAC Control and Others): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, and Forecast, 2016-2022”. According to the report, the global smart home market was valued at around  $24.1 billion US in 2016 and is expected to reach approximately $53.45 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of slightly above 14.5% between 2017 and 2022.

Globe Newswire – PR Newswire

U.S. home prices post 6.2 per cent annual gain in January

U.S. home prices posted another big gain in January, pushed higher by a shortage of homes for sale. Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index climbed 6.2 per cent in January from a year earlier. That nearly matches December’s 6.3 per cent gain, which had been the fastest 12-month growth in almost three years. The January increase was in line with economists’ expectations.

Winnipeg Free Press – PR Newswire

Mortgage and Finance

Variable-rate mortgages can still be cheaper

The safe and sound choice in today’s mortgage market is to lock down a rate for five years and let borrowing costs do what they may. That’s how you should proceed if you’re a nervous first-time home buyer or just holding things together financially as you renew. Everyone else, consider the variable-rate option. While they leave you exposed to rising interest rates ahead, variable-rate mortgages can be cheaper in two important ways.

Globe and Mail

Credit unions not seeing boost from tougher mortgage rules

Canada’s alternative mortgage lenders are not getting the anticipated boost to business from the introduction of tougher mortgage qualification rules that took effect three months ago. Credit unions and other non-bank lenders were expected to see a bump in business after Canada’s banking regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), imposed new rules on Jan. 1.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

New Developments

$40M condo project planned for Nanaimo’s Old City

Developers behind a planned $40-million housing project in Nanaimo’s Old City neighbourhood want to pay homage to the property’s past. Vancouver-based Molnar Group presented its concept for a 160-unit development on Machleary Street to neighbours during a meeting Tuesday. The company snapped up the site a year ago for its views, according to Andre Molnar, principal and founder of the Molnar group.

Nanaimo News Bulletin

Seasonal Homes

Muskoka residents, cottagers fight quarry proposal

When Jessica Dixon first heard about a 58-hectare quarry proposed for a patch of bush near Skeleton Lake and her farm, west of Huntsville, Ont., she began worrying about the sound of blasting and the dust kicked up by the operation. Last year, Dixon joined several hundred local residents and Skeleton Lake cottagers in what’s become a fierce local campaign to halt the quarry − a medium-sized independent operation owned by investor Frank Lippa, based in Woodbridge, Ont.

Globe and Mail

Natural Disasters

Taber, Alta., declares local state of emergency

A town in southern Alberta has declared a local state of emergency due to rising flood waters from melting snow. Taber council says overland flooding is threatening the community’s water treatment plant. The town says there has been no damage yet and crews are clearing ditches near the plant to help drain the flood water away.

Globe and Mail

Legal Issues

Housing groups sue Facebook for allegedly allowing discrimination

In a lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in New York City, several fair housing groups accuse Facebook of allowing landlords and real estate companies to illegally tailor their advertisement audiences on the basis of sex, family status, number of children and other factors. This practice, the housing groups allege, amounts to discrimination.

Toronto Star

Affordable Housing

The next weapon in the battle for B.C. affordability

The B.C. government has made its first major move in the battle for housing affordability in Metro Vancouver and beyond by promising to raise the foreign-buyers tax to 20 per cent and institute a range of taxes to quell property speculation. Now it looks as if the B.C. NDP is preparing to take on a more thorny challenge to confront the housing crisis. It’s a tax-related problem.

Vancouver Province

Most average wage earners can’t afford U.S. house

ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database, recently released its Q1 2018 U.S. Home Affordability Report, which shows median home prices in Q1 2018 were not affordable for average wage earners in 304 of 446 U.S. counties analyzed in the report (68 per cent). The report determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to make monthly house payments on a median-priced home.

PR Newswire

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Edmonton needs plan to curb traffic noise: Report

The City of Edmonton will explore ways to manage noise from speeding traffic after a pilot project revealed vehicles on two main corridors – Groat Road and 123rd Street at Jasper Avenue – were going so fast they were likely as loud as a jet plane landing on a runway.  Vehicles at those locations registered up to 90 decibels.  Noise from traffic on the average city street is 60-65 decibels, the report states.

CBC

Other

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