Economy’s addiction to RE fees ‘unhealthy’: Analyst

Economy’s addiction to RE fees ‘unhealthy’: Analyst

​Canada’s addiction to real estate goes far beyond our obsession with talking about it. Real estate commissions, land transfer taxes, legal costs and fees for inspecting and surveying homes make up almost two per cent of Canada’s economy. “It’s really concerning, it’s really unhealthy,” Macquarie analyst David Doyle said.

CBC – Mortgage Broker News

Brokerage Redfin jumps in stock market debut

Shares in Redfin Corp. (RDFN-Q) soared in their stock market debut Friday as investors bet on the growth prospects for the residential real estate brokerage with a technology edge. Redfin employs agents to work with buyers and sellers in more than 80 U.S. markets and charges most home sellers a commission of one to 1.5 per cent.

Financial Post – Seattle Times – Business Insider – TechCrunch

Vaughan’s third Transit City tower nearly sold out

Construction of the third Transit City Condos tower at Vaughan’s SmartCentres Place has been moved ahead by a year because demand for housing in suburban transit nodes means it, too, has “substantially sold out.” SmartREIT (SRU.UN-T), Mitchell Goldhar and CentreCourt Developments, the three partners in the condo tower project, made the announcement Wednesday in a release.

Property Biz Canada

Technology will let you buy your house virtually

The traditional face-to-face approach of real estate agents and mortgage brokers is getting a little closer to extinction, according to a new study that suggests online shopping is taking over those sectors, too. The report from HSBC Bank suggests the day may be coming soon when consumers will be able to test drive their homes on a virtual basis.

Financial Post – Canada Newswire

Zoning changes give new life to TO’s ‘apartment neighbourhoods’

Though it seemed a good idea at the time, it’s clear now the zoning regime that created countless “apartment neighbourhoods” around Toronto was deeply flawed. Based on misguided notions about how we would live in the future, residents of these high-rise suburban communities have instead been trapped in a failed vision of modern life.

Toronto Star

New banking rules ‘game changer’ for real estate tax evasion

New Canadian banking rules are a “game changer” that could help governments in Victoria and Ottawa fight real estate tax scams exploited by foreign buyers, says a prominent B.C. immigration lawyer. As of July 1, Canadian banks must confirm detailed information on non-resident clients in order to report to the CRA on all financial accounts held by non-residents of Canada.

Vancouver Sun

Ontario begins rolling out new condo-board regulations

Names of Ontario condominium directors will be listed in a public database under new regulations unveiled this month, as the province begins to implement a new law to protect unit owners in the booming sector. More transparent access to the identity of directors will make it easier to detect problems.

Globe and Mail – Toronto Star – CBC

Claridge expanding its retirement home portfolio

Ottawa homebuilder Claridge plans to expand its reach into the local retirement community market with a new six-storey east-end facility, according to planning documents filed with the city. Claridge is seeking a zoning amendment to permit construction of the 146-unit building at the corner of Innes and Trim roads in Orléans. The site is currently vacant, save for an abandoned house.

Ottawa Business Journal

Vancouver co-ops attracting more attention

Winding down strata properties might be a new phenomenon, but spare a thought for co-operative housing arrangements. Cynthia Jagger, who partners with David and Mark Goodman on apartment sales at HQ Real Estate Services Inc., said an increasing number of co-op properties have been coming to market of late.

Business In Vancouver

CMHC keeps red flag hoisted on housing

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. continues to give the national housing market its worst possible rating saying there still is “strong evidence of problematic conditions.” This time the Crown corporation says slow growth in the young adult population coupled with a decrease in disposal income and a pickup in home-price growth have led to the continuing negative assessment.

Financial Post – CBC – Business In Vancouver – Montreal Gazette

Lender risk sharing could exacerbate downturn: Fed draft report

A federal proposal to have lenders shoulder more of the risk for potential mortgage defaults could dampen lending or intensify a decline in house prices, according to internal documents from the Department of Finance. Proponents of lender risk sharing say it would encourage banks to be more cautious when lending to high-risk borrowers, mitigating the impact of a correction.

Halifax ChronicleHerald – Globe and Mail

	B.C. wildfires’ impact on real estate, residents
	The following section of the RENX newsletter is dedicated to news about the wildfires in British Columbia and their impact on real estate.

 

Kootenay region receives evacuation alert

An evacuation alert has been issued to 51 properties in the Island Pond area in B.C.’s East Kootenay region. A wildfire broke out 12 kilometres south of Canal Flats on Sunday after a tree fell onto a power line. As of late Monday night, it was estimated to be 150 hectares in size and was zero per cent contained.

CBC

Foreign covered bonds have major stake in Canadian RE

In “Covered bonds: the European link to Canada’s house price boom,” the Financial Times reports: “There is . . . another, less commonly discussed flow of European money into the Canadian market . . .  Covered bonds in all currencies now finance nearly 10 per cent of the entire Canadian mortgage market, which is close to $1.4 trillion Cdn in size.”

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Fewer homeowners than expected seek aid after Fort Mac

One year after the Fort McMurray wildfire, far fewer uninsured homeowners are looking for financial help than previously thought. Organizations helping the uninsured and underinsured build or buy new housing haven’t been receiving the response from applicants they expected. However, “there’s definitely a need there,” said Crystal Lewis-Wilton, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Wood Buffalo.

CBC

30 years after Edmonton, deadly storms still difficult to track

From his hillside acreage in Leduc County, Tom Taylor was the first to report the Edmonton tornado. Thirty years later, he still can’t believe the destruction it caused. The tornado on July 31, 1987 that killed 27, injured 600, left hundreds more homeless and did $300 million in damage, started as a small translucent funnel about a mile from Taylor’s house, south of Edmonton.

CBC – CTV – Global News – Edmonton Journal

Miami’s inland areas hot property as sea level rises

The high ground of inland Miami is becoming hot property as sea level rises, Scientific American reports. Black neighbourhoods on higher ground are increasingly in the sights of speculators and investors. Real estate investment may no longer be just about the next hot neighbourhood, it may also now be the next dry neighbourhood. Over the past decade, the city has seen sea level rise about nine centimetres.

Jewish Business News

Market Conditions

Condos buck Toronto housing slowdown

Toronto-area builders say the slowdown that continues to drive the existing homes market has yet to impact new construction with condominium sales reaching record heights in June. The Building Industry and Land Development Association said high-rise, mid-rise and stacked townhomes made up 91 per cent of the 6,046 new home sales in June and were up 59 per cent from May.

Financial Post – Newinhomes.com – Newinhomes.com – Financial Post

New government brings new approach to housing issues: UDI

A couple of weeks ago, deep in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, conversations with strangers quickly turned ugly when yours truly mentioned visiting from Vancouver. A fisheries biologist related the challenge of finding rental housing on the Sunshine Coast and how the lack of supply drove up rents. Another managed to buy an apartment, did well, but cashed out to buy a detached house by the sea.

Business in Vancouver

U.S. apartment market softens, but still solid

All four indexes of the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) July Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions remained slightly below the break-even level of 50, the fourth consecutive quarter indicating softening conditions. The Market Tightness (43), Sales Volume (47), Equity Financing (46), and Debt Financing (47) Indexes all improved from April, but still hovered just below 50.

Building Design & Construction – Building Design & Construction

The best U.S. housing markets for investors

If you’re looking to invest in real estate, location is paramount. HomeUnion, an online real estate investment management firm, has identified zip codes in 20 U.S. metros where investors have seen the highest return on investment and minimal risk over a five-year period.

Business Insider

New Developments

Toronto wants future condo towers to be more pet-friendly

There are between four and eight pets on every Toronto high-rise floor, city planners believe, and now they’re looking for new ways to handle that. The city is turning to consultants to come up with a set of design guidelines to make high-density areas better for pets, and will also be looking for advice from the public.

CBC

Developer plans NE Winnipeg’s first luxury condos

Construction is underway on what is being billed as northeast Winnipeg’s first luxury condominiums. Nineteen/Fourteen the Residences is a five-storey, 23-unit concrete-and-steel complex being built on riverfront property at 1914 Henderson Hwy. The condos, by developer Andrew Koop of Winnipeg’s Irwin Homes, include two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 1,234 to 2,402 square feet. 

Winnipeg Free Press

Construction

Leaseholds on new-build houses in England to be banned

Builders are to be banned from selling houses as leasehold in England and ground rents on flats could be cut to zero following outrage over exploitative contracts. In a blow for major housebuilders, communities secretary Sajid Javid set out plans to “ban new-build houses being sold as leasehold as well as restricting ground rents to as low as zero.”

The Guardian

Affordable Housing

Affordability improves in six Canadian cities

It may not be a surprise home affordability in Canada has deteriorated to its worst level in years, but take heart. A majority of Canada’s largest home markets have actually seen some improvement in affordability recently. That’s according to National Bank of Canada, whose latest housing affordability monitor shows affordability getting better in six of the 10 housing markets surveyed.

HuffPost Canada

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Edmonton neighbours baffled by giant new double-lot house

Neighbours on a quiet southwest Edmonton crescent are baffled by the size of a giant new house that’s replaced two single-storey bungalows. “I call it the Little Butterdome,” said neighbour Duncan Robertson, with a laugh, referring to the 5,500-seat arena at the University of Alberta.

Edmonton Journal

Vancouver families working on plans for ‘urban village’

James Chamberlain and his partner live in a perfectly nice triplex near Vancouver General Hospital. But the lack of connections with anyone around him in the Fairview area bothered him, so he decided to look for like-minded people who would want to live in a place that would foster a sense of community.

Globe and Mail

Buying and Selling

Realtors brace for end of housing boom

Canada’s long housing boom has drawn thousands into the sector, from realtors and home-stagers to construction workers, and a looming slowdown threatens to trigger an exodus that could wipe out many of those jobs and force the economy to shift down. “To a lot of people, it is a get-rich-quick scheme,” Toronto realtor David Fleming said about the real estate market. “But history shows when the market turns, half of the agents leave.”

Reuters

Other

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