Genworth hit hard by new mortgage-insurance rules

Genworth hit hard by new mortgage-insurance rules

New mortgage-insurance rules announced in 2016 by the federal government are taking a toll on new-business growth at Canada’s largest private-sector mortgage insurer. Genworth MI Canada Inc. (MIC-T), which provides mortgage insurance for home buyers and financial institutions, said the total value of new insurance it wrote in Q2 2017 was down 81 per cent to $6.1 billion from $31.7 billion in Q2 1016. 

Globe and Mail

Commercial operators a growing Airbnb concern: Study

Large commercial players are dominating the short-term rental market in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and raking in most of the revenue, according to McGill University School of Urban Planning research analyzing Airbnb activity. There has been disproportionately large growth of full-time, entire-home listings that belong to hosts with multiple Airbnb properties, according to the draft report.

Toronto Star

Chartwell takes Quebec seniors housing model into Ontario

The Quebec model of affordable rental housing for seniors will “absolutely” catch on in the rest of Canada “because it makes common sense,” says the chief financial officer and chief investment officer of Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH.UN-T). Vlad Volodarski says Quebec’s à la carte model helps solve the affordability issue.

Property Biz Canada

Residential land lease formula a success for Parkbridge

Homebuyers seeking a more affordable alternative to traditional market options as housing prices and mortgage rates increase, and personal savings levels remain challenged, might want to consider the land lease model. That’s the message from Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities, Canada’s largest private land lease developer and operator.

Property Biz Canada

Home Capital ignored warnings: Report

An independent report done for Home Capital Group Inc. (HCG-T) found company managers were inattentive to the risks of mortgage fraud – and ignored warnings from regulators and industry partners – even as brokers were submitting loan applications with phony information to the firm. Home Capital’s board commissioned the review, which was performed by audit firm KPMG in early 2015. 

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

New condo sales booming in Toronto

Toronto’s resale housing market has cooled off considerably since Ontario’s move to rein in frenzied activity. Meanwhile, demand is only increasing for new condo units. Sales of new condos in the census metropolitan area totalled 12,138 in the second quarter, up 62 per cent from a year earlier, according to BMO Nesbitt Burns. Inventory levels have more than halved over the same span.

Globe and Mail

Average Toronto home price drops $173,000 since April

GTA home prices posted their biggest monthly drop in at least 17 years in July and sales plunged. The benchmark Toronto property price dropped 4.6 per cent to $773,000, the biggest monthly drop since records for the price index began in 2000. Prices are still up 18 per cent from the same month a year ago, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) .

Toronto Star – Bloomberg – CBC – Globe and Mail

Montreal may be hottest housing market

Forget Vancouver and Toronto — Canada’s hottest housing market may be Montreal. Greater Montreal Real Estate Board data shows 3,075 homes were sold in July, an increase of 16 per cent over July 2016 and the most for the month in eight years. That contrasts with Toronto, where sales last month plunged 40.4 per cent while in Vancouver they dropped 8.2 per cent.

Toronto Star – Montreal Gazette – Canada Newswire

Vancouver market unfazed by foreign buyers’ tax one year later

The foreign buyers’ tax has done little to improve affordability in Vancouver a year after it was introduced. Analysts say prices have continued to escalate and houses are still out of reach for most. “… As far as shaping the overall Vancouver market, it really hasn’t done that much,” said Brendon Ogmundson, an economist with the British Columbia Real Estate Association.

CBC – Financial Post – Vancouver Province – CBC

How a year of reform has changed the housing market

Canada’s housing sector has been whipsawed by policy changes over the past year as governments have tried to cool overheated markets in Vancouver and Toronto and stave off a consumer debt crisis. In the year since the B.C. government introduced a foreign-buyers tax in the Vancouver housing market, residential real estate has become one of the most actively regulated sectors.

Globe and Mail – CBC

15% of secondary rental suites illegal: Square One

As many as 15 per cent of secondary rental suites in detached homes are being operated in Canada illegally, said a survey of more than 5,000 homeowners in B.C., Alberta and Ontario by Square One Insurance Services. In many cases, illegally operated secondary suites also go unreported to insurance providers. Homeowners find themselves in this situation in a number of ways.

Global News – Canada Newswire

	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.

 

Wildfires still raging a month after state of emergency declared

Wildfires are continuing to tear through B.C. one month after the provincial government declared a state of emergency. Chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek said the province has seen 904 fires since April 1 and most of the major blazes wreaking havoc are ones that prompted the state of emergency declaration July 7.

Globe and Mail – CTV – Global News – Globe and Mail

First ‘smart home’ condo to be built in Richmond, B.C.

A “smart home,” built and designed to be controlled via a smartphone, is coming to Richmond, B.C. ASPAC Developments is working with Bang & Olufsen to install a “smart home” system in its new waterfront 2 River Green project. All 287 units will be equipped with an automation system that controls the locks, lights, sounds and temperature of the apartment.

Richmond News

Van. planners aim to make high-density neighbourhoods livable

Ricardo Torres lives in a 20-storey tower near the Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain station, a former industrial zone that was redeveloped in the 1990s to become the densest neighbourhood in the Lower Mainland outside the downtown peninsula. But Torres feels his family has more green space, more connections to people in the neighbourhood and better services than he did in Mexico.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

Ontario Real Estate Association pledges to watch the watchdog

The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) is calling for tougher fines for realtors who break the rules and updated industry standards for transactions where the same agent acts for the buyer and seller. The association says it is looking out for consumers as well as agents by declaring itself a “watchdog” for the real estate industry’s regulatory agent, the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO).

Toronto Star

Architect envisions condos atop Bloor Viaduct

Architect Tye Farrow, a fan of Ontario Place since it opened in 1971, the time to dream big has come again. And Farrow has set his sights on another Toronto icon: the Bloor Viaduct. Working with GRIP Metal, a company that is readying a new type of metal-strengthened plywood for the marketplace, Farrow has envisioned “Living Bridges.”

Globe and Mail

Market Conditions

Vancouver’s condo prices just keep rising

The summer real estate market slowdown is having no impact on Vancouver’s condo sector. Despite the lazy pace of market activity, condo sale prices are continuing to soar. The median price of all 92 condo units sold July 24-30, in Vancouver West and Vancouver East, was $714,000. That compares with $692 thousand just the week before.

Vancouver Courier

Gastown apartment on Craigslist is $1,450 — for 200 square feet

Vancouver is the most expensive rental market in Canada. According to a report from PadMapper.com, the average rental price of a one-bedroom apartment is $1,950. A recent Craiglist post is advertising a furnished, micro-studio apartment in Gastown for $1,450. It’s 200 square feet. 

Calgary Herald – Vancouver Sun

Calgary saw steady growth in first half of 2017

Housing sales saw steady growth in the first half of the year, according to numbers released by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB). All told, there were 11,957 sales to the end of July, marking a 9.24 per cent increase over the same time period last year.

CBC

Canadian prices to fall 28 per cent by 2020: Model

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) House Price-To-Rent Index, together with a linear regression model, predicts Canadian real estate prices will fall 28 per cent by 2020. We won’t necessarily see a 28% reduction in sticker value. Inflation will likely decrease the value of money, and reduce the drop by two per cent annually if the Bank of Canada consistently hit its target going forward.

Better Dwelling

New Developments

Small apartments, row houses planned for Victoria neighbourhood

Victoria’s least-dense neighbourhood would become a little more crowded under a draft plan. Townhouses and small apartments along Fairfield Road, row houses throughout the community and secondary suites in duplexes and small-lot houses are all part of the mix in the draft Gonzales neighbourhood plan.

Victoria Times Colonist

Richmond Hill’s Westwood Gardens stresses sustainability

The Westwood Gardens development in Richmond Hill, set for occupancy in 2020, will feature two towers of 15 storeys. For Yun Zhu, a future resident of the Collecdev development, a major draw was the development’s geothermal heating and cooling system, by Diverso Energy. “It’s very sustainable,” says Zhu, who designs HVAC systems for large-scale commercial projects.

Toronto Star

Seniors Housing

Massive Victoria seniors’ care facility on time and budget

Capital Regional District staff are hopeful a seniors’ care facility under construction will come in at or under its $65-million construction budget. More than $17 million in construction contracts for the Summit at Quadra Village facility were approved Wednesday by Capital Regional District directors — a total that came in significantly under estimates.

Victoria Times Colonist

Natural Disasters

Bonnyville seeks disaster relief from Alberta for flooding

The Municipal District of Bonnyville is asking the province to help owners of flooded property stay afloat after months of heavy rain. “This water’s not going anywhere,” chief administrative officer Chris Cambridge said. Since last fall, Bonnyville and the surrounding communities have been dealing with precipitation — and lots of it.

CBC

Legal Issues

Richmond Hill real estate brokerage fined

A Richmond Hill real estate brokerage has received a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty in an Ontario court to mishandling its trust accounts that were found to be short of funds. The amount is the maximum penalty a corporation can receive for a violation of the Ontario’s Real Estate Business and Brokers Act (REBBA), 2002 legislation being reviewed by Queen’s Park.

Toronto Star

Buyer who walked away from deal ordered to pay up

The B.C. Supreme Court has ordered a buyer who walked away from a Surrey, B.C., real estate deal last summer to pay the sellers more than $360,000, or six times his original deposit. The ruling puts the would-be buyer on the hook for the difference between the contract he signed — for $1,260,000 — and what it eventually sold for.

CBC

Prominent Richmond realtor fights forgery allegations

A prominent Richmond realtor has been accused in a lawsuit by her former employer, New Coast Realty, of “forging and concealing” changes made to 11 contracts, and causing the firm to lose listings contracts and commissions. But, realtor Wendy Yang alleges “it was common practice” for realtors at New Coast to write their manager’s name on documents.

Vancouver Sun – Globe and Mail

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

San Franciscans in uproar after private street is sold

In May, the owners of 35 of San Francisco’s most exclusive and expensive homes became aware they no longer owned their private street. Upstart San Jose real estate investors Tina Lam and Michael Cheng, had snapped up the street, the sidewalks, and the landscaped islands of Presidio Terrace at a public auction of tax-defaulted properties in April 2015. They paid $90,582.50.

The Guardian

Buying and Selling

Brookfield has best-selling condo homes in Kauai

Brookfield Residential Hawaii announced the #1 best-selling condo development on Kauai* in 2017 is PiliMai at Po’ipu. The condos at PiliMai are located in Po’ipu, a luxury resort community on Kauai’s south coast, one of the island’s most popular destinations. The new condos in Kauai are priced from the $600,000s.

Marketwired

Trump’s Caribbean property offered at major discount

U.S. President Donald Trump‘s luxury mansion in St. Martin is being offered at $16.9 million US after an original asking price of $28 million – a reduction of close to 40 per cent. Le Château des Palmiers’ original asking price was a record high.

Jewish Business News

Other

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