Vancouver pushing for rental-only zoning

Vancouver pushing for rental-only zoning

Even though more than half the City of Vancouver rents, purpose-built rentals have become pretty much a unicorn. The vacancy rate is near zero. As part of an effort to address the crisis, the city is considering the creation of designated areas of the city for rental housing only. The city currently doesn’t have the authority to create rental-only areas: That authority must come from the province.

Globe and Mail – Vancouver Sun – Vancouver Sun – Vancouver Sun

Add storeys to help solve Toronto rental shortage

If developers were allowed to add 10 floors to every building proposal this year, there would be thousands of new rental units on the market in a short time, says Joseph Feldman, director of development for Camrost Felcorp. “Ten storeys — that takes an extra 10 weeks on the construction cycle. A new 10-storey building takes a couple of years,” he said.

Toronto Star

GTA rental vacancy rates lowest in 16 years

Affordable apartments are becoming increasingly difficult to find across the GTA, with vacancy rates hitting a 16-year low amid steadily rising rents, a new report shows. The details around the rising costs of rent and the decline in available apartments are spelled out in the latest Rental Market Survey for the Greater Toronto Area, from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Toronto Star – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Business In Vancouver – CBC

Builder rebate to encourage Ontario rental construction

It will be up to Ontario municipalities to determine which new rental developments qualify for $125 million over five years in development charge rebates from the province. Some of that money will help encourage the builders to construct market-priced rentals, in addition to affordable housing, said Housing Minister Peter Milczyn on Wednesday.

Toronto Star – Newinhomes.com – BuzzBuzzNews

Renters and Airbnb landlords square off in Toronto

Politicians in Toronto will be scrutinizing proposed rules for short-term rentals this week that could spell major changes for those who offer secondary residences for rent on platforms like Airbnb. Among the raft of regulations going before city councillors is a rule that would ban short-term rentals of homes that aren’t the landlord’s primary dwelling.

CTV – Toronto Star – Global News

Vaughan introduces detached home condo

Is it a detached home? Is it a condo? Make way for the newest housing type to hit the GTA: the detached home condo. Vaughan city staff and councillors performed some planning gymnastics recently when they approved a new SkyHomes Corp. project in the historic village of Kleinburg — by rewriting the definition of “detached home” in order to give the development a green light.

Toronto Star

Alberta’s massive inventory of unsold condos raises concerns

Alberta’s economy is slowly emerging out of a deep hole, but there are lingering worries about a massive inventory of condominiums available for sale. New condo projects and purpose-built rental apartments planned when oil was riding high are now hitting the market, even as the vacancy rates in both Edmonton and Calgary remain high, and employment and migration remain weak.

Globe and Mail

47% decrease in mortgage loan insurance ‘new normal’: CMHC

Canada’s national housing agency said Wednesday the 47 per cent decline in the country’s insured mortgage market year-over-year in the third quarter is the “new normal level.” The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said in its latest financial report it provided mortgage loan insurance to 67,915 units for the three-month period ended Sept. 30 compared to 127,991 units during the same period a year ago.

Winnipeg Free Press – Globe and Mail – Better Dwelling

Canadians’ addiction to debt adds risk to market

They are under 35, heavily indebted and own homes with relatively large mortgages and longer amortization periods. Also, they are readily found in Toronto or Vancouver. A recent report by the Bank of Canada identifies the at-risk borrowers who are more vulnerable to economic shocks, such as a sudden loss in income or a rapid increase in mortgage rates.

Financial Post – Globe and Mail – CBC – Better Dwelling

Toronto relying on strong market to balance budget

Even with signs of a cooling real estate market, Toronto is once again counting on housing prices to balance its $11-billion municipal operating budget. City manager Peter Wallace unveiled a preliminary 2018 budget on Thursday that will be debated and amended before a final vote in February. Unlike in many previous years, the proposed books are already balanced.

Globe and Mail – Toronto Star – CBC

Court ruling ends secrecy surrounding GTA home prices

Toronto-area home owners and house-hunters are one step closer to being able to find out online how much the house down the street sold for without meeting personally with a real estate agent. A Federal Court of Appeal has upheld an April 2016 decision by Canada’s Competition Bureau that ordered the Toronto Real Estate Board to allow its members to share the sales histories of listed properties online.

Toronto Star – CBC – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Canada Newswire

Victoria redevelopment includes six-storey rental tower

Vancouver’s District Properties, the new owner of Victoria’s Scott Building, will repurpose its upper floor space for housing and build an adjacent six-storey rental tower on an adjacent parking lot. The sale price for the 51,000-square-foot office building was not disclosed. B.C. Assessment records show the Scott Building is valued at $10.6 million and the parking lot at $2.6 million.

Victoria Times Colonist

Van. developer looks to Nanaimo for ‘affordable’ building sites

A Vancouver development company is making its first investments in Nanaimo, joining other Lower Mainland firms building on Vancouver Island as land values and demand rise in B.C.’s housing market. Wertman Development Corp. has bought two Nanaimo sites — one for a downtown condo tower of 20-plus storeys and another for a two-building rental project.

Victoria Times Colonist – Squamish Chief – Business In Vancouver

Richmond, B.C., land assemblies increasing in size: Realtors

Two long-time Richmond realtors say builders and developers are increasingly turning to townhouse construction along Richmond’s arterial roads. “In many ways the townhouse is the new single-family home,” said realtor Martin Dash, who is, along with business partner Carmen McCracken, putting together a land assembly on Steveston Highway to market to a developer.

Business In Vancouver

Council ‘making rules on the fly’: Edmonton developer

Raj Dhunna of Regency Developments isn’t sure he’s willing to continue after negotiating an agreement with city administration to build Holyrood Gardens — a 1,200-unit high-density residential development along Edmonton’s new $1.8-billion Valley LRT to Mill Woods. City council voted Monday to send the project back to the drawing board.

Edmonton Journal

Market Conditions

CMHC boss sees dreams of ownership fading for Canadians

The head of the federal housing agency says more Canadians may have to rethink the idea of owning a home, especially in major cities where prices have surged. “The dream of home ownership may be fading for some,” said Evan Siddall, president of Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. “Housing affordability has become a serious problem in our major cities.”

Bloomberg

Toronto home prices are down 8.8% since May

Canada’s largest housing market continues to see prices fall amid a widening pool of homes for sale, though there are signs the correction is beginning to lure in some new buyers. The Toronto Real Estate Board’s benchmark home price index fell for the sixth consecutive month, down another 0.4 per cent from October. For the first time since 2009, the average price of a home sold in Toronto — at $761,757 in November — failed to surpass levels from a year 

Bloomberg – Toronto Star

Quebec continues to trail in homeownership rate

Canada Newswire

Smart-home tech developers may be prioritizing convenience over security

The proliferation of internet-connected home devices such as thermostats, baby monitors and fridges is creating an ever-expanding interconnected web known as the Internet of Things, or IoT. But security and legal experts warn machine-to-machine communication is creating a new level of risk — by providing hackers with new vulnerabilities to exploit.

Toronto Star

Mortgage and Finance

30-year mortgage amortizations are taking over

Once upon a time, 25 years was the standard amortization on a Canadian mortgage. Today, no less than 63 per cent of new low-ratio mortgages by value, have amortizations over 25 years. That’s a surge of 11 percentage points in just two years. Meanwhile, six in 10 Canadians consider longer amortization periods “bad debt practice,” according to a recent survey by Manulife Bank.

Globe and Mail

Mortgage demand up ahead of new rules: RBC

Royal Bank of Canada saw an uptick in demand for mortgages this fall as borrowers look to secure loans before tougher rules — including a stress test — take effect in the new year, says Neil McLaughlin, RBC’s head of personal and commercial banking. “We have seen a little bit of pull forward this fall,” McLaughlin told analysts on its fourth-quarter earnings call  Wednesday. 

Hamilton Spectator

New Developments

Bird strikes raised as a concern at planned Saskatoon condo

The company behind a controversial condo building planned for Saskatoon’s Nutana neighbourhood has been asked to keep bird safety in mind.  City council unanimously approved a seven-story condo building last month, despite receiving a petition with the names of 183 people urging councillors to reject the proposal.  On Friday, the Meewasin Valley Authority’s (MVA) board also approved the project, which is planned by Meridian Development Corp.

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Seniors Housing

Crisis forces elderly residents to move outside Toronto: Group

Canada Newswire

Taxes and Utilities

B.C. RE tax enforcement measures lack teeth: Experts

The B.C. government recently amended its property transfer tax form to require sellers disclose their residency status for tax purposes, in writing. However, without an army of CRA auditors, the steps taken by the Ministry — which promised to address house flipping and speculation — remain largely unenforceable according to experts, including Richmond-based international tax accountant Steven Flynn, of W.L. Dueck and Co. LLP.

Richmond News – Lexology

Natural Disasters

Wildfire forces thousands to flee homes north of L.A.

A rapidly growing wildfire in the foothills north of Los Angeles threatened thousands of homes on Tuesday, forcing nearby residents to evacuate the area after causing at least one death and local power outages, officials said. Some 7,700 households in Ventura County, Calif., about 115 kilometres northwest of Los Angeles, were told to leave as the 10,000-hectare wildfire burned dry brush after erupting earlier on Monday evening.

CBC

Legal Issues

Ontario to strengthen protection for syndicated mortgage investors

In its autumn update, the Ontario government reiterated it plans to develop legislation to regulate financial planners in Ontario to “ensure that consumers have access to high-quality financial planning services that will benefit their long-term financial well-being”. The government also proposes financial planners would be required to meet certain proficiency requirements.

Lexology

Ethics breaches costing Ontario agents less than expected

It was a proposal designed to strengthen consumer protection by “modernizing” fines for real estate agents who break ethics rules. Conceived amid a spate of headlines about questionable practices in the Toronto region’s overheated real estate market, the Ontario government’s plan to double the maximum penalty to $50,000 seemed like a tonic for restive times.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Condominium Management

Electric vehicle charging stations coming to Ottawa condos?

Ontario is seeking the public’s input on proposed changes to the Condo Act which would make it easier to install and access electric vehicle charging stations in existing condos. While the province has not circulated actual proposed language, it provides a “plain language” summary of what proposed changes could look like and asks for your opinion. Have a look. Now is the time to prepare the future.

Lexology

Affordable Housing

Markets, not national strategies, will make housing affordable

The Trudeau government recently unveiled its new National Housing Strategy, which includes a portable “housing benefit” of $2,500 per year, on average, to low-income households and the construction or renovation of hundreds of thousands of social housing units. But while these policies will benefit specific groups of people, they do not target broader affordability issues in Canada’s most expensive housing markets.

Maclean’s

With a $2,000 down payment, Calgarians can buy a home

Earlier this year, Rae Lemke Sprung and her husband, Craig, got a surprise $2,000 tax rebate and used it to buy a house.  In July, they moved into their own three-storey townhouse in Bowness, a once-independent municipality that has since been swallowed by the ever-growing city. Many of their neighbours also got their houses with $2,000 down payments – a stunning achievement in Calgary, where the average home costs nearly $500,000. 

Globe and Mail

Buying and Selling

Canadians view homeownership as good long-term investment

Canada Newswire

Toronto agents see rush of buyers ahead of new mortgage rules

On a recent Friday evening in Toronto, real estate agent Christopher Bibby was staying late at the office. He had three offers on the go – for three different condo units he had listed around the $2-million mark. Before the night was done, all three had sold. “There’s a bit of a push to secure property before the end of the year,” he says.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

‘Canada’s Graceland’ sells for $3.98 million

Rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins has sold his 175-acre property some have called Canada’s Graceland. Hawkstone Manor Estate hugs 3,300 feet of Stoney Lake shoreline and includes a 5,600-square-foot residence, two guest cottages on a peninsula, an event barn and a stable doubling as a garage. The property was listed this spring with an asking price of $4.25 million.

Globe and Mail

Feds fear expanding Home Buyers’ Plan would fuel market

The federal Liberals are having second thoughts about a 2015 campaign promise out of concern expanding the popular Home Buyers’ Plan would throw fuel on overheated housing markets. An internal document suggests high prices are a reason the Liberals don’t appear to be in a hurry to fulfil an pledge that would enable Canadians to dip back their registered retirement savings to help pay for a home.

CTV – CBC – Maclean’s

Other

Introducing the winners of the 2017 NXT City Prize

The 2017 NXT City Prize winners were announced last week, unveiling three amazing ideas for transforming Toronto’s public space. The annual competition engages designers, architects, artists, engineers, and all other creative thinkers to reimagine how public space in the city can be used. This year’s site-specific categories were the Wellington Destructor Site, the Liberty Market Galleria and Civic Tech.

Newinhomes.com

The 2017 MAC Awards Winners

* Lifetime Achievement Recipient: Tom Schwartz, CAPREIT
* Best Property Management Website: Hollyburn Properties Ltd. – www.hollyburn.com
* Advertising Excellence for a Single Campaign: Skyline Living – Harris Place Phase I & II
* Advertising Excellence – Social Media: Greenwin Inc.
* Best Lobby Renovation: Hollyburn Properties Ltd. – 103 Avenue Road, Toronto
* Best Curb Appeal: Greenrock Property Management Ltd 40,50 Alexander Street & 55 Maitland Street, Toronto
* Best Suite Renovation under $12,500: Preston Group – 2 Secord Avenue, Toronto
* Best Suite Renovation over $12,500: Metcap Living Management Inc. – 201 Sherbourne Street, Toronto
* Rental Development of the Year: Sifton Properties Limited – West 5 Townhomes, London
* Amenities Excellence: Minto Properties Inc. – 185 Lyon Street North, Ottawa
* Outstanding Community Service: Starlight Investments
* Environmental Excellence: Sifton Properties Limited
* Leasing Professional of the Year: John Burns, Greenwin Inc.
* Property Manager of the Year: Theresa Lapensee – Sifton Properties Limited
* Resident Manager of the Year: Linda & Fernando DaSilva, Greenwin Inc.
* Customer Service Award of Excellence: Minto Properties Inc.
* Marvin Sadowski Memorial Award for Certified Rental Building Member of the Year: Hollyburn Properties Ltd.

Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario media release

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