Rental housing growth outstrips home ownership

Rental housing growth outstrips home ownership

For the first time in decades, demand for rental housing is outpacing ownership, driving rent prices higher and deepening Canada’s housing affordability woes. Between 2011 and 2016, nearly 753,000 new households were formed. About 396,000 of those were rentals, which now account for 32 per cent of the country’s homes, according to data from the 2018 Canadian Rental Housing Index.

Globe and Mail – Toronto Star – CBC – Business In Vancouver

Rebuilding the rental housing industry

Despite the silent majority of satisfied tenants living in quality accommodations across Canada, often it’s the ugly side of the rental housing industry that fills our news feeds. Unforeseen rent hikes, squalid conditions, lax security, wrongful evictions, gentrification, and the tyranny of money-hungry management. The real story is the lack of available rental stock and the demand that just keeps growing. 

REMI Network – Canada Newswire

ICM predicts Calgary rebound, invests in apartment build

ICM Group, an international asset management firm, has partnered with Alberta-based PK Developments and Providence Group to build a 135-unit apartment complex in Marda Loop, one of Calgary’s inner-city neighbourhoods. John Courtliff, ICM’s managing director, said Alberta’s economy is recovering and the company intends to pursue further opportunities to acquire or invest in what it considers to be quality real estate assets in the province.

Property Biz Canada

Purpose Alliance REIT offers residential investment platform

Purpose Investments Inc. has acquired an interest in Alliance REIT Management Corp., a Canadian residential real estate investment platform now known as Purpose Alliance REIT. Purpose Alliance REIT provides the opportunity for long-term investments in the downtown and central Toronto residential real estate market through a private RRSP-eligible investment vehicle.

Property Biz Canada

Free land for affordable housing in TO, Vancouver

With land handouts and tax incentives provided by the city and provinces, one group hopes to bring 50,000 affordable apartments to Toronto and Vancouver in just 10 years. “If we don’t deal with this issue of housing, we’ll hit a ceiling where we can’t expand that sector of the economy that we desperately need,” said Ian Gillespie, chief executive officer of Westbank Projects Corp.

Financial Post

Vancouver realtors, developers brace for crash

High-profile real estate developers, marketing executives and real estate agents are bracing for a sustained downturn in the housing market after sales in April – usually one of the most active months of the year – plunged by double-digits across Metro Vancouver. “We all knew it would come to an end and the end is nigh,” said Vancouver lawyer Richard Bell, executive vice-chair and founder of Avesdo Inc.

Business In Vancouver

Hugh Heron, Mattamy, Great Gulf big winners at BILD Awards

Hugh Heron’s companies have built more than 8,000 homes and more than a million square feet of commercial and retail space. His community involvement has an even more remarkable achievement – it has directly led to saving 39 lives . . . and counting. The Heron Homes principal and co-founder was awarded BILD’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the association’s awards gala in Toronto Friday night, May 4. It is the association’s highest honour.

Property Biz Canada

Tower renewal has power to change face of suburbia

Canada’s cities get all the attention, but it’s Canada’s suburbs that often deserve it. Most of us live in there and that’s where the future will unfold. Though the word conjures up images of endless sprawl, in fact, throughout much of suburbia the tower is the defining building type. Largely constructed between the 1950s and the ’80s, these looming structures, typically mid-rise or taller, dominate the landscape.

Toronto Storeys

Timbercreek to demolish 150 Ottawa rental homes

One of Ottawa’s largest residential landlords says it plans to level a large segment of a south-end neighbourhood, forcing some 105 residents out of their rental homes. Timbercreek Communities, the real estate arm of the Toronto-based global asset manager, said one-quarter of the 150 affected wooden townhomes are reaching the end of their life cycle and “are no longer viable.”

Ottawa Business Journal – CBC – Ottawa Citizen

Home rental bidding wars reach Vancouver suburbs

A recent city staff report noted the proportion of people living in rental housing in Surrey is rising, creating more demand in a tight rental market. As a result, the report said, there has been a significant increase in the number of people who are paying rents that are “considered unaffordable for their income.” It also said the proportion of renter households living in overcrowded conditions is higher than elsewhere in the region.

CBC

Ex-Vancouver city planners would have done things differently

In Ann McAfee’s 32 years working at City Hall, first as senior housing planner and then as co-director of planning, a major focus was making Vancouver a nicer place to live. McAfee helped catapult Vancouver to the top of global “livability” lists, but in the meantime, rents and real estate prices were creeping ever higher.

CBC – CBC – CBC – CBC

Five things: Multi-family resale in Calgary

Prices on townhomes listed through Calgary’s resale market last month were the highest figures in five months and climbed two per cent year-over-year. The benchmark price on townhomes in April was $300,000, rising from $293,600 in 2017, says the Calgary Real Estate Board. Benchmark prices are that of a typical home based on a formula that uses various factors to ensure accurate comparisons.

Calgary Herald – CBC – Calgary Herald – Calgary Herald

Regina falls short in fight against urban sprawl

Regina is falling behind on its long-term development targets, as residents continue to choose new neighbourhoods over infill housing. City Hall has an official policy to channel 30 per cent of population growth into existing areas, in the belief that a more compact city will save infrastructure money and promote transit use. In other words, it aims to prevent sprawl.

Regina Leader-Post

TREB blasts OREA over negative portrait of market

The president of the Toronto Real Estate Board warned leaders of the Ontario Real Estate Association, headed by former Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak, to “stay in their lane” in an emphatic letter that relays his concerns the provincial group is stoking fears about the housing market and becoming too political. Tim Syrianos says the OREA should stick to its mandate to promote the province’s housing market.

CTV – Toronto Star

Toronto Canada’s most youth-friendly city

A first-ever ranking of Canada’s “most youthful” cities puts Toronto on top as the best place for young people to live, work and play, based on metrics such as the cost of a transit pass, monthly rent and concert tickets along with measures of youth unemployment, digital access and crime stats. The index is by YouthfulCities, a Toronto-based social enterprise.

Globe and Mail

Market Conditions

Canadian home sales fall in April

Statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show national home sales fell 2.9 per cent from March to April 2018. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was down 13.9% from April 2017. The number of newly listed homes declined 4.8% from March to April. The MLS Home Price Index (HPI) in April was up 1.5% year-over-year. The national average sale price declined by 11.3% year-over-year in April.

Canada Newswire

Regulations cost single-family homebuyers: C.D. Howe

Buyers in Canada’s most overheated markets paid an average of $229,000 extra per home between 2007 and 2016 because of regulations making it difficult for builders to construct more single-family houses, says research from the C.D. Howe Institute. It revealed zoning regulations, development charges and housing limits in and around southern Ontario’s Greenbelt have added around $168,000 to single-family houses in the GTA and about $644,000 to the cost of others in Vancouver.

Financial Post – Canada Newswire

Baby boomer exodus driving luxury condo prices higher

As baby boomers move out of large family homes for low-maintenance lifestyle of condos, luxury condo prices are outpacing appreciation in luxury detached homes in most markets across the country. According to a Royal LePage report, luxury condo prices outpaced luxury detached homes over the first four months of 2018 in Greater Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area, with median prices rising by seven and 10.4 per cent, respectively.

Financial Post – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Vancouver luxury property N.A.’s worst performer

The party’s over for now for those sitting on Vancouver’s most expensive properties. Prices at the top end of the market plunged 7.6 per cent in the six months to March, making it the world’s second-worst performer during that period, according to  Knight Frank LLP. Only Stockholm did worse, falling nine per cent, while Toronto rose six per cent and the top gainer was Seoul.

Bloomberg – Vancouver Sun – Canada Newswire

Mortgage and Finance

Home Capital anticipates mortgage renewal surge

Home Capital Group Inc. (HCG-T) is anticipating the highest mortgage renewal rate ever in the alternative lender’s history, in the wake of new regulations and company initiatives to stay competitive. Home Capital CEO Yousry Bissada says the Toronto-based mortgage lender is “back in all aspects of our business” despite reporting a 40 per cent year-over-year drop in net income in the latest quarter, compared to a year ago.

CBC – Globe and Mail – Stockhouse

Hike to mortgage qualifying rate fresh blow for homebuyers

Expect a modest slowdown in housing activity and more demand for cheaper housing with the new qualifying mortgage rate, some experts say. The Bank of Canada raised its mortgage qualifying rate to 5.34 per cent last week, meaning borrowers now face a higher bar in the federally mandated stress test. The rate was previously 5.14 per cent.

Financial Post – Newinhomes.com – Toronto Star – Globe and Mail

New Developments

Roca’s Ottawa apartment plan sent back to drawing board

A developer hoping to build a four-storey apartment building on Kent Street has been ordered back to the drawing board to prevent the structure from looming over the sidewalk in a heritage district. The building would replace two homes at Kent and McLeod streets in the Centretown heritage conservation district. As it’s designed now, the building would be only 30 cm from the property line.

CBC

Greater Victoria to get 2,010 rental units

A number of new rental developments will be built in Greater Victoria in the coming years after a $90 million government investment. Federal, provincial and Capital Regional District politicians made the announcement of 2,010 rental units on Thursday, one of the first announcements to come out of the federal government’s National Housing Strategy.

CBC

Seniors Housing

Housing crisis to hit Canadian seniors

A new cohort is joining young Canadians and others frustrated by sky-high rents and soaring housing costs: seniors. A looming affordability crisis is poised to hit seniors across the country as the baby boom generation makes its long-predicted shift into its golden years, squeezing the supply of retirement home places and pushing up rents, according to a new report from the rating agency DBRS Ltd.

Financial Post – Canada Newswire

Renovation, Repair and Maintenance

Minto unveils renovated 61 Yorkville in Toronto

Minto Properties Inc. is unveiling its full-scale renovation underway at 61 Yorkville Avenue in Toronto, Ontario. With an investment of $19M, plans come complete with spacious, open concept units and upgraded amenity space. Boasting thoughtful luxury and full-service concierge, the property provides short- and long-term rentals in furnished and unfurnished suites, attractive to local and international residents alike. 

Canada Newswire

Taxes and Utilities

Vancouver couple say they can’t stomach tax bump

Lynne Kent and her husband are among a small group of homeowners in B.C. facing a tax bump on homes assessed at more than $3 million who say they simply can’t afford it — a claim some are questioning. The school-tax increase would be set next year at 0.2 per cent on the portion of property valued above $3 million. 

Toronto Star

Natural Disasters

Sodden B.C. prepares for second flood surge

British Columbia saw its first flooding surge of the season last week, prompting nearly two dozen states of emergency and forcing about 4,000 people from their homes. The weekend weather was drier, but officials are warning Round Two of the flood surge is likely on its way with warm weather expected to melt even more snow — sending more run-off into swamped communities.

CBC – Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail – CBC

Legal Issues

Status certificates revisited in recent Ontario ruling

A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision sheds some more light on the effect of the failure to disclose certain declaration violations in a status certificate issued by a condominium corporation. Unfortunately, as discussed below, the decision also raises a number of difficult questions for condominiums, managers and unit owners, which can be summarized as “how can you disclose what you do not know?”

Condo Business

More generous indemnities announced for Quebecers

The Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ) Thursday announced the increase of the indemnity paid by the Real Estate Indemnity Fund (FICI) in case of fraud, fraudulent tactics or misappropriation of funds. The maximum indemnity will go from $35,000 to $100,000 per claim, an increase of 186 per cent.

Canada Newswire

Construction

Richmond votes to keep current house size on ALR land

Some Richmond residents and farmland advocates tried — but failed — Monday to get city council to further limit house sizes on some of B.C.’s prime agricultural land. Late Monday, council voted to maintain the current home size of 10,764 square feet, and also voted to allow an additional dwelling for farm workers with a maximum size of 3,229 square feet for eight- to 25-hectare lots without a rezoning process.

Vancouver Sun

Affordable Housing

Not enough affordable housing: Vancouver city planner

Capital flows exert the force that keeps the vortex that is Vancouver’s housing market roiling, drawing in all comers. Whether it’s investors looking for a safe haven, developers trying to make a buck or employers just trying to attract staff, it all comes back to housing. The first two points came to the fore during a discussion at the recent Vancouver Real Estate Forum.

Business In Vancouver

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Pilot would let Edmontonians sell their backyard

New city regulations would let Edmontonians sell up to half of their yard on the open market, with or without a garden suite. It’s part of a new pilot project going to city council for approval this summer. The front-back subdivision was first pitched to council as a “pork chop” lot, a way to increase density by making garage suites or laneway housing more attractive.

Edmonton Journal

Calgary moves to crack down on illegal rental suites

Calgary hopes there are more people like Caleb Roddick. Over the years, Roddick has built about a dozen so-called “secondary suites” through his Red Door Construction company. Now, he has purchased a bungalow himself in the Glamorgan neighbourhood, with intentions to renovate its currently illegal basement rental unit – which has housed numerous tenants over more than 20 years – to meet the building code and thus become legal.

Globe and Mail

Victoria considers minimum standards for apartments

Victoria is looking at setting minimum standards for rental apartment maintenance under a suite of measures designed to protect aging rental units and their tenants. Under a proposal for a new standards of maintenance bylaw, rental apartments would have to meet minimum standards.

Victoria Times Colonist

Other

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