B.C. rental-only zones could reduce land prices: Experts

B.C. rental-only zones could reduce land prices: Experts

A proposal that would give cities in British Columbia the power to zone land for rental housing could moderate the price of affected properties, experts say. Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore, who led a committee on housing strategy for the Union of BC Municipalities, said the legislation tabled last month by the provincial government would give cities the authority to protect existing rental properties and calm speculation.

Globe and Mail

B.C. developers seek clarity over presale condo taxes

Vancouver Sun – Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

NIMBYism, skilled labour, permit issues dog Vancouver

A shortage of local construction labour and a broken municipal public hearing process are worsening the Vancouver region’s affordability crisis, laments the outgoing chair of Metro Vancouver. Port Coquitlam mayor and Metro Vancouver board of directors chair Greg Moore spoke during a discussion of the region’s affordability crisis at the Vancouver Real Estate Forum.

Property Biz Canada

Two JV developments to build 2,200 apartments in Toronto

Two joint ventures have been formed to construct about 2,200 apartments in Toronto, the developers announced recently. The projects also incorporate retail and possibly office space. In the largest of the two projects, Dream Unlimited Corp. (DRM-T), Dream Hard Asset Alternatives Trust (DRA-UN-T), Kilmer, and Tricon Capital Group Inc. (TCN-T) will develop and manage a rental apartment community of about 1,500 units in Toronto’s West Don Lands.     

Property Biz Canada

Some Torontonians lost hundreds of thousands

The house in Toronto was the type of property highly coveted by those in the city: fully detached on a sprawling lot, recently renovated and adorned with granite countertops, hardwood floors and a solarium. The buyer knew he had to make an offer. He figured he could rent it out, and if the payments didn’t cover the mortgage costs. The house would surely be worth more quickly.

Maclean’s – Globe and Mail

GTA home sales plummet: TREB

The Toronto real estate market appears to be stabilizing after last year’s frenzied pace of sales and skyrocketing prices, but transactions have still sunk to their lowest level since 2009. The Toronto Real Estate Board revealed Thursday the market saw 7,792 transactions in April, a 32.1 per cent drop from the same period last year when 11,468 homes were sold and a 1.6 per cent decrease from the month before.

CBC – Toronto Star – Globe and Mail – Newinhomes.com

Lachine’s VillaNova project will feature three towers

More than a year and a half after it was originally scheduled, construction on a major housing development in Lachine is set to begin the first week of June. Work on the VillaNova development was put on hold after a section of the site tested positive for heavy metals. The project will include three 10-storey towers with 177 condo units and 22,000 square feet of commercial space.

Montreal Gazette – Canada Newswire

Montreal home sales reach eight-year high

The Greater Montreal Real Estate Board says area home sales in April were up 10 per cent compared with a year ago as they recorded their highest mark for the month in eight years. The board says there were 5,432 home sales in April, up from 4,957 a year ago, based on the real estate brokers’ Centris provincial database. Condominium sales climbed 18 per cent compared with a year ago.

Montreal Gazette – Radio Canada International – Bloomberg – CBC

Vancouver April sales fall to 17-year low

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says market conditions in the city are changing as sales in April fell to a 17-year low for the month. The board says 2,579 detached properties, townhouses and condominiums sold last month in Metro Vancouver, down 27.4 per cent from April 2017 and 22.5 per cent below the 10-year average for the month.

Toronto Star – CBC – Toronto Star – CBC

B.C. rules out changes to tax on high-value homes

The B.C. government is ruling out any change to a tax on high-value homes that has prompted protests in the Vancouver region. Sage Aaron, director of communications for Premier John Horgan, said in an interview on Thursday legislation enacting the tax has been passed, and the government is committed to following through with a policy she called “the right thing to do.”

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

Interest rate angst most severe for Ontario, B.C. homebuyers

Potential interest rate hikes are stirring the greatest concern among homebuyers in Ontario and British Columbia – reflecting the wide disparity in housing affordability across the country. A new report by BMO Financial Group found some 53 per cent of homebuyers in Ontario and 51 per cent in B.C. will conduct personal “stress tests” to determine whether they can pay their mortgages in the event of a rate hike.

Financial Post – Newinhomes.com – Canada Newswire – Globe and Mail

Increasing development charges will hinder affordability

Development charges are meant to be used for the infrastructure necessary to sustain additional population as a result of development. It’s not just sewage and water — it can be used also for soft services like libraries and communities centres. Makes sense on the surface, but the argument can be made that the tax unfairly targets homeowners for infrastructure that will be used by renters, commercial tenants, tourists, whomever passes through.

Newinhomes.com

Young Canadians building wealth while renting

Renting has left 29-year-old Sam Nasser with a sense of financial freedom. Not only is he debt-free, he’s also focused on saving money. “(Renting) gives me a lot of flexibility and I don’t have any maintenance costs or real estate taxes,” he says. The oil and gas engineer, who has been renting for six years, is currently leasing a one-bedroom apartment in Calgary’s downtown core for $1,000 a month.

Globe and Mail

Mortgage growth hasn’t been this weak since 2001

Total residential mortgage credit grew just 0.3 per cent on average over the last three months, the slowest since 2001, Bank of Canada data shows. That’s down from 0.47 per cent at the end of 2017 and about half the average 0.57 per cent pace over the past 20 years. Outstanding residential mortgage loans in Canada now total $1.53 trillion, the data shows.

Bloomberg – Canada Newswire

Berkshire Hathaway No. 2 broker in the U.S.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A-N) can now add a new designation to its ever-expanding list of qualifications: America’s second-largest residential real-estate brokerage. The massive, Warren Buffett-helmed investment conglomerate moved into second place for 2017, according to a Wall Street Journal report. At the end of last year, the franchise network for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices included over 365 franchisees in over 1,500 brokerage offices, employing more than 48,000 real estate agents, according to a filing.

Business Insider – Fortune

RENX Columnists

Changing skyline: Edmonton’s downtown rental market

GUEST COLUMN: Over the past few years, Edmonton has witnessed a substantial transformation in new development within the downtown core. The most notable development has been the construction of Rogers Place and the surrounding high-rise towers of the ICE District projects. The cranes have extended well beyond this district, however, in particular in the high-rise apartment rental sector.

Property Biz Canada

Market Conditions

Hamilton housing market continues downward trend

Housing sales in the city continued their downward slide last month, with 32.4 per cent fewer sales compared to April 2017, according to the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB). April’s figures show slowdowns compared to a year ago in sales, prices and the amount of time it takes to sell a property. Last April was the peak in the market and prices have been declining since.

CBC

The cost of buying a home near transit is shrinking

The premium a condo near the train has long commanded is under threat. Ride-sharing services such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., and the advent of electric vehicles and driverless cars, are poised to chip away at the higher prices that real estate around subways and bus stops has earned, according to a report from MetLife Inc.’s asset-management business released Tuesday.

Bloomberg

Mortgage and Finance

B.C. residents struggle to make down payments

A full 53 per cent of British Columbian renters say they rent as opposed to owning a home because they struggle to save enough for a down payment, according to a new report from Zoocasa. This is more than double the Canadian average of 26 per cent and 24 percentage points higher than those in the Atlantic region (29), which is in second place, followed by Alberta (24), Ontario (22) and both Saskatchewan and Manitoba (20). 

Business In Vancouver

New Developments

Regina’s Altern Properties expands to Winnipeg

An established player in the Regina rental housing market has expanded into Winnipeg and will officially unveil its first luxury apartment complex Tuesday. Located next to the new outlet mall in south Winnipeg, the Summit at Seasons is a 416-unit, five-building community developer Altern Properties hopes will bring something new to the rental experience in the city.

Winnipeg Free Press

Rosedale residents battle Platinum apt. proposal

The discretely designed four-storey luxury apartment proposal for a south Rosedale ravine lot hardly seemed like a ticking time bomb when it was submitted two years ago. After all, Platinum Vista’s proposed 26-unit/85,000-square-foot project, to be designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, was slated for an assembled three-lot site situated literally next door to one of Rosedale 1950s-vintage low-rise apartments.

Globe and Mail

Polygon seeks to turn B.C. greenbelt into 350-unit development

A proposal to develop the old Garibaldi Springs golf course in Squamish is upsetting locals who want the area to remain a designated greenbelt. Polygon Homes bought the 119-acre site in 2016 and is now asking district council for zoning changes and amendments to Squamish’s official community plan so it can build 350 homes at the location.

CBC

Apartment developers scramble to find new parking equation

Nobody knows for sure how much parking a new apartment property is going to need, and that uncertainty can have a big impact on developers’ building decisions. “More and more frequently, developers are telling us that the difference between a new construction deal working financially or not working comes down to the parking requirement,” says Greg Willett, chief economist with RealPage, Inc.

National Real Estate Investor

Renovation, Repair and Maintenance

Sir John A.’s birthplace gives way to condos, retail space

The presumed birthplace of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s founding prime minister, has been demolished as part of a long-awaited redevelopment in downtown Glasgow. A spokesman for Glasgow City Council confirmed Tuesday the derelict two-storey structure, which was last home to the Fox and Hound Pub, was razed in September 2017.

Ottawa Citizen – Ottawa Citizen

Natural Disasters

Flooding fears rise as snow melts across B.C.

Flooding has forced more people from their homes in the B.C. Interior after a creek breached its banks near Merritt. Both the Lower Nicola Indian Band and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued evacuation orders on Saturday, but the number of properties impacted remains unclear.

CBC – Globe and Mail – Toronto Star – Vancouver Sun

N.B. residents could face health risks from flooding

As residents of southern New Brunswick contend with the devastating property damage caused by flooding, they are also facing a potentially serious health risk. New Brunswick’s Emergency Measures Organization warned Sunday many sewage systems have been overwhelmed by the flooding.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail – CBC

Fort McMurray rebuild lagging two years after wildfire

Two years after a record–setting wildfire, Fort McMurray is still in recovery mode, with the majority of residents whose homes were destroyed or damaged still displaced, the region’s mayor says. “I think (the recovery) is going to take a couple of years,” Don Scott, mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, said in an interview days before the wildfire anniversary. “We are far from being beyond this.”

CBC – CBC – CBC

Legal Issues

Judge orders injunction against RE school owner

A judge has ordered the operator of a new school that provides instruction to would-be real estate agents to stop competing with his former employer. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nitya Iyer granted an injunction against Richard Zhao from operating his school pending the outcome of a trial.

Vancouver Sun

Judge sides with residents who want Trump’s name removed

A judge in New York has ruled residents of Trump Place, a condominium building on Manhattan’s West Side, have the right to remove President Trump’s name from the building if a sufficient number approve. The ruling by New York Supreme Court Judge Eileen Bransten marks a defeat for the Trump Organization, which had argued that removing the name would violate the building’s licensing agreement.

NPR – National Post

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Edmonton tests new plan for garden suites

Move over tiny homes, here come garden suites. For sale. The city of Edmonton is testing a new concept where a homeowner can subdivide a property into two separate lots and build a smaller home in the back. The garden suite is independent, with its own land title, plumbing, gas, electrical services and driveway.

CBC

Toronto rethinks laneway housing

Something’s going on out back. A new report from Toronto’s planning department suggests how the city should allow housing laneways. It’s a long-overdue move to loosen up the rules and bring life, and people, to the city’s overlooked alleys. And while this move won’t change Toronto dramatically, it’s a welcome sign of some flexible thinking about how the city will grow.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Toronto Star

Buying and Selling

Millennials are the engine of the market

According to a national study commissioned by Genworth Canada, 59 per cent millennials have already achieved their homeownership dreams. Among those who own their homes,30 per cent of millennials bought a home in the past two years, compared to just nine per cent of older Canadians. And over the next two years, among non-owners another 30 per cent of millennials plan on making their first home purchase.

Canada Newswire

Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards opposes Bill 141

The Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB), representing the province’s 12 real estate boards and their 13,000 broker members, announced it supports Québec’s three major consumer protection associations and is joining them in calling for Bill 141 to be withdrawn. In the QFREB’s view, this draft legislation clearly represents a step backward in public protection.

Canada Newswire

Other

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