No more mandatory parking spots at Montreal developments

No more mandatory parking spots at Montreal developments

Condo developers will no longer be required to build a minimum number of parking spots at new housing projects in Ville-Marie. A city bylaw currently forces residential developers to build a number of parking spots that’s proportional to the number of housing units, among other factors. If that number is not met, they have to pay a fine of $80,000 for each missing parking spot.

CBC

TREB says it has released disputed real estate data

The Toronto Real Estate Board says it has released sold prices and other real estate data to its members, and will allow them to make it public in accordance with a Competition Tribunal ruling. TREB lost its long legal battle to prevent its members from making that information public on Aug. 23, when the Supreme Court turned down its request to appeal a ruling that it must release the data.

CBC – Financial Post – Global News

Dream to break ground in Calgary’s Providence in 2020

A massive Providence residential project in southwest Calgary is intended to pioneer a generation of new suburban communities and usher in a new era of community development. Developer Dream (DRM-T) has 1,650 acres of land in the sprawling community which will eventually house more than 33,000. Dream’s Michael Cooper said one of the major benefits of the location is the Ring Road, currently being built, is adjacent to the site.

Property Biz Canada

Holloway Lodging to build residential towers in Ottawa

Holloway Lodging Corp.’s (HLC-T) plan to build residential towers in Ottawa is a departure from the sector in which the company made its name, but that doesn’t mean it is making a significant shift in focus. The proposal for Holloway’s West Ottawa property on Carling Avenue, where a Travelodge Hotel currently sits, would take place in two phases. In the first phase, it will build two residential towers.

Property Biz Canada

Vancouver home sales down 36 per cent year-over-year

According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, there were only 1,929 sales reported through the MLS in August 2018, is a year-over-year decrease of 36.6 per cent, and 25.2 per cent below the 10-year average for the month. “Homebuyers have been less active in recent months and we’re beginning to see prices edge down for all housing types as a result,” said Phil Moore, REBGV president.

Newinhomes.com – Vancouver Sun – Canada Newswire

24-storey condo tower approved for Nanaimo downtown

A new 24-storey condominium tower coming to Nanaimo will help meet city goals of creating a livelier downtown by supplying homes for residents who are expected to support businesses, says the chief executive of the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce. Kim Smythe said the residential development “will put more people on the street.”

Victoria Times Colonist

Survey shows what renters want and will pay for

“We are getting into an affordability squeeze, so it’s important that owners and builders of properties focus on spending their money on the stuff that really matters.” That’s how Amy Erixon, Avison Young’s global investment management principal and managing director of investments, introduced her presentation on the 2018 “Canadian Multi-Res Tenant Rental Survey” at the Canadian Apartment Investment Conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Sept. 5.

Property Biz Canada

Want more from city hall? Then pay up

It’s that time of year when many of us follow the ups and downs of gas prices following the summer driving season. Maybe you’re the sort to rush out of your way to the gas station that’s a few cents a litre cheaper. But in the end, how much does this really save you? Likely not enough for a cup of coffee. The impact is more psychological than practical.

Read more

Danish architects have a radical vision for Toronto

“If everyone is different, then why do so many buildings look the same?” asks Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. “That’s something we’ve been thinking about for a few years now.” Ingels and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), have been exploring that question in a string of innovative buildings over the past decade – and now that effort is coming to downtown Toronto, in the form of a particularly radical building.

Globe and Mail

Reimagining the condo and suburban main streets

In new housing developments, “you often go low-rise, or you go vertical,” says architect Lorcan O’Herlihy. “Is there a middle ground? And is there a social benefit in doing that?” For the Los Angeles-based architect, the answer is a definite yes. In an effort to rethink some of Toronto’s current planning, I asked him and his firm LOHA to reimagine a site on St. Clair Avenue in southwest Scarborough.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Relevant revives massive B.C. waterfront project

The new owner of 26 acres of land facing Esquimalt Lagoon expects to start building townhouses early next year on what was once the Aquattro project in the City of Colwood, B.C. The initial phase of what is now called Two Waters will see 61 townhouse units built, said Peter Tioco, co-managing director of Vancouver-based Relevant Properties.

Victoria Times Colonist

B.C. Rental Task Force considers changes to increase model

The province’s Rental Housing Task Force is considering making changes to the formula used to determine how much landlords can increase rents every year. Rent hikes in B.C. are determined by a long-standing formula, which allows rent to climb by two per cent plus inflation. The consumer price index for B.C. showed inflation at 2.5 per cent up to the month of July.

Global News – Globe and Mail

OREA wants province to intervene in spat with travel council

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario is putting plans to force realtors to register as travel agents if they want to arrange short-term rentals for Ontario clients on hold after the Ontario Real Estate Association called on the Real Estate Council of Ontario to intervene. The industry groups said they have agreed to discuss the policy TICO president Richard Smart said is aimed at protecting consumers

Global News

Victoria homebuilders ride summer condo boom

Greater Victoria home builders ramped up production as temperatures rose this summer, according to data released Tuesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. “It was definitely a strong August, especially on the multi-family side of things,” said Casey Edge, executive director of the Victoria Residential Builders’ Association. Builders started 580 housing units in the region in August, a huge jump from the 183 started year-over-year.

Victoria Times Colonist

Canada, Hong Kong among riskiest housing markets

Housing market dangers are “especially acute” in Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and Sweden, Oxford Economics said, noting this has historically posed a threat to economic activity. “In all four, valuations are very elevated, there has been a lengthy housing boom, debt levels are high and there is a significant share of floating rate debt,” Adam Slater, lead economist at Oxford, said in a research note.

Bloomberg – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Reuters

Market Conditions

Ottawa housing starts jump in August

Local homebuilders continued their rapid pace of construction last month, breaking ground on 941 new homes in August – a 52 per cent increase compared to a year earlier, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing figures. The streak of higher-than-normal activity stretches back over nearly two years, buoyed by a hot housing market and renewed buyer confidence.

Ottawa Business Journal – CBC – Newinhomes.com

What’s ahead for your province?

Canada’s housing markets are broadly stabilizing after federal and provincial policy-makers induced a slowdown that would head off any bubbles from bursting. With success seemingly at hand, Canadian homeowners want to know what happens next, this year having been one of turmoil. Observers believe markets will perk up modestly, with sales and prices down this year but up next, depending on where you live, of course.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

A decade after crisis, U.S. recovery a story of location

A decade after the collapse of the housing market and start of the Great Recession, home values have more than recovered in most of the nation’s largest markets, a Zillow analysis shows. The markets with the highest gains above the mid-2000s bubble are primarily in the West and Southwest. San Jose – the nation’s most expensive metro – leads the way with a current median home value of $1.29 million.

PR Newswire – PR Newswire – PR Newswire

New Developments

Montreal’s Quad Windsor Skybridge underway

Cadillac Fairview, Canderel, the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ and the Club de hockey Canadien Wednesday announced the start of construction of the Quad Windsor Skybridge. The architectural landmark will connect Tour des Canadiens 2 (TDC2) and Tour des Canadiens 3 to Deloitte Tower and the Bell Centre, creating a direct link between the new Quad Windsor community and Montréal’s extensive underground network as well as the future REM.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Taxes and Utilities

Mayor calls for Edmonton suburbs to pay more taxes

Homeowners moving into Edmonton’s new suburbs should be asked to pay more for fire stations, new interchanges and facilities in the upcoming budget, Mayor Don Iveson said Tuesday. He laid out the five principles he’ll bring to this fall’s budget debate and said Edmonton’s existing business owners and residents can’t be asked to cover the roughly $1 billion it would take to provide services for new areas.

Edmonton Journal

Municipalities vote to change B.C. speculation tax

B.C. finance minister Carole James says the government is going ahead with the controversial speculation tax, in spite of the fact municipalities from across the province voted overwhelmingly to overhaul the tax at the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference on Wednesday. The District of Oak Bay called for changing the proposed speculation tax to allow local governments to collect a levy on vacant properties.

Vancouver Sun

Natural Disasters

Florence’s rising flood waters menace Carolinas

Rising flood waters threatened communities across the Carolinas today as storm Florence hit the U.S. Northeast with heavy rains and tornadoes after killing at least 32. Widespread flooding has already reached roofs, turned highways into rivers and left thousands to be saved by rescue workers. Waterways are expected to keep rising on Tuesday in places like Fayetteville, N.C., a city of 200,000, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Reuters – Global News – Toronto Star

Construction

Architects step up to build better Indigenous homes

As part of its $1.5-billion housing plan for Indigenous Canadians, the federal government has launched a $30-million contest to encourage new residential ideas. However, Canada’s Architects Without Borders (AWB) may have already come up with solutions to help alleviate the generally poor housing conditions in Canada’s 600 Indigenous communities and reserves, the bulk of which are in B.C. and Ontario.

Business In Vancouver

Affordable Housing

Toronto failing on affordable housing: Board of Trade

Toronto’s efforts to turn its own surplus land into affordable housing have stalled despite the creation of a special agency meant to consolidate and sell some of the city’s massive real estate portfolio, a report from the Toronto Region Board of Trade says. Since 2015, the city has sold off only six of its more than 8,400 properties, according to the Board of Trade’s Better Housing Policy Playbook.

Globe and Mail – Canada Newswire

Attainable Homes Calgary breaks ground on 116-unit complex

There was a ground-breaking ceremony Wednesday for a 116-home affordable housing project to be built adjacent to the Genesis Centre YMCA and public library in Martindale in northeast Calgary. Attainable Homes Calgary is a non-profit, social enterprise set up by the city nearly 10 years ago to help bridge the gap from renting into owning with down payment assistance. Mayor Naheed Nenshi says the energy efficient-project, called Reach Martindale, is in the perfect location.

CBC

What you need to earn in Metro Vancouver

There is not a single market in Metro Vancouver in which a median income is enough to afford a detached house, according to data compiled by Zoocasa. The struggles of buying a home are well known in the city itself, but the problem extends through surrounding cities, a blog posted by Zoocasa Wednesday suggests. The least affordable markets are Vancouver West and West Vancouver, the site says.

CTV – Global News

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Does Calgary have too many neighbourhoods?

Calgary has 202 neighbourhoods and counting.But can we afford all of these neighbourhoods, with so many having their own community association and community centre, many of which are chronically struggling for volunteers and funding? Is there an opportunity to merge some of the neighbourhoods to create more logical, viable and vibrant communities? Creating great neighbourhoods is critical to our city’s present and future prosperity, as they attract young people.

CBC

Toronto laneway owned by man who died in 1900

An often-flooded, pothole-riddled laneway in Kensington Market has left some nearby residents feeling as though they’ve fallen through the cracks. The city won’t maintain the busy lane, because staff says it’s actually private property. But the last known owner of the strip of land behind Bellevue Avenue died 118 years ago. Family records indicate Robert Brittain Denison, the last known owner of the land, died in 1900.

CBC

Other

	RENX has surpassed 10,540 Twitter followers
	Recent follower Fitwel is a leading building certification optimizing buildings to support health. Fitwel is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
	Follow RENXca, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian real estate professionals.