Downtown Toronto prices to hit $2,000 per sq. ft.: Myers

Downtown Toronto prices to hit $2,000 per sq. ft.: Myers

New condo prices are rising, a good amount of GTA residents are apparently “miserable,” and some renters are “seriously considering” moving out of the Greater Toronto Area due to high housing prices. To get a better grasp on housing prices in the GTA, we reached out to Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting Inc., to answer a few of our questions.

Newinhomes.com – Property Biz Canada

GTA apartment sector continues to flourish

The latest market report from Marcus & Millichap reveals the GTA apartment sector is experiencing another strong year, with continued growth projected. One of the key factors influencing this outcome has been the rise in household formation, aided by the flourishing tech sector. Toronto has registered exceptional job growth in tech-related positions, adding more employers in this sector than many other major metros in the U.S.

REMI Network – Globe and Mail

Residential building boom on Halifax Peninsula

The Halifax Peninsula has seen plenty of multi-residential development in recent years, and there’s no sign of any slowdown in the sector. “Over the past 24 months, we’ve seen real growth in people moving back on to the peninsula, and they need places to live,” said Gordon Laing, the president and chief executive officer of Southwest Properties Limited, which builds, owns and manages residential, retail and commercial properties in Halifax.

Property Biz Canada

U of T, Daniels build residential tower to ease housing crunch

University of Toronto has reached an agreement with the City of Toronto to partner with The Daniels Corporation and build a 23-storey student residence at the corner of Spadina and Sussex avenues. “The university is interested in providing quality housing for its students, especially those that are coming to Toronto for the first time,” said Gilbert Delgado, U of T’s chief of university, planning, design and construction.

Property Biz Canada

Demand growing across Maritimes for student micro-apartments

As students in the Halifax area struggle to find apartments for the school year, one Nova Scotia company says its business model is the solution for a housing crunch in university towns. Micro Boutique Living owns buildings in Wolfville and Antigonish, and is developing another in Charlottetown. It offers tiny, furnished apartments students can rent by the semester. When school’s out, the building becomes a hotel.

CBC – CBC

TREB presses brokers on data protection

After a Supreme Court ruling, the war for control of Toronto real estate data should be over. However, the victorious Competition Bureau, the defeated Toronto Real Estate Board and even many of the board’s own members remain at odds on a number of legal and technical details. In 2016, the Competition Tribunal gave TREB 60 days to stop abusing its dominance and restricting the use of the multiple listings data.

Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Newinhomes.com

More vacant properties on Toronto market: Broker

As the market has cooled down from last year, a real estate broker says there’s an increase in GTA homes for sale that are sitting empty, likely due to “stubborn sellers” holding out for a return to 2017 prices. John Pasalis, president of Realosophy Realty Inc., said he believes lower house prices have led to more vacant homes on the market.

CBC

Ottawa convent proposal gets committee’s OK

Worried about leaving a former convent in Westboro empty too long, city councillors on Ottawa’s planning committee approved a plan to attach a nine-storey apartment building to the Soeurs de la Visitation while restoring the 19th-century building. “For the first time, we have a legitimate development proposal on the table that allows the developer to move forward with something that preserves the convent,” said Coun. Jeff Leiper.

CBC – Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa condo market poised to ‘change dramatically’

Never afraid to express his opinions, Brad Lamb is characteristically blunt in his assessment of his latest condo-building exercise in Ottawa. “The last five years here were not fun,” said the well-known Toronto real estate agent and developer. “It wasn’t fun for my office, it wasn’t fun for me.” The firm has just one finished project, the 240-suite Gotham highrise on Lyon Street in Centretown. Another planned 350-unit condo on Bronson Avenue south of Lyon never came to fruition.

Ottawa Business Journal

East Vancouver rental apartment building for sale at $10.5M

A three-storey rental apartment building in East Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood is up for sale. The price tag: $10.5 million or $457,391 per unit. Capri Apartments was built in 1966, and has 23 units of 16 one-bedroom and seven two-bedroom units. The building is on a 16,104-square-foot lot. The sale is being handled by the team of father-and-son David and Mark Goodman, Cynthia Jagger, and HQ Commercial.

Straight.com

Aragon proposes 133 homes for Sooke property

Vancouver-based Aragon Properties is planning to build 133 homes on a 10-acre property at the corner of Church Road and Wadams Way in Sooke, B.C. Plans call for 80 strata-titled townhomes of up to three storeys and 53 single-family houses, on fee simple lots, of up to two-and-a-half storeys. Previous owners farmed the property and won rezoning approval to develop the site at the density planned by Aragon.

Victoria Times Colonist

Contrasting Ontario, B.C. Generation Zers

A new RE/MAX survey conducted by Leger found nearly 51 per cent of Generation Z (age 18-24) in the Greater Vancouver Area would like to own a home in the next few years, while those in Toronto are more inclined to continue to rent or live with their parents. With the mounting cost of home ownership, it is no surprise 38 per cent of respondents expressed no desire to own a home.

Canada Newswire – Newinhomes.com

CMHC provides mortgage insurance for nearly 107,000 in 2018

Through the first half of 2018, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation provided mortgage insurance for nearly 107,000 homes across the country, split between homebuyers (57,781) and rental units (48,885). The quality of CMHC’s mortgage loan insurance portfolio continues to be strong with the overall arrears rate decreasing from 0.29% to 0.27% During the first six months of the year, the average CMHC-insured homebuyer purchased their home for nearly $271,000.

Canada Newswire

Thousands of Vancouver short-term rentals still without valid license

Thousands of short-term rentals in Vancouver are still without a valid licence, and as of Sept. 1 Airbnb hosts could face a hefty fine. Hosts have had months to apply for licenses, but just days before the deadline, data analyst Jens Von Bergmann tells City News it doesn’t look like there’s been much of a “pick up” in the number of people trying to do so.

City News – BBC

Charlottetown new apartment build will be used for Airbnb

Residents of an Upper Prince Street neighbourhood say they are shocked a brand-new apartment complex under construction in the area will be used for Airbnb. The 11-unit complex is being constructed on the corner of Upper Prince and Young Streets in Charlottetown. Charlottetown is in the midst of a rental crunch. Last fall, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation pegged the city’s vacancy rate at 0.9 per cent.

Charlottetown Guardian – CBC

Market Conditions

U.S. home prices rise three times faster than rents

As home prices rise across the U.S., choosing to rent has become increasingly popular. New analysis by realtor.com reveals the monthly costs of buying a home have risen by 14 per cent over the past year. This is more than three times the four per cent increase in monthly rental costs. Additionally, the number of places where it is cheaper to buy has significantly declined in the past year.

PR Newswire – Globe and Mail – PR Newswire

Natural Disasters

B.C. wildfire season now the worst on record

It’s official: this year’s wildfire season is the worst on record in terms of hectares burned. According to the B.C. Wildfire Service, 1,250,383 hectares have burned across the province since April 1, surpassing last year’s record total of 1,216,053 hectares. Before the last two summers, the province’s worst wildfire season occurred in 1958 when 855,968 hectares burned.

Global News – Globe and Mail – Vancouver Sun

Condominium Management

Mould in condo prompts human rights complaint against strata

A Vancouver condo owner enmeshed in a years-long battle against her strata has filed a human rights complaint saying there is toxic mould in her unit, which she says has exacerbated her health problems. Anne Kates owns an apartment in Vancouver’s West End. Like many residential buildings in B.C., hers is a strata-titled property. The strata owns the land in common and is responsible for repairs to that land.

CBC

Affordable Housing

Calgary among least affordable places in Alberta

Canmore, Camrose, Calgary, Okotoks and Edmonton are the top five least affordable places to live in Alberta, according to a recent housing analysis by Zoocasa. However, the chief economist with the Alberta Real Estate Association says that doesn’t necessarily mean residents should be concerned they won’t find any housing in these centres.

Calgary Herald – CBC

Buying and Selling

B.C. firm accused of misleading practices won’t face discipline

British Columbia’s real estate regulator says its two-year investigation into questionable training tactics at New Coast Realty did not uncover sufficient evidence to discipline the large Vancouver-area brokerage firm, whose owner was found to be giving agents dubious instructions on how to deal with clients. The Real Estate Council (REC) of B.C. announced Thursday its complaints committee determined the regulator could not prove any clients were put at risk.

Globe and Mail

Consultant notes how realtors can position themselves for soft market

A softening real estate market creates challenges for agents who have grown accustomed to abundant opportunities. They need to be smarter at business and marketing to adjust successfully, says Larry Weltman of Weltman Consulting. Weltman works with realtors and brokerages on sales, marketing and business planning. He also helps them secure affordable commission advances as a customer service representative of AccessEasyFunds Limited.

Canada Newswire

Hamilton house that looks like horror movie set sells for $455K

It’s dark, it’s ghoulish — and someone has fallen victim to its charms. A dilapidated downtown Hamilton home that looks like the set of a horror movie sold for $455,000 late last week. That’s $5,000 over the asking price. Realtor Wes Malec told CBC News he received four offers on the home last week, which sits not on a haunted hill, but at 301 Bay St. N. “There was tons of interest,” Malec said. “That whole area is the hottest in all of Hamilton.”

CBC

Other

Michael Cohen made millions in recent apartment sales: Report

President Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen has made millions selling his ownership interests in two apartments, according to a new report. Cohen earlier this month sold stakes in 330 East 63rd Street and 133 Avenue D, both in Manhattan, for $13 million. According to Bloomberg, which cited a source, Cohen netted $7 million in transactions after his share of the debt was accounted for.

Fortune

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