Home sales suffer biggest monthly drop in seven years

Home sales suffer biggest monthly drop in seven years

National home sales in June posted their largest monthly drop in seven years, driven by a plunge in the Greater Toronto market, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday. Transactions last month were down 6.7 per cent compared with May on a national basis, the third consecutive monthly decline, with the Greater Toronto Area registering a 15.1 per cent drop.

Winnipeg Free Press – CBC – Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

Vancouver moves to legalize short-term rentals

The City of Vancouver is proposing regulations to allow 70 to 80 per cent of the nearly 6,000 existing short-term rental listings to operate legally. The city feels the proposed regulations will protect long-term rental supply while enabling supplemental income for residents.

BCBusiness – Business In Vancouver – Victoria Times Colonist

Quebec landlords want security deposits legalized: CORPIQ

A third of Quebec landlords have asked tenants for security deposits when they sign a lease, despite the fact the province forbids the practice, according to a survey by CORPIQ (the Quebec landlords’ corporation). It says Quebec is the only jurisdiction in the Western world where it is illegal for residential property owners to request the deposits.

Property Biz Canada

Bentall, KingSett leasing luxury Toronto apartments

Leasing has begun and occupancy is expected late this fall at Bentall Kennedy and KingSett Capital’s Two St. Thomas luxury apartment building in Toronto. The 26-storey, $130-million complex being built by PCL Construction is located at St. Thomas and Charles streets in the Bloor-Yorkville area, near high-end shopping and restaurants as well as two subway lines.

Property Biz Canada

Barrie trails only Vancouver, TO in apartment rental costs

Barrie is now the third-most expensive city to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Canada, according to a new report. In a new report published by PadMapper.com, the average price of a one bedroom apartment in July was $1,210. That’s an increase of 5.2 per cent from the previous month. Vancouver has a one-bedroom price of $2,090, with Toronto at $1,800.

CTV

Ottawa lawyers scuttle attempted condo board takeover

Three individuals tried to gain control of a Toronto condo board and its multi-million-dollar budget by manipulating the director election process, an investigation by Ottawa law firm Nelligan O’Brien Payne has found. Lawyers uncovered evidence of forged signatures, suspect proxy ballots and other irregularities in a case that illustrates the potential vulnerabilities facing thousands of volunteer-led condo corporation boards.

Ottawa Business Journal

Television City to be Hamilton’s largest development

Lamb Development Corp. and Movengo Developments have unveiled the details of Television City, which they say will be the largest development to date in Hamilton. The $360 million mixed-use project will house approximately 618 units and occupy 44,000 square feet of land. Located at 163 Jackson St. West, it will consist of two connected high-rise towers, one 40-storey and one 30-storey.

Property Biz Canada

Daniels repeats as Tarion High-Rise Builder of the Year

A commitment to a buyer-first mentality has helped earn Toronto’s Daniels Corporation its second straight Tarion Homeowners’ Choice Award as Ontario’s High-Rise Builder of the Year. The Tarion award is unique because it is an independent body which relies on the actual experiences of the purchasers in order to determine the winners.

Property Biz Canada

Montreal now trumps Vancouver for China-based buyers

Montreal will surpass Vancouver this year as the Canadian destination for mainland China-based real estate investors, according to Juwai.com, the No. 1 Chinese international property portal with more than two million monthly visitors from China. The survey revealed that the United States remains the top market for Chinese investors. followed by Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Business In Vancouver – CBC – HuffPost Canada – CTV

Opinions differ on foreign buyers’ effect on GTA

Economists and industry watchers who analyzed the Ontario government’s recent numbers on the role of foreign buyers in the GTA came to different conclusions. For some, the revelation international investors accounted for 9.1 per cent of home sales in a recent month in York Region and 7.2 per cent in the Toronto was evidence those buyers were not a driving force.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Financial Post – Financial Post

	B.C. wildfires’ impact on real estate, residents
	The following section of the RENX newsletter is dedicated to news about the wildfires in British Columbia and their impact on real estate.

 

Insurance rate hikes likely in B.C., Alberta in wake of floods, fires

If you live in Western Canada, your home insurance rates are likely going up again soon. Insurers set their rates by region, looking at patterns in that area over time. Given that B.C. and Alberta have been hit with repeat fires and floods in recent years, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said it’s almost certain rates will be hiked.

CBC – CBC

B.C. wildfires displace at least 40,000

Aggressive wildfires have forced at least 40,000 British Columbians from their homes early into the wildfire season, with strong wind gusts pushing flames across the Fraser River and threatening to choke off major highways. As B.C. residents step up to help those affected, Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale announced Ottawa was deploying military aircraft and Australia was sending 50 firefighters.

Globe and Mail – CTV – CBC – Globe and Mail

Beedie submits new Van. Chinatown proposal

A controversial Vancouver Chinatown housing development has been redesigned and resubmitted, but neighbourhood advocates are not impressed. Beedie Group said it had submitted an amended application to the City of Vancouver for a condo proposal voted down by council in June. The newest proposal calls for the building to be 27 metres tall rather than the original 35 metres.

CBC

Developers would pass Metro Van. fee increase on to homebuyers

A development association is warning a planned significant increase to a development fee will end up being passed on to home buyers. Metro Vancouver is reviewing its liquid waste development cost charge which is levied on new development in the region, with few exceptions. The fee funds 99 per cent of the cost of growth-related sewage projects in the region.

Vancouver Province

New village-style housing passed by Edmonton council

Edmonton approved zoning for its first co-housing apartment block Monday, creating a new option for those hoping to create a true village within the city. The 26-unit apartment will be built with a great room large enough to host everyone for dinner, and a shared backyard and patio to let seniors and children interact. 

Edmonton Journal

Google Home first major ‘smart speaker’ in Canada

Google can stake its claim as the first tech giant to bring this new product category to Canada with its $179 5.6-inch Google Home and the company says its research shows the country is ready. “Adopting the latest and greatest innovations is something that the Canadian market has always been known for,” said product manager Micah Collins.

Montreal Gazette

Market Conditions

Despite cooling, TO to lead national house-price growth

Toronto’s softening housing market should continue to slow in the second half of 2017, but is expected to finish with home prices still up 18 per cent over 2016, according to a new market forecast. A Royal LePage report predicts Canadian house prices nationally will rise 9.5 per cent this year, with Ontario driving most of the increase.

Globe and Mail – Toronto Star – CBC – Globe and Mail

Quebec sets Q2 sales record

In the province of Quebec, 25,638 sales were concluded in the second quarter of 2017, a four per cent increase compared to Q2 2016. It marked the 12th consecutive quarterly increase in sales and a new second-quarter sales record, according to Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards’ most recent residential real estate market statistics.

Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire

‘Disproportionate’ growth still flowing into B.C. housing

A “disproportionate” amount of growth is still flowing into the B.C. housing sector this year even as business investment remains soft, according to a report from the Business Council of British Columbia. Meanwhile, higher than expected job growth and consumer spending also helped the BCBC revise an earlier economic forecast from 2.2 per cent real GDP growth in 2017 to 2.7 per cent.

Business in Vancouver – Globe and Mail – Canada Newswire

Lack of succession plans put future of family farms at risk

Bryan Maynard says his grandfather, a Prince Edward Island potato farmer, didn’t start talking about retirement until he was 80 years old and had been diagnosed with dementia. At that point, with no succession strategy in place, Maynard and his brother suddenly had to scramble to find a way to keep the farm in the family.

Winnipeg Free Press – Winnipeg Free Press

Mortgage and Finance

Looking at some of Canada’s best-value markets

Amid talk of looming interest rate cuts and cooling markets in Toronto and Vancouver, there are still plenty of hot markets in Canada, according to Toronto broker Monte Burris, owner of Trust Realty Group. He said there is no Canadian real estate market, but rather distinct towns and cities.

CTV News

New Developments

Tensions flare in Oka over housing development

Mohawk activist Ellen Gabriel and others squared off Wednesday against Oka Mayor Pascal Quevillon at the site of a new housing development where hydro poles were recently installed and pine trees cleared. The Domaines des Collines D’Oka project in Oka, about 60 kilometres northwest of Montreal, is on land which is part of the Kanesatake Mohawks’ decades-old unresolved land claim.

CBC – Montreal Gazette

Renovation, Repair and Maintenance

Removing cladding from towers may increase fire risk, landlords told

The British government has warned landlords that stripping suspect cladding from buildings in the wake of the Grenfell Tower blaze could increase the risk of fire. The work has left combustible insulation exposed for weeks on blocks in Salford that are home to more than 1,000 residents. Dozens of councils have been removing polyethylene-filled aluminium panels similar to those at Grenfell.

The Guardian

Natural Disasters

Insurance tab rises for Red Deer wind storm

Damages claims in the wake of a devastating June windstorm in the Red Deer area have reached $30 million, says the Insurance Bureau of Canada. The storm that blew through the region June 20 prompted a state of emergency declaration, toppled trees, smashed windows, shredded roofs and left 15 per cent of the central Alberta city without power overnight.

Calgary Herald

Legal Issues

Victoria homeowner earns award for blocked view

A Victoria homeowner has been awarded $102,000 in damages after a neighbour built a home blocking her views of the valley, the ocean and the mountains in contravention of a restrictive covenant. Justice Elaine Adair also awarded Li Zhang $7,500 to compensate her for the “intolerable” glare created by the metal roof on her neighbour’s new home.

Victoria Times Colonist

Construction

The emergence of row homes

As a real estate and land-development lawyer, Greg van Popta has noticed developers favouring row homes over townhomes. Row homes are essentially townhomes with more individual character (think popsicle-hued houses lined up shoulder-to-shoulder as is popular in New Brunswick), due to the lack of strata-consistency requirements dictating appearance.

BCBusiness

Ottawa housing starts up 44 per cent

The busy year continued for Ottawa homebuilders in June as local developers posted double-digit increases in housing starts over last year, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Construction started on 310 homes last month, up 22 per cent from the 254 starts registered in June 2016. Year-to-date housing starts are up 44 per cent over the midway point of 2016.

Ottawa Business Journal – Newinhomes.com

Winnipeg housing starts continue torrid pace

Winnipeg homebuilders continued to churn out new housing starts at a frantic pace last month — a trend that’s expected to continue for the rest of the summer, a senior industry official said Tuesday. “… Certainly over the summer, we’re expecting housing starts to continue to be extremely strong,” Manitoba Home Builders Association president and CEO Lanny McInnes said.

Winnipeg Free Press

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Redevelopment plans overwhelm quiet Edmonton neighbourhood

Proposed rezoning in Edmonton’s Holyrood neighbourhood is pushing some residents out of their comfort zone. A developer wants to build seven medium and high-density buildings at Holyrood Gardens, including a residential tower. The new development could include up to 1,200 living units. The developer also wants to build two medium-rise buildings with businesses at ground level.

CBC

CNIB attempting to create most accessible neighbourhood

The CNIB is turning to technology in a bid to create what it calls the country’s most accessible neighbourhood. The CNIB says it’s hoping to transform a small stretch of one of Toronto’s busiest streets into an area blind or low-vision people can not only navigate easily, but fully engage with independently.

Victoria Times Colonist

Homeowner discovers City of Toronto owns land

A Toronto resident is worried he’s lost nearly $150,000 in property value after learning part of what he thought was his home — land he is paying property tax on — is actually owned by the city. Boro Radjevic bought a three-storey brick townhouse in October 2009, assuming the 2.2 metres of land adjacent to his new home was his as well.

CBC

Buying and Selling

Vancouver Professional Accountants caution condo buyers

The professional accountants at Mew+Company understand buying a home is an exciting prospect. As the condo and townhouse market heats up once again, it’s important for pre-buyers to understand that even after paying the affordable deposit, they’ll still need to qualify for a mortgage once construction is complete.

Marketwired

B.C. real estate investors need to seek shelter: Opinion

It’s always financially better for someone to own their primary residence, over the long term. A home is shelter and the need for one is usually enough to ride out market instability. But for investors, selling high is always the priority. Prices are not going any higher. The perfect storm is brewing, and it’s time to seek shelter.

Globe and Mail

Van. homebuyers’ stress levels among highest in nation

Canadians are generally optimistic about the housing market, but new homebuyers in Vancouver and Toronto have the lowest levels of optimism and the highest stress levels about home purchasing, according to a new survey by Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC). The stress comes from local market pressure in the two cities, and it is impacting when new homebuyers purchase. 

Business In Vancouver

Other

What can we learn from Germany’s housing market?

Are we looking at Canadian real estate all wrong? An interesting Forbes  article talks about how very differently the German economy, one of the world’s best-run, works. Unlike pinning all our hopes for comfortable retirements and legacies for our children on the ever-increasing value of our homes, in their economy, home prices are expected to keep going down.

Newinhomes.com

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