Bosa proposes luxury rentals for Victoria

Bosa proposes luxury rentals for Victoria

The former bus terminal in downtown Victoria could be replaced with an eight-storey, long-term rental building on the Empress Hotel grounds, under a proposal submitted to city hall. An earlier concept from Bosa Development for a 10-storey building was shaved by two storeys and its footprint was altered after consultation with Humboldt Valley residents, architect James Cheng said.

Victoria Times Colonist

Victoria-area residents, Realstar clash over plans

Tranquil Christie Point, the Portage Inlet peninsula home to early-1960s affordable apartments and a federal bird sanctuary, has become a $200-million flashpoint over conflicting land use on the View Royal waterfront. View Royal council is expected to decide on Tuesday whether to allow Realstar Group‘s proposal to advance to a public hearing. 

Victoria Times Colonist

Top execs offer insights on apartment developments

Apartment building developers and owners should focus as much on catering to their renters as on the actual properties, according to panelists at the North American New Apartment Construction and Mixed-Use Symposium and Expo. “Investing in and spending on design and innovation is a necessity today if you want to achieve above-average returns,” said Oben Flats president Julian Battiston.

Property Biz Canada

Minto Capital acquires Toronto high-rise

Minto Capital Management’s busy spring continued with the recent announcement it has purchased an 18-storey high-rise at 2777 Kipling Ave., in Toronto. The property, which contains 325 units in Etobicoke’s Mount Olive neighbourhood, was purchased by the Minto Canadian Real Estate ValueAdd Fund LP.

Property Biz Canada

Confidence returning to Calgary market: Brookfield

Following a slow period of demand for new homes in the Calgary area, builders say they’re seeing stronger show-home traffic and a step up in sales. Brookfield Residential set new company sales records for March and April. “I’m pretty excited about the results and it’s obviously suggesting that there’s some confidence back in the market,” says COO Trent Edwards.

Calgary Herald

Calgary’s high-end condo market soldiers on

With unit prices ranging from $800,000 to $13-million, the Concord, Calgary’s newest luxury high-rise, is arguably the most grandiose condo development the city has yet seen.  Remarkably, amid a real estate market which has endured months of stagnancy, huge price adjustments and oversupply, particularly in the luxury home sector, this $350-million development has been selling, slowly but surely.

Globe and Mail

Toronto proposes crackdown on Airbnb-style rentals

City staff proposals to create a licensing and registration system for Airbnb-style rentals in Toronto strike a balance that addresses many issues arising from the growing phenomenon, Mayor John Tory says. The proposed regulations, released Monday, would prohibit short-term rentals not in a person’s main residence.

Toronto Star – CBC – Globe and Mail

Uninsured mortgages pose increasing risk: B of C

The number of uninsured mortgages is on the rise in Canada, and new risks are emerging alongside these loans, according to the Bank of Canada. The central bank’s twice-annual Financial System Review shows mortgage credit is climbing faster than disposable income in Canada, and Canadians are leaning more heavily on home equity lines of credit.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Maclean’s – CBC

Soaring use of line of credit increasing risk: FCAC

Home equity lines of credit are making Canadians more vulnerable to financial catastrophe such as a job loss, a housing market correction or interest rate rise, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada warns. Canadians owed $211 billion on 3 million home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) last year, but 40 per cent don’t make regular payments on those loans and 25 per cent make only minimum payments or pay the interest on the credit lines.

Toronto Star – Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Winnipeg Free Press

Real estate market ‘essentially heals itself’: BMO CEO

The Bank of Montreal‘s (BMO-T) CEO is downplaying the consequences of a possible correction in house prices, saying that the real estate market “essentially heals itself.” Bill Downe says that when house prices decline, people tend to stay in their homes longer than they had planned and pay down their debt, thus allowing the market to repair. 

BNN

Higher fines needed for shady realtors: OREA

The association representing Ontario’s real estate agents is calling for tougher penalties for unethical agents, saying the bar is too low for people to qualify to stay in the profession and too high to get kicked out for wrongdoing. The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) says tougher penalties should be on the agenda as the province prepares to review rules governing realtors.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Canada needs to do more to cool hot markets: OECD

A Paris-based economic think-tank is calling on Canada to do more to address risks associated with high-priced housing markets in cities such as Toronto and Vancouver. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development suggests there should be further tightening of macro-prudential measures undertaken last year.

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

Ontario looking to make condos electric vehicle-friendly

Hoping to hit its ambitious goals for electric vehicle ownership, Ontario is looking to overhaul parts of the Condominium Act that have become an unexpected barrier to owning one. Prospective buyers like Roxanne Wright have found improvements in battery technology have made the cars affordable and desirable, but condo dwellers may have difficulty finding a place to plug-in.

CBC

Manhattan renters seeking deals set leasing record

It’s a renter’s market in New York City, and apartment-seekers jumped in last month to get themselves a deal. In Manhattan, the number of newly signed leases climbed 17 per cent in May from a year earlier to 5,969, the biggest total for the month in nine years of record-keeping, according to a report.

Bloomberg

Student housing pushing new boundaries

The so-called institutionalisation of the global student housing sector, now worth about US$180 billion, continues apace as operators push new boundaries beyond established markets. Student housing has arrived in markets such as Japan and China, which traditionally would have been off the beaten track. Continental Europe has also emerged as a hot new destination.

IPE Real Estate

RENX Columnists

Suburban development issues need serious solutions

Ottawa may have a reputation as a city that still thinks it’s a town, but as anyone who visits here soon realizes, it sprawls all over the place. That makes it an expensive construct for a municipal government to service and maintain.

Read more

Market Conditions

Toronto home sales decline continues into June

Toronto-area lawns are still sprouting “For Sale” signs even as the number of home purchases continued to decline into June, says online brokerage Realosophy. It found sales of houses (detached, semi-detached and towns) across the region were down 44 per cent last week compared to the previous week.

Toronto Star – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Newinhomes.com

Luxury market sizzles in Toronto

Toronto Star

Winnipeg sets resale home record

Winnipeg’s resale-homes market was on fire in May, setting a record for the most properties sold in a single month. A total of 1,696 properties changed hands through the local Multiple Listing Service, the Winnipeg Realtors Association (WRA) said Wednesday. Not only was that a four per cent increase from May 2016’s total of 1,629, it was also the highest monthly total in the WRA’s 114-year history.

Winnipeg Free Press

Top places in Ontario to invest in real estate

Today we are looking at the top places to invest in Ontario, primarily using the investment strategy known as “buy, hold and rent.” We examined vacancy and rental rates (two-bedroom) from CMHC and validated these findings with the latest data on population, employment and wage growth. For context, we’ve also included average home prices — with data provided exclusively by Royal LePage and Brookfield RPS.

Huffington Post

Mortgage and Finance

Mortgage delinquency low in TO, Van.: CMHC

Mortgage delinquency rates were low in Toronto and Vancouver during the fourth quarter of 2016, despite hot housing markets that have sent prices soaring, according to a new report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The delinquency rate in Toronto was just 0.12 per cent, and 0.15 per cent in Vancouver, compared to a national average of 0.34 per cent. 

CBC

‘Bank of mom and dad’ no panacea for first-time buyers

Even after getting family help to make a down payment on a home, first-time buyers still worry about their financial situation, according to a new survey from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Eighteen per cent of first-time home buyers polled by CMHC said their down payment included a gift from a family member.

CBC – Toronto Star

New Developments

Chinatown grapples with change

Dak Molnar trekked down to Vancouver City Hall recently to talk about how important it is to keep new people and businesses coming into Chinatown. He had made his own contribution, he said as he faced councillors in the chambers, by partnering to create a new restaurant in the neighbourhood, which has been designated a national historic site.

Globe and Mail – Vancouver Sun – Vancouver Sun

Natural Disasters

Fort Mac wildfire reaction marred by communication gaps

Two reports into the catastrophic Fort McMurray wildfire describe confusion and chaos in the initial response to what would become the largest natural disaster in Canadian history. Communication gaps and delays in the early days of the blaze, and mixed messages to residents about the need to evacuate, were all identified as problems that plagued the provincial response.

Edmonton Journal – Maclean’s – CBC – CBC

Construction

New Ont. rules take bite out of new construction

Canadian housing starts fell 8.6 per cent in May from April, a decline fuelled by a massive pullback in new home construction since Ontario moved to cool the housing market in Toronto. “The story in May was the big drop in Ontario, following the new housing rules the province implemented on April 20th,” said BMO Capital Markets‘ Benjamin Reitzes.

Financial Post – Toronto Star – Reuters

Affordable Housing

U.S. minimum-wage workers can’t afford 2-BR apartment

There is nowhere in the U.S. where someone working a full-time minimum wage job could afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment, according to an annual report. Downsizing to a one-bedroom will only get you so far on minimum wage. Such housing is affordable in only 12 counties located in Arizona, Oregon and Washington states.

Washington Post

Housing federation eyes initiatives for co-op homes

Over the weekend, more than 700 members and supporters of Canada’s housing co-ops gathered in Niagara Falls for the annual meeting of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF Canada). Among the leading topics was the exploration of new initiatives for investing and partnering to improve the country’s existing stock of co-op housing, which will aid in addressing home affordability.

Mortgage Broker News – Toronto Star

Affordable housing units in Calgary sitting empty

Fifty affordable but aging housing units in Calgary are sitting vacant because the city can’t afford to maintain them. The city has many units that are over 30 years old, says Mayor Naheed Nenshi. While the federal and provincial governments have made new commitments for affordable housing, he says that money has been slow reaching the city.

CBC – CBC

Van. commits to keeping False Creek South affordable

With its mix of housing types, plentiful co-ops and highly walkable design, False Creek South is one of the most unique and affordable neighbourhoods in Vancouver — and the city wants to keep it that way. City council recently voted unanimously in favour of a motion that will begin a long-term replanning effort for the centrally located neighbourhood.

CBC – Globe and Mail

Small houses

Vancouver couple’s tiny-home dream dead

Cory Grandfield and his wife Ailsa Macmillan lived happily in their tiny house in East Vancouver until the City of Vancouver found out about their living arrangement. The couple, with the help of two builders, constructed the 220-square-foot tiny house for about $45,000. “And we moved into a friend’s backyard in East Vancouver,” said Cory Grandfield.

CBC

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Windsor cracking down on riverside structures

Windsorites whose property backs onto Little River will be able to express their concerns over a crackdown on riverside structures. At Monday night’s council meeting Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac successfully asked an administration report dealing with the issue be deferred until public meetings can be held with property owners, the Essex Region Conservation Authority and city administration.

Windsor Star – Windsor Star

Other

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