Apartment market reaches 30-year high

Apartment market reaches 30-year high

For the first time in decades, developers are considering building rental housing because they can actually make money — buoyed by consumers priced out of becoming homeowners. In Toronto, where January prices across existing homes climbed 22.6 per cent from a year ago, consumers have been flooding back to apartments where the vacancy rate was already just 1.3 per cent.

Financial Post – CBC – CBC – Toronto Star

Chinese buyers turn attention away from Vancouver

Potential Chinese property buyers dramatically shifted their inquiries from Vancouver to other major Canadian cities after a foreign-buyer tax was introduced in Vancouver this past summer, according to data from Juwai. At the same time, inquiries in Toronto climbed 62 per cent in August and 72 per cent in September, and continued higher throughout 2016.

Globe and Mail – CBC – Toronto Star – Marketwired

Quebec leading in seniors rental housing

The Quebec model in which affordable rental housing is offered to seniors is starting to see traction in the rest of Canada, conference-goers at the recent Quebec Apartment Investment Conference in Montreal were told.

Property Biz Canada

Durham housing market should remain hot in 2017

Home sales and prices in Ontario’s Durham Region rose significantly last year, and early indicators show no reasons for that trend to slow in 2017. The average residential sale price in the region east of Toronto rose by nearly 20 per cent year-over-year in 2016 to $527,285, while sales rose to 11,700 from 10,910 during the January to October period for those respective years.

Property Biz Canada

Landmark ruling can’t be collected against Van. homes

China CITIC Bank won a landmark ruling against a Chinese man who allegedly disappeared from China with an unpaid $10-million loan in 2014, and quickly purchased four Vancouver-area homes. The bank won a freezing order against three luxury homes in Surrey last summer, but it won’t be able to collect payment against the properties in the case.

Vancouver Sun

Canadian banks resist taking on more mortgage risk

Canada’s financial industry is urging the federal government to consider alternatives to proposals that could require them to take on a greater share of mortgage defaults through a deductible – calling it one of the biggest shakeups to hit housing finance in 50 years.

Bloomberg

No more housing rule changes: Mortgage Professionals

The group that represents mortgage brokers across Canada was in Ottawa on Tuesday to urge parliamentarians to tinker with their recent rule changes, and hit the brakes on any new ones. Mortgage Professionals Canada, which represents more than 11,000 mortgage brokers, urged lawmakers to rethink rule changes introduced last October aimed at reining in consumers.

CBC – Canada Newswire

CMHC to increase mortgage insurance premiums

Insuring a loan through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. will soon coast home buyers a bit more. The federal agency announced a hike is coming March 17. Over the first nine months of 2016, the average CMHC-insured loan was about $245,000 and the average down payment eight per cent. That would result in a monthly increase of about $5.

Calgary Herald

U of T turning to laneway housing for residences

The University of Toronto hopes to unveil two tiny residences in fall of 2018 — new laneway homes that would serve as architectural guinea pigs as the school embarks on its plan to build up the property it owns just south of the Annex. Regal Victorian homes now stand sentinel throughout the tree-lined Huron-Sussex neighbourhood.

CBC

Alberta landowners push back on new city

The plan for the new city of Bremner, which is to house 54,000 in 50 years, is for the community to be relatively dense. However, it’s a leapfrog city to an already existing leapfrog city — it’s planned to be built east of Highway 21 and north of Highway 16, a good distance from Sherwood Park, which is already a good distance from Edmonton.

Edmonton Journal

St. Albert, Alta., maps a digital future

In 2016, a multitude of small cities – including Kitchener, Ont., Surrey, B.C., St. Albert, Alta., and the town of Berwick, N.S. – all all launched a strategy for digitization. St. Albert, a city of 64,645 north of Edmonton, has been pioneering a digitization strategy since 2013, culminating in the launch of its Smart City Masterplan in October 2016.

Globe and Mail

House price contagion spreads to TO’s suburbs

The average home in Toronto, including condominiums, detached and townhouses, climbed 28 per cent to $875,983 last month from the prior year as active listings were cut in half to 5,400. Meanwhile in the suburbs, the average detached home price soared 35 per cent to $1.11 million from last February

Bloomberg – Toronto Star – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – CBC

Toronto’s home prices in line with other world cities

Toronto’s soaring home prices are in line with the reality of other world cities such as New York, Hong Kong and London, says Mark Renzoni, president of global commercial real estate giant CBRE. “The market is fairly balanced. It’s not being driven by foreign capital. It’s being driven by Canadians, moving up, buying for the first time,” he said.

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

Ottawa keeps wary eye on TO, Vancouver prices

Finance Minister Bill Morneau says rising home prices in Toronto and Vancouver are supported by low unemployment and higher incomes, but acknowledged the government remains “very focused” on monitoring the Canadian housing market. The minister’s comments come as some Bay Street leaders are expressing growing concern over the Toronto housing market in particular.

Globe and Mail

OECD warns of Canadian home prices

Canada’s economy is projected to grow this year by 2.4 per cent, equalling what’s now expected in the United States and ahead of the other Group of Seven countries, according to estimates released Tuesday by the OECD. However, the OECD again raised a red flag about the rapid increase in house prices in Canada, Australia, Sweden and the U.K.

CBC – Vancouver Sun – Financial Post

Market Conditions

Calgary home sales show further signs of recovery

Calgary’s housing market continued to find more solid footing in February as sales improved and new listings slowed. The Calgary Real Estate Board said a surge in the sales of detached homes — up 19 per cent from a year ago to 825 — was behind the recovery. Overall February sales in the city totalled 1,342 units, also 19 per cent better than 2016.

Calgary Herald

Ottawa home sales up 11.2 per cent

The busy start to 2017 for local realtors continued last month as members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board set a seven-year record for home sales in the month of February, recently released figures show. OREB said 1,010 homes traded hands last month, which is part of the typically slower winter season. That’s up from 908 in February 2016.

Ottawa Business Journal

Vancouverites flocking to Victoria

Victoria home prices have surged, and the driving force behind the hot market has a familiar ring – offshore buyers. But this wave of purchasers need only catch a 95-minute ferry ride to Vancouver Island. “Our offshore market is Vancouver. It has been for the last year,” Victoria Real Estate Board president Ara Balabanian said.

Globe and Mail – CHEK

Vancouver home sales plunge more than 40 per cent

There is a dearth of new sellers in the Vancouver housing market and the local real estate association says that is impacting activity in Canada’s most expensive market for existing housing. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported Thursday there were 2,425 home sales throughout the region, a 41.9 per cent decrease from the 4,172 homes sold a year ago.

Financial Post – Winnipeg Free Press – CBC

Greater Vancouver condo prices rise despite tumbling sales

Prices for condos and townhomes are climbing in Greater Vancouver, despite tumbling sales. Sales of detached houses, condos and townhomes fell to 2,425 transactions last month, down 41.9 per cent when compared with 4,172 deals a year earlier – a record high for the month of February.

Globe and Mail – CBC

Mortgage and Finance

What $1,800 rent gets you in cities Canada-wide

If you are forking out $1,800 for a one-bedroom condo apartment in Toronto — a touch over what the Toronto Real Estate Board says is the average monthly rent in the city — you might find your dollar goes further elsewhere in the country. The average one-bedroom condo apartment rent was $1,776 in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to TREB.

CBC – CBC

New Developments

Ottawa city committee OKs new tower

The City of Ottawa planning committee has approved a major addition to Little Italy’s Preston Square. Sakto Corporation wants to add a storey on top of an existing eight-storey building and construct a new 25-storey residential building at Preston Square. A total of 22 units are proposed for the new ninth floor of the Aberdeen Street building, while the tower would contain 175 units.

Ottawa Citizen

TO school may move due to 35-storey condo project

Residents in North Toronto say a planned development is a bad deal for students attending the school next door, which could be forced to move. The 35-storey tower will be built next to John Fisher Junior Public School (JFPS) and a connected daycare. The project was approved by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), much to the dismay of parents.

CityNews – CBC – 680 News

Changes coming to Regina neighbourhood plan

Due to lower than anticipated demand for high-density residential buildings, some amendments are coming to the Towns Concept Plan in southeast Regina. The new neighbourhood will have a reduced estimated population, less population density and a larger park. Under the amended plan, the neighbourhood’s population will be reduced from 7,633 to 7,193. 

Regina Leader-Post

Prevel launches third phase of Montreal development

Quebec developer Prevel has announced the release of 101 new units in the third phase of its multi-use development known as 21e arrondissement in Montreal. The new phase, which completes the western half of the project, offers townhomes and condominiums in a nine-storey building, indicates the Prevel media statement/.

Daily Commercial News

The top 10 Toronto developments in February

PHOTO GALLERY

BuzzBuzzNews – BuzzBuzzNews

Renovation, Repair and Maintenance

Revitalizing Vieux-Terrebonne, one restoration project at a time

It all started 25 years ago. Feeling sorry for the poor state of the residential buildings in his Vieux-Terrebonne neighbourhood, where he was born and still lives, Philippe Lemieux bought a house and restored it to its former beauty. Pleased with his success, he bought another and then another. What started out as a hobby became a mission.

Montreal Gazette

Taxes and Utilities

Ottawa cottage owners cut off from hydro bill slash

Ottawa residents who own cottages say they’re frustrated they won’t fully benefit from hydro rate cuts announced by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne late last week. At Sunday’s Ottawa Cottage and Backyard Show at the EY Centre, owners said they’re fed up with the delivery charges they pay during the months they don’t use their second dwellings.

CBC – CBC – CBC

New principal residence reporting will help CRA home in on condo flippers

If you sold your home last year, this tax season you will be required to report some basic information on that sale on the newly-updated Schedule 3 “Capital Gains (or Losses) in 2016” of your tax return to be able to claim the principal residence exemption and have the gain be completely (or partially) tax-free.

Financial Post

Wynne reveals plan to cut Ontario hydro bills

Residential hydro bills in Ontario will drop by 17 per cent on average this summer under a new plan released Thursday by Premier Kathleen Wynne. The plan will lift billions of dollars in costs off customers this year, and load them onto future hydro bills and taxpayers.

CBC

Legal Issues

B.C.’s foreign-buyer tax violates charter: Proposed lawsuit

B.C.’s 15 per cent tax on foreign home buyers violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and “perpetuates prejudice and stereotyping on the basis of national origin,” says the plaintiff in a proposed class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit, which still must be certified, was first filed in September by Jing Li, a Chinese citizen who moved to Canada in 2013.

Globe and Mail – CTV

Condo building sale heading to Supreme Court

A Vancouver man with cerebral palsy is being forced out of his home in one of the first condo building sales in B.C. to be held under new rules that allow owners to sell without a unanimous vote. When a numbered company eager to develop the site offered $21.5 million for the property, 28 of the 30 owners voted to sell.

CBC

Condominium Management

Victoria may curb condo vacation rentals

Victoria will explore options to restrict short-term vacation rentals in downtown condos amid concerns that an increasing number of the buildings are being turned into de facto hotels. Such rentals are permitted in some parts of downtown. Councillors and staff have been trying to develop policies to regulate short-term vacation rentals in all areas of the city.

Victoria Times Colonist – Victoria News – Victoria Times Colonist

Construction

Home builder’s group wants tax credit for asbestos, seismic work

There are two uncomfortable questions that owners of older homes often ask themselves: is there asbestos in my house? And, will my house still be standing after an earthquake? The Victoria Residential Builders Association wants a federal tax credit to help cover the costs of fixing those problems.

CBC

Alberta working on licensing for home builders

The Alberta government is meeting with home builders and consumers and has launched a survey to potentially require builders to have a license. Currently, there are no specific qualifications required to build a home in Alberta. Licensing would require builders to prove they’re not in debt and that they have the skills to construct homes properly.

CBC

Builders’ ‘Nexus lane’ could expedite delivery of new homes

Delays in rezoning and building permits increase the estimated completion time and cost for projects, which ultimately get passed on to the homebuyer. This delay in housing inventory also continues to drive the price of available housing stock upward. Supply constraint and its impact on housing affordability is an issue the Greater Vancouver Homebuilders’ Association takes seriously.

Vancouver Province

Affordable Housing

Vancouver’s housing shortage worsened by rental crackdown

While Vancouver City Hall hunts desperately for ways to create new housing, city staff have been shutting down dozens of illegal rental suites every year because certain kinds of units still aren’t allowed, even though vacancies continue to hover at zero and housing prices remain stratospheric. 

Globe and Mail

Vancouver looks to become more affordable

Changes will be coming to single-family home neighbourhoods in Vancouver to accommodate more affordable forms of housing, Mayor Gregor Robertson announced this week. Robertson said the “time is right to advance a conversation” about how the city can create more affordable housing while still preserving the essence of single-family home neighbourhoods.

Business In Vancouver – CBC

Ontario housing sector pushing for affordability

The Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) and the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) are urging the Provincial Government to create a housing experts task force to provide ideas for increasing housing supply in Ontario, thus alleviating the growing home affordability challenges facing Ontarians.

Marketwired – Globe and Mail

Kitchener developers may receive incentives

The City of Kitchener will consider offering financial incentives to make building affordable housing easier. Brandon Sloan, the city’s manager of long range and policy planning, believes a proposed incentive plan would make it easier for developers and nonprofit groups to build affordable housing.

CBC

B.C. critics slam funding cuts to renters’ protection agency

Amid an ongoing affordable housing crisis in and around Vancouver, renters and their advocates say British Columbia should have earmarked more – not less – money to a provincial agency struggling to protect their rights and settle disputes with landlords.

Globe and Mail

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

TO moves forward with plan to target bad landlords

A city committee gave new bylaws aimed at cracking down on bad landlords the green light on Monday. City council will now debate the proposed rules at an upcoming meeting. If approved, inspectors will start visiting Toronto’s 2,800 rental buildings to make sure landlords are providing proper space for tenants.

CBC – CBC – CBC

Finance minister wants ‘reasonable’ deadline for B.C. housing approvals

B.C.’s finance minister says he’s going to offer a cash incentive on one hand, and maybe apply a little Drano with the other, to unclog the housing development pipeline in Metro Vancouver’s municipalities. Mike de Jong unveiled details in an interview about his plan to offer cash to Lower Mainland municipalities in exchange for “reasonable” deadlines on permitting, rezoning and approval processes.

Vancouver Sun

Mobile homes headed to Fort Chip to relieve shortage

Sixteen mobile homes are destined for the Northern Alberta community of Fort Chipewyan in an effort to address a shortage of housing in the community. The Wood Buffalo Housing & Development Corporation announced Wednesday it had reached an agreement with the province to deliver the trailers to the northern community.

CBC

Buying and Selling

What seven figures will buy: Royal LePage

A million-dollar mansion in Canada may be anything but that, according to a report released Monday by Royal LePage. The study says that while $1 million can score a renovated four-bedroom, waterfront home in Halifax, it may only buy a smaller fixer-upper in Vancouver’s suburbs. Toronto’s million-dollar market was a bit more accessible than Vancouver’s.

Montreal Gazette – Winnipeg Free Press – Canada Newswire – Calgary Herald

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