Vancouver apartment sales top $2B in 2017

Vancouver apartment sales top $2B in 2017

Purpose-built rental apartments are a hot topic these days as B.C. politicians continue to seek to be seen to be doing something about housing affordability. Preliminary year-end numbers from the Goodman team at HQ Real Estate Services Inc. indicate more than $2.1 billion worth of apartment properties sold across the Lower Mainland last year. The tally was approximately 44 per cent above transaction volumes in 2016.

Business In Vancouver

Edmonton new-condo market ‘on life support’: CBRE

The Edmonton market for new condominiums is “on life support” and sales have dropped in parts of the city, an official with commercial real estate company CBRE says. Paul Chaput, senior vice-president of CBRE’s national apartment group, told an industry panel discussion Tuesday he has talked to developers in south Edmonton with monthly pre-sales of less than one unit a month, compared to about two units in good times.

Edmonton Journal

Calgary builder returns to roots at Edmonton’s Raymond Block

From his office in Calgary, Kendal Harazny can watch a live time-lapse web feed of construction on his firm’s six-floor signature development on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton. The Raymond Block, named after a hotel that stood on the site years ago in the historic Strathcona neighbourhood, has a special place in the heart of the Wexford Developments co-founder.

Property Biz Canada

Good news for Calgary multi-res, but retail future murky

While Calgary’s downtown office market continued to struggle during 2017 with a high vacancy rate, year-end reports for the retail and multi-residential markets painted a rosier picture. The Calgary 2017 Year-End Retail Market Analysis by Barclay Street Real Estate indicated Calgary’s overall retail vacancy rate was down to 3.1 per cent at the end of the year after rising into the mid-three per cent range earlier in the year.

Property Biz Canada

Not enough demand to build 3-BR condos in Calgary: Developer

Should Calgary follow in the footsteps of New Westminster and mandate real estate developers to build a certain percentage of three-bedroom condominiums? That’s an idea being floated by Calgary Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra that’s generated buzz on social media. On Thursday, real estate developer Chris Ollenberger spoke to David Gray on the Calgary Eyeopener to present his perspective on the idea.

CBC

Apartment developers add glam touches

Renters eager for an indoor pool, yoga studio, rooftop patio or a pet spa don’t need to limit their searches to condominiums anymore. Luxury apartment buildings, increasingly popping up across Canada, offer an alternative. Les Terrasses Francesca, just 10 minutes from the Byward Market in Ottawa, features hardwood floors, granite counter tops, a washer and dryer in each unit, 9 1/2-foot ceilings, an indoor salt-water pool and fitness centre,

Globe and Mail – PR Newswire

Unique Montreal Le 1420 condos feature indoor farm

A former convent being transformed into luxury condos by Corev Immobilier in the tony Montreal suburb of Outremont will include an indoor, vertical farm. The farm isn’t the only distinctive feature of Le 1420 Boulevard Mont Royal, which has several innovative touches as well as offering buyers the ability to create a “made-to-measure” condo for themselves.

Property Biz Canada

Vancouver builders test ‘locals-first’ policies

The City of Vancouver is looking for ways to reset a housing market in which its residents are battered by both high prices and a low availability, and putting local buyers at the front of the line for any new presale real estate opportunities is one of the policies it is considering.

But as some recent voluntary efforts by developers to prioritize local buyers show, it’s easier to declare a “locals-first policy” than it is to verify and enforce that locals end up living in a newly constructed condo or townhouse.

Globe and Mail

Project flow picks up in Vancouver condo pipeline

Fears of a new condo shortage in Vancouver have eased slightly as mandatory registrations of new strata units with BC Housing for warranty insurance increased through the second half of last year. In 2017, the city saw a 54 per cent decrease in new multi-family starts, mostly condos, which fell to 4,500 units. As of July of last year, registrations had been down 28% from a year before.

Business In Vancouver

No breaks for tenants in Toronto

Multi-family units are selling for close to $200,000 in Toronto, but even at that price a new report from JLL says they are still trading well below replacement cost, and with little new construction the firm predicts tighter vacancy rates in 2018. Expanded rent control rules brought in last year will make life harder for renters who were already dealing with the reality of a 2.1% province-wide vacancy rate.

CoStar Group

Strong TO condo market has owners eyeing detached homes

Spring could bring a shift in the Toronto area’s real estate landscape as buyers and sellers take advantage of the shrunken gap between the prices of condo units and detached homes. Since the condo market has held up better than the market for detached houses, Toronto real estate agent Manu Singh says he’s been talking with many clients who are contemplating a move in the spring.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Globe Newswire

Ottawa condo board moves to ban smoking marijuana

A condo board in east Ottawa is banning smoking marijuana and tobacco and limiting growing marijuana plants in the building. Stéphane Viau, a resident at the Gloucester building, said the notice of new rules raised several questions, especially since Ontario’s proposed marijuana law restricts smoking pot to private homes. “If I can’t do in my house and I can’t do it in public, where can I do it?” Viau said.

CBC – Ottawa Citizen

B.C. apartment landlords lobby to nip pot in the bud

B.C. landlords want the province to follow the lead of Quebec and ban marijuana growing in private homes when recreational marijuana becomes legal under federal legislation on July 1. LandlordBC, an industry lobby group, is also pushing the B.C. government to introduce legislation that would outlaw the smoking of marijuana in rental housing, which would be a first such law in Canada.

Business In Vancouver

Condo towers to transform the face of Esquimalt, B.C.

With Greater Victoria housing starts at a 40-year high, the building boom is expected to dramatically change the look of Esquimalt, just west of the provincial capital. The township best known for its naval station, Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, and nautical-themed Buccaneer Days in May, will see corner stores and century-old homes along the main strip replaced with a number of 12-storey buildings.

CBC

Major U.S. developers experimenting with co-Living

Most co-living companies have yet to develop a highly profitable business model, and even WeWork has scrapped its expansion plans for WeLive. However, major developers like the Durst Organization and Property Markets Group have recently decided to jump onto the shared-living bandwagon and test it themselves.

Forbes

Market Conditions

Toronto condo rents up 9.1 per cent

Rents for condominiums continue to rise rapidly in the Toronto area according to new data from Urbanation Inc., but there are signs of trouble ahead for landlords and investors as the combination of an affordability crisis and the province’s new rent control regime are keeping tenants in their apartments longer. Fourth-quarter average monthly rents topped $2,166, a 9.1 per cent growth year-over-year.

Globe and Mail – Newinhomes.com – Globe and Mail – Globe Newswire

Mission, B.C., has tightest rental market in Canada

The Fraser Valley District of Mission – bordered by Maple Ridge and Abbotsford – experienced a 6.6 per cent growth in population in just four years, according to 2016 Census data. Encompassing 170 square kilometres, the District of Mission is the sixth-largest district in B.C. Population growth and a lack of supply as lead to a vacancy rate of just 0.2 per cent in 2017 throughout the Abbotsford-Mission district.

Western Investor

U.S. brokers see listings as big challenge in apt. market

The big national apartment brokerages think 2018 will be a year in which their biggest sales job will be convincing owners to sell. “In a lot of cases it’s not a no-brainer to sell,” says Josh Goldfarb, the co-head of Cushman & Wakefield’s multi-family investment sales platform. Valuations of most apartment properties soared during the early years of the economic recovery, driving apartment pricing – and sales – to historic highs.

CoStar Group – National Real Estate Investor – National Real Estate Investor

Mortgage and Finance

Everyone’s mortgage is about to get more expensive

The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate to 1.25 per cent Wednesday and signalled that, barring certain risks, more hikes are likely in the rest of the year. That’s creating an unusual situation for Canadians: for the first time in years, those renewing mortgages will be faced with higher rates and an increase in payments.

Maclean’s – Toronto Star – Toronto Star

New Developments

A sneak peak at Era at Yonge by Pemberton Group

Pemberton has given us a sneak peek of the renderings for Era at Yonge, the company’s highly anticipated condo community coming soon to Richmond Hill.  Era will be comprised of two towers that will rise from a stunning shared podium, and will be accessed by a winding driveway that leads to the porte-cochère covered entrance. Inside, the breathtaking lobby will be home to 24-hour concierge service.

Newinhomes.com

Minto’s proposed Ottawa condo met with resistance

The proposed eight-storey condo development for Fifth and Bank Court is being met with resistance from Glebe residents and concern from business owners who will be forced to leave if the development goes ahead. Minto Properties is proposing an eight-storey residential building to replace an indoor courtyard and two-storey commercial property with a mix of services

CBC

Seniors Housing

Ground broken for Southwest Edmonton’s Chartwell Wescott

Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH-UN-T) on Thursday broke ground for Chartwell Wescott, a new retirement residence located in Southwest Edmonton. Chartwell Wescott will be a three-storey retirement residence featuring 137 spacious and bright suites, conveniently located off Allan Drive and close to numerous shops and services, including restaurants, grocery stores, medical offices and pharmacies.

Canada Newswire

Quebec investing $67M in sprinklers for seniors’ residences

Quebec is injecting another $67 million into its program to ensure seniors’ residences have sprinkler systems, Health Minister Gaétan Barrette announced Wednesday. “We were told there’s a problem, there isn’t enough money and the administrative process is too complex. Adjustments were made,” Barrette said. The program was put in place in 2015, after the L’Isle-Verte seniors’ home fire that killed 32 people the night of Jan. 23, 2014.

CBC

Renovation, Repair and Maintenance

Hamilton architect turned abandoned buildings into townhomes

Architect Bill Curran has thrown down the gauntlet in his native Hamilton … hard. “It’s pretty extreme, architecturally, for the neighbourhood,” he says of the trio of adaptively reused, freehold townhouses he’s just finished in the North End. “And I hope it’s like a splash of cold water in the face of some people, aesthetically, because in Toronto this would be relatively anonymous or innocuous, but here, there’s nothing like it.”

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Taxes and Utilities

Critics upset about Vancouver’s ‘absurd’ Empty Homes Tax

When Samantha Reynolds got a reminder from the city in the mail that she had not yet submitted her Empty Homes Tax declaration, she shook her head at the irony. Reynolds lives a few houses down from a house owned by the city that has been vacant for almost two years. Last summer, the city-owned character house at 3030 Victoria Dr. became a case of bad publicity for the city when it was revealed the city purchased the house in February 2016 and left it empty.

Globe and Mail

Natural Disasters

Florida agents to add essential hurricane coverage

More Floridians will be able to fully recover from the next hurricane, thanks to The Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA) and Assured Risk Cover (ARC). The FAIA and ARC Monday announced an agreement that grants FAIA member agents access to StormPeace, a first-of-its-kind policy that pays out-of-pocket expenses not covered by homeowners insurance

Globe Newswire

Legal Issues

Lender forecloses on Sahota family rental properties

A lender has foreclosed on two rental properties owned by a Vancouver family renowned as problem landlords, putting more pressure on a group of aging siblings who are already facing hundreds of charges from the city over the decrepit state of their buildings. The buildings are owned by companies controlled by members of the Sahota family.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

B.C. real estate regulator pushes back against challenge

B.C.’s real estate regulator says its complaint process is sufficiently robust to protect the public and that its boss, the provincial superintendent, has no legal right to second-guess its decision to drop an investigation into alleged realtor misconduct. Those assurances made by Robert Holmes, chair of the Real Estate Council of British Columbia., are a result of a public spat between the council and the superintendent of real estate.

Globe and Mail

Condominium Management

Rise in TO condo maintenance fees slowed last year

It’s big and it’s real — condo buyers’ and residents’ fear of escalating monthly maintenance fees. But a study by Condos.ca shows condo fees in Toronto rose only 2.5 per cent last year over 2016. The average maintenance cost on a 594-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment was $386.60. That compares to an annual increase in both 2016 and 2015 of about 4 per cent.

Toronto Star

Construction

U.S. housing starts down sharply

U.S. homebuilding fell more than expected in December, recording its biggest drop in just over a year, amid a steep decline in the construction of single-family housing units following two months of hefty gains. Housing starts decreased 8.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.192 million units, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. November’s sales pace was revised up to 1.299 million units from the previously reported 1.297 million units.

Reuters

Affordable Housing

Toronto’s unaffordable. Why can’t Halifax or Saskatoon benefit?

What if the answer to affordable housing lay outside the epicentres of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal—in the untapped potential of cities like Saskatoon, London, Ont., or Halifax? How might they look and feel? Portland, Ore., holds a clue. It has been consistently and diligently executing a plan that, for more than 40 years, rejected sprawl, and instead linked land use with transportation planning.

Maclean’s

Vancouver housing affordability plunged quickly: Demographia

Vancouver’s housing affordability has deteriorated more than any other major city found on Demographia’s latest list of severely unaffordable cities around the world, released Sunday. The speed at which Vancouver turned so unaffordable is unparalleled, according to the survey, produced by U.S.-based Demographia and Performance Urban Planning from New Zealand.

Vancouver Sun – Business In Vancouver – Globe Newswire

As California rents rise, advocates push for new rent control laws

In November 2018, voting ballots in California might include a question on rent control. Right now, California law restricts the spread of rent regulations on housing built after 1995, in addition to many older properties. Some housing advocates want to change that. A proposed law that would have allowed more rent regulation died in the state legislature in 2017. 

National Real Estate Investor

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Edmonton looks to rejig its infill strategy

Edmonton’s Evolving Infill project enters its final stages this week as public engagement commences following the release of a set of technical reports in December. The reports, which include a municipal tools review and a market housing-and-affordability study, are in draft format, but their content will provide a knowledge base for public discussion that will shape the next iteration of the city’s infill road map.

Globe and Mail

Montrealers upset by Lachine Canal development

The Lachine Canal, once full of warehouses and silos, has been turned into a Montreal condo developer’s paradise, with dozens of mid-priced to luxury buildings going up along the landscaped banks and on nearby streets. With its proximity to the downtown as well as such amenities as the nearby Atwater Market, the location is one of the city’s busiest sites for residential – mostly condo – construction.

Globe and Mail

Homeowners oppose new McMaster off-campus housing plan

Some homeowners near McMaster University aren’t happy with an increase in the number of units planned for a new student residence building a stone’s throw from campus. The Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association, one of two neighbourhood associations near McMaster, has written a formal letter opposing the project’s current iteration. They say 1,400 beds are too many for the project.

CBC

Buying and Selling

Chinese buyers converge on Montreal’s West Island

Buyers from China and Hong Kong are flocking to the West Island like never before, but they’re not interested in just any home. The number of foreign buyers in Montreal increased 36 per cent between August 2015 and 2016. According to Geneviève Lapointe, an analyst with Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC), most of the recent growth has come from Chinese investors.

Montreal Gazette

B.C. premier dismisses call to ban foreign ownership of RE

B.C. Premier John Horgan has rejected calls from his governing partner, the BC Green Party, to ban foreign ownership of real estate in the province as a measure to cool home prices and execute on promises to improve affordability. Horgan said B.C. will keep its doors open to new buyers around the globe, dismissing calls from the Greens to follow New Zealand’s lead.

Globe and Mail – CBC – Vancouver Province

Calgary castle for sale: $1,750,000

One of Calgary’s most unique properties is on the market. It has cream-coloured stone walls, a lookout tower and mint-green battlements on the outer walls, not to mention the six spiral staircases. “We don’t have many castles in Calgary,” said realtor Daniel LeBlanc. In his 14 years in the real estate business, LeBlanc said the luxury home is by far the most unique property he has ever been in.

CBC

Other

Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ answers to Alexa

From an industrial park in Oshawa, Ont., Robert Mowles sells the human future, one little camera at a time. It will be an age—should we not turn back, and time is running out for us to do so—of omnipresent surveillance, unceasing recording and perpetual spying, performed by an array of insidious, wondrous devices that hear and remember everything we say, see everything we see and follow us everywhere we go.

Maclean’s – Newinhomes.com