Tax foreign investors in Vancouver real estate: Tal

Tax foreign investors who buy Vancouver real estate: Tal

The deputy chief economist at one of Canada’s largest banks is calling for the taxation of foreign real estate speculators, saying it’s the best way to cool down Vancouver’s red-hot market without causing a collapse. CIBC’s Benjamin Tal cautioned against stopping foreign investment entirely, saying it’s only one of the drivers of high prices.

CBC.ca – Globe and Mail

Australia taxes foreigners as home affordability bites

Sydney is imposing new taxes on foreigners buying homes as concerns grow that a flood of mostly Chinese investors is crowding out locals and killing the “Great Australian Dream” of owning property.  Ownership rates across the country are among the highest in developed nations, with having your own house long viewed as a key aspect of Australian identity.

SCMP

Conundrum, Manulife to grow multi-res platform

Conundrum Capital Corporation’s Q Management LP (QMLP) is taking a step up from being a boutique multi-family asset and property management platform with the sale of a 49 per cent stake to Manulife Asset Management Private Markets.

Property Biz Canada

Vancouver plans to tax owners of vacant homes

Vancouver’s mayor says the city will impose a tax on property owners who don’t live in their residences as part of an effort to make housing more affordable, but Gregor Robertson acknowledges his council will have to figure out a way to work around a provincial government that has rejected previous efforts to tax empty houses.

Globe and Mail

Nightmare housing scenarios good reason for government caution

Tucked inside the latest Bank of Canada report on risks to the financial system were two nightmare scenarios for heavily mortgaged homeowners, particularly newcomers to the market in and around the city of Vancouver.  What if housing prices were to drop by 15 per cent?

Vancouver Sun – Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Globe and Mail

Big banks could withstand a severe housing crash: Moody’s

Amid a chorus of concern about Canada’s overheated housing market, Moody’s Investors Service says it believes the country’s biggest lenders can easily withstand a severe market downturn, after the credit-rating agency simulated a U.S.-style mortgage crisis. However, Moody’s raised concerns about the big banks’ vulnerability to broader issues.

Globe and Mail – Montreal Gazette – CBC

Hot condo presale market may disappoint first-time buyers

The condo presale market in the Lower Mainland is so hot that even a major B.C. developer was caught off guard Saturday when more than a hundred people lined up in the rain for the chance to win a promotion. Concord Pacific  originally advertised for incentive for first-time homebuyers.

Metro News

Toronto tenants celebrate win over condo developer

A recent decision by the Ontario Municipal Board is being hailed as a victory for renters displaced by the city’s growing condo boom. Tenants at both sites have reached an agreement with Compton Management that will see them receive refunds, rental discounts and moving allowances as the landlord looks to build condos in the midtown neighbourhood.

Metro News

New developments honoured for bright and airy design

Modest square footage doesn’t have to feel cramped. Efficient use of space and the creative use of interior design to inject maximum quality of life to the interiors were just two of 14 design-oriented talents honoured with prizes or special mentions at the presentation of the Habitat Design Awards at the Dufresne-Nincheri Museum on June 2.

Montreal Gazette

Toronto condos are investing in art

It’s been a busy month for public art unveilings in the city. Toronto condo developers lead the way by engaging their communities through the commissioning of public art. It’s an emerging trend that allows Canadian artists to showcase their work and leave a lasting impression on the city.

Metro News

Domicile builds on 40 years of originality

If you plan to be a boutique builder with staying power, you’d better be ready for opening night jitters. Domicile Developments, now celebrating its 40th anniversary, knows all about nerves. Because it eschews cookie-cutter projects in favour of one-off condo and townhome infills.

Ottawa Citizen

Rental rates are falling: Here they are by city

Rental rates fell in May in many Canadian cities, according to a newly-launched survey, but that doesn’t mean renting a place to live is suddenly super-cheap. A two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver rents for $1,000 more than a similar place in Toronto, according to rental site Padmapper.

Huffington Post – CTV News

The most walkable metros with the highest rent premiums

The real estate market was once fueled by suburban neighborhoods with large yards and a place to park your car, but the tables have turned and the end of sprawl is in sight. The nation’s 30 largest metros consist of 619 regional “walkable urban places” (WalkUPs).

Multifamily Executive

Freddie Mac reaches new credit risk transfer milestone

Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) achieved a major corporate milestone this month having now transferred to private capital a significant portion of the credit risk, often including first-loss risk, of mortgage defaults on $650 billion in unpaid principal balance on single-family and multifamily loans.

Marketwired

Hong Kong house sells at record price, unusual circumstances

The $32.9-million Canadian dollar record transaction for a home on Hong Kong’s has raised questions if it could serve as a benchmark in the super-luxury property market due to its uncommon payment method, according to industry experts.

SCMP

RENX Columnists

A ‘tsunami of inheritances’ more likely to be a recipe for disaster

Surging home prices and soaring consumer debt are not problems you can solve simply by throwing money at them, even if some leading economists seem to think so. I read with interest a story recently that suggested a “tsunami of inheritances” could ease the challenges young Canadians face.

Read more

Market Conditions

What drives the high cost of building a Vancouver condo?

Construction costs for a typical highrise concrete condominium in Vancouver range from $210 to $270 per square foot, while a low-rise, four-storey wood-frame condominium would cost from $130 to $165 per square foot to build, according to the 2016 Construction Cost Guide prepared by Altus Group.

Business in Vancouver

Average Canadian house price $509,460 in May

The average price of a Canadian home sold in May was $509,460, a 13 per cent increase in the past year and the highest figure on record. The strong gains are largely tied to hot markets in Ontario and British Columbia, according to the numbers released Wednesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.

CBC

Canadians’ household debt remains near record at 165% of income

Canadian consumer leverage remained near a record in the first quarter as rising mortgage liabilities offset a gain in disposable income.  Credit-market debt including mortgages was 165.3 per cent of after-tax income, slightly lower than the 165.4 per cent reading in the fourth quarter, Statistics Canada said Tuesday in Ottawa.

Financial Post

Condominium sales sink in Ottawa in May

The number of condominiums sold in the nation’s capital in May sank dramatically while residential home sales held steady, according to new data released by the Ottawa Real Estate Board.  The board said a total of 307 condominiums sold during the month of May, a 10.2 per cent drop from the 342 that sold during the same month one year ago.

Ottawa Citizen

RENX Market Summaries

	REITs & REOCs – First-quarter 2016 report
	RENX has prepared a table with a convenient list of the companies and a summary of links to their reports that will be updated quarterly. First-quarter results are now arriving. Canadian REITs & REOCs – First-quarter 2016 report

 

Mortgage and Finance

CMHC’s goal for housing market is stability: CEO

This is a watershed year for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). We are a 67-year-old company with a proud history but also a new, more focused mission, one that recognizes our role during the financial crisis and seeks to build an even stronger housing system for Canadians.

Globe and Mail

New Developments

Edmonton not-for-profit development corp to rebuild on vacant land

Edmonton will soon have a new community-minded blight fighter on the streets, one with a $10 million in ready cash and a fistful of vacant lots.  It could build grocery stores in food deserts, build small shops for local business startups or turn derelict homes into new skinny ones, teaching local residents trade skills in the process.

Edmonton Journal

Seasonal Homes

Loonie’s decline is Canadian cottage country’s gain

Robin and John Steckley have long wanted to purchase a waterfront cottage in the picturesque Kawartha Lakes area.  After living and working in Virginia the past five years, the Steckleys decided that with the Canadian dollar sitting well below its American counterpart, it was time to purchase a cottage in their home country.

Globe and Mail

GTA investors look to Fox Harb’r for their next vacation home

What started as Ron Joyce’s passion project for friends and family in his hometown community of Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia has transformed into one of Canada’s most promising real estate investment opportunities, and we had the privilege to see it all in person.

New in Homes

Natural Disasters

Wildfire cleanup crew says ozone machines made them sick

One man went to hospital and several others have reported feeling sick, after being exposed to ozone gas and other potentially unknown chemicals during wildfire cleanup efforts in Fort McMurray. CBC News has interviewed four workers and obtained accounts from two witnesses — all with firsthand knowledge of indoor cleanup work at four properties.

CBC

Home reno expert Mike Holmes heading to Fort McMurray

Canadian home renovation TV personality Mike Holmes says he will head to fire-ravaged Fort McMurray next week. A huge wildfire last month in northeastern Alberta torched about 2,400 homes and other buildings and forced more than 80,000 people to flee.

Chronicle Herald

Other

	RENX has surpassed 9,125 Twitter followers
	Follower Michael Vallejos is a commercial real estate advisor in New York City with Avison Young and an organizer with New York Latino tech community.
	Follow RENXca, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian real estate professionals.