Developers snatch up ReidBuilt’s Alberta assets

Developers snatch up ReidBuilt’s Alberta assets

Nearly six months after a major Alberta homebuilder was forced into receivership, a court-appointed receiver is in the process of selling more than 100 ReidBuilt Homes properties in Calgary and Edmonton — largely at discounted prices. ReidBuilt, a family-owned business launched in Edmonton during the early 1980s, had been pushed to the brink over an “unsustainable debt load,” while its revenues plunged during the recent recession, court records show.

CBC

Approved zoning enhances value of GTA development land

Multi-family residential developers can expect to continue to pay a hefty premium when acquiring land which already has approved zoning in place, according to a new report. Residential real estate advisory firm Bullpen Research & Consulting Inc. and land-use planning and project management firm Batory Management teamed up to review and provide projections on more than 40 Greater Toronto Area (GTA) high-density land transactions in the first quarter.

Property Biz Canada

Toronto condo developers increasingly scrapping projects

Builders in Toronto’s frenzied condo market are walking away from giant towers they have pre-sold, reflecting a rougher road to profits — and leaving buyers in the lurch. Soaring construction costs and condo values in Toronto have spurred developers to cancel projects they started when construction was cheaper and pre-sales were less lucrative. Condo prices have increased about 20 per cent since February 2017, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Bloomberg – Toronto Star – Globe and Mail

Langley condo pre-sale appeal launched

A group of dissatisfied would-be condo-buyers are appealing a B.C. Supreme Court decision to cancel pre-sale contracts for an embattled Langley development. A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled this month that 40 pre-sale contracts, entered into over the last three years by dozens of people who sought to buy condos in the troubled Murrayville House development, were void.

Vancouver Sun – Mortgage Broker News – Vancouver Sun

Hamilton proposes adding condos to major shopping malls

Hamilton city councillors have a novel idea to ease the city’s affordable housing crisis. They want people to consider living at the mall. City council’s general issues committee voted Wednesday to encourage developers to build apartments and condos at Hamilton’s major commercial centres, namely shopping malls. The city needs affordable housing, said Mayor Fred Eisenberger. And online shopping has led to the decline of the traditional shopping mall.

CBC

Condo project to be Kitchener’s tallest building

A new condominium development planned for downtown Kitchener is set to stand as the tallest building in the city. IN8 Developments, a Kitchener-Waterloo-based developer, is expected to build the more than $100-million, 33-storey condo tower at the corner of Duke and Frederick streets, where Trinity United Church and the former restaurant Exclamation sits.

Waterloo Region Record

Minto Capital unveils new Oakville rental tower

Minto Capital Management Inc. today announced the release of 1235 Marlborough, a purpose-built rental building in Oakville. The 14-storey building, comprised of 144 units and state of the art amenities is a rental apartment building in a prime location – College Park neighbourhood at Trafalgar and Upper Middle Road.

Canada Newswire

B.C. to spend $1.9 billion to build rental housing

British Columbia’s government is investing $1.9 billion over the next 10 years to help build 14,000 affordable homes for renters. Premier John Horgan says fixing the housing crisis in the province isn’t just about ownership, but making sure that those who rent can afford homes where they can have a future.The new rental homes will be built through partnerships with municipalities, non-profit group and housing co-operatives. 

CBC

Toronto overtakes Vancouver for most expensive rent

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto was $2,040 in April, $30 higher than the Vancouver average of $2,010, according to PadMapper’s latest data, which looks at median rents for all homes currently available to rent or vacant and does not take into account homes already rented out.

Business In Vancouver – Newinhomes.com – CTV

$40-million residential complex planned for Nanaimo

Vancouver’s Molnar Group is planning a $40-million apartment and townhouse project in Nanaimo as it continues to roll out development plans around Vancouver Island.

“We are big believers in the Vancouver Island market. We came over there long before major developers were coming there like they are now,” said Dak Molnar, managing director of the Vancouver-based Molnar Group.

Victoria Times Colonist

Chartwell buys land to expand Oshawa facility

Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH-UN-T) has acquired two acres of land on Woodmount Drive for the expansion of its existing Chartwell Wynfield Retirement Community in Oshawa. Construction is expected to begin in 2019 on a six-story, 200-suite Independent Supportive Living apartment residence which will complement the existing 105 retirement suites and 172 long term care beds currently operating on the site.

Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Airbnb strata battles showing up in court

In one case, a condo owner argued he wasn’t renting his bedroom out — he was licensing its use. A photograph of about 15 pairs of men’s shoes lined up outside a doorway was entered into evidence in another — proof the townhouse owner in question had used her unit as a kind of hostel. Both cases ended with fines upheld by B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT).

CBC – Globe and Mail

Vancouver condo flips flying under the radar

You only have to scan the Multiple Listings Service to see Vancouver’s property flips in action – and the money that’s being made, by people working in and outside the real estate industry. At Yaletown’s Kinghorne Mews, unit 802 is currently listed for $2.688 million. The sellers had purchased it in June 2016 for $1.580 million. The same sellers have sold six listings for downtown condos in the last three years.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

University dorms open for summer business

With exams coming to an end, University of British Columbia and its campuses, particularly the main one at Point Grey, situated a 20-minute drive from downtown Vancouver, can lose some of their vitality. Injecting more life into the school throughout the summer months was just one of the main factors at play when the university decided to build its Ponderosa Commons residences.

Globe and Mail

Bears warn housing slump could cause next recession

New mortgage rules and government policies aimed at cooling the Toronto-area real estate market have done their job nicely and the recent strength in prices marks the start of a new upward trend. But some Bay Street mavens are warning of the risks of a darker scenario: They’re on guard against a downward spiral that would hurt not only the country’s housing markets but the entire Canadian economy.

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

Market Conditions

Edmonton housing starts down nearly 20 per cent

Home builders in Edmonton are seeing less work to date this year. According to a city report, housing starts in the city fell 19.9 per cent in the first quarter, with 1,739 housing units breaking ground in 2018 compared to 2,172 units in Q1 2017. Multi-family starts dropped by 34.6 per cent to 1,000 units in 2018 from 1,529 in Q1 2017. However, single-family housing starts rose 14.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis to 739 units.

Edmonton Journal

Corporate housing market strong in Vancouver

Providers of corporate housing serve both companies seeking to house employees and insurers requiring accommodation for displaced persons. The sector is worth $248 million a year in Canada. The supply of units in Vancouver last year dropped faster than the decline in occupancies, which fell from 89% to 85%. This supported an 8% increase in the average daily rate to $175 from $162.

Business In Vancouver

Seniors Housing

Lendlease expands into China’s emerging senior living sector

Australia’s Lendlease is expanding into China to take advantage of the country’s emerging retirement living sector. The property and infrastructure group said it has signed a 50-year land usage contract with the Qingpu Government in Shanghai to develop and operate its first senior living community in China. The expected value of the completed development is around $386 million Cdn.

IPE Real Assets

Seasonal Homes

Canmore aims to lure Alberta buyers back from B.C.

British Columbia’s speculation tax, which slaps a hefty penalty on out-of-province buyers, is seen as a threat to the seasonal property market in B.C.’s Okanagan, but could prove a boon to the Alberta resort town of Canmore. The new non-B.C.-resident tax could gut the Okanagan economy, warns Scrap the Speculation Tax, a new Kelowna-based business coalition.

Business In Vancouver

Taxes and Utilities

Vancouver’s empty homes tax to pull in $30M

Vancouver’s empty homes tax will generate an estimated $30 million for affordable housing in its first year, Mayor Gregor Robertson announced Monday. The highest tax paid was $250,000 for one home, while the median amount was $9,900, Robertson said. “For those who did not rent their property and chose to pay the empty homes tax, I just want to say thank you for contributing to Vancouver affordable housing funding,” said the mayor.

CBC – Globe and Mail – Toronto Star

New homeowners face tax disadvantage in many U.S. states

In Los Angeles, a new owner of a median-valued home pays about $7,000 per year in property taxes – nearly double the $4,000 paid by someone who has owned an identical home for 14 years, the average length of homeownership in the city, according to the annual 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence.

PR Newswire

Natural Disasters

Mandatory evacuation order issued for parts of Drumheller

Residents in the community of Wayne, Alta., and along Highway 10X in the Drumheller area are being told to evacuate homes and businesses because of high waters in the Rosebud River. The Town of Drumheller — which includes the former hamlet of Wayne about 14 kilometres southeast of the main community — declared a state of local emergency at 5 p.m. on Monday. 

CBC – Calgary Herald

Food fears rise in southern B.C. as snowpack melts

Officials in B.C.’s southern Okanagan are bracing for “biblical” flooding as a higher-than-usual snowpack begins to melt, prompting residents to flee their homes. Flooding has already caused the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen to issue an evacuation order for 12 properties north of Oliver on Saturday. “It’s a mess,” said Terry Schafer, a board member with the district, standing on Sportsman Bowl Road as water rushed by. 

CBC – Global News – CBC

Legal Issues

Wells Fargo to pay $1B for mortgage, auto lending abuses

Wells Fargo (WFC-N) will pay $1 billion US to federal regulators to settle charges tied to its mortgage and auto lending business, the latest chapter in a wide-ranging scandal at the banking giant. Wells Fargo will pay $500 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as well as a net $500 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Winnipeg Free Press

Condominium Management

GTA condo boards move to ban homegrown cannabis inside units

With the prospect of legalized cannabis looming in Ontario, GTA  condominium boards are rushing to figure out how to respond to a law that will permit residents to grow up to four plants inside their homes. “We don’t want to set up a system where anyone can just grow four plants and then it becomes a problem of overpopulation across units,” said Tim Gordanier, a condo board president.

CBC

Ontario to lift electric vehicle roadblocks for condo owners

Condo-dwellers in Ontario will soon have an easier time charging their electric vehicles at home, part of a province-wide plan to reduce emissions and fight climate change, the government announced Monday. According to a news release, the government will ease the requirements necessary for residents to get approval from their condo corporations to install electric vehicle charging stations. The changes go into effect May 1.

CBC – Toronto Star

Affordable Housing

‘Multi-generational living’ may solve sky-high housing prices

Given the differences in households’ demographic makeup, no two households are alike. Multi-generational households, the ones where at least three generations of a family are living under the same roof, are even more distinct. Whereas such households represented a mere 2.9 per cent of all Canadian households in 2016, they represent a much larger segment of the  population near large urban centres.

Financial Post

Waterloo allocates $2.4M for new affordable rental units

An estimated 21 new affordable rental units will be created by the Region of Waterloo after councillors agreed to allocate $2.4 million of social infrastructure funding for that reason. Deb Schlichter, the region’s housing services director, said some additional funding may be reallocated to create three or four more units as well.

CBC

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Laneway houses, coach homes touted for Vancouver

As demand for housing in Metro Vancouver remains strong, limited supply continues to be an obstacle, and as a result, home prices are on the rise. To create much needed inventory in the market, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s (REBGV) new president Phil Moore says stratifying laneway houses and coach homes could be the most effective solution.

BuzzBuzzNews

East Vancouver renoviction victims refuse to leave

The few remaining residents of Vancouver’s Woodlands Apartments say new rules from the province to protect renters won’t help in the fight against their landlord, who wants them to move out so extensive renovations can be done. Sue Robinet, who has lived in the aging two-building complex in the Strathcona neighbourhood for the past 17 years, has faced multiple eviction notices over the past six months.

CBC – CBC

Edmonton debates adding secondary suites

Renters may soon have more housing options if councillors agree to relax the rules around secondary suites. The City of Edmonton’s urban planning committee discussed Tuesday amending a zoning bylaw that would permit owners of semi-detached, duplex and row housing to rent out self-contained suites.  Currently, only people owning single–​detached homes are allowed to have secondary suites.

CBC

Buying and Selling

B.C. real estate regulators face new review

Less than two years after former premier Christy Clark ended the self-regulation of B.C.’s real estate industry, the NDP is launching its own review of real estate regulators. “Our duty as a government is to make sure the regulatory system is protecting people and functioning effectively,” Finance Minister Carole James said in a media release.

Global News – Business In Vancouver

Brantford named Canada’s best place to buy real estate

Relatively low house prices and fast-rising rents are two of the reasons Brantford has been dubbed the best real estate investment market in Canada. MoneySense magazine has placed Brantford at the top of its annual ranking of Canadian communities based on real estate investment potential. The MoneySense report credits Brantford’s “affordable yet steadily rising housing prices” as well as its low unemployment rate.

CTV – CTV – Toronto Star

Other

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