Brookfield to build Capella in Calgary University District

Brookfield to build Capella in Calgary University District

Brookfield Residential is back in the builder class for University District with a concept that borrows from the company’s work in California. After starting in the mixed-use community’s opening phase of residential development with its townhome development dubbed the Ivy, Brookfield returns with Capella. It’s planned for 142 homes, with one building containing 92 apartment-style condos, joined by seven smaller buildings.

Calgary Herald – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Give Timbercreek some credit for helping Heron Gate

To listen to some, the eviction of 105 families from Ottawa’s Heron Gate development is a tale of a greedy corporate landlord victimizing low-income tenants, most of whom are visible minorities. Indeed, Leilani Farha, a UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, has accused landlord Timbercreek of “unscrupulous demographic engineering in search of profits: replacing poor and vulnerable people with those who possess greater purchasing power.”

Ottawa Citizen

Rental prices spike 15 per cent in some Canadian cities

Ottawa residents lined up on Wednesday almost an hour before a group showing of new bachelor apartments. It may be the latest sign of rising rental prices in Canada. Real estate broker Neil Newton, who was showing off the tiny apartments that start at $875 a month, said he has been blown away by the demand. “It’s through the roof,” he said. “I’ve never seen it before.”

CTV – Business In Vancouver

Ontario housing market major boon for CAPREIT

Canadian Apartment Properties, one of the largest landlords in the country, said the booming housing market in Ontario is helping to lift rents as consumers are driven out of home ownership because of affordability. “Clearly the (Greater Toronto Area) is the strongest,” Mark Kenney, chief operating officer of CAPREIT (CAR-UN-T), told Bay St. analysts on a Q2 results conference call.

CoStar Group – Ottawa Citizen

Metro Vancouver prices 65% overvalued: The Economist

Metro Vancouver real estate is valued at 65 per cent higher than it should be, based on local incomes, according to a new global house price index by The Economist. The U.K.-based financial publication’s research team found the region’s home prices have risen by more than 60 per cent over the past five years. The Economist reported Metro Vancouver was the fifth most overvalued of 22 major global cities studied.

Vancouver Courier – Victoria Times Colonist

B.C. residential sales to drop 21% in 2018: BCREA

It may be no coincidence one forecast is predicting a decline in B.C. home sales this year of around 20 per cent, while a separate study has found 18 per cent of would-be home buyers are being locked out of the market by the new mortgage stress test. MLS residential sales across B.C. are expected to plunge 21 per cent in 2018, according to a new forecast by the British Columbia Real Estate Association.

Western Investor – Vancouver Sun

Foreign buyers scarce in latest B.C. property transfer data

The latest property transfer data from the B.C. Ministry of Finance, released at the end of July, indicates foreign buyers have all but disappeared from the Lower Mainland. The numbers show that just 1% of all real estate transactions in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Regional District during the first six months of this year involved foreign nationals, down from 3% in the same period a year ago.

Business In Vancouver

Toronto leads Canada, U.S. in cranes in use

Some days it feels like there’s more development happening in Toronto than New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles combined. By one standard that measures development, that’s true. A July study from international real estate consultancy Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) counted the number of cranes in 13 major cities in the United States and Canada, most in use for home construction.

Globe and Mail

How much is too much when it comes to Toronto condos?

A couple of years ago, a real estate market expert told me condominiums in the Greater Toronto Area were on their way to reaching the point where they would no longer be financially feasible for the masses. He said when that happened, people would look beyond the GTA for condos, even if they had to change jobs or commute longer distances. Are we close to that breaking point in Toronto and the GTA?

Newinhomes.com

Toronto residents push for speculation tax

Earlier this year in a “blink and you might miss it” moment, a plywood billboard was erected in Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods park inscribed with two bold proclamations: “Gentrification Tax” was the opening shot, and “The real estate market is destroying this city” was the chaser. The billboard suggested the rapid rise in home values between 2008 and 2017 necessitates a steep tax aimed at speculative flipping.

Globe and Mail

Tridel unveils its first smart condominium

Leading Canadian condominium developer Tridel Monday unveiled its first smart condominium at Ten York, a newly completed 69-storey community in Toronto’s downtown core. Ten York features Tridel Connect, an innovative range of integrated smart home features designed to make condo living as convenient as possible. “Tridel Connect is the result of a collaboration with real estate technology company SmartONE Solutions,” explained Tridel’s Bruno Giancola.

Canada Newswire

OHBA names 2018 Awards of Distinction finalists

The Ontario Home Builders’ Association recently announced the finalists for the 2018 Awards of Distinction. Excellence in building, design, renovation, sales and marketing is recognized across 41 categories. “This year, we’ve seen the rise of #homebelievers in Ontario – that is, government, builders, renovators, and local champions rallying around the great Canadian dream of home ownership,” says OHBA president Pierre Dufresne.

Newinhomes.com – Canada Newswire

Canadian banks better prepared to weather crisis: Moody’s

Surging house prices and increased mortgage lending by Canada’s biggest banks — particularly around Vancouver and Toronto — have boosted potential losses in the event of a U.S.-style housing crisis, according to the latest stress test by Moody’s Investors Service. But steps taken by governments and regulators, and by the financial institutions themselves, mean the banks are in a stronger position to absorb such losses than they were in 2016.

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

U.K.’s Purplebricks comes to Canada

An international online property powerhouse has purchased one of the world’s top web-based, commission-free real estate companies in a bid to shake up the Canadian home-selling industry. Last month’s successful $51-million bid for Quebec-based duProprio means “For Sale” signs bearing the name Purplebricks will soon start popping up across Canada, says the company’s president, Michael Bruce. Also watch for some major advertising campaigns.

CBC

World’s first commercial 3D-printed concrete homes planned

VIDEO: A consortium between the municipality of Eindhoven, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), and three private firms is building five unique 3D-printed concrete homes in the city. They will be the world’s first commercially available 3D-printed concrete homes.

Globe and Mail

Market Conditions

How our downtown condo prices compare globally

Vancouver and Toronto have been singled out by many observers for their high home prices, but a fresh look shows downtown condo living in several Canadian cities compares well on a global basis. Indeed, Vancouver prices may top those of Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm, but they pale in comparison to Hong Kong, London, New York and Paris.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Montreal baby boomers reluctant to downsize

Most Montrealers still want to live in a single-family detached home, yet achieving that dream is becoming harder for many people. It’s not just that prices are rising and mortgage terms are becoming less flexible. The predicted wave of baby boomers selling their detached homes to move into condos, smaller homes or less expensive areas also hasn’t happened.

Montreal Gazette

Canadian home sales tick higher in July

The Canadian housing market is finding its footing after a prolonged stumble in the first half of the year, shaking off the impact of stricter mortgage rules, rising interest rates and provincial policy changes. Home sales increased 1.9 per cent in July compared with June, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. The bump-up marked the third consecutive month of recovery after an initial plunge in 2018.

Toronto Star – CBC – Canada Newswire

Seniors Housing

134-unit seniors complex pitched for Victoria

A new five-storey building dedicated to a range of seniors care is being proposed for 1900 Richmond Rd. in Victoria’s North Jubilee neighbourhood. It’s the latest seniors project either under construction or planned in Greater Victoria as Canada’s population ages and forecasts predict the need for specialized housing will continue to grow.

Victoria Times Colonist

U.S. REIT hopes to draw small investors into senior housing

A new, non-traded REIT with senior housing aspirations has arrived on the scene. The REIT, Upside Avenue, plans to start deploying capital at the end of September, Joy Schoffler, chief strategy officer at both the REIT and its affiliate — Austin, Texas-based private equity firm Casoro Capital – said. Upside Avenue filed a “mini IPO,” or a Regulation A Plus offering, which enables the REIT to offer shares to the general public.

Senior Housing News

Natural Disasters

Wildfires affecting B.C. real estate deals

Real estate deals in Prince George, B.C., are being affected by area wildfires.  Many underwriters won’t insure a home with a new policy if there is a forest fire 50 kilometres from city limits. Local providers are working with customers on a case-by-case basis to help buyers, and there may need to be some flexibility on closing dates as wildfires change on a daily if not hourly basis. 

CKPGToday.ca

Construction

Calgary apartment-style construction starts up

The year-to-date rise in new construction of apartment-style condos in the Calgary area continued in July, with builders outpacing the same month in 2017 by 21 starts. Shovels turned for 436 apartments in the Calgary census metropolitan area last month, edging the year-over-year mark by five per cent, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Calgary Herald

U.S. homebuilding slowing

U.S. homebuilding rebounded less than expected from a nine-month low in July, suggesting the housing market was likely to tread water for the rest of this year against the backdrop of rising construction costs and labour shortages. “It is more expensive to buy a new home for the American worker,” said MUFG‘s Chris Rupkey. “We cannot be confident that home construction will pick up in the near future.”

Reuters – PR Newswire

Affordable Housing

Policy proposes 16% affordable housing for Edmonton communities

The City of Edmonton is proposing a new framework calling for 16 per cent affordable housing in every Edmonton community. The 16 per cent target is up from the previous goal of 10. The vast majority of communities in Edmonton have less than 10 per cent affordable housing. Victoria Park and Woodcroft have more than 30 per cent, while dozens of neighbourhoods have between zero and five per cent.

CBC

The most affordable places to buy property in B.C.

Home affordability depends not only on price but on the buyer’s income—personal finance experts recommend a price-to-income ratio no higher than 3. By that measure, nowhere in B.C. is truly affordable, according to a new ranking of 20 major B.C. cities from Canadian real estate website and brokerage Zoocasa.com. But some are less unaffordable than others.

BC Business

Cities, Towns and Urban Issues

Edmonton condo boards banning smoking, dividing residents

With the legalization of marijuana around the corner, condominium boards across Edmonton are updating their smoking bylaws — with some opting to completely ban smoking on premises. Moreover, with city hall looking to update its own public smoking bylaws, boards across the city are hoping to stay ahead of the curve.

Toronto Star

Buying and Selling

New Zealand bans most foreigners from buying homes

New Zealand has banned most foreigners from buying homes as it tries to tackle runaway housing prices. Previously the housing market was open to investors worldwide, but the government on Wednesday passed legislation that allows only New Zealand residents to buy homes. In recent years, there have been many anecdotal stories of wealthy foreigners from Silicon Valley and beyond buying ranches in picturesque rural New Zealand.

Globe and Mail – CBC – CBC

RRSP or TFSA: Which is better way to save for a home?

So, you’re saving for your first home. Odds are your current savings account isn’t quite cutting it as far as growth goes, so what should you do? You may have heard of a TFSA or RRSP, and don’t worry, if you’re confused about what they are, you’re not alone. These are both savings/investment vehicles that can help you realize your dream of homeownership.

Newinhomes.com

Condo balconies a must for many buyers

Realtor Andrew Harrild is sitting outside the Tip Top Lofts on Lake Shore Blvd. W., looking up at the balconies on the Fort York condos across the street. It’s a blue sky day but there’s not a soul in sight on those tiny, ubiquitous terraces. “I see a lot of stuff on the balconies but not a lot of people,” says Harrild, a partner in Condos.ca.

Toronto Star

Other

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