Ontario rent controls solving nonexistent problem: Sonshine

Ontario rent controls solving nonexistent problem: Sonshine

Ontario’s new rent control measures are misguided, says RioCan REIT (REI.UN-T) CEO Ed Sonshine. “They’re solving a problem that I’m not really sure existed,” Sonshine told BNN on Monday. “It can’t be helpful to what we’re doing because we really had to go back – and we’re in the process of doing that – and re-evaluate every project we have.” 

BNN – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Toronto among most expensive cities to rent an apartment

At $1,377 US, Toronto came in at No. 21 for the world’s most expensive average rent for a two-bedroom apartment. That number ranged from about $300 in Bangalore, India, to more than $3,400 in San Francisco, according to a report by Deutsche Bank. Hong Kong was second to San Francisco, at $3,237.

Business Insider

GTA a hotbed of housing development

Soaring prices for condos in the Greater Toronto Area and $1-million average single-family home prices in Toronto illustrate a severely unbalanced housing market, attendees of an industry panel were told at the recent Land & Development Conference.

Property Biz Canada

Moodyville makeover: Evolv one of many developments

North Vancouver’s Moodyville neighbourhood is about to become a lot more densely populated, as 256 detached homes will be replaced with approximately 1,890 ground-oriented wood-frame housing units. “Most of those homes will be either torn down, moved or potentially retained on site if they have heritage value,” said rareEarth Project Marketing president James Askew, who’s marketing a new townhome development called Evolv.

Property Biz Canada

Toronto, Victoria world’s fastest-growing luxury markets

Toronto and Victoria are the world’s “hottest” markets for luxury homes as investors flock to Canada for its political and economic stability, according to a new report from Christie’s International Real Estate. Hong Kong is the No. 1 luxury residential market, beating London for the first time in five years, but Toronto and Victoria are the globe’s fastest-growing high-end markets.

BNN – BuzzBuzzNews – The Real Deal – The Real Deal

Condo board disputes raising questions

On a muggy evening last summer, unit owners from the Five Condos tower in downtown Toronto gathered at the InterContinental Hotel for the meeting that would elect from among them five directors to oversee over their new building’s $2.5-million budget. Three of the elected candidates, Darryl McGregor, Ray Blanchard and George Laczko, represented the same unit, No. 1306.

Globe and Mail – CBC – CBC

CRE execs give Fair Housing Plan a rough ride

Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan got a rough ride during the May 3 Land & Development Conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The policy was introduced by the Liberal government last month to help more people find affordable housing, increase supply, protect buyers and renters, and bring stability to the province’s real estate market.

Property Biz Canada – Vancouver Sun – Newinhomes.com

Ontario’s new roadblocks won’t help tenants: Landlord

A Toronto landlord is questioning whether the province’s new rules to prevent tenants from being unfairly kicked out of their homes will really have an impact. The new regulations were introduced to prevent landlords from falsely claiming they or a family member will be moving in and then jacking up the rent on their now-empty unit.

CBC

Economists change tune on Ontario foreign-buyers tax

The Ontario government moved ahead with a foreign-buyers tax after earning the approval of Canada’s top bank economists in private meetings officials say were critical to shaping a new housing policy. The advice received at the closed-door meetings between Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa and economists and other industry stakeholders shifted in the six months before the April announcement.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Real Estate Board decries Montreal foreign buyers tax

The Greater Montréal Real Estate Board (GMREB) invites elected Montréal officials to consider certain factors before imposing a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers. The proportion of foreign buyers is quite different in Montréal compared to Toronto and Vancouver. Furthermore, the Montréal real estate market is not in an overheated situation, the GMREB said.

Canada Newswire

Calgary puts out welcome mat for foreign buyers

Calgary’s real estate industry is hoping things are about to look up now that non-residents who buy homes in Vancouver and Toronto face a 15 per cent tax. “I do think that foreign investors who want to invest in Canada will shift to Calgary, lured by the most attractive returns in the country,” Buss Marketing  president Calvin  Buss says.

Maclean’s

Spend more on disaster planning: Evaluation

Federal spending to respond to fires, floods and storms has ballooned over the years, but big savings could be achieved through more upfront spending to fortify vulnerable communities, according to a new evaluation of the government’s disaster relief assistance program. The report says the average annual federal share of response and recovery costs has been increasing.

CBC

The most and least expensive condo areas along GTA subway

Want a condo but don’t want to compromise on TTC access? Consider something in the Danforth area where the price per square foot is substantially lower than buildings on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway. If you’re looking for luxury, get off at Museum where condos in the vicinity average $1,029 per square foot,, says Carl Langschmidt, president of Condos.ca.

Toronto Star

TO-area listings set records amid correction concerns

Homeowners in several GTA-area communities put a record number of homes up for sale in April as they rushed to cash in on soaring prices before the market peaked. The Canadian Real Estate Association said the Greater Toronto and Barrie areas set records for new listings for any month on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.

Globe and Mail – CBC – Toronto Star – Financial Post

IKEA building micro-apartments for Icelandic employees

In the summer of 2017, IKEA employees living in Reykjavik, Iceland may come home to apartments that look just like the retailer they left. The Swedish furniture giant announced in April it is building a 34-unit apartment building for a lucky few employees so that they have an affordable place to live near work. 

Business Insider

RENX Columnists

Does Toronto have a condo-flipping problem?

Ontario’s Minister of Finance Charles Sousa railed against “property scalpers” in the Toronto new housing market, and the Fair Housing Plan places increased scrutiny on pre-completion assignments. Given the more modest new condominium price growth between 2012 and 2016 in the GTA, the assignment market has seemingly cooled, but reliable data on the number of these transactions is not available.

The Numbers Game

Market Conditions

Scarce Vancouver condo supply squeezes out would-be buyers

Raluca Bumbac and her partner are both working professionals, but they’ve given up hope of buying a condo in Metro Vancouver. The high demand for detached homes that occurred in Metro Vancouver in 2016 has been replaced this year by a rising demand for condos and townhomes, said Jill Oudil, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

CBC – Reuters

B.C. housing inventory at 20-year low

Data from the British Columbia Real Estate Association shows housing supply in the province is at a 20-year low, and the association says that lack of supply is making the ongoing affordability problem worse. The BCREA says the supply of homes for sale is down 17 per cent from April 2016 and down 50 per cent since 2012 after adjusting for seasonal variance.

CBC – Vancouver Sun

Home sales cool after record March

Home sales cooled in April after setting a record the previous month as the pace of transactions in the Greater Toronto Area slowed, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday. There was a 1.7 per cent decrease in sales over the MLS system last month compared with March. In nearly two-thirds of all local markets across Canada, sales fell.

Winnipeg Free Press – Canada Newswire

Canada’s home prices rise for 15th straight month

Canadian home prices rose in April, lifted once again by hefty price gains in the hot Toronto market, which some fear is becoming overheated. The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which measures changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, showed prices rose 1.2 per cent last month, making for the fifteenth consecutive month national prices have increased.

Financial Post

Muskoka outshining the Hamptons

Ontario’s Muskoka real estate market is faring far better than the more famous Hamptons. Indeed, says a new report, real estate in “Toronto’s weekend resort market” is booming while the Hamptons suffer the uncertainties of New York. The study was released last week by Christie’s International Real Estate and Toronto’s Chestnut Park Real Estate, its Canadian affiliate.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Prices for U.S. luxury condos under pressure

Want to bask in the luxury condo lifestyle? Know your real estate markets, as sales of luxury condos are a mixed bag right now. From Miami To Los Angeles and New York to San Francisco with a stop in Chicago, take an in-depth look at the luxury condo markets in these five U.S. cities.

MarketWatch

Mortgage and Finance

Job loss and debt blamed as Alberta foreclosures rise again

More and more Albertans are in danger of losing their homes to the bank and those who work in real-estate related industries say a combination of job loss and high debt loads are usually to blame. Foreclosures have been on the rise, growing by about 25 per cent annually over each of the past two years.

CBC

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac nearly out of money

During the 2008 financial crisis, the U.S. government rushed Fannie Mae  (FNMAT-Q2) and Freddie Mac (FREJP-Q2) into conservatorship. The two giant mortgage-finance companies became wards of the state under a new regulator that would manage their affairs until they were healthy enough to stand on their own. Today. the two  still teeter on the edge of needing another taxpayer bailout. 

MarketWatch

Natural Disasters

Should some homes or cottages be removed from flood plain?

As flood damage across eastern Ontario and west Quebec is assessed, some are wondering if some homes and cottages within the flood zone should be rebuilt at all. Some of the homes within the affected flood zones were built long before the current rules were in place that require flood-proof construction measures, such as building with no basements or using fill to elevate a home above the flood line.

CBC – CBC – CBC

Ottawa-area sellers should wait for market to recover

Joanne Kumpf was selling a beautiful waterfront property in Constance Bay this spring, but a wooden for sale sign is now barely visible under the waist-deep water surrounding her home this week.  Her online ad highlights off its key feature: “Gorgeous waterfront. Enjoy the sunsets on the deck, walk the trails in the summer and winter. A gem!”

CBC

B.C. wineries, homes under threat of flood

Excavating crews are working to keep Testalinden Creek near Oliver, B.C., from overflowing its banks, while residents and a local winery remain under evacuation alert. CC Jentsch Cellars winery has had an excavator and dump trucks working for eight consecutive days, while crews from the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen work above and below Highway 97 to protect roads.

Vancouver Sun – CTV – Global News – Kelowna Now

Legal Issues

Fines irritate Winnipeg apartment owners

Owners of apartment buildings are irritated Winnipeg City Hall has issued penalties of up to $5,000 for non-compliance of a 30-year-old fire-safety bylaw without first notifying them they were in breach of the bylaw or giving them a chance to fix the problems. Some of the owners said their buildings complied with the bylaw, but they received a fine anyway.

Winnipeg Free Press

‘Civil conspiracy’ alleged in Vancouver mortgage fraud case

A number of mortgage lenders have filed a B.C. Supreme Court action alleging a “civil conspiracy” involving alleged mortgage frauds on a Vancouver home. Antrim Balanced Mortgage Fund, GCA Capital and Vancouver businessman Todd Elliott Gray allege Paul Li and his wife Susie Li forged documents to take out three mortgages against a home owned by Paul Li’s parents.

Vancouver Sun

Decision delayed in Calgary fraud and theft case

It’s been 10 years since a now-disgraced Calgary lawyer Floyd Campbell and mortgage broker Brandon Antonini started working together selling homes, offering mortgages and developing vacation projects in Mexico. On Wednesday, one of the two accused was expected to find out whether a Calgary judge has found him guilty on dozens of criminal charges, but the matter was adjourned to July 14.

CBC

Affordable Housing

Habitat for Humanity still building in midst of red-hot market

The Greater Vancouver’s Habitat for Humanity branch says the need to build homes for families who don’t qualify for a traditional mortgage is greater than ever. “The need is huge,” said CEO Dennis Coutts, “we get a lot more applications for housing than we ever have.”

CBC

Buying and Selling

Sellers offer freebies as Calgary condos sit empty

Sellers are offering a trip to New York City or pre-paid condo fees in a bid to get noticed among the glut of condos for sale in Calgary. There are nearly 1,650 apartments and condos for sale right now, with only 286 sold last month. Yet the average price is holding steady at just over $300,000 and more units are under construction.

CBC

Bill 40 has Coquitlam condo owners ‘hitting the lottery’

For owners in two old Coquitlam condominium projects it was “like hitting the lottery” when they sold the entire complexes for real estate development – showing that bulk sales that arise using B.C.’s Bill 40 process can be quick and profitable. The deals were co-brokered by Casey Weeks, vice-president of investment at Colliers International.

Business In Vancouver

New rules put squeeze on Winnipeg’s first-time buyers

The spring housing market is off to a cooler start amid rising concerns tougher federal mortgage-qualification rules are squeezing some first-time buyers out of the market. Month-end sales numbers by the Winnipeg Realtors Association (WRA) show Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sales were down five per cent from April 2016, with the most notable decline in the first-time buyer segment.

Winnipeg Free Press – Winnipeg Free Press

Realtors see buyers pull back in Toronto market

Over the past few weeks, realtors have witnessed some unusual activity in Toronto’s fiery housing market: Buyers are hesitating. Properties are listed for longer than a week. Two to three offers are being made on a house instead of 10 to 15. Homeowners are agreeing to conditional offers. Some sellers are not getting the prices they expected.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Other

	RENX has surpassed 9,910 Twitter followers
	Recent follower Pamela Goodwin is a U.S.-based broker, author, speaker and CEO of Goodwin Commercial.
	Follow RENXca, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian real estate professionals.