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January 2013 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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News articles for January 2013.
 

Ally

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Toronto's middle-aged apartment buildings get a facelift




Bryanne Connell looked at a lot of aged rentals before finding almost all the conveniences of modern condo living in an unlikely place ` the 50-year-old Lord Dufferin apartments.




Where she expected to see a gloomy, 70s-style lobby, Connell saw instead two soaring storeys lined with travertine tiles. The dingy basement, once largely a maintenance area, had been transformed into a welcoming party room with adjoining gym.





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Hamilton's downtown skyline undergoing major makeover




A sense of momentum is building in downtown Hamilton after a year that saw important changes in the skyline, as shovels finally bit into the ground on several major projects.




But downtown watchers say the dramatic changes of 2012 are just the most visible signs of a decade of progress in the core.




The big changes to the look of downtown are most tangible around the block between Main, George, Hess and Bay, which developer Darko Vranich quietly assembled over a decade. One new seven-storey hotel has already opened on the site, and another one of 16-storeys is under construction. That`s in addition to a new 12-storey condo tower rising where part of the old federal government office has come down. A second phase of the project foresees a tower as high as 25 storeys.





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The condo market: Toronto's sky-high housing yardstick




In the summer of 2017, if you walk up to the triangular parcel of land that sits beside the Gardiner Expressway near the foot of Toronto`s York Street, you will be able to ride the elevator to the 41st floor.





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Toronto gives the gift of rent reductions




Just under 30% of Toronto rental households are eligible for an automatic rent reduction, following tax reductions on buildings built before Nov. 1, 1991. Property taxes on these older buildings have been lowered by over 2.49 per cent.


The move comes as the city strives to make business and residential tax rates in line, in the process, reassessing rental properties considered businesses.




Landlords are meant to pass on that property tax savings to their tenants, who received market rent reduction notices directly. The envelopes, addressed to `Current Tenant,` with a city of Toronto logo for ease of recognition, allowed recipients to start paying lower rent as early as December 31.





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Is Toronto's economy set to lose momentum?





Toronto and Calgary are running just about neck-and-neck where their economies are concerned, but that may be about to change.




A ranking of major Canadian cities by CIBC World Markets shows Toronto leading the pack as of the third quarter of 2012, followed by Calgary as a close second, Regina and Winnipeg.





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Toronto's multi-channel economic engine once again tops the nation in CIBC rankings






TORONTO, Jan. 3, 2013 /CNW/ - For the second year running, Toronto has taken the top spot among the country's major cities in CIBC World Markets' latest Canadian Metropolitan Economic Activity Index rankings.




"What's so impressive about Toronto's performance is that the city has topped our ranking for more than a year," says CIBC Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal in his latest Metro Monitor report. "Given that our index measures momentum as opposed to a level of activity, Toronto's ability to maintain momentum for such a long period is impressive. Also note that Toronto ranked in the top five for more than seven consecutive years, with the only exception being the 2009 recession when the city's ranking slipped to 7th place."





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Harper renews $250m auto innovation fund





Prime Minister Stephen Harper was at the Ford Motor Co. plant in Oakville, Ont. today to announce the renewal of a fund to stimulate research and innovation in Canada's automotive industry.




The fund was first established in 2008 as part of efforts to bail out Canada's struggling automotive industry early in the last recession.





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Toronto home prices gain 7% in 2012, even as sales slip




Toronto home prices continued their steady march higher last year, with the average price of a resale home coming in at $497,298 in 2012, an almost seven per cent increase over the previous year.




The Toronto Real Estate Board said Friday that 85,731 Toronto-area homes changed hands last year. That's a four per cent decline from 89,096 in 2011.





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Building a livable city






For Brian Brown, 2012 started off with a smashing success.




The vice president of Lifetime Developments presided over the launch of INDX, a 54-storey tower on Temparance St. that became the top-selling condo project in the first quarter of 2012, with an eye-popping 642 units sold.





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Softening condo market, manufacturing dip could hit Toronto growth




TORONTO ` Toronto ranked as the fastest growing economy in the country last year, but a new study from CIBC suggests Canada`s biggest city will be hard pressed to maintain that growth trajectory.





Toronto`s seams are bursting with new condo and hotel towers designed by star architects like Frank Gehry and built by famed developers like Donald Trump.



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Toronto home sales drop 19.5% in December, prices gain ground





Home resales in Toronto dropped 19.5 per cent in December according to figures released today by the Toronto Real Estate Board.



There were 3,690 sales through the Toronto MLS system in December 2012 ` a notable decline from the 4,585 sales in December 2011. There were 85,731 transactions in 2012 ` a 3.8 per cent decline from 2011`s 89,096 sales.




`The number of transactions in 2012 was quite strong from a historic perspective,` TREB`s President Ann Hannah explained in a press release. `We saw strong year-over-year growth in sales in the first half of the year, but this growth was more than offset by sales declines in the second half.`





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Ramblings on evaluating the changing new home market




I spend my days preparing a multitude of charts and graphs which present the GTA new home market in a wide variety of ways. As I`m curious about these things, I attempt to discern meaning from each chart and what it might indicate regarding the future performance of the new home market.




I`m under no obligation to do this. We don`t provide `official` interpretation or prepare forecasts on what we think will happen next year. We stick to the facts.





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Ally

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Ramblings on evaluating the changing new home market




I spend my days preparing a multitude of charts and graphs which present the GTA new home market in a wide variety of ways. As I`m curious about these things, I attempt to discern meaning from each chart and what it might indicate regarding the future performance of the new home market.




I`m under no obligation to do this. We don`t provide `official` interpretation or prepare forecasts on what we think will happen next year. We stick to the facts.





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Hamilton unemployment rate lowest of major Ontario cities





TORONTO ` The Canadian economy, which created 40,000 jobs in December, isn`t the only victor in a recent decline of unemployment rates ` the manufacturing city of Hamilton, Ont. stood out among major cities in the province for its decline in unemployment.







Hamilton, often referred to as the steel capital of Canada due to its profitable steel industry, saw the unemployment rate drop from 6.1 to 5.9 per cent month-to-month ` the lowest of all major cities in Ontario.





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Barrie announces HGS deal that will add 500 jobs





The City of Barrie and HGS Canada Inc are excited to announce the dates of an upcoming Job Fair where the Contact Centre Company, HGS Canada will evaluate the local employment market. The event is part of the site selection process for the global company who is looking at a potential new 500-employee site in the area. The site would create hundreds of quality new jobs, which includes both frontline, business support and management level positions.




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Peterborough jobless rate higher than provincial average




Peterborough`s unemployment rate rose to 8.5% in December (over the same period the year before) even as employment rates rose across Canada and in Ontario.




Statistics Canada reported those numbers Friday, measuring the workforce in the Peterborough Census Metroplitan Area. From a population of 103,200, the area has a labour force of 56,400 (people able and eligible to work) and 51,600 people working.





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Miles before we dig




The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines estimates the value of the current known chromite deposits at US$50 billion over its 30-year lifespan.




Noront Resources is developing a nickel/copper mine with a current 11-year lifespan.




The mineral deposit is "open at depth," which means that even though official TSX regulations will not allow you to estimate the potential size of the orebody, most feel that mine will be in production for much longer.





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Harper announces auto sector money, says oilsands are driving sector's growth


OTTAWA - The feds are pumping another $250 million into the automotive sector to help manufacturers develop stronger, safer and more fuel-efficient vehicles.




Prime Minister Stephen Harper used a Ford plant Friday to announce the five-year top-up of the Automotive Innovation Fund, created in 2008 to help the then-struggling sector weather the economic crisis.





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Steady as she goes for Ottawa real estate market in 2012






Ottawa, January 4, 2013 -
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 618 residential properties in December through the Board`s Multiple Listing Service system, compared with 695 in December 2011, a decrease of 11.1 per cent. The five-year average for December sales is 617.




The total number of homes sold through the Board`s MLSÂ system in 2012 was 14,308, only a minor decrease from the 14,389 homes sold in 2011. However, resale home sales in 2012 were slightly above the five-year average of 14,274. The average sale price for 2012 was $351,792, an increase of 2.3 per cent over 2011.





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