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August 2009

Ally

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GTA Home Sales Exceed 2008 Pace

No one has been more surprised by the strength of the Toronto-area resale home market than the experts who had forecast a dramatic slowdown this year.

"We certainly didn`t expect the market to return this quickly," said Shaun Hildebrand, senior market analyst for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. "It has caught a lot of people by surprise."

Well, it`s now official: this year`s cumulative existing home sales surpassed last year`s sales in the first two weeks of August, according to figures released yesterday by the Toronto Real Estate Board.

In the first two weeks of the month, realtors reported 3,832 sales, enough to put the year-to-date figure at 54,303, up slightly from the 54,138 recorded in 2008.

"Sometime in August – we don`t know exactly when – we surpassed last year`s sales," said Jason Mercer, senior manager of market analysis for the board. "We started to see the market come alive in May and it just took off from there."

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Ally

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How to Prevent your Home from being Flipped

You have owned your home for 25 years, having purchased it for $200,000. You sold it last night for $450,000 and feel very good about it. How would you feel if your buyer turned around the very next day and re-sold it for $500,000?

Most sellers would be very upset. At the very least, sellers believe that buyers should be required to obtain their permission before re-selling or "flipping" their property before closing.

Under the terms of the standard Ontario agreement of purchase and sale form, when you are dealing with a resale home or condominium agreement, the buyer does not require the permission of the seller to re-sell the property prior to closing.

The only time permission is required is when the original agreement includes a provision where the seller agrees to take a mortgage back from the buyer.

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Ally

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HST will hit Condo Maintenance Fees

British Columbia`s condominium owners can expect their building maintenance fees to rise up to seven per cent when the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) takes effect next July, according to groups that represent them.

Monthly maintenance fees cover the common costs of looking after a condominium complex, from landscaping and janitorial to heating systems and elevator maintenance.

All services now subject only to the five-per-cent GST will be subject to the full 12-per-cent HST after next July 1.

"The potential here is that strata corporation budgets and fees are going to be raised anywhere from three to seven per cent to cover costs," Tony Gioventu, executive director of the Condominium Homeowners Association of B.C., said in an interview.

"The consumer is going to pay those bills."

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Ally

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Hogtown Muddied Up: Toronto Job Losses `Scary`

TORONTO — Toronto`s economy has fallen into a deep slump, a new city report shows, with double-digit unemployment, a climbing city welfare caseload, falling retail sales and a steep decline in building permits.

The city`s unemployment rate was 11.5% in July -- above the rates for Ontario and Canada and sharply up from last year`s level of 8.5%. It`s this continually climbing number -- which when seasonally adjusted still sits at 10.5% for July -- that has many at city hall worried.

City budget chief Shelley Carroll called the latest figures, released in the city`s monthly Economic Indicators report, "sobering."

"The most recent economic indicator is that we`re still shedding jobs. That`s really scary," she said. "Because when the numbers are like that, you wonder, God-willing some of these people it`s one income for a family, but when you get into the second part of the year and a second income in a family is now in jeopardy, you`ve got an economic recovery that`s going to take a long time."

As projected when the economic crisis hit, Toronto`s welfare rolls continue to creep up. In July, the caseload was 88,390, up substantially from 75,000 cases in June, 2008, although numbers have begun to stabilize below the city`s prediction of 90,000 for the year.

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Ally

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Roncesvalles gets a Remake

Shops on Roncesvalles are aquiver.

A jackhammer is ripping the street to shreds. The only way to be heard over the thunderous crash-bang of metal and pavement is to neglect conventional manners and repeat questions and answers with escalating bluntness.

"Everybody`s mood changes," says Cherry Bomb manager Patrick Newmark, sweeping the empty café on a weekday afternoon while the street roars behind him.

But Newmark, like many people here, realizes repairs are probably needed along aging Roncesvalles Ave., where the water and sewer pipes are approaching 100 years old and the streetcar tracks are set to expire within a few years, according to the local councillor, Gord Perks.

Like others along this strip, Newmark doesn`t have all the details, but he knows the street is getting more than just pipes and tracks.

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Ally

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Condo Buyers may have to line up again

A new highrise will soar at 1 Bloor, considered one of Toronto`s most prestigious addresses. But it looks like former buyers of the condominium project will have to get back in line if they still want a home in the blue-chip neighbourhood.

Toronto-based Great Gulf Group of Companies confirmed to the Toronto Star yesterday it had purchased the stalled condo development from Kazakhstan-based Bazis International.

The new owner of the site at the corner of Bloor and Yonge streets says it intends to build a high-rise development that will include retail and housing.

"We are working very diligently to see what is appropriate for that corner, which we envision to be some kind of mixed-use development," said Jerry Patava, president and CEO of the company.

"Right now we are looking at what we can do, although it`s too early to determine what exactly will be there."

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Ally

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Windsor Plant set to Produce New Chrysler Minivan

Canadian Auto Workers president Ken Lewenza says the Chrysler plant in Windsor, Ont., is ready to begin producing minivans for the European market as soon as they`re given the go-ahead.

Lewenza says the new vehicle won`t result in any laid off workers being hired back, but increased demand means the three shifts at the plant will go back to working full time starting next week.

The news is another bright spot for the Canadian automotive industry.

Earlier this week, General Motors said 350 workers will be called back to the company`s joint-venture CAMI plant in the southwestern Ontario town of Ingersoll due to increased demand for GM products.

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Canada home prices seen rising, sales stabilizing

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian resale home prices are likely to rise, not fall, and sales will nearly match those of last year, the Canadian Real Estate Association said in a revised forecast on Thursday.

A much stronger showing in the second quarter, and a solid start to the third quarter, prompted CREA to predict a dramatically smaller decline in sales of previously owned homes for 2009, and for prices to edge up.

It said the current resale market was like "night and day" compared with the beginning of the year.

The group said its new forecast for a 1.5 percent rise to C$309,500 ($283,945) for the average home price contrasts with a call for a 5.2 percent drop to C$287,700 in its May outlook.

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Loonie extends gains on oil, bonds dip, eyes stocks

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar rose versus the U.S. dollar on Friday, an extension of the previous session`s factors where firm oil prices and equity markets were supportive.
The currency bounced from a one-week low versus a generally weaker greenback late on Thursday afternoon, spurred by the euro`s gains, and a turnaround in oil prices.

At 8:20 a.m. EDT, the Canadian unit was at C$1.0812 to the U.S. dollar, or 92.49 U.S. cents, up from C$1.0856 to the U.S. dollar, or 92.11 U.S. cents, at Thursday`s close.

"It seems to be relatively weak dollar sentiment out there," said C.J. Gavsie, managing director of foreign exchange sales at BMO Capital Markets.

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Ally

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Board Bylaws can set Occupancy StandardsQ: There are a large number of occupants in some of the units in our condominium. Is there anything in the Condominium Act to control overcrowding?

A:
The Condominium Act permits a board to pass a bylaw that is consistent with the corporation`s declaration and establishes standards for the occupancy of residential units. The standards must be either those contained in a bylaw of the municipality in which the condominium is located or standards that reflect the maximum occupancy for each unit for which the building was designed. The corporation`s bylaw may prohibit occupancy of a unit in contravention of the bylaw.

The board by resolution is entitled to levy assessments against a unit that doesn`t comply with the bylaw for amounts that reasonably reflect the resulting increases in the cost of maintaining and repairing the common elements and of the cost of utilities that form part of the common expenses. An assessment is part of the common expense contributions for the unit. It appears impossible, however, for a board to determine the amounts of such increases in order to impose an assessment.

Q:
A majority of our board is dissatisfied with the performance of the president. We do not wish to have her removed as a director but would like to replace her as president. What is the procedure for doing this? What officers must a corporation have and what are their responsibilities? Can a corporation have two co-presidents?

A:
The president is elected by the directors and subject to any provisions relating to removal of officers in the corporation`s bylaws the president may be removed by resolution of the board passed by a majority vote. She will remain a director. The board may elect another director to serve as president.

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Ally

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Forest Industry could Benefit by $500 Million

Home builder Craig Marshall was green before it was cool and he`s equally passionate about the health and welfare of the homebuilding industry. He`s constantly looking for ways to promote the sector while applying equal amounts of energy to fighting any threats, which typically come in the form of government taxation or regulation.

At the height of the economic crisis earlier this year, Marshall got to thinking about where he gets his building products and how he could support Ontario jobs and green building at the same time.

As he took a closer look at his supply chain, he realized that he was sourcing lumber and other wood products from outside Ontario.

The next thing you know, I was joining Marshall for a meeting with the Ontario Forest Industries Association and by the end of that meeting, the idea of an all-Ontario wood house demonstration project had become a reality.

Fast forward to last week in Oshawa and there was Marshall, proudly showing off his all-Ontario wood home to provincial and municipal officials including Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, Dan McTeague, MP, Pickering-Scarborough East, Wayne Arthurs, MPP and parliamentary assistant to the Ontario Minister of Finance, and Oshawa Mayor John Gray.

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Ally

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New Tax could Trigger Mini Boom

Thinking of buying a new home or condo? Or planning a renovation?

You might want to act sooner rather than later, if you don`t want your purchase to be subject to the proposed harmonized sales tax, slated to come into effect in Ontario July 1, 2010. That`s when the 8 per cent provincial tax will be blended with the 5 per cent federal GST into a single 13 per cent tax. (Only the 5 per cent GST currently applies to new homes and condos.)

If you`re planning to buy a new home priced at $400,000 or less, prices shouldn`t change much, due to a rebate of 75 per cent – or 6 per cent – of the provincial portion of the tax. But if your purchase exceeds that amount, expect to pay significantly more.

For example, on a $600,000 house, you`ll be paying $12,000 more in tax than you do now (factoring in the rebate up to the $400,000 mark, the current 2 per cent "embedded" tax in home prices, etc.) That`s a significant improvement over the original Ontario government proposal, where the buyer of a $600,000 home would have had to pay the full 8 per cent provincial portion of the tax on the entire purchase price.

The rebate is only for principal residences, which means new cottages, ski chalets or a weekend condo, will be subject to the full 8 per cent additional tax.

Read the full article here.
 
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