August 2010 Fundamentals

[Ally]

Homebuyers shouldn`t expect hot deals as housing market cools: Experts

Canadian sellers are facing more empty open houses and fewer bids on their homes, but experts say buyers shouldn`t expect to see a retreat from record-high home prices when July housing data is released Monday.

Home sales have fallen 25 per cent since reaching a peak at the beginning of the year as demand slows and more houses come onto the market.

But it will take much longer for sky-high home prices to fall and the market to enter buyer-friendly territory. And history is on the side of the seller.

"Over time, if you were to look at the last 40 years, it`s much more common to see sellers` markets than buyers` markets," said Phil Soper, president of Royal LePage.

"It comes down to the different psychology that exists between buyers and sellers. Buyers are very quick to adjust to a down market and sellers are very slow to adjust to a down market. Sellers stubbornly hold onto their perception of what their home is worth, whereas buyers turn on a dime."

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Toronto`s `Clubland` no longer booming as condos move in

In its heyday it was home to the highest concentration of nightclubs in North America. On any given weekend more than 65,000 partygoers from across the GTA would cram into four blocks.

Bruce Willis used to party here. So did Dan Aykroyd. Remember when they were cool?

But things have changed in clubland. Condos, daycares and art students have been changing the face of an area once ruled by house music and fuelled by cranberry vodka shots.

At its peak, just five years ago, close to 90 nightclubs took over the eight square blocks north of Wellington, past Richmond, from Simcoe to Spadina Ave. Now, about 30 persist, with more going all the time. The latest, Home and Embassy nightclubs, are on chopping block at 117 Peter St. If all goes to plan, a 36-storey condo will spring up in their place.

The scantily clad and slick-haired have found new places to go.

"This used to be an international destination for nightlife," said Mike Yen, 39, standing on the corner of Peter and Richmond Sts. — the heart of the city`s dwindling club district.

He said he moved downtown to be closer to the scene. "Now all you see are `For Lease` signs and a homeless shelter."

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Three startups share $1.5 million in provincial funding

KITCHENER — A television news station broadcasts a report live, from the 10th floor of a building, without a satellite truck parked outside.

Elsewhere in the city, a doctor looks at images of an X-ray taken at the hospital miles away, without any special software on his computer to get those images.

Meanwhile, your computer intelligently finds available information about the topic you are researching at work, without the need to type the words into a search engine.

On Monday, three startup companies behind these three newest made-in-Waterloo Region technologies received $1.5 million from the Ontario government.

Dejero Labs, which makes the video broadcasting technology; Client Outlook Inc, which makes sharing of medical images easier, and DossierView, which enables automatic knowledge searching, each received $500,000 from the government`s investment accelerator fund.

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

`Ontario economy is growing,` Dalton McGuinty says

WINDSOR—Premier Dalton McGuinty insists he is not trying to shed his "Premier Dad" image by allowing online gambling and mixed martial arts fighting.

He says he`s just been too distracted by the province`s long-flailing economy to consider both options.

But now that Ontario`s economy seems to be on the rebound, McGuinty told reporters that he`s had more time to reflect over the summer. If the people want it, he`ll deliver.

McGuinty laughed when asked if the moves were just an attempt to distance himself from his Premier Dad persona. "I never knew I had one," joked the premier who has also banned cellphones while driving, pit bulls and smoking in cars with children. "When the time presented itself, we thought it was the right time to deal with it."

The premier added he`s been preoccupied with the economy of late but the "good news is the Ontario economy is growing at a rapid clip right now, fastest in the country." For months the premier has said both online gaming and mixed martial arts fighting are not at the top of mind for Ontarians.

From manufacturing to housing starts and retail sales — things are getting better, he told reporters at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference here.

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Hydro hike looms with break to industry

Homeowners could be zapped with an extra $48 in annual hydro costs after Premier Dalton McGuinty`s cabinet quietly approved a break on electricity rates for huge industrial users, the Star has learned.

The move extends time-of-use pricing now in effect for homeowners — allowing them to use electricity cheaper at off-peak times, such as nights and weekends — to major firms like Ford, Vale Inco, and Imperial Oil.

It will give big power-consuming sectors an incentive to conserve energy, cut their costs and, the government hopes, keep manufacturing, mining and refining jobs in Ontario.

"We`ve basically been overpaying," Adam White of the Association of Major Power Consumers of Ontario said Monday.

"Large users who buy power at off-peak times are subsidizing everyone else."

Liberal sources say ministers signed off on the change two weeks ago, but it has yet to be formally announced.

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

HST a prime suspect in home-buying chill

As the battle over British Columbia`s harmonized sales tax moved in to the courtroom, a real estate industry association cited the HST as a prime suspect behind tumbling home sales in B.C. and Ontario.

But while some homebuyers may have timed their purchases to avoid the HST, it`s not possible to quantify how much of the downturn is a result of the tax.

"There are a number of things going on in the market right now – and the introduction of the HST is just one of them," said Cameron Muir, chief economist with the British Columbia Real Estate Association.

Homebuyers who fuelled brisk sales earlier this year were bracing for the HST at the same time as rising interest rates and tighter lending conditions were also coming in to play, he added.

"The combination of those three certainly gave us the expectation that sales would wane over the summer months," Mr. Muir said. "And I think that it`s pretty clear that`s occurred."

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Housing market feels impact of HST introduction

TORONTO -- The new harmonized sales tax introduced in British Columbia and Ontario last month had an immediate impact on the housing market, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The Ottawa-based group, which represents 100 boards across the country, said July sales plunged 6.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis from a month ago, a decline "almost entirely the result of fewer sales in British Columbia and Ontario."

The slowdown had been expected as consumers rushed to buy homes ahead of the July 1 implementation in those provinces. The HST only applies to services used in purchasing and selling an existing home, such as real estate commission, and not the actual sale price.

In British Columbia sales dropped 14.1% from a month ago on a seasonally adjusted basis and Ontario the decline was 8%. The two provinces accounted for 85% of the the change in national activity.

"The soft sales figures we`re seeing right now can be attributed in part to accelerated home purchases earlier in the year," said Georges Pahud, CREA president.

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

`Worst landlord` winner cries foul, some tennants applaud

A company labelled as the worst landlord of 2010 said the allegations against them are not "correct, relevant or proper."

MetCap Living President Brent Merrill couldn`t even bring himself to read the press release issued by the Parkdale Tenants Association. He said the "Golden Cockroach" award "makes no sense."

"They ran out of landlords to give it to and we`re the next one on the list. We`ve been there for years and never got it," he said.

The Golden Cockroach award is only given out when a landlord "truly deserves it," said Bart Poesiat, an organizer with the tenants association. It was last awarded to S. Tobis Investments in 2004.

MetCap manages 12,000 units in Ontario and 10,000 of those units are in Toronto.

On Wednesday, a busload of 20 tenants arrived at MetCap`s head office on Richmond St. E. and alleged the company tries to squeeze rent out of them, intimidates them and makes unjustified evictions. They carried guitars, posters and their own sound system. A man in a wizard costume presented the award, but no MetCap employee was on hand to accept it. Inside the building, people peered out of second-floor windows but disappeared when they saw the cameras.

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Toronto existing home market slows in August

Sergei Serebrianskii says he is seeing a lot more "fence sitters" in today`s real estate market.

"You have people listing their homes who think they can get yesterday`s price, and then you have the buyers who are saying that the price should be less, so you have a stalemate," said the Toronto based real estate agent.

As the Canadian real estate market continues to move from a hot seller`s market to more balanced conditions, agents are finding it harder to reconcile the expectations of buyers and sellers.

"You are kind of in a limbo, this in-between kind of period where people seem to be waiting to see what will happen," says Serebrianskii.

Toronto existing home sales fell by 29 per cent in the first two weeks of August compared with the same time last year.

The Toronto Real Estate Board reported 2,732 sales in the first half of the month according to a report released Tuesday.

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Toronto Housing slump deepens

The slump in housing sales accelerated in August, the Greater Toronto Real Estate Board said.

Sales in Toronto were down 29 per cent in the first two weeks of August compared to last year. The average sale price was $412,934, 3.5 per cent lower than mid-July.

The number of new listings were 8 per cent lower than last year at 4,770.

"It makes sense that the number of transactions has dipped over the past few months in comparison to last year`s record results," said board president Bill Johnston.

Each of the country`s 101 real estate boards maintains its own sales data, and can release it at any time. The Toronto board - the largest in the country - updates its stats every two weeks.

The Canadian Real Estate Association released its monthly compilation of all the board`s data earlier this week, showing sales sank 30 per cent from the same month a year earlier. Nationally, prices slipped 3.5 per cent from June

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Toronto Waterfront Renewal

Most Torontonians likely can`t locate Bonnycastle St., but waterfront officials intend to change that by turning this short stump of a road, lying in the shadow of the Gardiner Expressway, into a major downtown destination. It`s all part of a bold plan to create a massive $800 million neighbourhood along the shoreline, between Lower Sherbourne and Parliament Sts. And it represents a welcome new stage in Toronto`s increasingly dynamic waterfront revitalization.

City council is to vote on approving the proposed four-hectare, mixed-use community during its two-day session starting Wednesday. One would expect unanimous support. Called Bayside, the new neighbourhood is to feature 1,700 residences, stores, restaurants, an entertainment corridor and office space all providing 2,400 jobs.

Bonnycastle St. — revamped and extended to the lake — is to be the key to this community, attracting people from across the city, year-round, to its stores and restaurants.

Thinking big, Waterfront Toronto last week revealed its choice of Houston-based Hines, one of the world`s foremost real estate firms, to handle this development. The project`s lead architect is Cesar Pelli, former dean of the Yale University School of Architecture and designer of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. And he seems to have the right vision for this district.

"The people who will eventually live, work and play here were our first and foremost design consideration," Pelli said. "The neighbourhood will be built on a decidedly human scale, with mews and small streets that promote a sense of closeness and community."

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Falling economic freedom hurting Ontario: Fraser Institute

Ontario`s economy is being hobbled because the ability of people to make their own economic decisions, a key building block for prosperity, is declining, according to a new study from the public policy think-tank, the Fraser Institute.

According to the research, Ontario`s declining economic freedom has stifled the province`s growth, which has been among the slowest in the nation in recent years.

Conversely, strong increases in economic freedom powered British Columbia`s economy to a 17% growth rate between 2000 and 2007, versus 7% in Ontario.

According to Economic Freedom of North America 2010, Ontario was one of only two provinces, along with Quebec, that saw no improvement in levels of economic freedom between 2000 and 2007. Over the same period, B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan all experienced increases in economic freedom.

"The link between economic freedom and prosperity is clear: provinces with high levels of economic freedom see greater economic growth," said Fred McMahon, Fraser Institute vice-president of international research and co-author of the study.

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

What future for the `priority neighbourhoods`?

It`s a warm summer evening and Margaret Mark sits outside her apartment watching her three young sons frolicking on a large, multicoloured children`s slide.

She and her family live at Gordonridge Place, a crime-riddled complex of aging highrises near Midland Ave. and Danforth Rd. The large slide amusing her children sits in the middle of the complex, along with a basketball court, a new stage and a seating area, all recently built with money from Toronto Mayor David Miller`s priority neighbourhoods fund.

Another group of kids, including Liban Mohamud, 12, and cousin Mohamed Farah, 14, say they love their new basketball court. The older boy points out that local girls like to get up on the new stage sometimes and pretend they`re singers or actresses.

"It`s kind of great for the kids around here,`` says Mohamed.

Take a short drive from Gordonridge, and you encounter a beehive of activity at McGregor Park community centre in Dorset Park, as locals wait in a long line to use the outdoor swimming pool. Parents seek respite from the pounding sun by sitting under a new gazebo, also funded by Miller`s plan.

Read the the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Checks and balances ensure housing market stability

Whenever I think that the housing market in the United States couldn`t be worse, I hear something that blows my mind. This week I was talking to my colleague who runs the Greater Atlanta Home Builders` Association to see if there might be enough going on in that city to justify a housing study tour by our builders.

BILD sets up these tours so that our builders and designers can get out of the GTA vacuum to see how others develop, build, and market their product. It`s basically organized idea stealing and our members always come back with an idea or two as well as confirmation that we are very good at what we do.

I would have figured that a hub like Atlanta would have enough of a critical mass to make for a worthwhile housing tour notwithstanding the generally depressed state of housing markets in the U.S. Was I ever wrong! Just four years ago, Atlanta set a U.S. national record with more than 60,000 residential building permits issued. Last year the number was around 4,000. Things have gotten so bad that the association is actually offering vacant dwelling insurance coverage to its builder members. Ouch!

It was probably the wrong time to gloat but I couldn`t help but mention to my colleague that we had already hit 20,000 sales in the GTA by the end of June. That number is no accident — it`s a reflection of the fact that we have a solid system of checks and balances within our financial system to ensure that builders don`t overbuild and buyers don`t overextend themselves, both very good things

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Move to suburbs can`t offset condo sales slump

Earlier this year Julia Rudberg purchased a new condominium in downtown Markham. It was a move she likely wouldn`t have considered only a few years earlier.

"When you think of condo living, you think of downtown Toronto, not the suburbs," says Rudberg, a 48-year-old nurse. "But if you look at the town today, there`s a lot more happening than before."

In what builders are saying may be the sign of an emerging trend, nearly half, or 46 per cent, of new condominiums purchased in July were in the suburbs. Traditionally, the city of Toronto commands an 80-per-cent share of all highrise sales.

All the more remarkable is that highrise projects in bedroom communities such as Markham, Brampton and Pickering were few and far between 10 years ago. Single detached homes have been the bread and butter of the suburbs, accounting for more than 80 per cent of new home sales.

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

The Bentley-driving tenant from hell

She`s b-a-a-a-a-ck.

The Bentley-driving, condo-trashing tenant from hell who likes to claim she`s a Persian princess is back before the Landlord and Tenant Board for the umpteenth time.

Call her Mojgan Amir-Davani — or by her other six known monikers: Mozhe Aamere, Mozhe (Mozhgan) Avanni, Mozhe Amerjhajar, Mozhe Sheena Mere, Mozhgan Amere Ghajaar or Amiri Mojgan.

Whatever her alias, her modus operandi is the same: She`s terrorized at least four high-end condo owners in North York, convincing them she`s a successful broadcasting executive only to turn into a destructive squatter who expertly plays the system for months of free rent before she`s finally turfed out and moves on to her next victim.

We first told her tale here in January, of frustrated landlord Jane Randall who rented her investment property to the dark haired beauty only to be stiffed with $12,000 in unpaid rent and thousands more in damage.

Claiming to be suffering from cancer and refusing to move, her dog`s feces spilling off her balcony, the carpets stained with blood and urine, Amir-Davani was brilliantly manipulative.

When Randall repeatedly turned to the tenancy board for help, she was told to wait. And wait some more.

Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Bedbug summit slated for next month

Those itching for a solution to the city`s bedbug problems could soon get answers at a conference slated for Queen`s Park this fall.

MPP Mike Colle has invited representatives from the health ministry, Toronto Community Housing, landlord associations, tenant groups and the pest control sector to a Sept. 29 bedbug summit to raise awareness and generate solutions to the growing scourge.

"We`re just trying to get it on the provincial agenda to get a plan here," said Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence).

"It`s not just a gab fest or complaint fest, it`s to give us a solution for what we can do.

"Everyone thinks it`s just a poor person`s problem or a Toronto problem.

"We want to work on strategies we can disseminate and get beyond the idea that this is something that just happens in hospitals or public housing."

Read the full article here.