August 2012 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Buyers beware: Several schools near condo towers have no room for new students





Living in a condo building with kids can be tough: there`s less space for playtime, more insults from deputy mayor Doug Holyday and now`worryingly`no room at local schools. The Toronto District School Board has posted notices in several communities warning condo buyers that nearby public schools are over capacity and can`t accept more students. For instance, in the High Park area, local school trustee Irene Atkinson is expecting an influx of 400 new elementary students in the next few years (already, approximately 270 kids are being bused to schools in neighbouring wards). The situation has local councillor Sarah Doucette wondering, `Can we take over any malls? Can we start building secondary schools in apartment buildings?` Given that condo towers already feature bowling alleys, golf simulators and virtual concierges, we guess throwing in a few classrooms isn`t so far-fetched.





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[Ally]

The inside scoop on Toronto's next 10 neighbourhoods




In a relentlessly hot market, buyers are starved for great housing stock, prices that mortals can afford, walkable blocks with great restaurants and green spaces, plus neighbours who might actually talk to you. Sure, it`s an impossible dream. Unless you`re looking here: the inside scoop on 10 amazing pockets with value and character to burn.





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[Ally]

Waterfront Toronto will look to private sector to fund redevelopment of Port Lands




Waterfront Toronto will be looking to the private sector to help fund its 30-year, $1.9-billion plan to redevelop the derelict waterfront in the Port Lands.




Building on the existing work done in relation to the development of the project, deputy city manager John Livey said they focused on coming up with a business model to fund the project without relying on public funding.





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[Ally]

Real estate cheat sheet: Condo sales are down, but one section of the market is thriving




In the debate over whether Toronto`s condo market is headed for a collapse, expert opinions range from gloomy to chipper. The latest stats from Urbanation score another point for the pessimists, suggesting Toronto`s love affair with condos`at least with the brand new ones being flogged in sales centres`is starting to cool.








` Out with the new`

Sales of new condos were way, way up in the first quarter of the year (reaching a record high of 6,070 sales), but slowed significantly`by 21 per cent`from April to June. Comparing those second quarter numbers to the same period last year, new condo sales were down a staggering 50 per cent.





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[Ally]

Toronto condo resale market hot as new market cools






TORONTO ` August 2, 2012: Urbanation Inc., the leading source of information and analysis on the Toronto condominium market since 1981, today released its Q2-2012 market overview.









In the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) there were 5,050 condominium apartment resale transactions in Q2-2012, an increase of 30% over the first quarter, and 9% over Q2-2011. The average unit sold for $407 psf, an increase of 4% annually from $391 psf from the second quarter of last year.






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[Ally]

Montreal home values rise, but sales slip





MONTREAL - Sales of Montreal Island homes dropped eight per cent last month, year over year, even as property values continued to rise, countering fears of softening prices from overbuilding in the condo sector.




Buyers had a greater choice of homes, as active listings piled up, rising 18 per cent, according to data published Tuesday by the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board.




Despite a softening in the housing market in other Canadian cities, median prices of a single family home on Montreal Island rose eight per cent last month to $385,000, year over year, as condo prices climbed four per cent to $278,821.






Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

2012 housing market measuring up just as it should




It went by like a whirlwind, but the first half of 2012 is now behind us. Working with RealNet, BILD GTA has gathered the sales data for the first two quarters of the year. While the decrease in sales when compared to last year may be interpreted negatively by some, this year is, in fact, shaping up to be just about average when you look at the trends over the past decade.







So far this year, our members have sold 20,785 new homes and condos all over the GTA. While that number is down from last year`s 24,107, it is an improvement over the 19,664 new homes sold in 2010 and a broader look shows that we are currently in line with the long-term average calculated over the last ten years.





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[Ally]

Ontario sees significant job gains in July





TORONTO - Ontario bucked a trend of job losses last month as the only province to make significant gains with 10,600 new jobs.




Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid says the latest numbers from Statistics Canada show Ontario's economy continues to grow despite challenging times.






Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Ottawa's unemployment rate rises to 6.3%




There were 5,200 fewer people working in Ottawa-Gatineau last month than in June, with decreases recorded on both sides of the Ottawa River. The unemployment rate rose 30 basis points to reach 6.3 per cent.




After recording seven straight months of increases, job growth stagnated in May before falling in June. Since the start of 2012, more than 2,500 net new jobs have been created.




Nationally, the Canadian economy's job creation came to an abrupt end in July, suffering the first major reversal in almost a year with the shedding of 30,400 jobs, pushing up the national unemployment rate up by one-tenth of a point to 7.3 per cent.





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[Ally]

Landlords victimized by rental ruling




It's time the Ontario government acted in closing a loophole that allows deadbeat tenants to avoid paying rent for months at a time.




In a case heard in late July, Ontario Superior Court Justice Ted Matlow implored the government to act, stating "there is a growing practice by unscrupulous residential tenants to manipulate the law improperly, and often dishonestly, to remain in their rented premises for long periods of time without having to pay rent to their landlords. It is a practice that imposes an unfair hardship on landlords and reflects badly on the civil justice system in Ontario. It calls for the government, the Landlord and Tenant Board and this court to respond."




Matlow made his comments in the context of a case that saw tenant Rony Hitti and his wife Anastassia Adani move into a $3,600 a month residential unit in October 2011. By the time Matlow made his plea, about two weeks ago, Hitti and Adani had lived in the unit without ever having paid any rent, and owed the landlord about $25,000





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[Ally]

Tenants abusing legal system




Legal loopholes allowed tenants to live rent-free for almost 10 months in a $3,600 per month downtown Toronto apartment, court heard, one of an increasing number of cases that prompted an exasperated judge to call for changes to the way landlord and tenant disputes are handled in Ontario.




A Toronto man and his wife moved into an apartment on Baldwin Street on October 11, 2011, and have not paid rent since, court heard, despite apparently still living there with pending appeals delaying any possible eviction.





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[Ally]

Condos starting to catch on in Sudbury




Local contractor Darren Champaigne is betting on that trend. The builder buys old condominiums, renovates them and then resells the units at an increased price. The process is commonly known as `flipping a property.`




"[If I wanted] to make minimum $70,000 per flip ` that would take no more than a month-and-a half to two-months work,` he said.





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[Ally]

Orillia home sales up in July











Residential sales activity recorded through the MLSÂ System of the Orillia and District Real Estate Board was up from year-ago levels in July 2012.









Home sales numbered 83 units in July, rising 19 per cent from the same month in 2011. Sales of all property types numbered 100 units in July, up 22 per cent from July 2011.









`Resale housing demand picked up a little further in July compared to May and June, although activity remains below the kinds of levels we saw earlier this year,` said Debbie Gilbert, President of the Orillia and District Real Estate Board. `Activity for the year-to-date is still running ahead of 2011 by double-digits. A total of 550 homes have traded hands so far this year, up 11 per cent from the first seven months of last year.`



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Ontario's land supply conundrum




We recently blogged about the return to average sales for new homes in the first half of 2012. We have already talked about how the decrease in sales when compared with 2011 can seem misleading due to that year`s record-setting sales figures. But the market`s shift toward high-rise living is still worth examining. In recent years, our industry has seen a shift towards high-density housing as a result of the Ontario government`s intensification policies which our members have respectfully adhered to.




For a variety of reasons, including the Ontario land supply issue discussed above, we`re in the midst of an Energizer-bunny-style condo boom and a shortage of single family homes. According the the June 2012 RealNet report, remaining inventory in the low-rise sector is at the second-lowest level on record. Low-rise sales are also 30 per cent below the long-term average. While there is certainly a high demand for high-rise homes across the GTA, one could also argue that purchasers aren`t given much of a choice. Consider the remaining inventory in the low-rise (5,797) and high-rise (20,133) markets at the end of the June. With a shortage of land supply and escalating prices in the low-rise sector, new condominiums are looking as attractive as ever.





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[Ally]

Home sales steady in July, prices down 2%





With prices down and the number of sales holding steady, Canada`s housing market is showing signs of calm.




Prices have come off their peaks in the hot markets of Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, according to a report released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) on Wednesday, but are still higher than they were a year ago.






Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Housing market crash not in the cards for Canada: CMHC




OTTAWA ` Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is forecasting a moderate slowdown in new-home construction starts as well as sales of existing housing.




The Ottawa-based federal agency isn`t calling for a major decline, but its latest forecast suggests next year will be somewhat softer than estimates CMHC issued in June while 2012 may be somewhat stronger than previously expected.




CMHC has been saying for some time that it expects housing prices in most local markets will grow more slowly than they have been recently.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

GTA home prices up in July





August 3, 2012 -- Greater Toronto REALTORSÂ reported 7,570 sales in July 2012, representing a decline of 1.5 per cent compared to 7,683 sales reported in July 2011. The decline was most pronounced in the condominium apartment segment in the City of Toronto. Total sales in the rest of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) were up compared to the same period last year.







`Very strong annual sales growth in the first half of 2012 and an earlier peak in sales this spring compared to 2011 help explain more moderate sales this summer. New mortgage lending guidelines and the additional upfront cost of the City of Toronto land transfer tax also prompted some households to put their buying decision on hold,` said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Ann Hannah.







Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Hamilton once again top place to invest in Ontario





Hamilton, ON ` August 21, 2012 ` The Real Estate Investment Network of Canada today ranked the City of Hamilton as the top location in which to invest in Ontario (2012-2016). This is Hamilton`s second straight ranking in the top position.



`Known formerly as a hard-working steel town, the city has quickly shed this image in the eyes of potential investors ` as indicated by the record breaking building permit values Hamilton has experienced in recent years,` said REIN Founding Partner Don Campbell. `The wheels have been set in motion to create a major high-tech industrial park in conjunction with growth at McMaster University, sparking an entrepreneurial spirit in the city.`





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

GTA condo pipeline chart




Each square is a condo project appearing in the month/year of its opening.




The size of the square represents the number of units in that project and the colour represents the current Construction Status.





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[Ally]

Federal government gets in on condo action with overhaul of Ottawa neighbourhood





After issuing months of warnings about the rapid expansion of Canada`s condominium market, the federal government now appears to want a piece of the action.




Ottawa is planning a major overhaul of a 49-hectare campus-style property it owns in the nation`s capital called Tunney`s Pasture.




Situated along the Ottawa River about four kilometres west of downtown, it is a drab complex of grey concrete government buildings. But the neighbourhood around it is currently one of the hottest spots for new condo development in the capital.






Read the full article here.