Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

SignUp Now!

August 2015 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Articles for August 2015.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Genosha project a go in Oshawa

Oshawa residents won’t have long to wait before they start seeing some changes to the Genosha Hotel.

Following council’s approval of a package that will net developer Bowood Properties nearly $1.5 million in assessment grants and other loans under the city’s Central Business District Renaissance Community Improvement Plan, (CIP) they hope to get work underway by the middle of August.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
City of #Hamilton will hire designers for LRT system this month

The city will move ahead with its light rail transit dream next week when it will establish an office and hire a company to design the $1-billion system.

City councillors will vote Monday whether to create an LRT office, hire Steer Davies Gleave to do the conceptual design and environmental assessment, and hammer out a memorandum of agreement with Metrolinx.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
The moment when economic reality struck Ontario premier: Saskatchewan Premier floats equalization cuts

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall wants cuts to the federal equalization program, suggesting some of the have-not provinces are getting too much money that could be better spent elsewhere.

“It is a lot of money to go out in a way that seems to be dated and not always efficient, and infrastructure and tax relief might be an option instead,” Wall said Wednesday.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Barrie, identified by REIN as one of the Top Ontario Towns in which to invest provided stellar returns for those who took action following our research

Detached homes are hot in the city, the Barrie and District Association of Realtors reports.

In July, prices for single-family homes increased 14 per cent over July 2014 prices to hit $393,003.

Townhouse prices are also up, but not nearly as much. Those prices rose to $275,550, up seven per cent over a year ago.

Condos, too, are up, with prices rising 10 per cent to $219,045.


Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
GTA realtors release monthly resale housing figures

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug 6, 2015) - Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean announced record home sales for the month of July. Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 9,880 sales through TREB's MLS® System, representing an eight per cent increase compared to July 2014. The number of transactions were up for all major home types, including a double-digit year-over-year increase in condominium apartment sales.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Toronto home sales on pace for record year

Toronto's real estate board has reported a record number of house and condo sales in July and says the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is on pace to set a new record for home sales this year.

Almost 9,900 homes changed hands in the GTA last month, up eight per cent from the same month last year. Condo sales led the increase, up 14.4 per cent.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Transportation improvements add value to real estate by increasing demand. Here's a current announcement that will prove big

GO riders on the Kitchener and Stouffville lines are expected to get a boost to their train service in the off-peak, following Labour Day.

The Kitchener line will get hourly trains in both directions between Union Station and Mount Pleasant, one stop east of Georgetown, according to Toronto Star sources.


Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
July 2015 Housing Starts in KWC

Housing starts in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending slightly higher at 2,934 units in July compared to 2,864 units in June, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) (1) of housing starts.

"Total housing starts trended slightly higher due to more single-detached and townhouse starts. Demand for ground-oriented housing has increased as strong growth in the population between 25 and 34 years-old and over fifty years-old has increased demand from both first-time buyers and move-up buyers. In addition, a tight resale market has meant more spill-over demand to the new home ownership market, boosting sales of single-detached homes and townhouses," said Erica McLerie, Senior Market Analyst at CMHC.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
July 2015 housing starts in Toronto

Housing starts in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) trended lower at 36,810 units in July compared to 39,108, in June according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)1 of housing starts.

"Toronto housing starts decreased for the first time in five months, due to contracting apartment starts. However, strong sales of pre-construction condominium apartments over the past two years will convert to more starts as the year progresses," said Dana Senagama, CMHC Principal Market Analyst for the GTA. "Low-rise starts remained robust. A tighter resale market also resulted in demand spilling over into the new home market."

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
New home construction slows in the GTA in July

OTTAWA — The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Tuesday that the pace of new home construction slowed in July for the first time in three months, mostly as a result of fewer multi-unit projects started in urban areas — particularly Calgary.

CMHC says the seasonally adjusted annual rate last month was 193,032 units nationally, down from 202,338 units in June.


Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Brampton LRT integral part of regional transit plans

When the going got tough, Brampton decided to defer. By not making a decision on the Brampton Huron Main LRT route, Brampton council did not just fail its residents; it failed both Peel and neighbouring York Region. By not taking the advice of consultants, the Province, and an overwhelming number of citizens, Brampton council is threatening a critical piece in the regional transit network that includes linkages to two Go stations as well as future rapid transit on Queen Street linking to Highway 7 and the Spadina subway extension.

Brampton, the sprawling suburb familiar with building subdivisions and big box retail stores, is in a transition. Like many GTA suburbs, Brampton is urbanizing, making a gradual transition that is occurring in municipalities across the GTA. Unlike its progressive GTA suburban counterparts, however, Brampton is struggling with making decisions about its future.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
The tenant from hell

In the summer of 2014, Wilf Dinnick, a former news correspondent, accepted a job running Al Jazeera’s website in Doha, Qatar. He and his wife, Sonia Verma, a newspaper reporter, had settled in Toronto in 2009. They bought a beautiful four-bedroom brick semi at 47 Lakeview Avenue, near Dundas and Ossington, for $719,000. They loved the area—minutes from Trinity Bellwoods Park, steps from their favourite restaurants and cafés, and surrounded by neighbours who quickly became close friends. Rather than sell the house before the move, they decided to rent it out. They knew that if they were ever going to return to Toronto, they would want to build their life in the same area. Plus, in a neighbourhood that continued to gentrify, selling didn’t make sense. They hired Chestnut Park, which deals with some of the most expensive real estate in the city, to manage the rental. For $4,000, Sarah Giacomelli, a realtor with over 20 years of experience, agreed to take care of everything: placing an ad, vetting the candidates, choosing the tenant and handling the paperwork. A few weeks after the family had arrived in Doha, Giacomelli reported that she’d found terrific tenants. The Gubbs were a family of four: Jesse, his girlfriend, Haruka, his brother, Troy, and his father, John. Jesse, who appeared to handle the rental negotiations for the family, worked in sales at a technology company called Web Factory Studios Canada. He drove a Range Rover, had more than $44,000 in savings and would have no trouble covering the $3,600 monthly rent. Another potential tenant showed interest in the property, but Gubb won them over with a sob story: he was trying to get his family, once estranged but newly reunited, under one roof. He upped his rent offer to $4,000 to seal the deal, and it worked.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
This is a big deal for #Hamilton as New $12-million air cargo terminal opens bringing 400 jobs

Hamilton airport's new cargo terminal is wheels up.

The $12-million facility was officially opened Thursday, even though its main tenant has been operating from it for a month.

Airport president Frank Scremin said the new terminals, with a cooler, secured customs area and 16 truck bays, will open Mount Hope airport to tons of cargo it hasn't been able to handle before.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Student housing and the ongoing battle in Ottawa

But the debate over where to put them? It never left.

The latest flashpoint in a battle that pits landlords against neighbours is an unremarkable 1¾-storey house in Courtland Park, a postwar Ottawa neighbourhood between Fisher Avenue and Prince of Wales Drive south of Baseline Road.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
New low-rise home prices in the #GTA hit all-time high

The average asking price for new low-rise homes and new high-rise homes per square foot both reached new highs last month in the GTA, according to numbers released Thursday from market research firm RealNet.

For new low-rise homes, which include detached and semi-detached homes as well as townhomes, the average asking price hit a record-setting $806,391 last month, according to RealNet’s New Home Price Index.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Hamilton International Airport celebrates cargo centre opening

Today, the Federal and Ontario governments joined with Hamilton’s Municipal Government, TradePort International Corporation and Cargojet Airways to celebrate the grand opening of the $12 million Air Cargo Centre at John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.

Joint funding of the 77,000 square foot facility was announced in January 2013 and will support the expansion of cargo operation at the Airport, and stimulate job creation and economic development for the City of Hamilton and greater region.

Read the full article here.
 
Top Bottom