May 2011 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Google gets new home in Ontario




KITCHENER, ONT. . Google Inc. is expanding its Canadian footprint and putting down deeper roots in the heart of the country's technology capital.




On the same day the Mountain View, Calif.-based technology giant officially cut the ribbon on its new office in Kitchener, Ont., the search engine giant announced Wednesday a new funding partnership with the University of Waterloo.




As part of a new research award, Google plans to donate as much as $900,000 to the University of Waterloo over the next three years for research into "context-aware mobile social networking."





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Determined GTA homebuyers wade through April rains to get a condo




If ever the saying `come hell or high water` applied to the determination driving GTA condo buyers, it did last month, as people donned their Hunters and Hellys to go suite shopping. As Toronto is North America`s hottest condo city, they were following well-trod (if sloshy) footprints to condo sales offices ` and buying.




Purchases broke the record for high-rise sales for the month of April by a whopping 89% over the same month the year before. Buyers snapped up 3,249 new units, compared with 1,723 in April 2010, making it not only the best April ever and topping last year`s year-to-date total by 23%, but positioning it as the third-hottest month on record.





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[Ally]

Toronto Real Estate Board responds to Competition Bureau








TORONTO, May 27, 2011 ` The Toronto Real Estate Board disagrees with the Competition Bureau`s position and feels that it is unfortunate that the Commissioner is choosing to go this route.





There are consumers on both ends of a real estate transaction where contractual and private information are involved which TREB is legally and morally required to respect.




"TREB strongly believes in open competition and has taken numerous steps to empower REALTORÂ Members in their internet use," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Bill Johnston.






Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

OREA launches home ownership matters




Issues based public relations campaigns are nothing new to organized real estate in Ontario. OREA`s two most recent government relations campaigns were in opposition to the harmonized sales tax and mandatory home energy audits.




In both cases the coordinated efforts of OREA and our 42 member boards took our message not just to the upper echelons of Queen`s Park but also to the grass roots level in the 107 constituencies across the province. The campaign OREA is launching in advance of the 2011 provincial election shares these traits.





It also reinforces, as all government relations activities do, the value members receive when they join organized real estate.






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[Ally]

25 Good Things





It's a sleek, modern Sheraton hotel greeting visitors to downtown Hamilton.



There has been about $10 million invested in the 18-storey building over the past couple of years, and promises of $5 million more before the final coat of paint.




In advance of the fourth Hamilton Economic Summit coming up Thursday, The Spectator has compiled a list of 25 steps forward in economic progress that have happened in the city over the past few years. We've drawn it from the summit's top 100 stories ` View from the Summit 2008-2010.




There is no ranking in that list and we're not ranking, either. It's heavily weighted toward Hamilton's downtown, but then again, that's where the most critical work is to be done.




The summit's list is meant to dispel the idea that Hamilton isn't moving forward on its quest to find a new economic future. The summit's goal is to transform Hamilton into Canada's top mid-sized city in terms of the attraction of talent and capital.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

GTA housing market hotter than forecast




A more robust than expected Greater Toronto Area spring real estate market has the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation significantly upping their sales and pricing forecasts.




The federal housing authority now says prices in the Toronto area market should increase by 4.3 per cent this year to a record $451,000 for the average home, according to a report released Monday.




The CMHC had earlier expected in their forecast released at the end of 2010 that prices would go in the opposite direction this year, falling by 0.4 per cent or $428,000.





Read the full article here.