Welcome!

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

SignUp Now!

November 2010 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Disclosure form is a danger to buyers and sellers

Over the years, I have repeatedly criticized the Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS), a form published by the Ontario Real Estate Association.

Use of the form is a controversial issue in the real estate community. Some listing agents encourage sellers to complete the form and provide it to buyers to disclose various issues about a house being offered for sale.

In numerous columns, I have been critical of the form because it is complex, ambiguous, misleading and technical. Many court cases have resulted from the use and misuse of the document.

Not only does the SPIS present a risk of litigation to buyers and sellers, but it now appears that its use has repeatedly resulted in real estate agents getting disciplined by their regulatory body, the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO).

Recently, RECO added a search function to its website ( www.reco.on.ca), allowing the public to search 10 years of discipline decisions by the subject matter of the rules which an agent may have breached.

In no time at all, I was able to confirm that there are a dozen reported discipline decisions in which the agent involved was censured over the use of the SPIS, among other issues.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Go Trains to run from Kitchener to Toronto in 2011

WATERLOO REGION — Commuter trains are coming to Kitchener — two a day to Toronto by the end of 2011.

Ontario`s Liberal government announced a scaled-back extension of GO Transit rail service Friday.

"It allows people to get out of that stressful drive," Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne said. "It allows them to have a reliable and safe and convenient way to get into Toronto."

Municipal politicians and transit advocates hailed it as a step forward.

"I think that they will find that there`s a latent demand for this, in terms of rail, and that they will have to increase the number of trains," Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr said.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Province makes three wise calls

Since midsummer, Ontario`s Liberal government has made three difficult but intelligent and even visionary decisions about how the people of Waterloo Region will get around in the future.

In each case the government can be criticized for delivering far less than it originally promised. Yet when the severe pressures on its treasury as well as all the competing needs are factored in, the Liberals should be applauded for having their priorities straight and making the best possible calls on GO trains, public transit and Highway 7.

Consider first their decision to finally extend GO trains to Kitchener, which they announced on Friday. Thousands of commuters who endure the hazards and congestion of Highway 401 to get to work in the Greater Toronto Area each workday have dreamed of and hoped for this for years. Finally, at the end of 2011, these commuter trains will be running — two a day in each direction.

To be sure, this service is only half of the approved GO Transit plan, which called for four trains a day. But it is a start, a crucial breakthrough that could be followed by more trains and a more comprehensive service.

Now put this decision beside the government`s admission this week that a new Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph will be stalled until at least 2015. This delay will surely disappoint many of the 22,000 commuters who use this stretch of highway daily. And it flies in the face of the government`s promise in 2007 to build the new highway as soon as possible because, as then-transportation Minister Donna Cansfield put it, the new highway had been "put off for too damn long."

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Chinese stoke Toronto`s condo boom

They have cash aplenty; they are in it for the long term, and they have taken the GTA real estate market by storm.

Chinese buyers have become by far the dominant force in the new condo market in the GTA.

Estimates of their impact suggest overseas Chinese investors, the 100,000-strong local community and the 20,000 to 25,000 Chinese citizens who are students resident in the Toronto area now account for anywhere from 25 per cent to 40 per cent of all new condos purchased here.

In high-end suburbs in Markham and Richmond Hill, Chinese buyers are snapping up $1-million plus homes in both the new and resale markets. In some prime downtown Toronto projects they account for 65 per cent of the sales during the first few crucial launch weeks when prices are lowest.

"Their impact is huge," says Stephen Wong, president and founder of Living Realty Inc. in Markham.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Liberals cut hyrdo bills by 10%

The Liberal government will cut Ontarians` hydro bills by 10 per cent starting on Jan. 1, the Star has learned.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, bolstered by a $1 billion reduction in the provincial deficit, is to announce "substantial hydro relief" in Thursday`s fall economic statement.

With the average hydro bill in Ontario about $125 a month, a $12.50 monthly reduction would be worth $150 a year to ratepayers and cost the treasury about $1 billion annually.

The new "Ontario Clean Energy Benefit" will be clearly visible on hydro bills, which should jolt the Liberals` political fortunes with a provincial election set for Oct. 6, 2011.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Commuters won`t fill LRTs, much less Subways

If the Sheppard Stub-way is the poster child for how not to build a subway in Toronto, then the St. Clair right-of-way is Exhibit A in the case against light rail lines.

Each is used to bolster arguments in the subway-versus-light rail debate. Neither is an ideal example of underground or above ground travel because their negatives have little to do with the mode of transportation. Still, the two projects are cautionary tales on the challenges of planning and delivering effective, useful transit in a dynamic city.

St. Clair was saddled with too many on-street demands that added to the cost and construction time, two factors that often frame the debate. It looks too much like the standard streetcar and not like the "fast" service promised on the proposed lines along Sheppard East. And the TTC must improve its relations with abutting businesses and residents.

The Sheppard Subway doesn`t extend far enough to attract enough riders. It was built on ridership and development estimates that have been proved delusional. Land use planning policies have not delivered a population that`s transit-dependent or -oriented. And, so, it languishes with a peak-hour ridership rate of just 4,500.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Ontario needs to pull up its socks: Task force

The recession and still-soft U.S. demand for Canadian products is casting a long shadow over Central Canada, one that risks sinking Ontario`s prosperity unless the province boosts its innovation and productivity levels.

These are the findings of a report to be released Tuesday by Ontario`s Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress, which outlines several recommendations on how the country`s largest economy can improve its flagging record.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
New home sales up in GTA

Strong condominium sales in October have kept the Greater Toronto Area new home market on par with last year`s near record pace.

Sales of new housing hit 4,535 units last month, up by 0.6 per cent from the same time last year according to figures released by the Building, Industry and Land Development Association on Monday. The positive figure is a major rebound from September, when sales were down by 32 per cent.

The October numbers are the best such result for the month since 2000, according to BILD.

Most of the bounce is due to continued strong high rise sales, with seven out of ten homes sold in October being a condo.

High rise sales were up by 27 per cent, while low rise sales were down by 32 per cent.

"Clearly investors are still active in the property market," said housing analyst Will Dunning. "It remains to be seen how this will all play out."

Some analysts have said there are too many high rise buildings being built.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Ontario Bill 112 - Making Matters Worse for LandlordsLast week another investor brought Bill 112 to my attention. If you`re a landlord, you`re not going to like this one, and it has unfortunately carried in its first reading.

Bill 112 and its proposed amendments to the Rental Tenancy Act can be seen here:

http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_det...amp;BillID=2408



Proposed Changes

The amendments take what is already a very pro-tenant stance in our Province, and give tenants additional power. They key changes proposed include the following:

[list type=decimal][*]The Bill increases the time limit for most tenant and some landlord applications to the Landlord and Tenant Board from one to two years. Tenants can now go back 2 years to file a complaint.
The Bill requires a landlord who terminates a tenancy for personal use to compensate the tenant and expands the circumstances in which a landlord is required to compensate a tenant if the landlord terminates a tenancy for the purpose of demolition or conversion to non-residential use. Compensation is an amount equal to three months rent, or offer the tenant another rental unit acceptable to the tenant.
[/list type=decimal]Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Ontario energy plan raises tough issues

Ontario has an $87-billion energy plan. Now the hard questions begin.

The long-term energy plan laid out by Energy Minister Brad Duguid makes a $33-billion commitment to nuclear energy, which will continue to supply half the province`s electricity.

It vows to spend $9 billion on new transmission lines.

And in addition to a $27-billion commitment to renewable energy, it vows to spend $12 billion on conservation.

But while industry leaders hailed the plan as a necessary first step, they pointed out that it is far from a complete roadmap to guide the province for the next 30 years.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
On the move in Orillia

If all goes as planned, a draft transportation plan will be before the new Orillia city council by the end of January.

A transportation master plan was adopted in 2005, identifying priorities for the following 20 years. It also called for a review and update of the plan every five years.

A public consultation was held Monday night at city hall to educate people on the plan and get their feedback, which will be considered as the plan is being revised.

Among those in attendance was Holly Spacek. The Severn Township resident was interested as both a frequent visitor to Orillia and a senior planner with the Simcoe County District School Board.

As a visitor, she was interested in the downtown bus terminal.

"It creates a lot of congestion," she said of the current location at Mississaga and West streets. "Downtown, you really don`t need that."

As a senior planner, she was thinking about an improved walkway on the bridge on Coldwater Road, over Highway 11.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Moving Hamilton Forward with LRT

View the presentation here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Housing affordability improves in GTA

Housing affordability is improving in the Greater Toronto Area, thanks to lower mortgage rates and softening price appreciation.

According to a Royal Bank of Canada report to be released Monday after four consecutive quarters of steep decline, housing affordability gained traction in the third quarter of 2010, thanks to bottoming mortgage rates and a slowing demand.

"The improvement in affordability has reduced some of the stress that had been mounting in housing markets during the past year," said Robert Hogue, senior economist with RBC.

Housing affordability measures improved for the first time since the second quarter of 2009, when sales and prices of homes started to surge in the Toronto market coming out of the recession.

Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Hamilton`s LRT plan a roadmap for the future

Mass transit is an essential part of planning for any modern city – be it one of Canada`s largest cities such as Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal, or one of the smaller centres such as Calgary or Ottawa.

Hamilton, though it is often not mentioned among the country`s most forward-thinking cities, is every bit as leading edge when it comes to a transit plan for the future.

Indeed, Hamilton`s light-rail transit (LRT) proposal could well continue the transformation of a city already in transition.

LRT is more than just a transit project, according to a proposal and request for funding prepared by the Hamilton Public Works Department`s Environmental and Sustainable Infrastructure Division. It is tool to shape the city and community, and could be the largest capital project the city has ever built.

Read the full article here.
 
Top Bottom