A study by Ryerson University’s Centre for Urban Research and Land Development has shown that Canadian homeowners in major urban centres moved less often in 2016 than in 2006, with the largest change (-7.6%) in the Toronto area. While renters also moved less often, the reduction in moving frequency was much less than for homeowners. The… Read More
Millennials Dream of Home Ownership
July 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Millennials are facing significant affordability challenges, but they definitely haven’t given up the dream of home ownership. HSBC’s annual “Beyond the Bricks” survey shows that 34% of Canadian millennials own their own home, and 83% intend to buy within the next five years, although slow salary growth and increasing home prices will make that goal… Read More
Three Sanity-Saving Tips For Moving-In Day
June 19, 2019 By Leave a Comment
No matter how intensely you prepare for moving day, you may still face problems if you overlook three sanity-defeating challenges. Can you and your partner really think clearly when swamped by distractions, exhaustion, and disorientation? If the ramped-up activity of moving day represents less pressure than a typical day for you, you’ll probably find your upcoming move-in… Read More
Ontario Government ‘More Homes, More Choice’ Act
June 8, 2019 By Leave a Comment
On June 6, the Ontario Government passed new legislation to deal with the housing crisis through a five point plan: 1. Speed: cut out government bureaucracy that slows down the development process; 2. Cost: encourage developers to build more housing by reducing the layers of permits, government approvals and charges by municipalities and making these… Read More
New Mortgage Qualification Rules – More Unintended Consequences
May 12, 2019 By Leave a Comment
As previously reported here, the B-20 ‘stress test’ mortgage qualification rules (requiring buyers to qualify ‘as if’ the mortgage rate were 2 points higher than it actually is) has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of real estate sales across the country. In turn, this caused an unintended knock-on impact on economic activity… Read More
Interest Rates Unlikely To Rise In 2019
April 23, 2019 By Leave a Comment
The latest data from Statistics Canada shows that GDP has actually fallen in four of the past six months, suggesting that, after the longest (if one of the weakest) recoveries ever, we are heading toward a recession within the next year or so. Click to view monthly GDP chart This is why the Bank of… Read More
Canada Is A Haven For Money Laundering
April 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment
There’s a lot of ‘dirty money’ in the world, and many complex schemes to ‘launder’ this money and convert it into ‘clean’ funds. Real estate is a very popular venue for such laundering, particularly in Canada, as we have some of the weakest laws in the world to defend against money laundering. A recent report… Read More
First-Time Home Buyer Incentive – Will It Help?
March 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment
The federal budget included a proposed measure that would see the federal government take on part of the costs of buying a home. The basic elements of the plan are: It will be available only to first-time homebuyers; It will be administered by CMHC and will only be available for CMHC-insured mortgages; Buyers must have… Read More
Toronto Considering Land Transfer Tax Increase
March 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment
In early 2007, the City of Toronto instituted a Toronto Land Transfer Tax (on top of the Ontario Land Transfer Tax) as a way to increase revenues while avoiding large (and politically unpopular) increases in property taxes or decreases in expenses. This tax applies only to properties in the “Old Toronto” 416 area code. For… Read More
Toronto Condo Market Continues to Soar
March 7, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Toronto area condominium apartment prices continued to move upward last month, with average prices 6% higher than February, 2018. Almost certainly we will see another all-time high for condominium prices before the spring is over. Under-pricing and bidding wars are rampant and buyers are eager (even desperate) to buy condos now before prices go even… Read More
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