Canada Real Estate News

Sotheby's International Realty's luxury Canada's most popular ski resorts.

2013-02-07T17:15:00.000+02:00

If you’re in love with the idea of an outdoor lifestyle, then Canada is probably the place for you. If you want snowy mountains, dense forests, wide open plains or vast, shimmering lakes, you will find them all here. Containing almost a quarter of the world’s fresh water and 44 national parks, Canada is a world-beater when it comes to outdoor pursuits. Nestled in the spectacular Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Whistler is one of North America’s major all-season resorts. Site of the alpine and Nordic venues for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, its epic skiing and snowboarding opportunities draw holidaymakers and property investors in their droves. Whistler’s small communities are spread along Highway 99, with the pedestrian-only Whistler Village catering mainly to short-term visitors and residential properties commanding upwards of $3m.

Is Canadian Real Estate Market Becoming Overvalued?

2012-04-16T12:21:00.000+03:00

Canadian real estate agents may have recorded the first year-over-year sales drop in 11 months in March, regional data suggest, as the Vancouver market plunged.

The value of purchases reported by 11 regional real estate boards fell 1.1 percent from a year earlier to C$12.4 billion ($12.4 billion), as the number of homes sold fell 1.4 percent, according to real estate board data compiled by Bloomberg News. Those markets had a 9.1 percent annual rise in value during the prior month.

Policy makers, including Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, have said parts of Canada's housing market have become overvalued as households add to record debt levels, encouraged by historically low mortgage rates. Canadian builders began work in March on the most housing units since 2008, led by condominium construction in Toronto, the country's biggest city, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. reported Friday.

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust Announces April 2012 Distribution

2012-04-14T10:29:00.001+03:00

ORONTO, ONTARIO, Apr 13, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust ("RioCan") today announced a distribution of 11.5 cents per unit for the month of April. The distribution will be payable on May 7, 2012 to unitholders of record as at April 30, 2012.

About RioCan

RioCan is Canada's largest real estate investment trust with a total capitalization of approximately $12.5 billion as at December 31, 2011. It owns and manages Canada's largest portfolio of shopping centres with ownership interests in a portfolio of 331 retail properties containing an aggregate of 79 million square feet, including 45 grocery anchored and new format retail centres containing 12 million square feet in the United States through various joint venture arrangements. RioCan's portfolio also includes 10 properties under development in Canada.

Big debt the downside of loading up on real estate

2012-04-13T16:38:00.000+03:00

As I burn the midnight oil filing my usual 150 income tax returns this spring, a number of changing trends are emerging.

When I started preparing returns for the public more than a decade ago, perhaps 10 per cent of my client families owned rental property. Now, nearly 40 per cent have at least one rental property, or rent out part of their own home.

One reason is that interest rates have been near all-time lows for an extremely prolonged period. That has made mortgages attractive for home buyers, and financial institutions have opened up to them, causing a booming uptake on Home Equity Lines of Credit, or HELOCs.

Despite the financial crisis all around us in 2008, many Western Canadians continued to hold jobs and prosper, freeing up cash. An aging population, having been out of debt for a few years, was willing to borrow against their future.

With stock markets having gone through a "lost decade" in which indices wound up where they were 10 years earlier, real estate has become a more attractive investment in many places.

But having a proliferation of rental properties being held by everyday people is cause for concern.

One of my clients bought more than a half-dozen rental resort properties near the Alberta-B.C. border, which was having a building renaissance a few years back. Then the United States housing crisis hit, and many Canadians who used to holiday regularly in the Canadian Rockies tried out U.S. vacations instead, looking to buy depressed property there. Suddenly, Canadian resort rental properties had vacant periods.

Canadian Oil Boom Reverberates in Offices as Returns Rise

2012-04-01T03:05:00.004+03:00

Bank of Nova Scotia may have found the perfect time to sell Scotia Plaza, a Toronto office complex that’s expected to fetch as much as C$1.5 billion ($1.5 billion), a record for Canada.
Office vacancies are falling in Toronto and the rest of Canada amid economic growth led by the oil and natural-gas industries. Investor interest in commercial property is rising after the total return on real estate climbed almost 16 percent last year, the most since 2006 and outpacing gains in the U.S., according to the REALpac/IPD Canada Annual Property Index.
Low vacancies and increasing demand are pushing developers to build 8.9 million square feet (827,000 square meters) of office space in Canada, the most since the first quarter of 2010, according to CBRE Group Inc. (CBG) Calgary, the center of the energy business in Canada, is leading the way with more than 3 million square feet under construction.
“They have had a commodities-fueled boom across the country,” Dan Fasulo, managing director at property-research firm Real Capital Analytics Inc. in New York, said in a telephone interview. “The fundamentals of the property markets are in very good shape.”
Office property values probably will rise 20 percent this year in Calgary and about 10 percent in Toronto and Vancouver as low vacancies help landlords raise rents, according to estimates by CoStar Group Inc. (CSGP)’s Boston-based Property and Portfolio Research Inc. Montreal values are expected to gain 4 percent.

The increase in rents and occupancies has helped Canadian real estate investment trusts. The 13-member S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (SPRTRE) had a total return of 13 percent in the 12 months through March 29. Canadian REITs are likely to have strong returns in 2012 as well, said Heather Kirk, an analyst at National Bank Financial.
“The key Canadian office markets are doing very well,”she said in a telephone interview from Montreal. “The demand is very robust right now.”
Canadian REITs are estimated to have a total return of 15 percent to 25 percent this year, partly because of low and falling vacancies, limited new construction and demand from investors for income-producing securities, according to a Feb. 29 report by CIBC World Markets Inc. analysts led by Alex Avery. The REITs gained 22 percent last year, including reinvestment of dividends.
Read more

Canadians worried about mortgage rate hikes

2012-03-30T17:27:00.000+03:00

As concerns over the state of the Canadian real estate market abound, a new survey says nearly half of Canadians are unsure about their ability to afford their homes if rates rise by as little as two percentage points.

The survey commissioned by the Bank of Montreal study finds 43 per cent believe an interest hike would either hamper their ability to pay or leave them on unsure footing.

Regionally, residents of Alberta were the least concerned, with 73 per cent saying that rising rates would not affect their ability to afford their homes, while residents of British Columbia were the most concerned. Just 48 per cent B.C. residents are comfortable in their ability to handle higher rates.

The survey results come as banks and economists warn about the rising debt levels of Canadian households.

It also comes as some of Canada's biggest banks have started raising variable mortgage rates, even though the Bank of Canada's overnight interest rate remains unchanged.

Earlier this week, both RBC and TD raised the posted rates on five-year mortgages.

That could signal the end of the era of cheap borrowing that has encouraged many Canadians to take on houses they may not have been able to otherwise afford.

BMO anticipates that the Bank of Canada will begin increasing interest rates from the current one per cent next year.

Condos VUE a hot spot for condo real estate

2011-05-18T17:41:00.001+03:00

Nestled in the middle of the triangle formed by downtown, the East End and the West Island, the area around Namur métro station is quickly becoming a hot spot for condo real estate.

The Condos VUE project is located at the corner of Jean Talon St. and Mountain Sight Ave.

The multi-phase development will consist of seven concrete buildings and take seven to eight years to build. Once it's completed it will house 900 units. Every building will be ten stories high and two of them will feature a commercial element incorporated into the first two floors.

Quebec foreclosure rates dropping

2011-05-14T16:39:00.001+03:00

The Gazette's panel of experts answer your questions on real estate. To ask a question, please email alampert@montrealgazette.com.

The number of properties that went into foreclosure, or were seized by mortgage lenders because of non-payment of debt, fell by 15 per cent in Quebec last year to 2,356.

That compared with 2,782 properties seized in 2009. The findings were reported recently by economist Paul Cardinal of the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards.

Toronto startups make the home-buying process easier

2011-05-04T21:44:00.000+03:00

Buying a house in Toronto is something I haven't cared to learn about until now. Sure, it's great to be educated about the home-buying process, but for me it was always depressing to learn about the sky-high condo prices downtown, where I want to eventually buy a property. So instead of researching mortgage rates and figuring out the difference between pre-construction and resale properties, I've been renting in ignorant bliss, slowly saving up for the elusive down payment.

This spring when I realized that by George, I might actually have enough to buy a place this decade, I set out to learn as much as I could about the home-buying process. While researching, I discovered a couple Toronto-based startups that are making buying a home a simple process for potential buyers, both pre- and post-purchase.

Canada sees dip in housing prices, starts in July

2010-09-15T11:26:00.000+02:00

The price of a new home in Canada edged down in July for the first time in more than a year and fewer were built in August, evidence that a real estate slowdown seen this summer in the resale market is beginning to bleed into the new home sector.
Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index fell for the first time in 13 months, declining 0.1 per cent in July from its level in June. That reversed what was seen between May and June, when new house prices rose 0.1 per cent.
Reinforcing that trend, the annualized rate of housing starts dropped three per cent in August compared to July, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., to 183,300 from 188,900. Both single and multiple-dwelling starts dropped during the month.

Homburg Canada Real Estate Investment Trust announces closing of over-allotment option associated with its recently completed initial public offering

2010-07-05T20:47:00.002+03:00

MONTREAL, June 29 /CNW/ - Homburg Canada Real Estate Investment Trust ("HCR") (TSX: HCR.UN) announced today that pursuant to an over-allotment option granted under the underwriting agreement dated May 14, 2010 between HCR, Homburg Canada REIT Limited Partnership, Homburg Invest Inc. ("Homburg Invest"), Homburg Canada Incorporated and a syndicate of underwriters led by TD Securities Inc. (the "Underwriters"), the Underwriters have purchased 1,628,900 additional units of HCR ("Units") at a price of $10.00 per Unit, of which 651,560 Units were issued and sold by HCR from treasury for an aggregate gross consideration of $6,515,600 to HCR and 977,340 Units were sold by Homco Realty Fund (199) Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of Homburg Invest (which acted as a promoter of HCR), as a secondary offering of a portion of the Units it holds for an aggregate gross consideration of $9,773,400 to Homburg Invest. The net proceeds to HCR from the exercise of the over-allotment option will be used by HCR to fund growth opportunities and acquisitions and for general working capital purposes.

Canada's Real Estate Market Continues Strong Rebound

2010-01-14T22:55:00.000+02:00

anada's real estate market continues to rebound, and property investment is quickly regaining its appeal, sparking a turnaround and driving housing sales and prices from Toronto to Montreal and Vancouver. The momentum from 2009's strong finish, spurred by attractive lending rates and renewed consumer confidence, should carry over to the first half of 2010. See the following article from Property Wire for more on this.

Vancouver real estate
Vancouver, Canada
The residential real estate market in Canada is expected to remain unusually strong through the first half of this year after a robust finish to 2009, according to a new survey.

The stimulus effect of low borrowing costs has contributed to a sharp rise in demand that has driven activity to new highs, according to the report from Royal LePage, which has a network of 14,000 agents across the country. It found that property prices appreciated in late 2009, with fourth quarter averages higher than in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Avison Young releases 2010 national real estate forecast for U.S., Canada

2010-01-13T22:28:00.002+02:00

anadian real estate market fundamentals, though shaken, remain relatively intact while U.S. markets continue to shoulder the brunt of the downturn with recovery expected to be longer and drawn out

CHICAGO, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ - Recessionary headwinds took their toll on real estate markets on both sides of the border in 2009, with the U.S. continuing to shoulder the worst of the storm. Now several quarters into it, the Canadian real estate sector has not been entirely immune, but appears to be weathering the downturn thanks to relatively sound, though shaken, market fundamentals.

These are some of the key trends noted in Avison Young's 2010 National Forecast, released today. The annual report covers the Office, Industrial, Retail and Investment markets in 13 regions: Chicago, Washington, DC, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, GTA West/Mississauga, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax.

"If anyone needs to be reminded, commercial real estate is a cyclical industry," comments Mark E. Rose, Avison Young's Chair and CEO. "In our 2009 Forecast last January, we predicted one overriding theme - decision-making would grind to a halt until key metrics stabilized and new trends appeared. The dislocation in real estate lending and investing was so severe in March and April that the markets looked to be on the verge of collapse. Canada weathered the storm better than the U.S. and activity was down, but transactions were executed."

GTA housing market quickly shook off the recession

2010-01-11T00:17:00.000+02:00

When you look at GTA housing prices and sales statistics, it's almost like there had never been a recession.

As 2009 wound down, homebuyers were partying like it was late 2007, which illustrates the V-shaped path the market followed when the recession started to bite in the fall of 2008.

The recession is generally considered to have started in October 2008. For that month, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) reported that GTA sales were down 35 per cent over the same period in 2007.

Toronto average home prices were down 13 per cent over the same period in October 2007, while 905 homes prices declined about eight per cent.

http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/content/view/138368/110/

2010-01-09T11:11:00.001+02:00

Written by Ric Swihart
Friday, 08 January 2010
While major Canadian cities showed significant increases in the real estate market in 2009, they had much further to recover after the boom times two and three years ago compared with southern Alberta, says a local official.
Audrey King, president of the Association of Lethbridge and District Realtors, said listings and sales in Lethbridge through realtors were down about two per cent through Dec. 31, 2009 from a year earlier.
Lethbridge realtors sold 1,169 homes in 2009. They also sold 250 condominiums. In the year, 1,839 homes were listed for sale.
The 2009 southern Alberta figures, which include country residential and farms, were sales of 2,355 properties with 5,304 listed in the year. That compares to 2,575 sales to Dec. 31, 2008 and listings of 6,219.
Nationally, house prices appreciated late in 2009 with the fourth quarter price average surpassing averages from the same quarter in 2008.

Vince Vaughn marries Canadian real estate agent

2010-01-07T23:44:00.000+02:00

Sorry ladies, Vince Vaughn is off the market (and is now half-Canadian!).

Full report via Reuters:

Hollywood actor Vince Vaughn wasn't a gatecrasher at a wedding last Saturday -- he was the groom.

Vaughn married his girlfriend of two years, Kyla Weber, in a small, private ceremony outside his hometown of Chicago on Saturday, according to People magazine.

A representative for the actor, who starred in the movie "Wedding Crashers" in 2005, told the magazine that Vaughn, 39, proposed to Weber, a 31-year-old Canadian real estate agent, last Valentine's Day.

It is the first marriage for both Vaughn and Weber. Vaughn, whose film credits also include "Fred Klaus" and "Four Christmases," previously dated his co-star from "The Break-Up," actress Jennifer Aniston.

Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2010/01/05/vince-vaughn-marries-canadian-real-estate-agent.aspx#ixzz0bxv0uBIm
The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.

How To Buy Real Estate In Canada

2010-01-05T21:38:00.000+02:00

The Canadian property purchasing process closely resembles its American counterpart, with oversight and listing information provided by the Canadian Real Estate Association. Prospective buyers should factor in taxes and fees when pricing properties, including a Goods and Services Tax on new housing, Realtor and attorney charges and costs associated with land transfer and mortgage loan coverage. See the following article from International Property Journal for more on this.

buying Canada real estate
Toronto, Canada
Anyone familiar with transactions in the United States won’t have any problem navigating the Canadian system. There are few restrictions on foreign ownership and the process is full of checks to protect both buyer and seller.

In many ways the system mirrors the United States, with the Canadian Real Estate Association overseeing the licensing and ethical standards of Realtors, much like the National Association of Realtors in the U.S. CREA owns the MLS trademark and operates Realtor.ca for residential properties and ICX.CA for commercial listings, which include listings from regional boards around the country. The CREA site also includes the latest data on prices and sales.

Canada Housing Resales Climbed to Record in November

2010-01-03T21:51:00.000+02:00

By Alexandre Deslongchamps

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian home resales rose to a record 46,450 units in November, as the housing market helped to pull the economy out of recession, a realtor group said.

Seasonally adjusted sales in November climbed 67 percent from a year earlier, the Canadian Real Estate Association said in a statement.

“The Canadian housing market remains on fire as the combination of low mortgage rates and still favorable buying conditions continues to spur buying activity,” Millan Mulraine, an economist with TD Securities in Toronto, said in a note to clients.

The Bank of Canada has predicted growth in housing investment will stay “brisk until early 2010,” and then slow as pent-up demand is satisfied and affordability declines. The bank lowered its benchmark lending rate to a record 0.25 percent in April to spur domestic demand and pledged to leave it there through June unless the inflation outlook changes.

Home prices see first annual rise in 10 months

2009-12-31T10:05:00.000+02:00

OTTAWA -- Resale prices for Canadian homes rose for a sixth consecutive month in October -- and were up on an annual basis for the first time in nearly a year -- as the country’s real estate market continued to recover from recessionary lows, according to a report released Wednesday.

Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust Acquires a 50% Interest in Retail Properties Forming Part of South Edmonton Common Shopping Centre

2009-12-30T21:31:00.001+02:00

ORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 12/30/09 -- Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (CREIT) (TSX: REF.UN) today announced it has acquired a 50% undivided interest in certain retail properties forming part of South Edmonton Common Shopping Centre (SEC), in Edmonton, Alberta.

SEC is one of the largest and most successful unenclosed regional power centres in Canada and currently comprises approximately 2.1 million square feet of retail space.

Retailer-owned anchors of SEC include IKEA, Walmart, The Home Depot and Loblaw Real Canadian Superstore.

CREIT has acquired a 50% interest in several key components of SEC, including certain income producing property, property under re-development and retail development land. The specific property details are outlined below.

Canadian real estate, marijuana, ecstasy, methamphetamine, drug labs and you.

2009-12-29T19:02:00.000+02:00

Canada's red hot real estate market has real estate buyers scrambling to get into the profitable real estate market while the getting is good. Many feel purchasing and renovating distressed properties such as former grow ops or methamphetamine labs are an easy flip for profit. For the unsuspecting home buyer, this column is geared for you!

Many in Canada see the marijuana industry as a victimless crime. Grow ops, ecstasy labs and meth labs can be next door in any home, including 5,000 square foot luxury mansions from Hope to Whistler. Believe it or not, there are more million dollar plus homes used for manufacturing drugs in British Columbia versus an old home.

Most people cannot tell if a house was used as a drug lab. Many do not realize they may be buying a toxic wasteland. Meth drugs labs produce about seven pounds of hazardous waste for every pound of meth produced.

Many Realtors and Home inspectors are not experienced in detecting former drug labs. So it could be buyer beware. This column will provide some basic insights in what to look for when you suspect that smoking hot deal may too good to be true.

Homes in the lower mainland costing upwards of a million dollars plus are certainly a major investment for anyone.

Real estate trends: Things are looking up for 2010

2009-12-28T00:14:00.000+02:00

When it comes to the condo market in 2010, relationships and values will play a key role. Neighbourhood and project identities or "brands" will figure prominently and builders and buyers will take more steps towards sustainable building and living.

Those are some of the coming trends identified by a panel of five industry experts, including real estate broker Hunter Milborne, architect Charles Gane, marketing and branding professional Ishan Ghosh, designer Enza Checchia and public relations consultant Danny Roth, during a recent roundtable discussion at the Toronto Star.

Fears of Canadian housing bubble dwindle

2009-12-26T10:03:00.000+02:00

Canada's real estate market is finding its balance.

A surge in new listings in November helped ease a chronic supply shortage and temper prices from a month earlier, easing fears of a bubble in the making even, though the rebound in the market continued unabated.

That's what economists were looking for because a steady string of monthly price increases could inflate an asset bubble and lead to a severe correction when interest rates eventually rise. For the past several months, prices have been rising month-over-month, with double-digit percentage increases posted year-over-year.

Listings in November increased by 5 per cent compared with October, the largest one-month gain in two years, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday. The increase is a sign of consumer confidence, and signals a return to normalcy in what has been an extremely volatile market. More inventory ultimately means lower prices. The average national price in November declined by 1.1 per cent from October to $337,231, although that was still up sharply from the depressed levels 12 months ago.

Is the Canadian housing market in a bubble?

2009-12-25T14:14:00.000+02:00

It sure looks that way,” according to well-known North American economist David Rosenberg.

In his Special Report — Is the Canadian housing Market in a Bubble, Mr. Rosenberg adds his voice to a growing list of those from Canada’s financial establishment who are concerned about Canada’s growing household debt.

In fact, even the Bank of Canada is concerned, warning Canadians last week that growing household debt now represents the biggest risk to Canada’s financial system, and pleading with borrowers and lenders to remember that the current era of super-low interest rates won’t last.

100 lost $5 million in Toronto real estate scam

2009-12-12T19:40:00.000+02:00

TORONTO – 100 people who could least afford to lose money can kiss their cash goodbye.

Police said they have reported being ripped off in a $5 million scam – and it is likely the 100 unfortunate people who bought into a real estate scheme will not ever see any of their money.

Toronto Police fraud squad on Thursday charged four people in connection with a scheme that would allegedly allow them to acquire real-estate by pooling their resources.

“It is alleged that the accused, Mohammed Saheed, purported to be a real estate specialist,” police said. “He targeted a specific demographic of victims, most of whom had limited financial resources – he convinced them that, by pooling their money, they could acquire real estate that would be managed and developed by the accused.”