OTTAWA – Canadian home prices rose in January, supported by continued gains in Vancouver and as prices in Toronto climbed for the first time in six months after being hurt by provincial government moves to cool the market, data showed on Wednesday. The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which measures changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, showed prices …
Strong demand underlies healthy Toronto luxury market: Report
Engel & Volkers says real estate values are benefiting from a booming population and tech sector. The drama is over but so is Toronto’s real estate correction, says Engel & Volkers realtor Anita Springate-Renaud. That means that last year’s dramatic price hikes likely won’t be repeated, but neither will the difficult second half of 2017, which she said was largely …
Multiple offers now common in Toronto condo rental market
The market for condominium apartments is the most blazing hot segment of Toronto’s ever-more-expensive rental market and real estate agents say that extra financial inducements for landlords are increasingly becoming a necessary part of closing deals on the most in-demand properties. The concept of “holding offers” has long been a feature of bidding wars in Toronto’s resale real estate market, …
Rental demand outweighing supply in the GTA
Urbanation, the Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) leading source for condo market intelligence, recently released its 2017 fourth quarter rental market report, announcing that supply is not meeting the strong demand. There were 27,219 condo rentals leased through the MLS system in 2017, which is 1% higher than 2016. But as a share of total condo units in the GTA, the …
Here’s how much house you’ll be able to buy with the new mortgage stress test
Canada’s banking regulator introduced new rules on Tuesday that extend the requirement for a mortgage stress test to all homebuyers, including those with larger down payments. Currently, the stress test applies only to mortgages with lower down payments and those with a term of less than five years. Today, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) introduced a …
Worried parents buying homes for school-aged kids, a move experts warn comes with pitfalls
Jennifer Johnson felt she didn’t have time to wait. The single mom of two children, she watched as house prices in her Ajax, Ont., neighbourhood soared year after year. “When houses were starting to go up 20 per cent each year, I was worried about my kids’ futures,” says Ms. Johnson, a global bid manager and proposal writer. So, in …
Buyer found for Meghan Markle’s Toronto home
TORONTO – A buyer has been found for the Toronto house where Prince Harry and “Suits” actress Meghan Markle spent time before announcing their engagement last month. Real estate agent Alex Beauregard says the two-storey, three-bedroom house — which the future princess rented for two years — had drawn a lot of interest since it was listed last week, at …
Toronto region home prices forecast to rise 6.8% next year
One of the country’s biggest residential real estate companies is forecasting a 6.8 per cent increase in Toronto area housing prices next year with starter homes — particularly condos — expected to be in high demand again. Royal LePage says the average aggregate price in the region — condos to single-family, detached houses — will be $901,392, compared to $844,000, …
Availability of rental housing in GTA falls to 16-year low, CMHC says
Rental housing is getting harder to find in the Greater Toronto Area, although for those that already live here, that’s not likely news. But a new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation provides a statistical look at just how tight the rental market has become. The vacancy rate of rental properties in the GTA — the number of …
Even Real Estate Developers Can’t Afford Toronto’s Housing Market
The hottest housing market in the world is facing a reckoning. Toronto-area land prices have gotten so high that developers are struggling to build new homes that people can afford. Buyers are no longer lining up, despite discounts and incentives. The cost of land has nearly tripled in some areas the past five years, according to Altus Group Ltd. It …