Amid steady growth in prices and activity, the Ontario Tri-Cities would likely see even more active sales next quarter, according to Royal LePage Grand Valley Realty broker and owner Keith Church. The average home price in Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge grew by 8.9% annually during Q1 2019 to reach $517,370, Royal LePage research indicated.This growth rate has made the region’s pace among the strongest nationwide. In particular, two-storey homes magnetized a lot of attention, with prices going up by 9.6% to $551,042.Bungalows were not far behind with a 6% increase in median values, up to $461,336. “Activity has been mostly flat, but we cannot discount how the weather impacts the market,” Church explained.“January was relatively active but sales dropped off in February.However, we are expecting a busy spring this year.” The region’s gains were much larger than those of the GTA, which had 3.4% growth during the first quarter of the year to reach $836,425. However, the federal government’s new home buyer incentives introduced last month are unlikely to have a significant impact on the Tri-Cities. “While all measures that help qualified buyers to become homeowners are welcomed, it won’t be a game-changer for the region,” Church explained.“First-time homebuyers are already doing quite well here as the down payment on an average house is $25,000.”

It’s no secret that investing in property near transit will yield promising ROIs, but according to the Real Estate Intelligence Network, there are precise calculations investors can make to optimize rental prices. “Transportation infrastructure delivers 10-20% of the value within 800 metres of access to rail or highway,” said Jennifer Hunt, REIN’s vice president of research and events, and co-author of the Toronto Transportation Effect Report.“Multifamily properties are between 27% and 99% more valuable when they’re within 1,600 metres than those beyond.The greatest premium is within 400 metres. “Ultimately, accessibility to transit—an LRT, subway, commuter rail and highway access—create more property value, as well as rent.” The commercial sector, too, greatly benefits from nearby transit.According to the report, offices within 500 metres of rapid transit stations have 34% fewer vacancies and value enhancement of up to 28%. Another key consideration for real estate investors is timing a property purchase if it’s near a transit infrastructure project.There are four tiers of which to be cognizant, according to REIN:The first is when the project is under construction;the second tier means construction hasn’t begun, but the project has been funded;the third tier is for planned, but unfunded, projects;and the fourth refers to projects in their most inchoate phase, meaning they’re far from finalized. Hunt noted that each tier

Real estate developer Davpart has announced the development of the United Building in Toronto, a 55-storey commercial and residential high-rise that highlights the restored heritage structure of the former Maclean Publishing Company/Maclean-Hunter Building. The project is slated to be North America’s tallest architectural heritage retention development and will have commercial and retail space from the ground floor to the 10th floor, as well as new residences above the historic structure. Read more:Toronto and Montreal luxury condos surge in value[1] "From 1910 to the 1980s, 481 [University Avenue] was the location of Maclean Publishing and later Maclean-Hunter with several buildings added to become one of the most recognized structures on University Avenue," said David Hofstedter, president and CEO of Davpart. "The existing structure is an example of a commercial building from the interwar era and is the result of many bold design influences, from Beaux-Arts to Modern Classical. While restoring the exterior, we will complete the interior to the highest standard of contemporary office and retail available today, so their current uses can continue.” "The United is a realization of our vision," said Hofstedter."It's a massive undertaking which started within the context of preserving and restoring the existing building. The complexities are enormous and it has taken lots of teamwork and patience to make it happen."

With over 80 new skyscrapers slated to be built over the next few years, Toronto has chosen solve its density problem by building vertically.However, that comes with its own set of challenges. According to Point2 Homes, Toronto has 60 skyscrapers—17th most in the world—with 31 more expected to dot the Toronto skyline by 2024.Additionally, 50 other edifices are presently in planning stages. With thousands of new residents housed in those buildings, it is crucial for Toronto to remain a livable city, and one solution being promulgated is developing missing middle housing, which is defined as anything between single-family detached houses and condos, like townhomes, semi-detached and multiplexes.Point2 Homes asked a few experts to weigh in on how Toronto should develop over the coming years. Nana-Yaw Andoh, assistant professor in the Master of Architecture Program, Rochester Institute of Technology’s of Golisano Institute for Sustainability: “The other end of the pendulum swing is vertical sprawl, which does nothing to stitch together the urban fabric and oftentimes create internal mini-cities with no connection to the neighborhood and great marketing ploys such as ‘all-inclusive’ luxury apartments. “What missing middle housing offers is a reasonable and balanced option with multiple building types for multi-family housing and a size that never exceeds a typical large house.The size constraint allows for missing

A study from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) revealed that nearly half (45%) of Greater Montréal area households are renters – and that many of them live alone. According to the CMHC’s Housing Market Insight report, 48% of renter households in the Montréal were people living alone.The report also found that about 35% of all renter households had incomes below $30,000, before taxes.Households with incomes above $100,000 accounted for only 5% to 8% of renters in most sectors of the Montréal area.However, in the Griffintown, Outremont and L’Île-des-Soeurs areas, where rents are generally high, the proportions of renters varied between 20% and 25% Read more:Luxury properties in Montreal slated for record spring[1] “Renter profiles were fairly consistent across the various geographic sectors of Greater Montréal,” said Francis Cortellino, market insights economist at CMHC.“Most renters were people living alone, with relatively low incomes.The data revealed that lower-income households also moved slightly less often than other households and tended to stay within the sector where they already lived, when they did move.Finally, there did not seem to be a significant movement of less affluent renters to sectors of the CMA where the rents were less costly.” “The profile of renter households in Greater Montréal was also generally in line with that of

The price of an average home in Canada increased by just 2.7% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2019 – a sign that the housing market may experience significant slowdown in the months ahead. According to Royal LePage’s House Price Survey, which compiled property data in 63 of Canada’s largest real estate markets, the sluggish increase in home prices was well below the long-term norm of approximately 5%.Broken down by housing type, the median price of a two-storey home rose by only 2.6% year-over-year to $729,553, while the median price of a bungalow rose 1.1% to $513,497.Meanwhile, condominiums remained the fastest growing housing type on a national basis, rising 5.4% year-over-year to $447,260. Read more:Canadian confidence edges higher but not by much[1] The study predicted that home prices will remain flat throughout the spring market, with several large markets showing signs of slowdown.Home prices in the Greater Vancouver area are expected to fall 1.4% over the next quarter, and economic activity in Alberta is forecasted to remain sluggish, with the aggregate price of a home in Calgary, Edmonton, and Fort McMurray falling marginally by 1.5%, 1.0%, and 0.8% to $468,974, $371,782 and $576,211, respectively. On the other hand, the market is expected to be slightly better in Ontario.Ottawa is expected to post the

Asset Connect Management is among Toronto’s best-connected real estate investment firms and this Saturday it’s holding an investing seminar[1] where, among other things, it will unveil a can’t-miss opportunity. The April 5 seminar in downtown Toronto will feature an opportunity to buy units at a new state-of-the-art condo called the Woodsworth, which offers guarantees the likes of which Toronto investors rarely, if ever, see. “Woodsworth is an extremely unique building and we’re selling this development at our event.The developer is guaranteeing the rent at fixed dollars per square foot, so the cash flow is guaranteed,” said Ryan Coyle, a real estate broker and founder of Connect Asset Management. While the development is sure to be a resounding success for investors, especially those who manage to snag the best available units early, Coyle noted that there’s more to this development than cash flow. “These units are cash flow positive, but when you’re buying in downtown Toronto you shouldn’t only be thinking about cash flow,” he said, “because I could go buy a unit in Windsor and have $500 positive cash flow, but that equals $6,000 in my pocket at the end of the year.If I buy in Toronto and my investment is appreciating 5% per year and I’m losing $500 a

In order to increase rental inventory, Vancouver passed a series of rules last year requiring Airbnb operators to register for a license.However, it looks like almost half of Vancouver’s listed Airbnb operators remain unlicensed. Aside from registering operators, the new rules also limit Airbnb rentals to principal residences.However, out of the 4,720 listings in Vancouver, only 2,628 are licensed, according to city figures.And despite having an agreement with the popular online home sharing service, only 17 licenses have been suspended so far. Read more:Vancouver, Airbnb sign MOU to support new rental regulations[1] Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart struck a positive cord last month, however, noting that more than 2,000 cases have opened against errant Airbnb operators – and one operator with 35 listings was even levied $20,000 in fines. “This program is one of many designed to move more supply into the long-term rental market because housing in our city needs to be first and foremost for those who live and work in Vancouver,” Stewart told CityNews Vancouver in mid-March. Under its agreement with Vancouver, Airbnb provides host information – such as names, email addresses, and license numbers – four times a year, with the city doing the legwork of chasing after wayward operators.And according to CityNews, officials have

While B-20 substantially cooled Canada’s residential real estate market, it’s proven a boon for the commercial sector. “On the commercial front, we’re seeing a lot more activity on buildings of more than 5 units,” said David Goncalves, a mortgage broker and partner of Mortgage Alliance Vine Group.“We’re seeing this upswing because people got squeezed out of buying residential properties because of the lending rule change, and as a result we’ve seen significant growth in the commercial sector.” In Toronto, mixed-use developments have exploded in popularity among investors, and Vine Group has capitalized on the growth by securing financing for small and mid-sized real estate developers.While residential lending practices have changed to become more restrictive, commercial underwriting practices have become more liberal. “A lot of lenders on the residential side have door policies,” Hugo Dos Reis, a partner at Vine Group, said of limits placed on residential investment properties.“Lenders don’t want to loan to holding companies, and if they do they charge a premium.Even the big banks are getting away from that as well, but what we’ve found is that a lot of people are looking at multi-residential commercial properties instead of buying, say, a triplex. “The lending now is on the asset and the most important part of the deal:cash flow.The client’s exposure

Underscoring just how tight the Vancouver housing market is, the British Columbia city was ranked the second least affordable city in North America. According to real estate site Zoocasa, Vancouver was second among 30 major US and five Canadian cities.San Francisco was ranked least affordable overall and Los Angeles was in third place.And on the other end of the spectrum, Calgary was revealed to be the most affordable housing market in North America. Read more:RBC:Housing affordability has improved for the first time in 3 years[1] The survey examined the median home prices for December 2018 calculated the minimum income required to purchase homes in each city.That amount was then compared to the actual median income earned, to determine whether the market presented buyers with an income surplus or an income gap, which indicates incomes have not kept pace with real estate price growth. The survey found that Vancouver had an income gap of $99,517, compared to a median income of $65,327.By comparison, Calgary had an income surplus of $40,297, and a median household income of $97,334.And another Canadian city, Ottawa, ranked sixth in affordability, with an income surplus of $27,714 based on the median income of $85,981. Are you looking to invest in property?If you like, we can get one

The last three months of 2018 finally brought some improvement to housing affordability across Canada. After more than three years of declining affordability, RBC Economics says its measure shows widespread improvement;although first-time buyers in the hottest markets are still facing a significant struggle. In its Housing Trends and Economic Report, RBC’s aggregate housing affordability measure reduced by 0.7 percentage points to 51.9% last quarter (measured as a share of household income). But in the three most expensive markets there is still a crisis with Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria showing little improvement in affordability for most buyers. Vancouver’s affordability crisis endures despite being in “full-blown correction mode.RBC says that even with the slump in sales, high prices means homeownership still requires an eyewatering 84.7% of household income. Cooling market conditions in Toronto has taken a bite out of sales but RBC expects prices to be flat over the next two years;that won’t help the well-above-average affordability measure of 66.1%. Montreal’s housing market is heating up but prices are rising at a steady pace. The area’s affordability measure is some way below the two hottest markets and below the national average, but at 44.5% it is near a decade high. Condos no longer the affordable alternative The traditional option of

There could be a spike in mortgage applications in the third quarter if a rate forecast from the British Columbia Real Estate Association is realized. The association’s economists are expecting interest rates to ease during much of 2019 as weaker economic conditions force a hold-steady from the Bank of Canada. If 5-year bonds maintain their current level, there should be a move for the 5-year qualifying mortgage rate, which has not moved for almost a year. Their forecast calls for 5-year qualifying mortgage rates to fall from 5.34% in the first quarter of 2019, to 4.99% in the second quarter, and reaching a year-low of 4.84% in the third quarter. Rates are then predicted to climb to 5.15% in the last quarter of 2019 and early 2020 before plateauing at 5.34% for the rest of 2020. The 5-year average discounted rate is set for a drop to 3.44% in Q2 2019 (from 3.60% in Q1), then a low of 3.30% in Q3 before climbing back to 3.44% in Q4, 3.64% in Q1/2 2020, and 3.74% in Q3/4 2020. BoC to cut rates? There are some economists predicting that the BoC may actually cut rates in 2019 rather than just maintain their current level. However, BCREA’s economists do

Alternative lender Cashco has launched an awareness campaign on social media to raise the issue of those Albertans who cannot access credit. The #needmilkmoney campaign has surveyed 3,000 Albertans and says that across Canada it estimates more than 5 million people are ‘underbanked’ – they have a bank account but cannot access other services due to high costs. "We want politicians to know that there is a portion of our population that is not being served by mainstream financial institutions," says Courtney Johnston-Naumann, Vice President of Marketing &Communications, Cashco Financial."The stories of families in our communities who struggle between paycheques is real.They are hardworking people who sometimes need a hand up, not a hand out, to be able to pay regular or unexpected bills in moments they need it the most.They should be able to access the credit they need without the many constraints currently in place that make it more difficult to pay back." Cashco says that An Act to End Predatory Lending introduced by the Alberta government in 2016 limits fair and equitable access to credit and makes building a positive credit history harder. “The language and limitations imposed in the Act were a surprise to us," said Tim Latimer, CEO, Cashco Financial."It indicated that there was very little understanding of

A new platform could make investing in Canada’s most expensive real estate market less daunting. Vancouver-based Fraction is an equity stake lending platform that bills itself more secure than traditional home equity lines of credit, and by taking a 40% equity stake in a property can reduce mortgage payments by 35%. If Fraction were enlisted at the transaction’s outset amd put up 40%, the purchaser would then only need to secure mortgage financing for the remaining amount. “If you own a home and want to take some equity out of it, your existing option is you could sell, get a HELOC or reverse mortgage, but we think our option is better because you can sell up to 40% of the future value of your home to us.It’s almost like selling shares in a home,” said Fraction’s Chief Technology Officer Josh Baker. Baker also touts the platform as an easier way to invest in additional real estate properties. “If you want to invest in real estate in Vancouver, you could buy securities from us, which will represent a pool of properties in the city, and the value of those securities is debt-protected,” he said.“Because we’re investing in residential real estate, we’re using the fundamentals of a mortgage, meaning it’s a mortgage charge

New regulations may cool down rental prices in Kelowna, B.C., which rentals.ca ranked as the ninth most expensive rental market in Canada. On rental.ca, the average rental listing in Kelona for a one-bedroom was $1,299 and $1,754 for a two-bedroom.Comparatively, the average national rent for all bedroom types in February was $1,800 – a 1.8% increase from the month prior. Read more:Kelowna prices exhibit significant Q1 growth[1] Reacting to a tightening rental market, the Kelowna City Council voted in early March to add restrictions to short-term rentals on platforms such as AirBNB by licensing owners $345 a year.According to local news outlet Salmon Arm Observer, the move is expected to open up a few more units for long-term rentals. Kelowna Community Planning Manager Ryan Smith told Salmon Arm Observer that he estimated 700 to 800 units could be added to rental market after the new regulations are enforced.Smith added, however, that “because of the seasonality” nature of tourism in Kelowna, that number is hard to predict. Additionally, Taylor Pardy, a senior analyst at the Canada Mortgage Housing and Corporation (CMHC), told Salmon Arm Observer that the vacancy rate will be higher in 2019 and 2020 than in the past three years because of “the volume of apartment rental units currently