THE COST OF DOWN PAYMENTS IN CANADIAN CITIES SKYROCKETED IN 2021, NEW DATA SHOWS
Skyrocketing housing prices in 2021 are driving up how long it would take for homebuyers to save for a down payment, new data shows. The National Bank of Canada (NBC)’s latest report found that during the second quarter of 2021, housing affordability has worsened by the widest margin in 27 years. The report examined housing and mortgage trends in 10 cities across the country. To save up enough for a down payment for an average home in Canada, it would take just short of six years – or 69...
read moreEDMONTON A RENTER’S PARADISE
Edmonton, Alberta’s capital where the average annual income is almost $10,000 higher than Vancouver, has become a paradise for renters, with some of the lowest rents in the country. A national survey, released June 16, found that while rents across Canada had increased 2 per cent in May from a month earlier to an average of $1,708 per month, tenants were still paying less than $1,000 for a one-bedroom in Edmonton. Edmonton finished 30th on the list of 35 cities for average monthly rent in May...
read moreWHAT THE LATEST SHUTDOWN MEANS FOR ONTARIO REAL ESTATE
With a province-wide “emergency brake” shutdown looming in Ontario, new rules will come into place on Saturday April 3, having effects on nearly every industry in the province, including real estate. The most substantial real estate restrictions will be placed on rental accommodations. All hotels, motels, lodges, cabins, resorts, student housing, and other shared rental accommodations will not be permitted to open their shared amenities such as pools, gyms, or other recreational facilities....
read moreTRREB PREDICTS SURGING GTA REAL ESTATE MARKET FOR 2021
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) released its annual Market Year in Review & Outlook Report for 2021, projecting optimism for a booming Greater Toronto Area (GTA) real estate market in 2021. The report forecasts near-record sales numbers of 100,000 units, with average selling prices expected to break records and exceed the $1 million mark. 2020 market activity was negatively affected by the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, though booming late-year demand turned the...
read moreREITS TAKE LONG VIEW OF VANCOUVER’S RENTAL MARKET EVEN AS VACANCIES RISE, RENTS DROP
The COVID pandemic has lowered demand for rental properties and thus what landlords are charging, but investors looking to buy apartment buildings to earn a financial return believe this is temporary, says a B.C. real estate executive. Lance Coulson, an executive vice-president at commercial broker CBRE, sold 15 rental apartment buildings, nine of them of concrete construction and on the west side, for almost $300 million in late January. The deal covered a total of 614 housing units in the...
read more905 OVERTAKES 416 FOR GTA NEW CONDO SALES IN 2020
New condominium apartment sales in the GTA declined 28% in 2020 to 18,247 units, the lowest annual total since 2013 and 15% below the 10-year average (21,421). Sales remained in line with new launches of 18,004 units last year, down from 25,296 launches in 2019. The 4,642 new condominium units sold in Q4-2020 was down 43% year-over-year and 22% below the 10-year Q4 average (5,960). However, a record third quarter brought total units sold during the second half of the year to 11,031 units,...
read moreONE OF CANADA’S BIGGEST REAL ESTATE BULLS ISN’T SO BULLISH ON CONDOS
One of Canada’s largest real estate brokerages is bullish on real estate this year, just not condos. Royal LePage released its annual price forecast showing slower, but still big, price growth in 2021. There was one notable exception – condo apartments. They expect prices to rise, but they also expect them to lag the market. Toronto condos aren’t even expected to beat inflation. Canadian Condo Prices Forecast To Grow At Half The Rate Canadian condo apartment prices are forecast to gain next...
read moreCANADA 2021 HOUSING FORECASTS CALL FOR A BOOM… OR THE WORST CRASH IN 40 YEARS
This could be the toughest year in living memory to make predictions about the economy ― especially the housing market. Amid the worst economic slowdown in decades, home sales and prices soared in many Canadian cities in 2020, along with housing markets in many other countries. The average house price in Canada has shot up by 13.8 per cent over the past year, and by 14.6 per cent in the U.S. No wonder this year’s batch of year-end forecasts for Canada’s housing market are all over the...
read moreNEW CONDO SALES FALL TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE ‘09 RECESSION BUT PRICES & CONSTRUCTION MOVE HIGHER
Urbanation Inc., the leading source of information and analysis on the condominium market since 1981, released its Q2-2020 Condominium Market Survey results today, providing the first insights on how the GTA new condominium market has performed during COVID-19. During the second quarter of 2020, new condominium apartment sales totaled 1,385 units in the GTA, the industry’s lowest volume of sales activity since the Great Recession in Q1-2009 (885 units). New condo sales dropped 85%...
read moreA look at key Canadian housing measures unveiled in 2016
It has been a busy year for government intervention into the Canadian real estate market, and not just the hottest Toronto and Vancouver regions as many of the policy changes impact homebuyers across Canada. Below, BNN looks back at the highlights of 2016 Canadian housing policy. Feb. 15 – Down payment hike – Announced in December of 2015, Ottawa raised the minimum down payment requirement for homebuyers to 5 per cent of the purchase price up to $500,000 and 10 per cent of any amount...
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