‘Moderate income’ rental buildings get go-ahead from Vancouver council
Two 6-storey buildings will add 178 rental units, of which at least 20% must be for households earning $30-$80K. Vancouver council has approved a pair of six-storey buildings in East Vancouver that will add 178 units of rental housing. Council voted unanimously for the new developments around Renfrew and East Broadway. Both are mixed-use buildings with commercial space at street level. They mark the first projects under the Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program, which council approved...
read moreCAPREIT Significantly Expands Presence in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (“CAPREIT”) (TSX:CAR.UN) announced today that it has waived conditions and agreed to acquire, subject to regulatory approvals, a portfolio of eight properties containing fourteen apartment buildings totaling 1,503 rental suites, well-located throughout the downtown core and surrounding metro area of Halifax, Nova Scotia. A table summarizing the properties being acquired is below. Occupancy for the total portfolio currently stands at...
read moreONE Properties and Revera break ground on “Glenora Park” – a luxury retirement residence with stunning river valley views in the heart of Edmonton
State-of-the-art development is the first project for companies’ joint venture in seniors’ housing. ONE Properties, a dynamic real estate development company and Revera Inc., a leading owner, operator, developer and investor in the senior living sector, are pleased to announce construction is underway at the first project in the companies’ joint venture partnership to develop new retirement communities in key urban markets across Canada. The 290-suite, 23-storey, best-in-class senior living...
read more‘Missing middle’ key to solving housing affordability, experts say
With real estate markets continuing to heat up across the country, there are few topics hotter in Canada today than housing affordability. Just recently, the Liberal government put affordable housing at the core of its agenda, and the City of Toronto announced a $24-billion housing action plan which aims to build some 40,000 new dwellings over the next 10 years. For Councillor Ana Bailão, housing is more than just a hot policy topic: It’s a human right. The deputy mayor of Toronto urged...
read moreRents in Canada to grow by 3% in 2020, Rentals.ca predicts
Average monthly rents for all property types increased 9.4% annually in November of this year, report says Average rents for Canada will increase 3% in 2020, according to the December National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Bullpen Research & Consulting. The average monthly rent is forecast to increase 7% in Toronto in 2020, 5% in Montreal, 4% in Ottawa and and 3% in Vancouver, according to veteran housing analyst Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting Inc. Rents in...
read moreMultifamily Investors Are Spending More Capital in Secondary, Tertiary Markets
Slightly higher yields and still expanding economies are driving multifamily investors to smaller cities. Multifamily investors are now more likely to spend their money on properties in secondary and tertiary markets rather than in primary markets. “In secondary and tertiary markets… the number of offers that we are generating is much higher than what it was,” says John Sebree, Midwest-based first vice president and national director of the national multi housing group with brokerage firm...
read moreMayor John Tory pitches tax hike to fund transit & housing
Toronto taxpayers may have to dig a little deeper. Average homeowner can expect to pay $43 more per year starting in 2020. Mayor John Tory says he will go before council later this month with a plan to increase the City Building Fund in the upcoming 2020 budget — initially meant to top out at 2.5% by 2022 — but now expected to peak at 10.5% by 2025. “By approving an increase in this levy … and extending it over the next five years, we can raise needed funds that will be dedicated to improving...
read moreB.C. rental shortage should spur multi-family investments
Landlords have the opportunity to reposition existing Vancouver rental properties or buy and build in sub-markets to capture accelerating demand. Vancouver’s vacancy rate for rental apartment properties has hit a record low, decreasing to only 0.8 percent, the tightest vacancy rate in Canada, followed closely by Victoria and Toronto. However, rental demand is increasing right across Canada as many delay homeownership because of steep prices, high-interest rates and the implementation of...
read moreToronto leads in housing overcrowding: StatsCan
In major cities across Canada, rental housing construction has not been a priority for close to 40 years and the effect is an affordable housing crisis that is happening at a time when immigration is at a really high level. Nearly one in 10 Canadian households that rent on the open market are suffering from overcrowding, Statistics Canada reported in the first batch of data from its Canadian Housing Survey. But given Canadian housing affordability has severely eroded over the past decade, and...
read moreLTB Monetary Jurisdiction Increasing in New Year
As of January 1, 2020, the maximum amount that may be claimed in Small Claims Court will increase from $25,000 to $35,000. Because the Landlord and Tenant Board’s (the “LTB”) monetary jurisdiction is equivalent to that of the Small Claims Court, the LTB’s jurisdiction will also be increasing from $25,000 to $35,000. A claim that was filed with the LTB before January 1, 2020 will continue to be limited to $25,000. Landlords who have large damage claims or rent arrears...
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