The office, industrial and retail commercial real estate markets in the GTA continue to perform well and remain well within “landlord” market status. The office market vacancy rate has decreased by 90 basis points (bps) year-over-year to end February of 2019 at 5.0%, with the average net asking rental rate up 5.6% over the same period, to $19.51/sq. ft. per annum. With exceptionally strong demand from both finance and tech tenants driving down vacancy and pushing net asking rents... [read more]

Canadian government is considering extending the maximum amortization on insured mortgages. Amortization is the length of time a borrower agrees to pay off their loan. Insured mortgages are limited now to a “only” 25-year term, meaning their home will be paid off in 25 years.   However, The Home Builders Association, having being not happy with recent sales numbers, claims that could change very soon. Canada is considering allowing first-time buyers the ability to... [read more]

“The market is out of balance,” said David Wilkes, president and chief executive officer of BILD, an industry group for about 1,500 companies in the Toronto region. “We join other industry groups in calling on the federal government to revisit the stress test and allow a longer amortization period for first-time buyers. " It was responce to report released Friday  that After years of frenzied price increases, sales of new homes in Canada’s biggest... [read more]

"Canada has been undergoing a construction boom," Capital Economics senior economist Stephen Brown wrote in a report last week. "As has been typical of historic real estate cycles around the world, new supply will reach the market just as demand is falling." Brown also predicted that developers will react by cutting back on new housing starts. And even if Vancouver stops building new houses entirely, the oversupply in the next two years would be nearly as large as if... [read more]

MARKET SUMMARY These insights are made possible through CoStar, the largest commercial real estate source for property listings for sale or lease in Canada.   The overall Canadian economy has slowed compared to previous years, however, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) economic underpinnings remain solid, with GDP and employment growth expected to perform at or above the national averages, at 1.9% and 3.0% versus 2.0% and 1.2%, respectively. The GTA economy continues to show... [read more]

The 2017 CMHC Rental Market Report revealed that Ontario vacancy rates moved significantly lower to 1.6%, in the fall of 2017, from 2.1% in the fall of 2016. Newly built units couldn't address massive increases in rental demand, and it was reflected in lower vacancy rates. Ontario economy was performing very well during 2017, and employment levels are on truck to grow, particularly in 18-25 age category. When job market improves, young adults can find... [read more]

Overall home sales in September were down in the Greater Toronto Area over the same time last year but condo prices continue to rise, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). The average price was also up 5.9 percent from $732,039 in August -- the first month-over-month increase since April, when the average hit a record high of $918,285. However, this increase comes entirely from condominium segment, which is up 20% comparing to the last... [read more]

Resale prices in July increased by 2.1 per cent, keeping the last 12 months increase at 28%. However, the price increase was exclusively in condo segment, while single dwellings went down by 1.6% comparing to June.   I can say with confidence that almost all increase in condos was driven by units under $700,000 exclusively in Toronto, excluding the rest of GTA, where price levels were visibly lagging.  First-time buyers, mostly investors, were looking to get a foot in the... [read more]

When everybody can get rich in real estate, it’s usually a time when the party is over. Back in March, it was exactly the thing – buy and get rich or you will be outpriced of the market forever because, after all these years of steady growth, prices now go into the stratosphere, full throttle, no turning back. Media had supported the trend, wholeheartedly, reporting on daily basis latest real estate prices and publishing experts blaming sudden price acceleration on the... [read more]

  In the recent past, in 2007, China's investment in real estate overseas was less than $1 billion. Now it exceeds $20 billion annually, reaching 28 Billion in 2016.  According to recent estimates, Chinese investors still have an estimated $200 billion to invest abroad. It seems to be a long-term trend since the Chinese government is clearly unable to prevent capital outflows. Chinese buyers are increasingly inflating residential and commercial real estate markets all... [read more]

The tax is for Foreign Nationals in Canada buying 1-6 residential units in the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario. This tax is in addition to any land transfer tax payable. It applies only to 1-6 units of residential property purchased by a foreign national in the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario, including Toronto, Niagara, Hamilton, Peterborough, Simcoe, Waterloo, and York, as well as counties of Brant, Dufferin, Durham, Haldimand, Halton, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, Peel and Wellington. It... [read more]

Toronto Real Estate Board released May numbers, and they aren't pretty – listings were up 43% but sales dropped 20% in average, with the biggest drop in the detached homes category. Looking into numbers, moderately priced condominiums sales declined only by 6.4%, however, detached houses sales suffered whopping 26.3% decline. Compared to the same time last year, property prices still climbed higher about 14%. The picture isn’t so rosy if we compare it to April, with prices... [read more]

  According to the new report published by Jones Lang LaSalle, Toronto will be facing a significant rise in commercial rent rates over the next three years. It says the city may expect as much as 50 percent increase as a result of tight supply, rising property values and dramatically increased urban density. According to Brett Miller, JLL Canada chief executive, rents will be on par with New York, where similar spaces in A class buildings was $84.91, compared to $59.17 in... [read more]

For example, if you have a house which you could sell but you keep hearing about house price increases, you might be considering to hold onto the property in case the value keeps going up and you miss out on a much bigger windfall.   This kind of logic, usually associated with stock and commodities market, fully applies to housing since our houses turned into commodity long time ago. This is exactly the situation we have seen in the first four months of this year. I know lots of... [read more]

According to new Toronto Real Estate figures, there was 33.65% jump in new sale listings for Toronto in April, comparing to the same month a year ago and probably 80% more than March (this month was horrific). Obviously, a lot of investors see it as a great time to capitalize on their investment Even though new listings jumped, sales, however, fell by 3.2%, indicating that market is slowing down – and quite significantly. It shouldn’t happen in the spring housing... [read more]

I am not sure about the current statistics, but last year Bank of Canada warned that real estate may be overvalued by as much as 30 per cent. Exactly one year later, I wonder how much it's overvalued now? No word yet from the Bank of Canada, I am sure they have a difficulty to estimate the market. More than that, I believe that no one could understand what had just happened to Toronto real estate market. And now this, from all places, Richmond Hill takes the crown. It’s a fact... [read more]

After GTA’s real estate market monstrous move of 33% since last year, both prospective buyers and sellers question the market sanity. However, improving economic situation (at least according to Governor Poloz) may still support price increases this year. First, mortgage interest rates are not expected to fall anytime soon. Second, population growth will support demand for housing, while housing construction will not stay as high as before. Reasonably, we should expect further growth... [read more]

In the unfortunate circumstance that a homeowner is past-due on their monthly mortgage payments, they pave the way for a “foreclosure” on their property. In today’s market, banks and other lenders do not turn to foreclosure to take away the homes of homeowners who are in arrears. Instead, they perform a "Power of Sale" which is wholly different from a Foreclosure. What is a Foreclosure? Foreclosures are laborious, grueling, and costly to both the... [read more]