The pandemic’s real estate boom has been largely because of record low borrowing costs, which have also helped fuel demand from investors.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
There’s new evidence to suggest that a minority of Canadian homeowners are amassing large amounts of residential real estate in Ontario and B.C.
New data reveal that 15.5 per cent of individual homeowners own 31.1 per cent of all residential properties in Ontario as of 2019. In British Columbia, 15 per cent of individual owners held 29.1 per cent of the provincial housing stock.
The data is from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program, or CHSP, set up five years ago through Statistics Canada to fill a data gap on the forces driving the country’s housing market.
The findings are CHSP’s first comprehensive look at individuals who hold multiple properties and what they own. They’re released less than a week after Ottawa introduced a budget that attempts to alleviate the country’s affording housing crisis by pumping billions of dollars into new home construction, helping first-time homebuyers, and curbing foreign real estate buyers.
The budget did not address the role of retail real estate investors, whose buying doubled over the first year of the pandemic and represented just over 20 per cent of all purchases across the country in the first half of 2021.
“Individual multiple-property owners hold a significant share of the residential property stock, despite accounting for a relatively small number of owners,” the CHSP report said, adding that owners seeking additional properties “contribute to increased competition in already tight real estate markets, making it more difficult for prospective homeowners to purchase a home.”
Statistics on multiple-home owners in urban Ontario and B.C. offer an indication of the level of investment in residential real estate by individual real estate investors, or those who invest for themselves.
Although many homeowners own a recreational property or cottage, the CHSP report said that the majority of the multiple-property owners held all their real estate within the same census metropolitan area. The data is from 2019 and therefore does not reflect the pandemic’s real estate frenzy where home prices soared, particularly in the smaller cities and rural areas.
CHSP data show that in New Brunswick, 19.6 per cent of individual homeowners held 38.7 per cent of the housing stock in the province. In Nova Scotia, 21.6 per cent of homeowners held 40.9 per cent of the residential real estate. However, given that only about one-fifth of multiple-home owners held all their properties within the same census metropolitan area in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the CHSP said it is likely that those secondary properties are recreational and not investment properties.
“We suspect that there’s a lot more multiple-property ownership arrangements that are in line with recreational purpose to a greater extent than what we see in Ontario,” said Jean-Philippe Deschamps-Laporte, head of the CHSP.
The pandemic’s real estate boom has been largely because of record low borrowing costs, which have also helped fuel demand from investors.
Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s city program, said the latest CHSP data suggests that governments should consider who gets to buy. Real estate investing is legal in Canada and has grown in popularity as home prices have jumped and residents look for other ways to earn a living, as well as retirement income.
But Mr. Yan said governments should consider policies to “even the playing field” between someone looking to buy their first home and someone looking for their second or third housing unit.
CHSP was established after the 2017 real estate boom in Toronto and Vancouver. At the time, foreign buying was thought to be behind the rising home prices in the Vancouver region, but there was no comprehensive data. CHSP uses tax filings, land registry data and property assessments for their analysis. The program relies on co-operation from provinces and territories, which is why the data set does not cover the entire country.
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TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
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