A listing for a mansion in Vancouver’s Shaughnessy neighbourhood promises everything from a “bespoke golf simulator room” to a garage that’s a “veritable cornucopia of delights” – but the property taxes alone will cost you more than the city’s median household income.
“It’s such an iconic build – it really is the whole package,” realtor and CEO Faith Wilson told CTV News.
The 26,581-square-foot home was built in 2012 and has two levels, five bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, a gym, a cabana and an outdoor games court.
It also boasts an ozone swimming pool – a pool that uses ozone to kill bacteria instead of chlorine – and plenty of privacy provided by hedges and trees.
“And it’s on a corner lot, so you have one neighbour,” Wilson added.
(faithwilson | Christie’s International Real Estate)
A dedicated website for the property, dubbed Minto Estate, describes it as a “paradise” and a “pleasuredome,” designed by award-winning architect Cedric Burgers.
“This home is a work of art, balancing ease of living with the epitome of sophistication. It is a property like no other,” the site reads.
And what makes the four-car garage so delightful?
The 1,400-square-foot space features “the ultimate in flooring that is both abrasion and UV resistant,” along with a wall-mounted storage system that’s depicted carrying everything from skis to golf clubs to snow shovels to tennis rackets.
(faithwilson | Christie’s International Real Estate)
The property taxes for 2021 came to just over $88,000 – about $6,000 more than the median household income in Vancouver, according to the most recent census data.
Wilson said these kinds of properties tend to attract everyone from titans of industry to celebrities to “old money,” from both Canada and abroad.
“I’ve got people looking at this property from Vancouver and elsewhere,” she said. “Canada’s looked at as a safe haven, I would say – it’s a very popular place to come to.”
(faithwilson | Christie’s International Real Estate)
There are currently more than dozen mansions for sale for eight figures in Shaughnessy, something Wilson said is not especially unusual for an area marked by so many luxury properties.
According to data from the city, most residents are married and have a post-secondary education. The neighbourhood’s median income is nearly double that of the city as a whole.
With files from CTV News’ Kendra Mangione
(faithwilson | Christie’s International Real Estate)
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
