Ottawa announces $1.5-billion in funding for rental builds, $100-million for new construction technology
In the latest in a series of housing pledges ahead of the federal budget, the Trudeau government is launching a $1.5-billion fund to acquire existing apartment buildings, write Rachelle Younglai and Erin Anderssen. The Canada Rental Protection Fund is designed to save thousands of rental units from being sold and turned into higher-priced market units at a time when the cost of housing is far out of reach for low-income Canadian residents. Ottawa has also pledged $100-million towards supporting new and existing home building projects that focus on new materials and methods to construct new housing in the country. The Trudeau government has been under pressure to improve Canada’s increasingly unaffordable housing market.
Home prices could reach peak levels by next year, set new highs in 2026, CMHC report shows
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. forecasts that despite an increase in rental housing coming on the market in 2023, supply is not forecast to keep up with demand, leading to higher rents and lower vacancy rates in the coming years. According to the report, affordability in the home ownership market will also be a concern for the next three years, as declining mortgage rates and the country’s strongest population growth since the 1950s will likely spur a rebound in home sales and prices.
Photos and AI renderings of 194R Chatham Ave., Toronto.Re/Max Hallmark Realty Ltd.
In some real estate listings, AI renderings make it hard to distinguish what’s real
A Toronto real estate listing with fantastical renderings generated by artificial intelligence has raised questions about what the limits are for digital photo manipulation, writes Shane Dingman. There were 21 photos in the original listing for the single storey Toronto garage: six show the actual building in its current state of bare brick and wood under peeling paint, and 15 show elaborate renderings depicting it as a residential or commercial space, generated by AI. Some images invent new spaces – pushing out the walls to create nooks for furniture – while others replace wooden rafters with steel beams and frankly an absurd amount of ductwork. The issue is when does “virtual” start to become misleading? Though Ontario real estate policy requires professionals to avoid misrepresenting a property, the meaning of the policy is often left to interpretation.
Rob Carrick: Retirees in debt have found an expensive way to get relief
An upstart player in reverse mortgages has a novel idea for broadening its business – give people credit card-style convenience in tapping their home equity, writes personal finance columnist Rob Carrick. The Bloom Home Equity Prepaid Mastercard from Bloom Finance Co. is designed for people who want to occasionally supplement their household income. Pay for something with the card and the amount is added to your reverse mortgage. The cost of this convenience is substantial. While there are no monthly payments on a reverse mortgage, a hefty interest bill quietly accumulates in the background and must be paid along with the principal when you sell.
A hard truth for real estate preconstruction buyers, as values haven’t caught up to expectations
Preconstruction purchasers of houses and condo units are facing the challenge of closing on a deal they signed when the real estate market was on a high and mortgage rates were at historic lows, writes Carolyn Ireland. While sales of condo units on the resale market have perked up in recent weeks, woes continue for buyers who bought preconstruction in the heady days between 2020 and 2022. Some are home buyers who struggle to line up the financing they need, while others are investors who are reluctant to take ownership of a property only to sell it at a significant loss. In certain cases, experts say, the market had soured to the point where the original buyer is willing to walk away from a deposit, and builders are then trying to find a new buyer.
Home of the week: A home of retreats, both outdoor and underwater
Home of the Week, 70A Hillside Dr., TorontoLukas Peters Photography
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This three-bedroom home at the edge of Toronto’s Don Valley was built with energy-efficiency in mind. Built in 2019 by the previous owner, who owns a company that specializes in water-based heating tech, the home features water heating throughout the floors, driveway, and garage. Most of the main level is styled in brilliant white or light grey, with an ultra-modern kitchen stocked with brushed metal appliances. The property has its own unique elements as well, including a glass-enclosed elevator and a huge, 30,000-litre freshwater aquarium — though it has never had fish. The best feature is the rooftop terrace, split between a glassed-in solarium and an open air deck, with sweeping views of the Don Valley.
What do you think is the asking price for the property?
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.
