Real eState

Cannabis retailers have little effect on real estate – Clinton News Record

Published

5 years ago

January 18, 2020

While larger players in the budding cannabis industry produce high volumes of pot, small-scale growers hope to produce high-quality cannabis in smaller quantities.

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Canada’s largest cannabis producers are being credited with micro-booms in some local economies and the trickle-down effects are visible in nearby housing sales and price increases. This trend is more pronounced in Eastern Canada, where there are a greater number of large-scale cannabis producers.

The trend in the west is a much heavier influx of cannabis retailers, led by Alberta, where the provincial government has allowed private industry to lead the way. While cannabis storefronts were met with resistance in some markets across Canada, the expected backlash didn’t transpire or manifest itself with negative impacts on residential real estate.

Calgary alone has more than 50 retail locations and Greater Vancouver has 23, compared to Toronto’s six storefronts. None of these markets have seen a meaningful impact on real estate activity or values, despite the results of a Re/Max consumer survey, which found that 65 percent of Canadians would not like to live near cannabis retail stores.

However, a poll of Re/Max brokers reveals 21 percent of Canadians already live in proximity to legal cannabis retail, and 72 percent say living near one is not a factor in their decision to move.

Calgary’s 50-plus cannabis retail locations have opened their doors over the course of the past year. The residential market has not been affected by the presence of cannabis retail, with many of the stores being located on busier commercial streets. Similarly, cannabis retail stores are not yet a factor for prospective home buyers. While marijuana legalization has not directly impacted home sales or values here, Calgary’s residential market is currently challenged due to other economic factors that are unique to the region.

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Real eState

Mortgage rule changes will help spark demand, but supply is ‘core’ issue: economist

Published

1 day ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Real eState

National housing market in ‘holding pattern’ as buyers patient for lower rates: CREA

Published

2 days ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Real eState

Two Quebec real estate brokers suspended for using fake bids to drive up prices

Published

1 week ago

September 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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