Real eState
China completes landmark national real estate registration system
BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) – China has finished building a national and unified system for real estate registration, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, in a landmark move that will boost transparency in ownership.
In 2014, China issued rules requiring real estate owners to register their holdings with authorities but faced heavy resistance from local governments unwilling to open up their books.
A unified real estate database for the entire country is seen as vital for the central government to regulate the housing market and also force corrupt local officials to disclose multiple properties purchased with illicit funds, industry experts say.
China has completed the system after 10 years of hard work, Xinhua reported, citing Minister of Natural Resources Wang Guanghua at a work conference.
More than 790 million real estate registration certificates have been issued nationwide over the past decade, according to state television.
A unified real estate registration system with a national database of information on ownership would also pave the way for China to implement a property tax in the future.
Real eState
Mortgage rule changes will help spark demand, but supply is ‘core’ issue: economist
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Real eState
National housing market in ‘holding pattern’ as buyers patient for lower rates: CREA
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Real eState
Two Quebec real estate brokers suspended for using fake bids to drive up prices
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
-
News16 hours ago
Alberta Premier Smith aims to help fund private school construction
-
Media4 hours ago
Sutherland House Experts Book Publishing Launches To Empower Quiet Experts
-
News4 hours ago
Quebec won’t fund graphite mine project tied to Pentagon; locals claim ‘victory’
-
News16 hours ago
Nurse-patient ratios at B.C. hospitals set to expand in fall, says health minister
-
Economy16 hours ago
N.B. election: Parties’ answers on treaty rights, taxes, Indigenous participation
-
News16 hours ago
Nova Scotia NDP accuse government of prioritizing landlord profits over renters
-
News16 hours ago
Health Minister Mark Holland appeals to Senate not to amend pharmacare bill
-
News16 hours ago
Flames re-sign defenceman Ilya Solovyov, centre Cole Schwindt