TORONTO —
While the COVID-19 pandemic has damaged much of the Canadian economy, there is one market that appears to be thriving: the cottage industry.
Ontario realtor Catharine Inniss of Cottage in Muskoka Real Estate told CTV New Channel on Sunday that the cottage market in the province has “been really, really speedy” in the last few months.
“We had a delayed market for a while but now it has completely sped up and surpassed every other year though that real estate has been in existence up here,” Inniss said in an interview from her home in Port Carling, Ont.
Inniss, who represents the Muskoka, Haliburton, Orillia and Perry Sound regions, said she started to see a surge in May of people living in the Toronto area expressing interest in buying cottages.
“We were hearing that there was pent up demand. It’s been a seller’s market, meaning that there are not enough properties for the number of buyers that we have for the last several years, but it’s just been more extreme this year,” Inniss explained.
However, Inniss said she expected the increase in cottage purchases this year.
“We were hearing stories about people living in condos in the city, and not being able to get out anywhere to a public park, even being concerned about walking on the sidewalk so we thought if anybody’s been thinking about it, then now would be the time that they would be pursuing buying a cottage,” Inniss said.
With many people now working from home, Inniss said they’ve realized they can now work from anywhere as long as they have a decent Wi-Fi connection.
“There’s so much more telecommuting now, I think employers have gotten past the idea that it’s not productive and found out that it’s very productive,” Inniss said. “So people might be turning to having a place that they can come to on occasion in Toronto, in a city, and then living up here [in cottage country].”
Inniss said the uncertainty of the stock market amid the pandemic has also pushed Canadians to reconsider what they are investing their money in.
“I think people started thinking that they want something more solid and being able to enjoy your investment and live and work in your investment,” she explained.
While purchasing any property may still be out of reach for those financially impacted by the pandemic, Inniss said Canadians’ travel budgets could provide the start of a down payment.
She added that a halt on travel also has Canadians looking to spend more time exploring their own backyard.
“They’re interested in the experience of enjoying the Canadian forest, our beautiful lakes… the whole experience, and they also are wondering what they will be doing with their travel budget,” Inniss said. “It’s a question mark when people will be able to travel again and I think people are looking at investing in real estate here rather than further south.”
For those currently looking to purchase a property in cottage country, Inniss recommends potential buyers work with a realtor in the area, rather than an agent from the city.
“We hear lots of sad stories and sometimes horror stories about [people] bringing in agents from other areas that don’t know how to go about being successful in real estate purchases here,” Inniss said.
“If you have an association with an agent say in the city or wherever you live, then you could always get a referral to an agent. They can help you do your homework and find a good agent here.”
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.
