NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario, Feb. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Are you ready for the new REALiTY? Hosted by the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), REALiTY 2020 boldly confronts the big issues impacting real estate today and previews what is coming down the road. It’s all happening at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls on February 25-27.
“With game-changing technologies, leading Canadian companies and brands looking to expand into the Canadian market, REALiTY serves as a premier meeting place for REALTORS®, allied industry professionals and fans of real estate,” said Tim Hudak, OREA CEO. “Will we recognize the face of Canadian real estate in a year or two? That’s the big question we’ll answer at REALiTY 2020.”
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
More than 70 speakers are scheduled to take the stage, including:
Molly Bloom, entrepreneur and author of her memoir, Molly’s Game
Kortney Wilson, co-host of HGTV’s Masters of Flip
Seth Godin, best-selling author and member of the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame
Chris Voss, former FBI negotiator and CEO of Black Swan Group
Rob Hahn, founder and Managing Partner of 7DS Associates
Major companies backed by big investment dollars and looking to expand in Canada will take the stage, including:
Redfin, Compass and eXp Realty who will talk about their plans for Canada
HomeServices of America (Berkshire Hathaway) CEO Gino Blefari who will preview plans for the second largest real estate company in the USA to become a player north of the border
A fireside chat with Miles Nadal, founder and executive chairman of Canada’s Peerage Capital Group, which has over $7B in assets across Real Estate Services, Real Estate Groups, and Financial Services
REALiTY 2020 will tackle some of the biggest questions in Canadian real estate from emerging industry players, including:
Properly, Opendoor and Zillow, addressing where and how the iBuyer model will evolve in Canada
Purplebricks Canada National Director, Randall Weese, discussing myths and realities of the company’s business model
Deloitte Director of Research, Duncan Stewart discussing how AI and 5G networks will impact real estate
Setter, Parkbench and Key Living, uncovering their visions for the future of real estate tech
Canadian real estate leaders will also be returning to share new insights and their voice of experience, including:
Raising the Bar – Professionalism in the Industry with Chris Alexander, EVP RE/MAX Integra
The Up and Outer Markets where Todd C. Slater, President of The Simple Investor, will look at outer markets that will have the greatest growth over the next 10 years
The YPN Power Panel, featuring savvy REALTORS® from Century 21, Royal LePage and RE/MAX sharing their advice to stand out in the marketplace and discussing emerging trends
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.