NORTH PERTH – At the June 19 meeting, North Perth Clerk Lindsay Cline made a presentation to council surrounding the municipality’s sign bylaw.
“North Perth’s Sign Bylaw was adopted in 2011 and is a set of regulations governing signs within the municipality. The purpose of this by-law is to ensure that signs are appropriate in their size, number and location, are compatible with their surroundings, enhance the aesthetic qualities and visual character of the municipality, and do not create distractions or safety hazards for pedestrians and motorists,” explained Cline in her report.
There are a wide range of sign types that are regulated currently through the bylaw. These include real estate signs, advertising properties for sale, rent or lease. The current bylaw regulates real estate signs located on the property that is for sale, rent or lease, but the bylaw is “silent” on directional signs placed on streets advertising properties that are for sale or sold, as well as open houses.
“By-law enforcement staff have received concerns and complaints from representatives working in the real estate industry regarding the lack of clarity around regulations related to real estate directional signs and that these signs are cluttering boulevards and are causing negative aesthetic qualities and safety hazards within the municipality,” explained the report.
Therefore, staff drafted an amendment to the sign bylaw to address these concerns. The amendment proposed the following regulations: Defining “open house directional sign” as a temporary portable sign intended to direct the public to an open house for a residence that is for sale or lease; a maximum of three open house directional signs shall be permitted per open house; open house directional signs shall be placed only during the day of the open house and removed when the open house has concluded; for sale, rent or lease signs shall be removed within 30 days after the property is no longer for sale, rent or lease or within 30 days after the property is advertised as sold, whichever occurs first; and directional signs located on the road right-of-way advertising properties for sale, rent or lease or properties that have been sold are not permitted.
“Staff are of the opinion that limiting real estate directional signs to those advertising open houses and not properties for sale, rent or lease or properties that have been sold is warranted. Anecdotally, websites, apps and other technology are the most common methods to advertise and locate properties for sale and rent, rather than physical signage,” expressed the report.
Further, the manager of development and protective services was consulted in drafting the bylaw amendment and met with representatives from two local real estate firms to discuss these proposed changes. The bylaw amendment was passed at the June 19 meeting and therefore staff will communicate these changes with the other real estate firms who conduct their business in North Perth.
Melissa Dunphy, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Listowel Banner
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.
