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Pollievre proposes new housing bill and more Canadian real estate news for September 23

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OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre introduced a private member’s bill in the House of Commons Wednesday that outlines a plan to address the national housing crisis.The bill, which is unlikely to pass, centres around using federal infrastructure and transit spending to push cities to build more homes.

It proposes requiring cities to increase home building by 15 per cent each year to receive their usual infrastructure spending.

Cities that fail to meet that target would see a decrease in the federal dollars they receive, while those that exceed it would get additional money.

Funding for transit projects would also only be given to cities when high-density housing is constructed and occupied around transit stations.

Housing experts, advocates and industry groups generally agree that municipalities place many barriers to new developments, and city councils are often swayed by anti-development sentiment.

For Poilievre, tying federal funds to housing results at the municipal level is the central way to address the housing crisis.

The Liberals are also planning to use federal funds to push cities to build more homes through their recently launched Housing Accelerator Fund. That fund, however, only gives cities additional money and doesn’t involve withholding money from cities.

While introducing his bill in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Poilievre characterized the Liberal fund as more bureaucracy.

“(Trudeau’s) got a program that will add even more bureaucracy has taken a year and a half to make its first announcement and it hasn’t built a single home,” Poilievre said.

He contrasts that with his plan, which offers a “simple mathematical formula” to reward — or punish — cities.

“It is common sense of the common people,” Poilievre said.

The Conservative proposal would reallocate $100 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund to give additional money to communities that greatly exceed the housing targets.

Conservatives have explained that the bill would also give Canadians the ability to complain to the federal government about municipalities standing in the way of new developments, creating a new federal complaint process. The federal government would then withhold additional funding if the complaint is legitimate.

Murtaza Haider, a professor of data science and real estate management at Toronto Metropolitan University, said he generally likes the Conservative approach of limiting government bureaucracy and singling out cities as “gatekeepers” who are blocking developments.

“What Pierre Poilievre is offering is the typical right-wing thinking where they think that less government is better. And I am of the view that perhaps that is the preferred mode that we should be thinking about,” Haider said.

While he applauded the idea of giving extra funding that’s tied to housing results, Haider cautioned against cutting infrastructure spending for cities that don’t meet the targets.

“I find troubling that they would (withhold) infrastructure funding for municipalities (if) for one reason or the other, they are unable to meet the target,” Haider said. “I think this is going a little too far.”

Haider said withholding funding could lead to even bigger housing shortages, if cities aren’t able to move forward with necessary infrastructure projects.

“I believe that at the end of the day, the feds should always be there for necessary infrastructure, irrespective of what happened in the housing file,” he said.

The bill also proposes removing GST charges off rental developments that offer below-market rent prices, which stands in contrast with the Liberals’ plan to remove the tax off all rental developments.

Carolyn Whitzman, a housing expert and adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa, said she supports using both carrots and sticks to incentivize cities to build more homes.

But she said limiting the GST exemption to below-market rental developments would add an unnecessary layer of complexity.

“I’m sorry to say that GST is not the place where I would put on the layer of bureaucracy,” she said.

Whitzman also noted the absence of a plan to address the need to drastically increase the stock of social housing.

Below-market rentals, she said, would not necessarily be affordable enough for those who need deeply affordable housing.

“We haven’t heard anything on non-market housing. We haven’t heard anything on supportive housing, we haven’t heard anything on long-term care. We haven’t heard anything on the kind of housing that is most in need at the moment,” Whitzman said.

Scotiabank released a report early this year calling for doubling the social housing stock in the country in order to bring it in line with the OECD average.

Other tenets of the plan include selling off 15 per cent of federal buildings and land for housing development, and going after bonuses and compensation of executives at the Canada Mortgage Housing Corp. for delayed approvals and missed home-building targets.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2023.

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Greater Toronto home sales jump in October after Bank of Canada rate cuts: board

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TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.

The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.

“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.

New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.

In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.

The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.

“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.

“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”

He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.

“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.

“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”

All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.

Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.

“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

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HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

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Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

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Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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