The Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Aviva Investors are jointly funding a new office building in Cambridge, England.
The six-storey building has been fully pre-let to a flexible workspace provider, according to a press release that noted construction is expected to be completed in 2023. It’s the latest investment in Cambridge real estate by the partnership, which agreed in November 2019 to invest up to £250 million in commercial property across the 26-acre CB1 Estate.
“The continuation of our partnership with Aviva Investors in Cambridge reflects our confidence in the city’s long-term performance potential as a centre of innovation,” said Stéphane Jalbert, managing director for Europe and Asia Pacific real estate investments at the PSP, in the release. “Cambridge’s world-leading education and research institutions act as a hub and anchor for the artificial intelligence and life science disciplines, making the region a key knowledge cluster driving future performance.”
In other investment news, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s finance trust is issuing a €750 million 10-year green bond.
An amount equal to the net proceeds from this issuance will be allocated to assets that are environmentally and socially responsible and tackle critical issues like climate change, according to a press release. This marks the inaugural green bond issued under the Ontario Teachers’ green bond framework.
“We believe a transition to a net-zero economy is underway,” said Ziad Hindo, chief investment officer at the Ontario Teachers,’ in the release. “This is expected to bring a host of attractive investments to Ontario Teachers’ that enable and support this transition, with the objective of earning strong risk-adjusted returns while also having a positive impact. OTFT’s green bond issuance allows us to access capital to support the much-needed investments to transition towards a sustainable future.”
Meanwhile, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, through its wholly-owned subsidiary CPPIB Credit Investments Inc., is committing US$98 million to a bilateral financing transaction in India.
The transaction will support a strategic investment by JSW Projects Ltd. in iron producer BMM Ispat Ltd. and represents the first direct onshore credit exposure in India by the CPPIB, according to a press release.
“The transaction marks a significant milestone for CPP Investments’ credit investment program in India,” said Raymond Chan, the organization’s managing director and head of Asia Pacific credit, in the release. “Emerging markets are a significant part of our long-term strategy and India is a key component of that. We see great opportunities in providing long-term, stable capital to finance India’s growth cycle.”
And the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is part of a consortium of global investors contributing to an $800-million capital raise by Inigo Ltd., a new insurance group.
The funds will provide a capital base for Inigo to open, subject to approvals, in 2021, said a press release. The consortium also includes Enstar Group Ltd., J.C. Flowers & Co., Oak Hill Advisors, Qatar Investment Authority, Stone Point Capital and Inigo’s management team.
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.
