Real eState
Toronto Regional Real Estate Board Provides Input on Government Economic Recovery Initiatives, Recommends Caution With Real Estate Market Stimulus – GlobeNewswire
TORONTO, July 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) has submitted formal input to all levels of government on options for economic recovery initiatives. While TRREB has set out a list of specific policy options, its key message is to use caution in implementing demand-side real estate market stimulus.
“Current real estate indicators are showing a substantial recovery in the GTA real estate market. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a great deal of pent-up demand in the market. This pent-up demand arguably increased further over the past three months. We are still in the early days of recovery, but barring any setbacks, we should continue to see stronger market conditions in the second half of 2020 as households look to satisfy their ownership housing needs,” said Lisa Patel, TRREB President. “Housing affordability in the GTA should continue to be a priority for policy makers and the best way to address this is by ensuring adequate and appropriate housing supply, rather than demand-side initiatives,” added Patel.
TRREB’s recommendations are outlined in a detailed policy brief that was submitted to local, provincial, and federal governments. With regard to housing supply, TRREB’s key recommendation is for all governments to expedite the creation of “missing middle” housing, including expediting the City of Toronto’s consideration of expanding “yellow belt” housing opportunities. The “yellow belt” refers to the 35 per cent of City of Toronto land where 70 per cent is currently zoned for detached homes. A recent city report was released in response to a City Council direction to report on options to increase “missing middle” housing options.
TRREB’s Economic Recovery Initiatives brief also outlines recent market statistics, which show a significant rebound in the GTA real estate market since the start of the pandemic. It also outlines results of recent research conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, which shows that home buying intentions remain stable and that the supply of homes listed for sale could continue to be outpaced by demand.
“Governments should approach with caution when considering any additional demand-side stimulus to the GTA real estate market. Current conditions suggest that there is adequate demand in the market; however, if there is a setback such as a sustained second wave of the pandemic or a prolonged recession, governments could consider additional measures, which we have noted in our submission,” said John DiMichele, TRREB CEO.
TRREB has outlined a number of initiatives that could be considered if economic conditions worsen, including:
- Municipal and Provincial Land Transfer Tax holidays/deferrals, rate adjustments, and expanded rebates for first-time buyers;
- Property Tax deferrals;
- Postponement of consideration of potential Vacancy Taxes;
- Adjustments to the Mortgage Stress Test;
- Allow 30-year amortizations for insured mortgages; and
- Adjustments and expansion of the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan.
“TRREB has been working closely with all levels of government to provide up-to-date data on the state of the real estate market. We will continue to do so to help decision-makers respond to the current state of affairs in an informed way,” continued DiMichele.
Media Inquiries:
Mary Gallagher,
Senior Manager, Public Affairs
maryg@trebnet.net
416-443-8158
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board is Canada’s largest real estate board with more than 56,000 residential and commercial professionals connecting people, property and communities.
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Real eState
The real estate sector's unique view of 2024 — and what's to come – Yahoo Finance
This is The Takeaway from today’s Morning Brief, which you can sign up to receive in your inbox every morning along with:
Despite a rough few days for the S&P 500, which is still comfortably in the green this year (up 6%), one sector of the stock market is feeling more pain than the rest.
The perception that rates might stay higher for longer is hammering the real estate sector, even as debate rages about how many times — if any — the Federal Reserve will cut rates this year.
The group is far and away the worst performer in the S&P 500 for 2024, down more than 10%. The bulk of those declines have come in the past two weeks, as Treasury yields have climbed to their highest level since November and investors traverse the acceptance phase that the hoped-for cuts are not on their way.
Now investors are faced with the question of whether to buy the dip or, to quote another market cliché, risk trying to catch a falling knife.
One real estate investor said the rent indicators she’s seeing in real time are encouraging on the inflation front. That’s in contrast to the much-criticized rental barometers that the Fed relies on.
“If you take into account real-time shelter costs, it’s much lower than what’s in the prints,” Uma Moriarity, senior investment strategist at CenterSquare, told Yahoo Finance. “We think inflation is trending in the right direction.”
That’s why she’s still confident in three rate cuts this year — a view, of course, that the market has been moving away from. It’s also why she’s still confident in real estate. That, plus the fact that stocks are relatively cheap.
Read more: What the Fed rate decision means for loans and mortgages
The reasons that real estate stocks suffer when rates are on the rise are twofold. First off, the companies tend to carry a lot of debt, and as rates go higher, it becomes more difficult to service or refinance that debt. Secondly, with relatively high dividend yields, the stocks compete with instruments like money market funds for investing dollars.
It’s traditionally been tough for real estate stocks to rally in the face of rising rates. But if Moriarty — and Citigroup — are right, they might not be rising for as long as the broader market anticipates.
Julie Hyman is the co-anchor of Yahoo Finance Live, weekdays 9 a.m.-11 a.m. ET. Follow her on Twitter @juleshyman, and read her other stories.
Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Real eState
Celebrity real estate agent Mauricio Umansky explains when housing prices will come down – Fox Business
Real eState
Real Estate Stocks Fall As Mortgage Rates Rise To 4-Month Highs: 'Inflation Is Proving Tougher To Bring D – Benzinga
Real estate stocks slid at Wednesday’s market open, weighed down by the latest disappointing data on housing starts and a spike in mortgage rates, darkening the outlook for the sector.
By 9:00 a.m. EST, the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund XLRE had dropped by 0.3%. This marked its fourth consecutive day of losses and set a course for its lowest close since the end of November 2023.
The fund has also slipped below its 200-day moving average, a critical long-term benchmark, signaling that investor sentiment has turned negative.
The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with loan balances up to $766,550 climbed by 12 basis points to 7.13% for the week ending Apr. 12, 2024, according to the latest figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association. This rate is the highest recorded since early December.
On Wednesday, the yield on a 30-year Treasury bond, a key benchmark for long-term mortgage rates, traded at 4.75%, at the highest since mid-November 2023, as Fed Chair Powell admitted that there has been a lack of progress in the disinflation trend.
Chart: Real Estate Stocks Fall Below Key Long-Term Moving Average As Inflation Bites Again
Weaknesses In Multifamily Segment Continue
Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist, explained the rise in rates, stating, “Rates increased for the second consecutive week, driven by incoming data indicating that the economy remains strong and inflation is proving tougher to bring down.”
Despite the uptick in mortgage rates, there was a 3.3% week-over-week increase in the Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume.
Kan further noted, “Application activity picked up, possibly as some borrowers decided to act in case rates continue to rise. Purchase applications were the primary driver of this increase, although they are still about 10% lower than last year’s levels. There was a slight uptick in refinance applications, mainly due to a 3% rise in conventional applications.”
Chart: US 30-Year Mortgage Rates Rose To The Highest Level Since Late November
The real estate market’s challenges are linked to affordability and a shrinking availability as the supply of new homes falls.
Andrew Foran, an economist at Toronto Dominion Securities, commented on the trend in home building, “Homebuilding activity moderated in March as weakness in the multifamily segment persisted and the single-family segment gave back most of its considerable gain from the prior month.”
Data revealed a 14.7% month-over-month decline in housing starts in March, with the figures dropping to 1.32 million annualized units, significantly below the anticipated 1.49 million.
Both the single-family and multifamily sectors experienced declines, with single-family starts down by 12.4% (or 145,000 units) and multifamily starts plummeting by 21.7% (or 83,000 units). This retreat in multifamily starts marked the lowest level since April 2020.
Additionally, residential permits decreased more than expected in March, falling by 4.3% month-over-month to 1.46 million annualized units. This included a 5.7% drop in single-family permits—the first decline in fifteen months—and a 1.2% reduction in multifamily permits.
Rising & Falling
The weakest performers among real estate stocks with a market cap of at least $1 billion on Wednesday were:
Name | 1-day %chg |
---|---|
Prologis, Inc. PLD | -6.55% |
First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. FR | -3.33% |
STAG Industrial, Inc. STAG | -2.89% |
EastGroup Properties, Inc. EGP | -2.89% |
Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. REXR | -2.35% |
Those showing the highest gains were:
Name | 1-day %chg |
---|---|
SL Green Realty Corp. SLG | 3.18% |
Opendoor Technologies Inc. OPEN | 2.55% |
Medical Properties Trust, Inc. MPW | 2.49% |
eXp World Holdings, Inc. EXPI | 2.32% |
Vornado Realty Trust VNO | 2.25% |
Now Read: Best REITs to Buy in April
Image: Midjourney
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© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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