The unit has an open-concept kitchen with stainless-steel appliances.Winsold Real Estate Photography
Two days before the launch of this one-bedroom suite in January, agent Ben Scholes was unpleasantly surprised when a nearly identical unit surfaced in the same building. However, it didn’t take long to see that the competition may have in fact driven buyers down to his unit.
“There had been nothing for sale in that building for quite some time, and days before we put ours out, another unit came out,” said Mr. Scholes. “[It was] one floor above, but it was finished differently.”
“It’s favourable when there’s more than one unit in a building,” he said, “because you can take [clients] to two places that are comparable.”
The other unit sold for its full list price of $399,900. This one sold for $30,100 more thanks in part to its long list of improvements.
“With our upgraded appliances, new kitchen cabinets and other upgrades made, it made sense we both got what we got,” Mr. Scholes said.
“The epoxy countertops are unusual and different, and there are a lot of built-in mirrors and tile, so you feel like you’re in a suite at Caesars Palace.”
It has a combined living and dining area with pot lights and an electric fireplace.Winsold Real Estate Photography
This east-facing unit is part of the Glen Valley community of three high-rises built around 1970. It was remodeled by the past two owners and now has an open-concept kitchen with stainless-steel appliances and a combined living and dining area with pot lights and an electric fireplace.
There’s also a three-piece bathroom and laundry machines.
Monthly fees of $672 cover heating, water, cable and use of an indoor pool.
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.
