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Why ? Because where else can you find things like this one … ? North Toronto ‘fixer upper’ gets 72 offers, goes for 195 per cent of asking Spring real estate market has sprung: House goes for $1.3 million — almost double its $699,000 list price Boys, this is only a ‘fixer upper’, and for those who are not sure what these two words mean … It means this is a rundown crappy rotten unsafe inhabitable junk that no insurance company will likely want to insure … Okay, simply, it’s not a “home”. SUE PIGG / TORONTO STAR  This five-bedroom fixer upper on Glencairn Ave. in the Yonge and Lawrence area attracted a record 72 offers Sunday night and sold for almost double its lowball $699,000 list price. As bidding wars go, it was the ultimate battle and a warning for frantic buyers bracing for  spring market : A five-bedroom detached house in the Yonge and Lawrence area has sold for almost double its $699,000 list price, with 72 offers. “We expected in the $1.1 million range, but the market pushed i

SOLD – 70 Summerhill Gardens – SUMMERHILL Earlier this month, this 2 bedroom, 2 bathoom house at 70 Summerhill Gardens was put on the market.It was a 1,700 square foot (including the basement) row house located on a 14 x 105 foot ravine lot with no parking. And it was done. I don’t love all the design choices like the stone wall and the dark stairs, but the living room has great built-ins and fireplace.  And though I would have preferred a lighter kitchen, I still like it. It was listed at $1,479,000. It sold (if memory serves me right)… For $1,479,000. A 2 bedroom row house with no parking right near the train tracks. Ahhh…Summerhill. P.S.  I don’t really get that basement walk out to the street. What’s For Sales In the market for… a house with two-car parking? Parking doesn’t come cheap in this town, which is a problem for those who need a set of wheels to get around. These four houses each boast at least two spots. The Queensway Asking price: $409,000 Sold for: $510,000 The draw: Si

Here what $400K buys you in the real estate market across Canada or this one … Probably not this one. Not kidding you … You can’t even get an apartment for $400K in most cities. Not in Canada. Real estate is good as gold in the Great White North. Don’t own a home? Sorry, you just gotta suck it up. Got $700,000 to burn ? $700,000 can have you living like a prince or a pauper Canadian real estate is a funny thing. In Moncton, $700,000 will buy you a castle. Here’s what it will buy elsewhere. Is there anything more mystifying than the cost of real estate across our great nation? Take Castle Manor (pictured here), a sprawling 19,000-sq-ft stronghold situated in Moncton, N.B. Recently listed at $699,000, this historic property’s sale has sparked national interest. Sure, the aging fortress may require some upgrades but as its agent boasts: “Amazing potential!” MoneySense  scoured the rest of the country to see what other kinds of unique real estate deals potential homebuyers could purchase w

The new way Toronto condo developers are saving space Prepare to duck. RealNet Canada Inc. released its latest stats for new condos in Toronto last week, and the numbers showed that the average size of a unit has shrunk to about 797 square feet, from closer to 900 square feet five years ago. Typical bird eye’s view of Canadian condo in 2020 ?

Here are the facts … Consumer confidence rises to 3-year high on  real estate bnn.ca Canadian consumer confidence surged to the highest in more than three years amid rising optimism over the outlook for real estate and the economy. The Bloomberg Nanos Confidence Index climbed to 60.0 in the week ended April 18 from 59.0 the previous … Canadian Consumer Confidence Rises to 3-Year High on Real Estate   Businessweek Real estate  bidding wars heating up in Toronto CBC.ca Toronto’s real estate bidding wars are reaching a fever pitch. Some of Canada’s largest banks are offering low mortgage lending rates, and many people looking to move from condos and rentals into family homes in the city are capitalizing on fixed … Move fast, bid hard: The new buyers’ rules in  Toronto’s  sellers’ market The Globe and Mail That’s the way of Toronto’s real estate market in the spring of 2014: competition for detached houses in prime neighbourhoods has escalated into fierce combat.

Canada maybe the second largest landmass on earth, but she will have to follow the trend of third world cities such as Mumbai where families live in condos or slums. Need proof ? About one-quarter of people in Greater Vancouver now live in condos, that’s the trend of Commie cities … Welcome to the new realm of Centimeter Condo (soon it will not be practical to measure them in square meter …) Apparently, that’s the new reality. Now, it makes Rob Ford’s “homeland” Jamaica really sounds like the lost paradise – Atlantis. Toronto condo  sales soar despite concerns of a crash The Globe and Mail Sales of new condos in the Toronto area last month hit the highest level ever for the month of March, according to research firm RealNet Canada Inc., as buyers remained active in one of the country’s most worrisome markets. While the country’s housing market is just digging itself out of a winter slump, sales of new condos in Toronto have been ramping up. That’s despite the fact that Toronto condos

Average Price For A Single-Family Home In Toronto Passes $1 Million Economists are coming out with warnings that Canada’s real estate juggernaut is about to come to an end (Scotiabank’s Adrienne Warren is just the latest) and others keep fretting about Canada’s record-high household debt levels, but Toronto residents don’t seem to be listening. Home sales in the country’s largest metro area roared back to life in the first quarter of 2014, according to data from Realnet Canada, with total sales jumping 60 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Condo sales were up 68 per cent and low-rise homes up 51 per cent. And numbers from the Toronto Real Estate Board show the city’s housing market has passed a major milestone: It now costs more than $1 million to buy an average single-family home — $1,012,172 to be exact. Prices for standalone homes soared by a stunning 19.2 per cent in the past year. By comparison, condo prices were flat, up 0.2 per cent, to an average of $386,874. These t

Is there a Canadian housing bubble? Judge for yourself. Canada’s addiction to housing debt in 11 charts The state of Canadian housing market is an endless source of debate.  Maclean’s  has engaged in its fair share of speculation about  whether a housing bubble exists  and, if so, when it might pop. But while pundits might not be able to predict a housing bubble, it’s impossible to ignore that housing has become an important share of the Canadian economy in recent years. Homeowners are spending more of their hard-earned money on their homes — from mortgage payments, to home renovations. Housing has also become an increasingly important source of bank profits and financial institutions have been finding novel new ways to make sure those mortgage loans keep flowing. Here are 11 charts that show just how addicted we’ve become to housing debt: Household net worth has been on the rise thanks in large part to rising home values. Home equity has doubled in the past decade, but it has risen fa

Toronto condo  sales soar despite concerns of a crash The Globe and Mail Sales of new condos in the Toronto area last month hit the highest level ever for the month of March, according to research firm RealNet Canada Inc., as buyers remained active in one of the country’s most worrisome markets. Related Condominiums » Toronto condo crash fears fade as record March drives sales up 68% this year Financial Post (blog) New home, condo sales rebound from 2013 slump Toronto Star Toronto condo  market reaches record high for March blogTO (blog) Toronto condo market Condo sales in Toronto reached a record high for March, with buyers snapping up almost 2,500 new units last month, a figure that more than doubles sales a year ago. Toronto Condo  Market Stays Hot Despite Lingering Winter Wall Street Journal (blog) Winter seems determined to linger on in Toronto, but the city’scondo market keeps getting hotter nonetheless. Sales ofcondos in the Greater Toronto Area–which account for several suburba

Canadian real estate and housing boom may be ending, Scotiabank warns ‘More subdued trajectory’ over coming years could impact jobs, renovation industry and consumer confidence, bank report warns. Boom times are over for Canada’s housing sector and the impact of “a more subdued trajectory” will be felt everywhere from construction and home renovation sites to retail stores, a Scotiabank Economics report predicts. Renovation spending, which totalled more than $47 billion in 2013, has reached record levels and become the fastest growing segment of real estate investment as more homeowners took advantage of their rising home values, low interest rates and government tax credits, to spruce up their nest rather than move to a new one. Read more @  http://www.thestar.com/

Toronto home sales expected to be ‘brisk’ this summer Canada’s housing market may be gradually cooling, but Toronto home sales are expected to remain so “brisk” over the coming months, prices could jump seven or eight per cent by the end of this year, says a new report from real estate giant ReMax. RE/MAX report finds Canada’s real-estate market poised for robust spring and … Today RE/MAX released its Spring Market Trends Report, showcasing key housing market trends in 24 residential real estate markets across Canada. An unusually harsh winter delayed the start of the spring real estate …   SOLD – 32 Monarch Park Avenue – GREENWOOD-COXWELL A couple of weeks ago, I posted a 3+1 bedroom, 2 bathroom semi on a 20 x 100 foot lot with 2 parking spots and a garage at 136 Monarch Park Avenue. It didn’t have a lot of storage or super high ceilings, but it was a really good house in a good location. It had been listed at $599,000 and sold for $741,000. This house is basically the same house, but

Canada’s real estate markets are famously varied, ranging from the intergalactically expensive to the almost unreasonably affordable, but the infographic below really brings this home. Check this out. Cheapest house in #Vancouver sold for.. http://huff.to/1ia7DNV  pic.twitter.com/LfPgulYjLK The buzz created by Vancouver’s cheapest house when it was listed earlier this month for $599,000 looks like it paid off. The home at 2622 Clark Dr. sold after the first weekend for $643,000, listing realtor Mary Cleaver told The Huffington Post B.C.

Condo developers start 2014 with record number of launches … And more are planned, with new project launches scheduled unusually late, into May, as builders see a surge of pent-up demand after the downturn of the last two years, especially for condos close to the Toronto core. Developers are so optimistic that confidence has returned to the condo market, they’ve launched sales of a record number of new units — more than 2,700 — in January and February alone. Those 2,721 new units are in eight projects, according to figures from research firm RealNet Canada, which will release March launch numbers later this month. That exceeds the 2,394 units in nine projects launched in January and February of 2011, the record year for condo sales. The total is also up significantly from the 1,261 unit sales launched in the first two months of 2012, and the 1,873 units that went to market in the same period of 2013. That’s when fears of a condo crash led to a dramatic slump in sales and flagging inves

Canada Regulator set to release new mortgage rules Canada’s financial regulator is close to releasing a new set of standards for Canada’s mortgage insurers, one that the real-estate industry has worried may chill the market. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ Like we care ? Meanwhile … Sofia Vergara Splashes Out $10.6 Million on This Beverly Hills Panty-Dropping Palace View the Gallery Topping Forbes’ list as TV’s highest paid actress for two years straight sure does come with its perks.So now that Sofia Vergara keeps raking in over $30 million bucks every 365 days, she can afford to buy herself whatever her Colombian heart desires. And that means spending her f-you money on an f-you mansion complete with 3,000-bottle wine cellar, movie theatre and a house made of lavish materials imported all the way from Argentina. The sexy Latina just plunked down $10.6 million on a home that’s her own piece of Italy right in Beverly Hills, according to Trulia . The ginormous 11,400 square foot vi

Yeah, right. Fat Dream … Not in a million years. In Canada, real estate lives on forever. Regulator set to release new mortgage rules Canada’s financial regulator is close to releasing a new set of standards for Canada’s mortgage insurers, one that the real-estate industry has worried may chill the market. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has been working on the guidelines since 2012, after it released a similar set of mortgage lending standards for banks.The standards for banks, known in the industry as guideline B20, pushed lenders to be more cautious in areas such as credit checks on borrowers, document verification and appraisals. They also capped the amount that any individual can borrow on a home equity line of credit at 65 per cent of the home’s value. Many industry players say the standards contributed to the decline of Canadian home sales that occurred in late 2012 and early 2013. The real estate industry has been nervously awaiting the standar

There can be only one truth … Who is telling the truth ? Real estate market turning the corner asCanadian home sellers come out of .. . Royal LePage says in the first-quarter what it calls a standard two-storey house sold for $428,943 across the country, a 5.4% increase from a year ago. Bungalows rose 4.4% in value to $380,765 and condominiums were up 2.5% to $252,174. More @ http://www.theprovince.com/ Pace of housing starts slowed in March: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp OTTAWA — Signs of a cooling in the Canadian housing market piled up on Tuesday as both the pace of housing starts and building permits slowed. More @  http://www.cp24.com/ It was listed at $2,195,000. It sold… For $2,250,000. SOLD – 187 Inglewood Drive – MOORE PARK Two days.That’s how long this 5+1 bedroom, 5 bathroom house on a 37.5 x 139 foot lot at 187 Inglewood Drive in Moore Park was on the market before it sold. And I am not surprised that it sold so fast. It is a great house! It looks like it has recently be

Today, I finally find something earthly befitting the song title “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd … Toronto Home Prices Soar Nearly 8%, Vancouver Sales Also Up The Toronto Real Estate Board says home sales for March totalled 8,081, up 7.2 per cent from a year ago. The increase came as the board also reported the average selling price for the month was $557,684, up almost eight per cent compared with March 2013. “With borrowing costs remaining low, and in fact declining, strong home ownership demand will continue to butt up against a constrained supply of listings,” said Jason Mercer, the board’s senior manager of market analysis. The number of new listings for the month totalled 14,829 compared with 14,618 a year ago. The Toronto sales results followed a report Wednesday that sales in Vancouver also picked up in March. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said Wednesday there were 2,641 homes sold, up from 2,347 a year ago. Read More  http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ Sale

Another Month, Another Price Increase in Toronto Housing Market Buying a home in Canada’s biggest city keeps getting more expensive. The average price of a Toronto house rose about 8% to 557,684 Canadian dollars ($506,985) in March, compared to a year-earlier, the Toronto Real Estate Board said Thursday. That was the sixth straight month that the average price of a home in Toronto was up by more than 7% year-over-year, and yet another sign of just how hot the city’s housing market still is. Those climbing prices come as many observers say Canada’s housing market overall is more likely to hit a soft landing than crash. Toronto’s rising prices reflect a shortage of available homes, according to TREB. That has resulted in stiff competition among home buyers looking for an affordable home. All home types in Toronto saw strong price gains last month. The price of a detached home in the Greater Toronto Area rose 8.3% from last year to C$709,487, while a home in Toronto’s core was 6.8% more e

No collapse in Canada’s condo market, but not much growth either The report is sponsored by Canada’s largest private mortgage default insurer but it shows a relatively flat condo market in Canada’s eight largest market for high rises. Genworth Canada and the Conference Board of Canada forecast prices rising in 2014 in all eight markets surveyed but barely ahead of inflation. Sales will also be positive but even the most robust market, Quebec City, will only see a 4% increase in resale condo activity. Condo market to ‘cool gently,’ not crash While a long way from the crash in values some economists had predicted over the last few years, that’s also a far cry from the heady days of Toronto’s condo boom, when prices climbed 7.8 per cent, on average, from 2009 to 2011, according to the report. Condo Markets Still Tracking Soft Landing Genworth Canada Releases Winter 2014 Metropolitan Condo Outlook TORONTO, April 2, 2014 /CNW/ – Condominium markets in most cities will avoid price declines i

North America’s top 20 housing markets: Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary among most expensive on continent Canadians better earn double the money as compared to Americans because … VANCOUVER US$733,335 vs.  NEW YORK CITY US$386,300 The pundits have been calling for a housing correction in Canada for two years now, but somehow prices and sales, especially in the country’s big cities, keep defying gravity. Even a brutally cold February couldn’t dent Toronto’s red hot real estate market,  data showed this week , with the average price jumping almost 9% and sales up 2.1% from a year ago. From four bedrooms in Windsor to one-bedroom in Vancouver, check out how far $500,000 goes in 8 major markets across Canada. Read on Vancouver saw an even bigger leap, with  sales up more than 40%  from a year ago, and prices up 3.2%. Canadians are feeling that heat.  A poll out Wednesday  found 34% of Canadians surveyed are willing to enter a bidding war and fight it out to secure a property, 21% more than a y