Canuck Post ®

Today everyone in the realty business is citing this particular story by HuffPost: – Best Cities To Invest In Real Estate? Those Would Be Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary Image Source The Huffington Post Canada Canadian cities top the world for the real estate markets that make the best bet for long-term investment, according to a study from U.K. property developer Grosvenor — but they may not be such a great investment in the short term. Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary took the top three spots, respectively, on the survey that aims to measure which real estate markets are the most resilient, and therefore make the best long-term investment. “Canada, as a whole, is doing exceptionally well in developing resiliency,” Richard Barkham, group research director at Grosvenor, said in a statement. “The top three most-resilient cities in Grosvenor’s Resiliency index are Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. For investors in property and real estate, it makes Canada a very sound long-term ...

Canadians richer than ever, and cutting back on mortgage debt Debt growth eases Canadians are getting the message on their ugly debt levels, at the same time as their wealth increases. Mortgage debt growth slowed: Statistics Canada Mortgage debt in Canada rose just 0.6 per cent in the first quarter of the year, to $1.1-trillion, marking the slowest pace since the depths of the financial crisis in early 2009, Statistics Canada said. Canadians’ household debt ratio drops asmortgage borrowing slows to 5-year low … More   http://www.theglobeandmail.com Still, we are confused … Reading Toronto’s real estate market is no easy task Last week the Canadian Real Estate Association reported that sales across the country rose 5.9 per cent in May compared with April. More   http://www.theglobeandmail.com Mirror, mirror on the wall … What’s happening ? The Magic Mirror says why don’t you buy this baby … ? 271 Chaplin Crescent – FOREST HILL This is...

CREA Updates Resale Housing Forecast  The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has updated its forecast for home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service ®  (MLS ® ) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations for 2014 and 2015. Extraordinarily bleak winter weather made for a slow start to 2014 national sales activity. As the first quarter ended, sales momentum heading into spring was constrained by a continuing shortage of listings in a number of local markets. The rise in newly listed properties in April and May supported an increase in sales activity. Sale of the Week: this $1.7m home looks tiny from the street, but it’s got it where it counts  pic.twitter.com/vW0LIX5KWB

The Globe and Mail says, Canadian home prices hit record in May I’ve heard of “deadly” real-estate markets, but #Toronto always seems to take things to a whole new level … Canadian home prices got a boost in May, hitting a record high, according to the Teranet National Bank house price index. Prices were up 0.8 per cent in May from April.   Huffington Post  says, Canada’s Real Estate Market Is ‘Fraying’: Report Canada’s real estate market may look healthy, but it’s showing signs of fraying in certain regions and prices could fall by 25 per cent in the long term. Canada’s real estate market may look healthy, but it’s showing signs of fraying in certain regions and prices could fall by 25 per cent in the long term. So says a report by Capital Economics, a consulting firm that is holding fast to an ominous prediction it made for home prices in 2012 and 2013.

IMF warns on house prices in Canada and elsewhere International Monetary Fund says prices keep climbing to concerning levels “The era of ‘benign neglect’ of house price booms is over.” Min Zhu, IMF deputy director IMF: Home Prices Look Overvalued in Canada, Norway, Australia House prices, Zhu said, are “well above the historical averages for a majority of countries. This is true, for instance, for Australia, Belgium, Canada, Norway and Sweden.” “The bursting of the real estate bubble in the United States was followed by the deepest global downturn since the Great Depression” Zhu said. “It reminded people of the collateral damage that can be triggered by housing collapses.” Housing crashes tend to be linked to broader economic recessions, and in fact housing-induced recessions tend to be “much deeper and generate more unemployment than normal recessions,” the IMF warns. To be fair, Canadian policymakers have moved re...

Can CMHC actually slowdowns the real estate market by pedalling the brake a little harder ? Image Source I don’t see how will stopping insuring the developer have any impact … Well, Canada’s developers are all billionaires, aren’t they ? I predict they will swim .. they have the money and they have the connections. Nothing can possibly stop them, certainly not a lame duck like CMHC. The speculators ? This one I am not sure. While I am sure they are a lotof people with a lot of money to invest, I am not too sure if they are a lot of people with a lot of down payment … but I heard that wouldn’t matter. Guess the whole is just another political drama ? Canada’s latest step to head off the threat of a housing bubble is making bonds sold by the nation’s housing agency increasingly precious. Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. said June 6 it will no longer insure financing for condominiums after other steps to cool the housing market. Lower issu...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says it will no longer offer mortgage insurance for homes that cost $1 million or more, starting July 31, even if the buyer has made a deposit of 20 per cent or more. Image Source Million-dollar home in Vancouver Image Source CMHC no longer offering mortgage insurance for luxury homes Also cutting insurance to loans to finance condo projects Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is making changing to mortgage insurance for luxury properties. CALGARY – Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says it will no longer offer mortgage insurance for homes that cost $1 million or more, starting July 31, even if the buyer has made a deposit of 20 per cent or more.

Why ? Because Kevin O’Leary says: Real estate a “crappy investment” And no one in Canada and basically everywhere else believes real estate will become junk, not one bit, certainly not even close. Kevin O’Leary is therefore a populist real estate moron. Image Source According to Kevin O’Leary the real estate moron, Real estate will be a “crappy investment” over the next five to 10 years thanks to rising interest rates and stagnating home prices, investor Kevin O’Leary told CNBC’s “Closing Bell”. “I am convinced that at some point later this year we’ll see the first 25 basis point rise. It’ll rip through the infrastructure of utilities, and REITS and real estate,” said O’Leary, one of the stars of the reality show “Shark Tank”. For example, if a couple took a $200,000 loan for a $250,000 house, that house would have to go up 6 percent a year to cover the debt, transaction fees and...

All you need to know regarding the housing market in Toronto, Canada and abroad. Image Source This week  in Toronto:  Tips for first time buyers, Toronto’s bull market is still stampeding and May was a great month for this city. Elsewhere:  Vancover’s housing market could be a seller’s, life isn’t cheap in Calgary and China’s real estate bubble deflates. Toronto 10 tips for first time real estate investors  (Toronto Star) Many people consider investing in real estate as a way to build a nest egg and have tenants help you pay the mortgage. There are pros and cons to taking that leap, but if you do, here are 10 things to know. In Toronto’s housing market, ‘$2-million is the new $1-million’ (Financial Post) Try not to panic if you haven’t bought yet but the $2-million home is a growing segment of the market in Canada’s largest city. Toronto’s bull market in real estate looks set for an extended run  (The Globe and Mail) A rundown old house with a hodge podge o...

Calgary Luxury Real Estate Buyers To Enjoy Private Jet, Chopper Services Sotheby’s International Realty  wants to help its Calgary clients fly high, and in style. The luxury real estate firm has announced it will offer private jet and helicopter services to certain clientele as it expands its presence in Cowtown, said a Tuesday news release.

To be exact, In Toronto’s housing market, ‘$2-million is the new $1-million’ The strength of the $2-million-plus market comes as Toronto home prices continue to soar. TREB said Wednesday the average sale price of a home across the Greater Toronto Area reached $585,204 in May, an 8.5% increase from a year ago. Image Source The strength of the $2-million-plus market comes as Toronto home prices continue to soar. TREB said Wednesday the average sale price of a home across the Greater Toronto Area reached $585,204 in May, an 8.5% increase from a year ago. Torontonians who can barely wrap their minds around a housing market where $1-million is the average price for a detached home might want to take notice of a new fast-approaching benchmark. Sotheby’s offers private jet, helicopter service to woo luxury homebuyers to Calgary Bank of CanadaProspective clients will be flown to Calgary by private jet from practically anywhere in the world and then taken on helicopter tour of multi-million-dol...

Rising real estate prices and low interest rates keep Canadian households upbeat Image Source The share of Canadians who are predicting higher home prices in their neighborhood remained above 40% for a fifth week in the latest weekly polling by Bloomberg and Nanos Research. That’s kept consumer confidence levels at near the highest in four years, the data show. Improving views on housing follow a recent acceleration in the real estate market in recent months that reflects a shift by policy makers at the Bank of Canada to dim expectations for rate increases as it plays down concerns over rising household debt to focus on stimulating the economy. “The crux of it is the rates environment,” said David Tulk, chief macro strategist at TD Securities. “It’s that combined impact of seeing your own asset increase but also realizing that no one is going to take away the punch bowl.” The Bloomberg Nanos Confidence Index measured 59.6 in the week ended May 16, little changed from the previous readi...

Someone coined the word “Hongcouver”, I supposed it cannot be considered as a nagative term, since it is merely suggesting Vancouver has been “Hongkong-ised” as far as real estate prices are concerned. Maybe not a bad thing. Vancouver and Toronto must be the only place in North America where every detached home owner is a millionaire, or potentially is one. Welcome to the Millionaire Club. No, I am not one. I am just the doorman for now. Housing in Vancouver becoming even less affordable Rising real estate prices in Vancouver are helping to increase market confidence, but are leading to housing becoming even less affordable, RBC announced May 27. According to the bank’s Housing Trends and Affordability Report, the percentage of pre-tax income that the average Vancouverite needed to service the costs of owning a home in 2014’s first quarter has increased overall. The report also said that home resales fell 6.5% in the quarter, which is 8.5% below the ten-year aver...

A rundown old house with a hodge podge of apartments in Roncesvalles Village drew crowds last week when it was listed with an asking price of $769,000. The property at 52 Harvard Ave. drew five competing bids and sold for $913,000. The owner purchased the house in 1988 for $135,000, he says. “It’s gone from pandemonium to just a heavy frenzy,” he says. Read more http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ Don’t not wish to join the Bull Run ? Sorry, you ain’t got no choice, because it takes … $430,000 to live in a former glue factory in the Junction Triangle Address:   371 Wallace Avenue , Suite 22 Neighbourhood:  Dovercourt-Wallace-Emerson-Junction Price:  $434,900 The Place:  A one-bedroom unit in Wallace Station Hard Lofts, a former glue factory that takes its name from a now-defunct railway station.