Canuck Post ®

Inside Canada’s vibrant Rio Olympic House by Yabu Pushelberg by Lauren Ro   For the first time ever, the Canada Olympic House , the Rio home base for Canadian Olympians and their friends and family, was designed by Canadians. Ontario natives George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, who are best known for their luxury hotel, residential, and commercial interiors like the Four Seasons Toronto and Park Hyatt New York, simply asked the Canadian Olympic Committee: “What can we do for Canadian athletes to showcase their country?” Yabu recalled. The deconstructed Canadian flag is made up of hundreds of hanging ribbons.

Jonathan Manthorpe  believes there is a direct line linking the explosive real estate bubbles in Toronto and Vancouver and how secure Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on his throne. How China’s Politics Messing Up  Canadian Real Estate Markets The evidence — the vast amount of money being spirited out of China by relatives, friends and cronies of the Red Aristocracy around Xi — suggests he’s set to tumble . Last year about $US1 trillion was spirited out of China by Communist Party leaders and their hangers-on, in defiance of currency regulations. Image Source They clearly do not feel the regime is secure and want their assets hidden away in stable overseas havens like Canada, the United States, Australia or Europe. Sounds like it’s not “London Bridge is falling down”, its “The Great Wall is tumbling down”?

After predicting (actually complaining about) Vancouver will be a ghost town soon, and that Vancouver will belly up because no foreigner will come simply because there is 15% tax on foreign home ownership. Image Source Pundits have it there will be a spillover effect into other Canadian markets as a result of the new 15% tax on foreign buyers in Vancouver. They believe Toronto will stand to benefit the most. And that Toronto will soon be the playground of the rich aliens, with every single sales attracting zombie-like buyers engaging in fierce bidding wars, making offers many hundred thousands above asking price … They even think Montreal will be next city to boom. In short, everywhere else will have good times except for Vancouver. What do I think?

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) latest report warns of “problematic conditions” in the country’s largest housing markets. “In Toronto and Vancouver, this is due to the combination of price acceleration and overvaluation.” In an attempt to cool the most controversial housing markets – Vancouver, whereby average home prices has shot up more than 36% in just the last 12 months alone, the province of British Columbia is attempting to pump the brakes on foreign ownership, long suspected of driving up prices in Canada’s hottest housing market, by imposing a 15 per cent tax on foreign nationals buying property in Metro Vancouver. Twitter The situation is not only alarming, it is actually becoming a social political hot button. Some folks regard the foreign money as “imported housing virus” … the cause of the house prices insanity. This is further confirmed by today’s Bloomberg report: –

Attention: Builders/Developers Murdering Trees Is Now A $ Million Dollar Crime Developer cuts down 30 mature trees, city says no permit was issued The city is fuming after a developer cut down 30 trees, many of which were over 100 years old, including a 150-year-old linden tree , on both sides of Bayview Ridge at Bayview Avenue …  Click here to see details of the approved proposal. Toronto Mayor John Tory horrified’ over removal of trees on Bayview Image Source Mayor John Tory, who says he hopes any resulting prosecution results in fines of at least a million dollars to send a message to Toronto developers.

Government of Canada is determined to pop the bubble for those suffering from “Forever Appreciating Property Syndrome (FAPS)”. They have announced various measures will be taken in an attempt to stop the insane real estate price increases (to the tune of up 36% in one year for Vancouver), particularly residential dwellings. They have indicated pretty ambitious figures for price drop – upto 50%! Sounds like Black Friday Sales, doesn’t it? Image  Source The Office of Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has an even grimmer assessment of the situation. It has imposed harsher criteria on stress tests for smaller lenders, forcing them to evaluate how their balance sheets would be affected by a decline of at least 50 per cent in house values for Greater Vancouver and at least 40 per cent for Greater Toronto.

Be careful with your reno ideas. Just because you are spending more money does not mean it will add more value to the house  … Here are some bad ideas: – 5 Bad Home Renovations That Lower Your Home’s  Value The Cheat Sheet A $20,000 midrange kitchen remodel adds about $16,700 to your home’s value, a payback of 83%. You’ll get about 20% … Unfortunately, not every home upgrade is really an improvement , at least when it comes to your home’s value.   Modern Apartment in Vejle, Denmark Image Source   Don’t forget the butt … Sexy booty is equally important in real estate.   7 Backyard Landscaping  Ideas That Will Entice You to Come Out of the House Realtor.com  Ah, the irony of having a backyard: Homeowners pine for a green patch of land to call their own, but once they’ve got it, they very rarely visit the place.   And the guy who you going to hire to do the job … can be a nightmarish exercise. ...

As a result of damning allegations such as this, How Foreign Investors Are Using Drug Cartel Tactics in the Canadian Real Estate  Market VICE  – ‎Jul 25, 2016‎ Canada’s freakshow real estate market has been drawing a lot of international attention as of late. A few weeks back I talked to an infamous Wall Street short seller who is betting against one Canadian  mortgage lender, and claims our housing bubble may … Image Source And overwhelming public complaints like these, Metro Vancouver father blames housing market for ‘working poor’ lifestyle CBC.ca  – ‎Jul 25, 2016‎

The writing is on the wall, condo dwellings will go up into the sky and the square footage will shrink along the way … In the beginning, it was about 1,500sf for a standard 2-bedroom condo, the standard square footage was quickly reduced to about 1,000sf few years later. Today, we are talking about 500sf-700sf for a family condo in Toronto (even smaller in Vancouver). And in reality, many new development are actually building 300sf-400sf suites. Highrise Condo – Bird’s-eye view of Highrise Utopia Image Source It does look like some of the pictures depicted herein may very well be portraits of our typical family dwellings in the near future … Growing upwards: Why Toronto wants to make high-rises family-friendly CBC.ca – ‎Jul 23, 2016

In the event Hilary Clinton looses the presidential race, Donald Trump-hating Yanks will be relocating to Canada in drove … ‘Moving to Canada ?’ US real estate agent tells Trump, Clinton haters not to worry — he’ll sell their house Image Source