Real Estate in the News

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This week’s top real estate news in Ontario and how your real estate business could be affected.

Home prices jump 40 per cent in Vancouver — but no one is building
Toronto is also struggling with housing supply: The number of low-rise homes built last year in Canada’s financial hub was the lowest since 1995. The city is encircled by a green belt of almost 2 million acres that’s under permanent protection, and has experienced a price run-up similar to, though not as steep as, the one in Vancouver.

Hamilton’s Housing Market Set To Be The Hottest In Canada
Regional markets in proximity to Canada’s highest-price cities continue to experience steady interest from local move-up buyers and buyers from these cities (so-called “move-over” buyers), who are looking to find a balance between affordability and square footage. The top markets for year-over-year price increases in 2016 were Hamilton-Burlington (20 per cent), Fraser Valley, B.C. (20 per cent), Barrie, Ont. (16 per cent) and Kelowna, B.C. (14 per cent).

Toronto Real Estate Wasn’t Impacted By New Mortgage Rules In November
Another month, another 10k homes purchased in Toronto. This is a significant report, since it’s the first whole month reported by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) since the new mortgage rules. Surprisingly, the new rules that affected mostly first time buyers had no noticeable impact on real estate demand. The newest report from TREB showed prices continued to rise, new listings are growing at a relatively slow pace, and inventory is being absorbed at a very high rate.

Half of Canadians aged 18 to 34 own homes, but many are renting them out to afford housing costs
According to Mortgage Professionals Canada, which put the report together using data from various sources, including a survey of 2,000 Canadians, that’s become the “new normal” in the Canadian housing market. In fact, 34 per cent of recent first-time buyers believe it’s important to generate income from their properties. “Creating income remains a useful tool for first-time homebuyers,” said Paul Taylor, president of Mortgage Professionals Canada, in a press release accompanying the report. “People are looking for ways to make owning a home more affordable. Generating income allows them to reduce their mortgage more quickly.”

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