This week’s top real estate news in Ontario and how your real estate business could be affected.
OREA loses real estate licensing education
The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) has lost a bid to continue providing Ontario real estate licensing education after 2020, sources tell REM.
RECO senior communications officer Adam Hawkins would not confirm or deny the allegations, telling REM that he can’t say much about the RFP process other than to confirm that the process “is still ongoing.” Last week RECO posted a notice on its website that says, in part, that on Dec. 30, 2016, “RFP Proponents were advised of an extension to the RFP timeline and RECO anticipates that the RFP process will conclude no later than March 31, 2017.”
TREB Market Year in Review and 217 Outlook Forecast
GTA households still seemed upbeat about ownership housing. This included first-time buyers, whose share of overall buying intentions increased to 53 percent from 49 percent a year earlier. TREB’s point forecast for the average selling price is $825,000. Low-rise home types, including detached and semi-detached houses and townhouses, will experience the strongest annual rates of price growth, but the condominium apartment market segment will remain tight as well.
Toronto Real Estate Board foresees another year of double digit price increases
The Toronto Real Estate Board is expecting another year of double-digit price increases and a similar number of property sales to those last year. It says the average price for all types of housing is expected to rise to about $825,000 _ up from $730,472 in December and $729,922 for the 2016 calendar year.
TREB against LTT increase for repeat home buyers
The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) has released a statement following the City of Toronto’s Budget Committee decision not to currently move forward with proposed Land Transfer Tax (LTT) increases for first-time home buyers. In the statement, TREB expressed encouragement at the decision, however, it remains concerned about a proposal to increase the LTT by $750 for all other buyers and is also calling for changes that will assist first-time buyers.
Sold data ruling expected
The ongoing battle between the Toronto Real Estate Board and a popular real estate website may be nearing its conclusion. “The process continues and there’s no telling how long the three-judge panel will take to make their decision but normally it’s within two months,” Fraser Beach, an agent with Select/Plan Real Estate and the publisher of torealestatesold.com, told REP. “(Hearing within the next few weeks) would be my hope.”
First-time home buyers may get land transfer tax relief
First-time home buyers will be protected, but a recommendation to harmonize Toronto’s land transfer tax with the province’s rates will cost other residents an additional $750 to move house. On Tuesday, January 24, 2017, the city’s budget committee endorsed the harmonization but also increased the tax rebate to first-time homebuyers by $750 — to $4,475 from $3,725. The harmonization, which has still to be approved by the council, would mean $77 million more annually in land transfer tax for the city, according to a city manager’s report last fall.
OREA calls for affordable home ownership task force
In its 2017 pre-budget consultation, OREA recommended the creation of an Affordable Home Ownership Task Force to determine how the government can best improve housing supply and expand consumer choice.
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