Home prices in Toronto suburbs on fire amid ‘intense’ competition for detached houses
“Until we experience sustained relief in the supply of listings, the potential for strong annual rates of price growth will persist, especially in the low-rise market segments,” said Jason Mercer, director of market analysis for TREB.

Toronto home prices jump 21%, putting sales at record high
The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) says there were 9,768 sales in the Greater Toronto Area — up 11.5 per cent from the same month last year. Its benchmark price index was also up by 19.7 per cent from a year ago and the average selling price for all types of homes rising by 21.1 per cent to $762,975.

Better enforcement, steeper fines: What’s needed to fix the real estate industry
Tim Hudak, CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association, spoke out in response to a CBC Marketplace hidden camera investigation that documented real estate agents breaking the rules in an effort to double their commission. Tim Hudak, best known for his time as leader of Ontario’s PC party, called the hidden camera video released so far “disturbing” and vowed to make sure more is done to crack down on agents who behave unethically.

Mississauga dreams big with Inspiration Lakeview
The City of Mississauga is poised to give official plan approval to a transformative 245-acre vision for lands abutting Lake Ontario that could become home to 20,000 new residents, create thousands of new jobs in the innovation sector and showcase the very latest in sustainable urban living technologies and practices.

Councillor’s “tall residential buildings” moratorium for downtown Toronto draws sharp criticism from development community
Ward 27 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam submitted the letter, dated October 27th, 2016, to the Toronto and East York Community Council, requesting that the council’s community planning director report to the council on the “feasibility of implementing a one-year moratorium on new tall building residential re-zoning applications.”

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Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

• Realty Point Annual Celebration
  Sunday, December 11, 2016 at the Capitol Banquet Centre in Mississauga (6435 Dixie Road, Mississauga, ON, L5T1X4)
  All Realty Point agents are invited. Please contact your brokerage office for information
  Buffet dinner
  Entertainment & Music
  Realty Point Sales Award Presentation
  Networking & Mini-trade show
  Prizes, prizes prizes and a grand prize of an all-inclusive trip for two to the Dominican Republic

  Login to your Agent Dashboard to register now. Tickets are extremely limited. Guaranteed registration ends Friday November 18 at 3:00pm.
  Please ensure the office has your up-to-date sales to be considered for the Realty Point Sales Awards by November 15th, 2016.

• Agent Training Webinars
  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register visit this page.

Foreign investors home in on Toronto real estate after BC’s tax measure, chart suggests
Record 2016 immigration and a growing first-time homebuyer population, which is the 25-to-34-year-old demographic, are supporting Toronto’s housing market, says Petramala – but there may be something else at play. “The sales-to-population ratio in Toronto has risen sharply recently, suggesting that foreign investment and speculation are playing a part, albeit likely smaller than in Vancouver,” writes Petramala in a report (PDF).

Mega-projects reshaping Mississauga sprawl
The city is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, with an expected $40 to $45 billion of new construction investment over the next 15 years, according to senior city staff, more than double the recent annual rate of construction investment in Mississauga.

No ‘hard landing’ for Canadian house prices, says Moody’s Analytics
According to the report, Canadian detached single family house prices are expected to increase by nine per cent this year, and by 2.9 per cent annually over the next five years. Meanwhile, condominium prices are forecast to grow by 4.6 per cent this year, and 2.2 per cent per annum over the next five years.

The Case for Diversifying Development
Toronto needs to focus on the “missing middle”—townhouses and mid-rise buildings.We should look to Houston as a model for what is possible with regard to the supply and affordability of family-oriented housing. If the missing middle truly is a problem worth addressing, we could do much worse than emulating that city’s land use rules and freeing our developers to do what they do best.

House prices in Willowdale ‘have gone completely insane,’ says North York Councillor John Filion
Toronto needs a “land speculation tax” on some foreign home buyers, says a North York councillor whose ward has seen some of the city’s biggest price jumps. In Willowdale, costs for detached homes, “have gone completely insane, and it’s fueled very much by money which is coming from other countries,” John Filion said last week.

Condo rents in the GTA soar as demand outstrips supply
Condo rents in the old city of Toronto (not including the inner suburbs), which includes many of the highrises downtown, are even higher than those in the broader GTA. In Toronto proper, the average rent rose 10 per cent from last year to $2,145 per month.

Canadian home sales to fall in 2017, says big bank. Here’s why.
Douglas Porter, BMO’s chief economist is referring to tax and mortgage policy measures that Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced earlier this month.

Ontario said to be eyeing subsidies to bolster bottom end of housing market, rather than tax to cool top
“We take a lot of pride in being one of the top destinations in North America for foreign direct investment,” Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa told Bloomberg TV Canada last week, adding the province remains “very sensitive to affordability.”

Growth plan fuelling GTA housing prices, developers told
Land supply restrictions resulting from the plan called, Places to Grow, is “the number one reason GTA house prices are rising,” said Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist for CIBC World Markets.

Oshawa leads the way in increased home values in the GTA
Oshawa had the highest year-over-year percentage increase in housing prices in the GTA, according to a real estate survey.

Average Canadian home cost rises 9.5% to $474,590 in September
Sales may be slowing, but prices continue to increase, driven higher, CREA says, by continuously higher prices in Toronto and Vancouver.

Millennials’ home-buying capabilities to impact long-term economic strength
Millennials might lose as much as 1/5th of their purchasing power under the new mortgage rules.

Q3 brought another surge in Greater Vancouver home prices, but it may be the region’s “final hurrah”
Lower prices have been slow to follow home sales declines because Greater Vancouver inventory levels remain “severely low” while demand is incredibly high. Royal LePage’s prediction that prices could soon start falling is based in large part on the idea that interest from potential buyers is set to fall.

Stay up-to-date with all real estate news updated continually on our Facebook page.

Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

• Verbal Aikido Seminar
  Saturday November 5, 2016, 11:00am to 1:00pm at the Realty Point Head Office. Free for Realty Point Agents Only. 30 tickets available.
  Register here: http://www.realtypoint.ca/seminars
• New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register visit this page.