Ontario’s housing market can expect steady growth next year, driven by the lower unemployment rates, strong economic growth, and improved overall affordability, according to the latest housing market outlook by RE/MAX. The residential sale price across the province is likely to grow by 6% on average next year, with cities like Windsor and Ottawa showing the most significant gain potential. Ottawa's new LRT system could spur further gains in the region, while Windsor's affordability will likely attract more young professionals looking for homes. Also read:Townhouses lead growth in rents[1] Toronto, which reported the most sales this year, will likely continue to witness a slowdown in housing supply given its rapidly growing population, the report said. Southern Ontario is slated to remain robust, with many of its regions coming off of double-digit gains, said Christopher Alexander, RE/MAX executive vice president and regional director for Ontario-Atlantic. "Thanks to the region's resilient economy, staggering population growth and relentless development, the 2020 market looks very optimistic," he said. The table below shows the Ontario housing markets with strong price-growth expectations for next year: image Are you looking to invest in property?If you

Local developer Huntington Properties has filed a site-plan application for a six-storey retirement home and seniors' apartment complex in Cyrville, Ottawa. The complex is expected to offer assisted-living options from independent residential units to higher levels of assisted living and daily medical care, according to the Ottawa Business Journal. The three-building complex is planned to rise on a site currently occupied by industrial buildings.The development will comprise a total of 316 units;186 rooms will be part of the retirement home, while the remaining will be residential units.A two-storey podium will connect the buildings. The developer plans the complex to have 164 parking spaces, which will be distributed to a ground-level lot and an underground space. Huntington Properties is also planning for the complex to have a total of 16,000 square metres for amenities, including courtyards, dining areas, and walking paths. Included in the plan are proposals for a therapeutic pool, fitness studio, golf simulator, cafe, hair salon, theatre, and a full-service cafeteria-style restaurant. Are you looking to invest in property?If you like, we can get one of our mortgage experts to tell you exactly how much you can afford to borrow,

The best part of putting together CREW’s annual Property Forecast is getting new voices and fresh insights into what has always been the magazine’s most popular issue.While we’re always happy to have our old friends, like economists Robert Hogue, Benjamin Tal and Doug Porter along for the ride, this year’s edition was bolstered significantly with the input of KeySpire CEO Michael Sarracini, who was kind enough to identify a few of the Canadian markets he feels are poised for strong performances in 2020. “Real estate is very local, but that doesn’t mean as an investor you have to invest locally,” Sarracini says.“One of the biggest mind-shifts that helps an investor explode their returns is when they come to the realization that you can live in one city and invest in another.” After consulting with his considerable network of experts, Sarracini chose five regional hotspots where investors have the chance of striking gold in what is sure to be a challenging year for the global economy. Sarracini’s pick for British Columbia is Chilliwack, chosen because of its relative proximity to Vancouver, the irresistible natural beauty that surrounds the city and the impressive amount of

The average rents for residential properties in Canada increased by 5.5% year over year, according to the latest data from Rentals.ca. The average rent for Canadian properties during October was $1,940, while the median rent was $1,850, up 8.9% from a year earlier. This recent increase was not consistent across property types, with townhouses posting the biggest jump at 19.7% while condominiums reported the smallest growth at 0.8%. Also read:Steady home sales recorded in October — CREA[1]  Rental apartments comprise 57% of total listings used by Rentals.ca, making them the most reflective of the actual rental market conditions in Canada.The average rental apartment was listed for $1,574 per month in October, up 7.7% from the same month last year at $1,461. The graph below shows the difference in rental growths across property types: image Across all provinces, Ontario reported the highest rental rates, with landlords charging an average of $2,334 per month.This represents a 9.1% increase from last year's $2,139. The increase in rent in Ontario could be due to the limited housing supply.There were only 17,915 new apartment completions during the first three months of the year,

With resale condo and townhome prices in some of Canada’s hottest investment spots already out of reach for many Canadian investors, more and more prospective homeowners will be forgoing the instant gratification of purchasing a previously owned unit in exchange for the savings and long-term benefits associated with pre-construction properties. Pre-construction is a decidedly low maintenance play, right up until the end of the construction phase.Once a property nears completion, it is subject to a pre-delivery inspection, when any deficiencies or errors made during construction can be identified prior to occupancy. A PDI is a crucial part of the pre-construction process, especially in a fast-paced construction environment where corners can be cut and the various crews of tradespeople traipsing through a property can leave unintentional damage in their wake. “They’re extremely important,” says Connect Asset Management’s Ryan Coyle.“Everyone has a right to a pre-delivery inspection, and everyone should definitely accept that right.” Independent research into what a homeowner should look for during a PDI can leave an investor feeling unjustifiably confident in their abilities to root out deficiencies, but Coyle suggests that any investor attending a PDI should be accompanied by either an experienced

Property investors looking for bright spots in Western Canada should place their bets in cities such as Kelowna, Prince George, Chilliwack, Lethbridge, and Moose Jaw. According to an analysis by Western Investor, British Columbia's Kelowna is the best city to invest in next year.The city is currently experiencing a development boom, making it a viable spot for property investment. The city's residential vacancy rate is at 1.9%, with rents costing over $2 per square foot for apartments.Kelowna's office vacancy rate is just as promising, with a vacancy rate of 4.9%, down from 6.5% a year ago.Class A spaces lease for up to $26 per square foot. "It's gratifying to see the city's long-term vision for this area becoming a reality.The mixture of commercial, industrial and residential properties create a dynamic and attractive hub of development where people can work, live and enjoy leisure time all in one spot," Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran told Western Investor. Prince George, another British Columbia city, also boasts positive investment prospects.The city is expected to post economic growth of 1.5% this year and 1.7% next year. The Conference Board of Canada named Prince George

Canadians are becoming more undecided about their homebuying intentions, according to the latest study by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Overall, 42% of buyers this year said they felt concerned or were uncertain about the process of buying a home.This is a noticeable jump from the 37% of buyers who said the same in 2018. Of those who expressed uncertainty, almost half said the triggers included unforeseen housing costs, living with home expenditures, and paying too much for a home. Also read: Is investing in Canadian real estate still viable?[1]  Due to this uncertainty, 78% of buyers interacted with a real estate agent, up from the 61% who consulted a professional in 2018. "There was a strong increase in buyers' perceptions of the value of working with a real estate agent," the study said. In fact, the proportion of homebuyers who recognized the value of using an agent rose from 28% in 2018 to 35% this year. "Some of the key reasons buyers highlighted for this trend were an appreciation for the advice they received from their agent and their agent's attentiveness to their specific needs,"

What is it? A term far better known in the US, where regulations are different around what can be retained on a credit file and for how long Debt that has gone into collections status Maximum time periods items in collections can stay on somebody’s credit file and affect their credit rating Limit in Canada is 6 years But can “come back to life” when debt is sold by one collection agency to another Regulations govern how long negative information can stay on a credit file (late payments, bankruptcies) so they don’t follow them around forever Maximum time before an item can be removed; “Ten years later, nobody should be able to see that you’ve declared bankruptcy.” “What tends to happen with items that are in a collections status, “What collections agencies sometimes do is they play around with the dates that they are reporting to the credit bureau in order to extend the amount of time that the particular item stays on a person’s credit file. But those debts still exist;“You do technically still have to

Oxford Properties Group has unveiled plans to establish Canada's first large-bay multi-level industrial property, which will be built at its Riverbend Business Park located in Burnaby. The project, which will be constructed on the site of a former paperboard milling operation, will comprise 707,000 square feet over two levels:The ground floor will span 437,000 square feet with 32-foot clear heights, while the second storey will consist of 270,000 square feet, 28-foot clear heights, and a 130-foot truck court.The second level is accessible to full-size transport trailers via a heated ramp. Slated to start construction by the second quarter of 2020, the property can provide a single customer 707,000 square feet of contiguous space, making it the largest available industrial property in the Greater Vancouver Area.It could also be operated and occupied independently and further demised to accommodate multiple customers as small as 70,000 square feet. There is a current demand for multi-storey industrial concepts worldwide as the e-commerce revolution drives an increased need for supply-chain and logistics innovations amongst traditional and online retailers, said Oxford Properties head of industrial Jeff Miller. "Vancouver is one of the tightest industrial markets in the world and space

Canadian housing markets remained busy in October, with sales holding steady on a month-on-month basis, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).  On an annual basis, actual sales activity was up 12.9%.Activity is now almost 20% above the six-year low reached early this year.However, it remains 7% below the record high reached in 2017. In regional terms, the higher sales in Greater Vancouver (GVA), Fraser Valley, and Ottawa offset the weak activity in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Hamilton Burlington. The steady figures in the month seem to camouflage how the mortgage stress-test is affecting many local housing markets, said CREA president Jason Stephen. "That said, all real estate is local, so market balance varies depending on location, housing type, and price segment," he said. Also read:Home sales remain in a “holding pattern” says CREA[1] As sales activity grew, listings remained on a decline, falling by 1.8% in the month.Almost one-third of all housing markets posted a monthly decrease of at least 5%, while about a fifth recorded an increase of 5%.GTA and Ottawa posted the largest declines in the month. The steady

On October 15, Ontario’s Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) concluded an appeal of Toronto’s short-term rental rules brought forth by landlords who charged that the almost two-year-old guidelines restrict their rights as property owners. On Monday, LPAT delivered its decision.The city’s rules regulating short-term rentals will remain in place. LPAT found that Toronto’s regulations provide a reasonable balance between the needs of the city’s tourist population and its cohort of renters.During the appeal, arguments against the regulations were made on the grounds that short-term rentals help fill an important gap where Toronto hotels, no longer able to handle the surging number of guests visiting the city, fall short. The ruling comes as a blow to Toronto-area Airbnb entrepreneurs, who have been using short-term rentals as a way to greatly increase cash flow.Landlords renting out their entire properties on a nightly or weekly basis will now have to limit their short-term stays to no more than 180 days per year.Individual rooms in a landlord’s residence can be rented out with no limit. Advocates for more stringent regulation of Airbnb have to be pleased.The ruling comes down definitively on the side of city’s residents, who have,

A new study by FortisBC found that upgrading older apartment buildings and making them sustainable will not only contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions, but also help owners reduce maintenance costs. Based on the estimates of the study, simple energy-efficiency upgrades have the potential to reduce carbon emissions in British Columbia by about 200,000 tonnes annually, which is equivalent to removing 43,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road. Around four in five rental apartments in BC were built more than three decades ago to lower efficiency standards, said FortisBC director of conservation and energy management Danielle Wensink. "Lowering energy use in these buildings is critical.Building owners already face so many maintenance concerns that we worked to simplify what can be a complex and overwhelming process," she said. Also read:Canada’s land use must address sustainability challenges[1] In 2015, FortisBC began its Rental Apartment Program to help owners in the province upgrade their apartment buildings.The program helps replace ageing and less-efficient boiler systems.Since its launch, it has helped more than 800 buildings across the province receive upgrades like energy-efficient taps, faucets and showerheads that reduce water consumption and energy usage. One of

The demand for flexible working spaces in Halifax is expected to increase next year, making it crucial for local landlords to consider jumping the co-working trend. In a speech during CBRE's Halifax Market Outlook Breakfast, CBRE vice president for Atlantic Region Andrew Bergen said businesses seeking to succeed must look at adopting flexible real estate models. "A realistic assessment of office tenant needs should include flexible workplace options, and local landlords will be forced to think outside the box in 2020.Co-working is coming and it's only a matter of when," he said. Also read: There's still growth ahead for coworking space[1] Bergen said 60% of Halifax's population is the result of immigration, making the city a global destination for residents looking for jobs.As more start-ups and tech incubators start their businesses in the city, more office spaces would be needed. However, the traditional office set-up might not be enough for these groups, whose culture thrives in flexibility.Furthermore, some tech incubators might not have an upfront capital to invest in long-term office solutions, spurring the need for flexible office options. "Locking into a long-term lease with significant upfront construction costs

On November 7, after roughly sixteen months of a trade war that has spread its stink across the global economy, the US and China announced a potential breath of fresh air:Progress was being made toward a “phase one trade deal”.Such a deal, when completed, would reportedly lead to a rollback in the colossal tariffs each combatant had imposed on billions of dollars’ worth of the other’s goods, subsequently paving the way to a broader agreement and increased stability in the global economy. Predictably, the message coming out of Washington was both confused and confusing.White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Bloomberg, “If there’s a phase one trade deal, there are going to be tariff agreements and concessions,” but in the week following the announcement, President Trump repeatedly refused to commit to any tariff rollbacks. Adding to the uncertainty, the US held back on increasing tariffs from 25 to 30% on $250 billion of Chinese goods on October 15 but is still scheduled to levy 15% tarrifs on an additional $156 billion in Chinese goods, including cellphones, laptops and toys, on December 15. The uncertainty injected by the US-China clash into the global economy has limited

When a series of tax and mortgage rules was introduced in Canada in 2016 to prevent a housing market bubble, activity slowed down significantly in the years that followed.Given the current circumstances, is it still viable to invest in property? In a think piece in Macleans, market watcher Romana King said even with fears of a global recession, real estate is still a smart way to invest. "For investors, the key to making strategically smart decisions is to consider the underlying economic factors that impact your investment," she said. Also read: Housing, economic risks remain heightened – BoC[1] King said the housing market could climb out of negative growth forecasts this year.Citing figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association, she said the national sales activity was on target to increase by 5% in 2019 and could expand further by 7.5% in 2020. "Canada boasts strong population growth, and government budgetary decisions are acting as stimulants for the national housing market, all of which point to a healthy future for Canada's real estate market," she said. Investing in real estate, however, is not without risks.For investors, it is