Home prices in Montreal continued to grow as sales reached new heights last month, according to the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board. The median price of a single-family home in the market increased by 7% on a year-over-year basis in December, reaching $327,450.Meanwhile, the median price of plexes grew by 8% during the same time frame to settle at $525,000, and that of condos by 3% to $272,863. These coincided with the market’s achievement of a new home sales record for December, growing by 3% annually to reach 2,825 completed transactions. December was also the 46th consecutive month of growth in the number of transactions, according to the GMREB. Read more:Montreal to grow increasingly unfriendly to first-time buyers[1] Single-family homes accounted for 1,491 sales, growing by 3% annually.Condo sales also increased by 2% (up to 993 deals closed), while plexes shrank slightly by 1% (down to 336 transactions). Montreal’s supply stood at 18,970 active residential listings as of the end of 2018, which was 18% lower compared to the same time in the previous year. 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, which is the

A Statistics Canada report released in late December revealed that real estate accounted for as much as $8.752 trillion of the nation’s total wealth during Q3 2018. This represented approximately 76% of Canada’s wealth during that quarter, estimated to be at $11.415 trillion. Such a top-heavy set-up might prove problematic in the event of a “sharp, sustained correction in house prices given the wealth effect on spending,” BMO senior economist Sal Guatieri told Global News. Read more:Investors have little to fear of a housing meltdown[1] Guatieri admitted, however, that this trend appeared inevitable in light of the “sharp rise in home values” observed in red-hot markets like Toronto and Vancouver over the past decade. From Q1 2009 up to Q2 2017, the total value of Canadian real estate grew from around $2 trillion to approximately $4.2 trillion.This subsequently moderated, relatively speaking, to $4.1 trillion in Q3 2017. 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, which is the best mortgage for you or how much they could save you right now if you have an existing mortgage.Click here to get help choosing the best mortgage rate[2]

Later this week, Ontario will be conducting a lottery to determine the recipients of one of the province’s 25 available cannabis store licences. However, while the set-up might provide the fairest chance for those vying for the coveted spots, independent companies and retailers – which account for a large portion of the province’s commercial tenants – will almost certainly take on much of the risks and possible penalties, whereas larger organizations won’t have too much trouble. “[The lottery is] definitely designed for larger operators who are prepared to go out on a limb and go ahead and spend significant amounts of money without knowing whether they’re one of the 25,” Brazeau Seller partner Trina Fraser told BNN Bloomberg. “We’re not thinking through all the possible things that could go wrong here.” Read more:This asset class remains Toronto’s powerhouse segment[1] Among the heavier penalties are tens of thousands of dollars – even as much as $50,000 in the worst-case scenarios – should a licence recipient fail to begin operations by the end of April. “It’s not been ideal, obviously, but it’s difficult to criticize too strongly, either, because we do have a supply issue,” Fraser said. “I understand that the provincial government has made a commitment to stores

Calgary might begin offering lower costs for commercial tenants this year due to a significant 32% decline in the downtown area’s office building values in 2019, but observers argued that this would not necessarily lead to improved occupancy. As of the end of 2018, Calgary’s vacancy stood at 26.4%. While lower rents could magnetize more tenants, employers in Calgary will still have to find a way to replace the thousands of petroleum industry workers who lost their jobs in the wake of the oil price crashes of recent years. “The disease is unemployment, it’s not property values,” CBRE Alberta managing director Greg Kwong told BNN Bloomberg.“It’s not going to change dramatically until we get people back to work.” Read more:Investment in Alberta not all it appears to be[1] Moreover, the lower office building property assessment might lead to even higher business taxes, according to Mark Cooper of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve seen the vibrancy stripped from the downtown core due to the rising vacancy rates because of the downturn and now we risk losing businesses outside of the core that are being weighed down by these unsustainable tax increases and other regulatory burdens,” Cooper explained, adding that these factors should also be considered

Owing to some of the lowest vacancy rates in North America along with a breakneck pace of development and a sustained pace of price growth, B.C.’s industrial market is promising to be one of the best investment destinations in Canada at the start of this year. In particular, Metro Vancouver would become the epicentre of this market strength, according to Avison Young. “It is a historical time for Metro Vancouver’s commercial real estate,” Avison Young Vancouver market analyst Andrew Petrozzi told Western Investor. During Q3 2018, around 1.5 million square feet of new industrial space was added to Metro Vancouver’s supply.Absorption was incredibly strong in the same time frame;approximately 1.4 million square feet was either sold or leased during the period, leading to a near record-low vacancy rate of 1.46%. Read more:Morguard reports extremely positive outlook for the industrial segment[1] Richmond and Delta will also remain powerhouse industrial hubs well into 2019, according to Avison Young. Richmond’s vacancy increased to 2.3% in fall 2018, and it now comprises Metro Vancouver’s single largest industrial market at 37.7 million square feet.Meanwhile, Delta vacancy fell to 1.9% in its approximately 25 million square feet of industrial space.   Are you looking to invest in property?If you like,

End-of-2018 data from the Calgary Real Estate Board pointed at a year characterized by unusual weakness. The numbers showed that overall residential sales in 2018 shrunk by 14.5% compared to 2017, a development that was exacerbated by the significant 21% year-over-year decline in December’s sales. Benchmark prices also went down by 1.5% in 2018, and 3.4% annually in December. CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie said that these results are a natural outgrowth of the provinces multiple struggles during the year, including subpar job growth, a lack of pipelines, multiple interest rate hikes, and stricter mortgage qualification requirements. “[The recovery] was supposed to be driven by economic improvements, which we just didn’t have,” Lurie told Global News.“In fact, we just had more troubles happening in the latter part of the year.” Read more:Global oil price weakness is hurting Alberta, but…[1] Weaker employment numbers also exerted pressure upon the city’s home sales activity. “Job growth in this city remains a concern, as unemployment levels remain well above levels expected for this year.Rising costs of ownership also continue to weigh on housing demand,” Lurie said in November. Are you looking to invest in property?If you like, we can get one of our mortgage experts to tell you exactly how

Access to affordable housing dominated the conversation in British Columbia in 2018, with residents aged 18 to 34 beginning to doubt the ability of elected officials to get a grip on the problem. According to a recent report by local BC media outlet Burnaby Now, BC residents favoured increasing the availability of rental units, but took on a more subdued view when it came to new construction projects.The report indicated that it was vital for the provincial government to show where the funds from new housing taxes were going, and how these actions will benefit residents. Give the gift of real estate success this year – grab a seasonal CREW subscription. Use code HOLIDAYS2018 to claim your free festive gift.[1] Burnaby Now also reported that transportation and traffic gridlock were also issues that BC residents were concerned with in 2018.In a survey conducted in November, two-thirds of residents in the Greater Vancouver Area favoured a cap on drivers to ensure that congestion does not increase, and that a majority wanted ride-hailing services to employ drivers who hold a commercial Class 4 licence, instead of the standard Class 5 licence that most motorists rely on. According to Burnaby Now, signs indicate that BC is heading towards a made-in-BC solution,

This year, real estate professionals will increasingly find themselves using online services and apps to facilitate transactions. According to CTV News, the industry will see growing usage of technology in a bid to target increasingly tech-savvy millennials homebuyers. Subscribe to CREW for the best in real estate news and insight – whatever the season. Use code HOLIDAYS2018 to claim your free festive gift.[1] New proptech online services allow professionals to remotely conduct presentations, digitized documents, and close transactions online.“Now our clients can open their phone up, push a few buttons and the (offer) papers are signed,” Shawn Zigelstein, a real estate agent in Ontario, told CTV News. “The agents that are not adapting to this change are going to see their business drop considerably because they can't adapt fast enough.” The real estate industry has been historically been slow to embrace technology, Frank Magliocco, a partner at PwC Canada who specializes in the housing market, told CTV News. “But I think what you're going to see now is a fairly significant ramp up in embracing that technology once it becomes more mainstream.” “It'll be increasingly important to remain and be competitive in the marketplace.Once you see these technologies prove out, you'll see more and

Buying US real estate has proven to be a very good investment for Canadians over time.There aren’t typically any particular tax advantages for Canadians investing in the American real estate market, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to reduce that financial burden. Nearly a decade ago when the United States’ market was in shambles and the Canadian dollar was robust, Canadians enjoyed bargains on American real estate.Those days are long gone, and making matters worse, Canadian investors have to be cognizant of avoiding double taxation or tax pitfalls. That’s not an easy task without speaking to the right advisor.It is commonly suggested to Canadians to create a limited liability corporation (LLC) in order to keep the structure simple and enjoy the historically low individual tax rates when investing in the United States, according to Shlomi Steve Levy, partner at Levy Salis LLP, a cross-border tax and estate planning firm in Montreal. “An LLC is vehicle, an ownership structure, under U.S.tax rules that in layman terms provide liability protection a little bit like a corporation, but from a tax perspective will be ignored or considered a flow or pass-through entity,” Levy told CREW.“The individual member is the tax payer, so you are taking advantage of corporate protection while maintaining individual tax rates, which are very low.”

As Vancouver’s vacancy rate for office space remains among North America’s lowest, there’s growing appetite for strata office developments in the city. Driven primarily by low downtown vacancies and, consequently, surging rents—and compounded by large companies like Amazon, Apple and Deloitte buying hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space—Vancouver has become inhospitable to smaller businesses looking to set up shop.Not surprisingly, savvy investors have taken note and are beginning to fulfill this need in the marketplace. Subscribe to CREW for the best in real estate news and insight – whatever the season. Use code HOLIDAYS2018 to claim your free festive gift. “There is great opportunity for investors looking to purchase space, particularly when you consider the many strong, local businesses looking to lease space in a AAA building,” said Matt Carlson, vice president of Colliers International.“These businesses are often unable to find a landlord who is willing to lease less than 10,000 square feet, or in some cases less than 20,000 square feet.Investors purchasing smaller units will have many tenants interested in renting space from them at historically high rental rates.” Chard Development has capitalized on the demand and built The Yukon in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, with strata units designed for creative or light industrial ventures and for businesses with

Clinton Wilkins Nominations are now open for the 2019 Canadian Mortgage Awards[1], which will be held at the Liberty Grand in Toronto on April 26, 2019. The 13th annual edition of the CMAs promises to be a good time where peers from coast-to-coast can network and, most importantly of all, enjoy themselves.Without a doubt, last year’s winners will be eager to defend their awards. Clinton Wilkins of the Clinton Wilkins Mortgage Team with CENTUM Home Lenders Ltd.won the Award for Mortgage Broker of the Year (Fewer Than 25 Employees) for his 230 transactions in 2017 that totaled $50 million.The Halifax-based Wilkins says that since winning and advertising the award, business has surged. “Since the win, I’ve had the best year ever in the 12 years I’ve been in the industry,” said Wilkins.“This year, I’m up 80% over last year and I attribute that to the momentum that I’ve had and winning a CMA is justification for what I’m doing in the industry.Winning a CMA has 100% helped me increase business, especially as broker of the year.It really speaks to the good things going on in Halifax and it’s put me on the map on a national level.” Upon winning the award, the Wilkins Team immediately put out a press

Fresh data from the Canadian Real Estate Association pointed to one of Ontario’s most promising markets in terms of consistency:Hamilton, which saw its prices dramatically shoot up by 70% over the past 5 years. This considerably outstripped the 58.5% price growth in the GTA since 2013, as well as the 43% national average. The trend was especially apparent in Hamilton-Burlington, where the average price stood at $581,900 — the fourth highest in Canada. Said numbers should be seen in light of a general slowing down of sales activity, however, as the number of transactions fell annually in 3 out of 4 markets across the country last month, the CREA noted. Read more:REMAX forecasts Canadian markets in 2019[1] Nationwide sales volume shrank by 12.65 year-over-year in November, ending up below the 10-year average for the month. “The decline in home ownership affordability caused by this year’s new mortgage stress-test remains very much in evidence,” CREA chief economist Gregory Klump stated, as quoted by CBC News. “Despite supportive economic and demographic fundamentals, national home sales have begun trending lower.While national home sales were anticipated to recover in the wake of a large drop in activity earlier this year due to the introduction of the stress-test, the rebound appears to have