Daily Market Update

Lower rates won’t increase chance of a crash, says CMHC boss
The CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said that he does not expect to see a crash in the housing market as a result of the lower interest rates. Speaking to CBC’s Amanda Lang, Evan Siddall said:

Oil to contribute to moderated market in 2016

Provinces mainly affected by sinking oil values are likely to drive a moderated housing market in 2016, according to a new outlook report released today by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
 

More cuts to come from BoC?

The voices predicting a further rate cut from the Bank of Canada have become a chorus, with another bank stating it believes the central bank still has additional basis points to slash.

GTA condo sales rebound by 50 per cent

New condo sales in the Greater Toronto Area rebounded by 51 per cent in 2014, from a 10-year low in 2013, according to a new report.

A kitchen that you and future homebuyers will love

If you expect to sell your home within a few years, living with an outdated kitchen is a conundrum. Do you invest in a remodel or make do? The ideal solution for homeowners in this predicament is to update a kitchen so you can enjoy it now and attract potential buyers later. Given the choice of materials available today, it is possible to make the changes you desire within a reasonable budget. 

Home prices expected to move with oil’s impact

Across the country, average home prices showed modest to healthy year-over-year gains in most markets in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey, released in January.

According to the survey, the average price of a home in Canada increased between 4.5 per cent and 6.7 per cent year-over-year. Nationally, the average price of detached bungalows rose 6.7 per cent to $406,218, while standard two-storey homes increased 6.0 per cent to $443,379, and standard condominiums saw a 4.5 per cent increase to $257,624.

Top Six ways to extend your ceiling heights!

Here are six ideas to help you achieve visually higher ceilings in your new condo:

1. Extend your kitchen cabinetry and backsplash to the ceiling wherever possible. Kitchen cabinets that meet the ceiling draw the eye upward, and that’s the goal throughout your entire apartment. If you can, use the same material on the backsplash as the countertop (so there’s no visual break), and also extend it to the ceiling behind the stove area and kitchen sink (if those areas don’t have cabinetry above them)

Major banks cut prime lending rate

Canada’s biggest banks are lowering their prime lending rates, nearly a week after a surprise rate cut by the Bank of Canada.

Royal Bank of Canada said Tuesday it decreased its prime lending rate to 2.85 per cent from 3 per cent.

Builder quietly cancels condo complex

Urbancorp has quietly cancelled its Kingsclub condo complex on King St. W. and plans to build three towers of rental apartments instead.

Lower rates set to benefit first-time investors the most

Lower interest rates – announced by the Bank of Canada last week – will mostly benefit first-time investors and homebuyers, say experts.
 

Daily Market Update

RBC cuts mortgage rate, price war coming?
It was always going to happen, but while last week the big lenders were reluctant to pass on the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cut to borrowers, this week there’s talk of a price war. Royal Bank of Canada is the first of the big banks to cut mortgage rates, dropping its five-year fixed rate deal to 2.84 per cent and also cutting its other fixed products. Flexible rates are unchanged though along with other lending from the bank. Of course, these rates are the bank's published deals and brokers frequently secure better ones, but a ‘battle of the rates’ creating headlines can only help the perception that now is a great time to buy. How low those rates go is anybody’s guess, but there are already predictions of sub-two per cent mortgages.

Toronto Real Estate Sees Record Price Gap Between Condos And Houses

The price gap between Toronto-area condos and low-rise homes hit its highest point last year, say industry insiders.

The difference in price between low- and high-rise homes stood at a record high of$251,337 in 2014, said a strategic review of the Greater Toronto Area's (GTA) new home market that came out Wednesday.

The average price for a high-rise home jumped to $454,476, up four per cent from 2013. The average low-rise home, meanwhile, rose eight per cent to $705,813.

Sorry, but you just missed the cheapest real estate day of the year

On Tuesday night this week, nine bidders were vying to purchase a three-bedroom house just east of the Beaches in Toronto. At the end of the evening, the house at 123 Blantyre Ave., had sold firm for $751,528, or $151,628 above the asking price of $599,900.

The real estate agent , represented the sellers wasn’t surprised at the action, he says, after more than 100 people swarmed through the weekend open house expressing “I was expecting a lot of offers,”

Buying a cheaper home outside Toronto may not pay off

Most home buyers say they would prefer to live in a walkable neighbourhood even if it means buying at least a slightly smaller house.

When it comes time to signing on the realtor’s dotted line, however, buyers still base their decision on the sticker price of the home, choosing a cheaper house over the higher purchase price of a cosy, walkable neighbourhood.

That was the finding of a study released earlier this year by RBC and Pembina Institute.

Now the bank and sustainability think-tank have followed that research with a report illustrating how the cost of that cheaper home shakes out if the purchaser factors in the cost of transportation in the Toronto area.

“People will often choose to drive as far as it takes to qualify for a mortgage. But once they get there, the actual costs undermine the lower cost of the house,” said Pembina’s Ontario director Cherise Burda, who co-authored, “Location matters: Factoring Location into Homebuying Decisions.”

Bank of Canada lowers target for overnight rate

For the first time in more than four years, the Bank of Canada has changed its target for the overnight rate, which may come as a surprise to real estate investors.

“The Bank of Canada today announced that it is lowering its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 3/4 per cent," the BoC wrote in an official release.

Investors must be more creative around financing

With lenders constantly changing their regulations and guidelines, investors have to find more creative ways to secure financing for new income properties, say experts.

“The big lenders are not going to be as easy as they once were,” said investor Gillian Irving. “There are always ways to get financing, but right now everyone needs to put their creative hats on.”

Dave Butler, principal broker at Butler Mortgages, added: “Since the beginning of last year, there seems to be a concerted effort by a lot of lenders to change their qualifying guidelines. This is not helping investor applications at all. We have to put on a puppet show for the banks.”

Daily Market Update

Vancouver is second most unaffordable market in the world
Vancouver has been identified as one of the most unaffordable cities in the world in a study of major property markets. The Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey studies and ranks property markets in Canada, US, UK, Australia, Japan, China (Hong Kong), Singapore, Ireland and New Zealand. Its findings for this year rank Hong Kong as the most unaffordable followed by Vancouver. While it is the only Canadian city in the top 10 Victoria, Toronto, Kelowna and Fraser Valley are also listed as unaffordable. Among the most affordable in the study are the New Brunswick markets of Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton, Windsor, Ontario and Charlottetown, PEI.  Read the full report.

Toronto becoming ‘the New York of the North’
House prices in Toronto will continue to be out of the reach of many homebuyers even if there is moderation in the coming years. That’s according to a new report from TD Economics which highlights government regulations and taxation among the factors affecting affordability. The report says that the policy of pushing for high density with small units has led to an increasing shortage of townhouses and single-family homes, increasing prices. Co-author of the report, economist Diana Petramala, says that prices in the GTA mean that the area is now not far behind New York for being unaffordable.

High-end sales hit new record in Vancouver 
The number of Vancouver properties selling for $3 million or more hit a new record last year. Reports indicate that there were 842 properties in the price bracket in 2014, an increase of 31 per cent from 2013. While most of the high-end homes sold were single-family detached properties there were also many condos at higher prices. The record for homes selling above $5 million was also broken last year with 199 sales, beating 2013’s high of 148. 

If your interested in purchasing a Toronto Condo or Toronto Loft click here

Source:Canadian Real Estate Wealth

Toronto condo rentals spike 15 per cent in 2014 climbing to all-time high

It was a breakout year for GTA condo rentals, which counted 22,765 units leased through MLS in 2014, up 15 per cent from 2013. The strength of the market shouldn’t be too surprising given the strong summer and record breaking second quarter. The fourth quarter of the year also saw a boost in condo rentals, with an 11 per cent increase over the same time in 2013.