4 key trends that are helping the Canadian housing market avoid disaster

The Canadian housing market’s performance has been even worse than TD expected, but there are multiple reasons one of Canada’s biggest banks doesn’t predict “a further sustained deterioration” — or worse — this year. “These [reasons] include another year of strong population growth, healthy labour market conditions and a more patient Bank of Canada,” writes […]

RRSPs Vs. real estate

If you’re torn between investing in either RRSPs or real estate, don’t be. Calum Ross, a leverage wealth expert and VERICO broker with Mortgage Management Group—and author of The Real Estate Retirement Plan: An Investment and Lifestyle Solution for Canadians—says Canadians should invest in both. Ross will be discussing that and more at this year’s […]

Where are Canadian mortgage rates headed in 2019? Experts weigh in

It wasn’t so long ago that there was hardly any doubt that Canadians would be seeing higher mortgage rates this year. The Bank of Canada was widely expected to continue on its path of tightening monetary policy with continued increases to the overnight rate, which influences mortgages, particularly those with variable rates. While that may […]

Unsold new homes in Ontario were on the decline in 2018

Sales activity in Ontario’s existing-home market was slowing last year, but homebuilders weren’t saddled with high levels of new unsold dwellings, suggests a recent report from Central 1 credit union, which predicts the trend will continue. Across the province, there are 2,112 homes that — despite being finished — have not found buyers. However, that’s […]

The drop in 2018 Canadian home prices isn’t what it seems

Although much has been made about the decline in Canadian home sales and prices, one economist suggests it wasn’t as bad as it seems. “Remember: If the price of every house in the neighbourhood stays the same in a given year, but fewer of the expensive ones change hands in favour of the cheaper ones, […]

Chinese listings site adds focus on retiring in Canada

The leading property listings website for Chinese consumers has added a new channel focused on those who want to retire abroad. Juwai.com, which reaches more than 3 million Chinese consumers each month has launched its Retirement and Lifestyle Channel to provide information and real estate listings for retirement properties and communities internationally. “The countries that […]

Seniors housing touted as 2019’s safest investment

With seniors slated to comprise nearly a quarter of Canada’s population by 2030, real estate that caters to their needs is being touted as one of the most investment-friendly sectors this year. That’s in spite of a somewhat volatile interest rate environment that’s expected to carry through 2019, says Montreal-based Fred Blondeau, an analyst with […]

Oracle opens next generation Oracle Cloud Infrastructure data centre in Toronto

With a focus on security and performance, Oracle today announced the opening of a 700,000 square-foot data centre in Toronto to support customer demand in the region. Oracle has “leapfrogged” the competition when it comes the next-generation of cloud infrastructure, and its making good on the company’s promise to automate the tedious processes behind cloud […]

New condo sales are still surging in these Canadian housing markets

A national trend of dampening homes sales has not swept through the new condo segment of every large Canadian housing market. Activity is markedly down in a number of Canada’s major housing markets, but new condo sales in a handful of cities tracked by real estate consultancy Altus Group are actually surging. Specifically, new condo […]

“No more detached homes for you,” economist tells Canada

In the not so distant past, Canadian contractors were building more single-family homes than multi-family homes, such as condo apartments. It’s a very different story today — so much so that an economist with one of Canada’s biggest banks recently said “no more detached homes for you” in a note to clients. In the note, […]

Canada 6th in the world at attracting talent

Switzerland once again clinched the top spot in a global survey on fostering and attracting talent, in a top 10 list that includes Canada but not the U.S., and no Asian nations. The country retained its title for the fifth consecutive year on the World Talent Ranking report published by IMD Business School, a result […]

GTA condos saw record-breaking rent rises in 2018

Condo apartment owners in the GTA saw higher returns on their investments in 2018 with rents setting a new record. Urbanation, which has been tracking rents in the market since 2010, says last year’s 9.3% increase was the largest it has seen, beating the previous year’s 8.3% growth and the 8-year-average of 4.1%. However, on […]

Toronto can’t build office towers fast enough

A decade ago, an office landlord might have gone into crisis mode upon learning a tenant as big as Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was preparing to flee to a new development down the street. But these days, perhaps nothing says more about demand for office space in downtown Toronto than QuadReal Property Group’s response […]

Expert answers to 9 common homebuyer questions about closing costs

Buying a home is a major investment and the largest financial transaction most people will make in their lives. In addition to the purchase price, interest rates, and condo fees, homebuyers need to be aware of their closing costs. Expenses such as legal fees, land transfer taxes and insurance can add up, leading many homebuyers […]

The problem with the Canadian government’s mortgage stress test

On a recent segment of BNN Bloomberg, Toronto realtor John Pasalis voiced support for extended mortgage stress testing nearly a year to the day after the federal government introduced it. “The stress tests are great,” Pasalis says of the measure which requires mortgage applicants to qualify for their loans at a higher interest rate than […]