MyCondoSpace.ca

one bedroom townhouse for lease in Mississauga

2012-02-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

For lease

Beautiful one bedroom townhouse with garage and front patio in West Mississauga. [Eglinton and Winston Churchill area]. Newer townhouse complex. Stainless steel appliances, laminate flooring, nicely painted and decorated. Quiet street. Walking distance to Erin Mills Town Centre. Minutes from highway 407 and 403. $1300 plus utilities.Available end of April. Miniumum one year lease. For showings please contact me directly.

1124 Houston Drive Milton is sold

2012-02-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

1124 Houston Drive in Derry/Thomas is Sold!

Derry/Thomas, Milton - The 2 story at 1124 Houston Drive has been sold.

Just sold 31-5050 Intrepid Price !

2012-02-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

31-5050 Intrepid Drive in Eglinton/Ninth Line is Sold !

Eglinton/Ninth Line, Mississauga - The stacked condo townhouse at 31-5050 Intrepid Drive has been sold.

Just Sold 4855 Half Moon Grove

2012-02-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

Just Sold 4855 Half Moon Grove

Just sold exclusive listing on 4855 Half Moon Grove in Mississauga. 1 Bedroom condo townhouse with garage ! !

2012-02-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

For Lease

50 Absolute Ave.

Mississsauga

Marilyn Monroe Mate

One bedroom plus large den with two bathrooms

One parking, One locker

Close to 750 sq.ft of living space +

Over 100 sq.ft balcony !

High Floor

Superb upgrades !

$1850

Two steady housing years ahead: CMHC

2012-02-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

Canada’s housing market has two good years ahead of it yet, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Monday, with low interest rates and a “moderately” expanding economy keeping price corrections at bay.

The Crown corporation – which insures Canadian mortgages – has had a consistently rosier view of the market than many private sector forecasters.Canadian banks have recently issued reports probing the consequences of cheap money, and trying to predict whether there is a bubble in prices that will eventually pop and cause prices to crash. They are particularly concerned about Vancouver and Toronto, where some have predicted price corrections of up to 10 per cent because of overbuilding in the condo market.

But CMHC said Monday Canadian markets would “remain steady in 2012 and 2013.

“With the Canadian economy set to expand at a moderate pace and mortgage rates expected to remain low, activity levels in 2012 in both new home construction and sales of existing homes will stay close to levels seen in 2011,” said Mathieu Laberge, deputy chief economist.

Also in the forecast: “Housing starts will be in the range of 164,000 to 212,700 units in 2012, with a point forecast of 190,000 units. In 2013, housing starts will be in the range of 168,900 to 219,300 units, with a point forecast of 193,800 units.

Existing home sales will be in the range of 406,000 to 504,500 units in 2012, with a point forecast of 457,300 units. In 2013, MLS sales are expected to move up in the range of 417,600 to 517,400 units, with a point forecast of 468,200 units.

The average MLS price is forecast to be between $330,000 and $410,000 in 2012 and between $335,000 and $430,000 in 2013. CMHC’s point forecast for the average MLS price is $368,900 for 2012 and $379,000 for 2013. The moderate increases in the average MLS price are consistent with the balanced market conditions that occurred in 2011, and that are expected to continue in 2012 and 2013.”

source: globe and mail

Mirage condominiums new condo project Mississauga

2012-02-08T03:54:00.000-08:00

Mirage condominiums will be new addition to Mississauga downtown condo landscape. This ultra modern 22 -storey glass and precast concrete tower will feauture 352 units.

Mirage offers a wide selection of 1,2, and 3 bedroom suites, many with dens, designed with urban flair and detailed with elegant funtional features. All residences come with either private balconies or terraces offering fabulous views of the area.

Open concept layouts lend an aura of specious lexury.

Every suite offers the very best in innovative living, with exceptionally high standard of craftsmanship and the latest contemporary styles, accents and upscale finishes.

Gourmet kitchen offer sleek counters and modular cabinetry.

Oversized living areas, versatile dens, spacious master bedrooms and ensuites provide all the space for exlusive and luxurious lifestyle.

The smallest "Sparkle" one bedroom suite offer good layout and 585 sq.ft of living space. Largest "Mirage" offers 948 sq.ft of living space.

Conservatory Group, the builder of this condo has already couple of beautifully finished condos. Universal condominium is one and Wide Suites condos is second.

Mirage and Universal condominium is in the same complex and they will shere same amenities. The amenities are one of the best. They are located in two storey seperate building. Amenities include bowling alley, large exercise room, swimming pool, tennis court and much more.

Mirage tentative possession is August 2014.

at brybarczyk@trebnet.com

Pinnacle Grand Park new condominium project

2012-02-08T03:47:00.000-08:00

Pinnacle International has great condo project under development called

Pinnacle Grand Park

Whether you are investor or just looking to settle in Mississauga's SQ1 you should not overlook Pinnacle Grand Park.

Pinnacle International has excellent prices on the suites. Suites are specious with well though out layout and the condominium is built in superb location

Contact me today and start saving money today !

Pinnacle Uptown condominiums Mississauga

2012-02-08T03:44:00.000-08:00

Pinnacle Uptown condominiums

New condo development project coming up soon at the corner of Eglinton and Hurontario (Highway 10) in Mississauga. Pinnacle International will be developing this site that will contain, low rise, mid rise, high rise residential, commercial and park facilities.

Average canadian home and condo prices

2012-01-31T11:08:00.000-08:00

Trump opens Canada’s tallest condo tower with $6-million suites

2012-01-31T10:58:00.000-08:00

Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto, Canada’s tallest residential building, opens Tuesday, capping a seven-year effort to bring the brand of billionaire Donald Trump to the country’s largest city.
The $500-million Trump tower is the first of three luxury hotel-condominium projects opening this year in Toronto, after The Ritz-Carlton opened last year. The Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences and the 66-storey Shangri-La Toronto are also set to open this year.
Toronto’s rise of luxury hotel residences follows a record year for tourism, with more than 9 million hotel-room nights sold in 2011, according to Tourism Toronto. The industry association said the availability of luxury hotel options attracts “high-value visitors” to the city.
About 60% of the 118 residential units in the 65-storey tower have been sold, with the remaining condos priced from $2.3-million to $6.3-million, according to Talon International Development Inc., the owner and developer.
The building also has hotel suites, owned by investors who can earn revenue when used by a hotel guest. About 85% of the 261 hotel rooms have been sold, with the rest priced from $967,000.
“In this market, and at the prices I know those units have commanded, that’s a pretty healthy ratio,” John Andrew, a real-estate professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, said in a telephone interview.
An international investor bought a penthouse at Toronto’s Four Seasons for $28-million, which the developer said last year was the most expensive condo ever sold in Canada.
Luxury Tower
Talon, based in Toronto, bought the property at Bay and Adelaide streets in the financial district in 2004 and proposed a luxury tower with the Trump name. The Trump Hotel Collection has a management agreement to operate the hotel, which was originally slated to open in 2009. Design changes delayed the project, Talon said.
The closely held developer arranged $310-million in construction financing from Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG, an Austrian bank, in 2007 and started construction with $250 million in sales.
Buyers have come from around the world, with Canadians representing a “considerable portion,” Talon Chief Executive Officer Val Levitan said in an e-mail. That portion is growing as the project nears completion, he said.
“Early on, the bulk of purchasers were investors,” Levitan said. “Over the past couple of years that mix has shifted much more towards people who are looking to use their suites as their primary home, a downtown pied-a-terre or even as a corporate suite.”
Taking Gamble
Investors of Toronto’s luxury units are taking a gamble on a limited market of wealthy visitors and dwindling prospects as companies cut back on corporate travel, according to Andrew, director of the Queen’s Real Estate Roundtable.
“I’m very skeptical that there is sufficient market to support all of these hotels,” Andrew said in an interview. “There are not enough wealthy individuals running around that are going to keep those hotels in business.”
Toronto will have about 1,000 luxury rooms after the Four Seasons and Shangri-La open, estimates Trump’s general manager Mickael Damelincourt.
“Compared to what Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Paris, London has to offer in terms of luxury hotels, it’s nothing,” Damelincourt said. “There is definitely a demand.”
Trump Hotel Collection also oversees five U.S. hotels including two in New York and one in Chicago, and a hotel in Panama.
Nobody Can Compete
If there is rivalry brewing among Toronto’s luxury hotels, the billionaire behind the brand name said he isn’t worried.
“Toronto is a vibrant, great city. We have a great product,” Donald Trump told reporters Jan. 24 at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles. “Nobody will be able to compete with us.”
The Trump building is in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, rising 277 metres among towers bearing the logos of Canada’s largest banks including Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia.
The Trump hotel features a two-level spa with pool, a 12,000-square-foot ballroom and 31st-floor dining at Stock Restaurant Bar & Lounge. Rooms start at $395 a night and go as high as $20,000 for the 4,000-square-foot presidential suite.
‘Elevate Toronto’
“Collectively, these luxury properties help elevate Toronto to a level of being one of the elite cities in the world,” Alex Shnaider, chairman of Talon, said in an e-mail. “It will benefit the city as a whole — making a great city even better.”
The hotel-condo idea remains “an unproven concept” for Canada, with uncertain investment returns, said Yossi Kaplan, a Toronto realtor with Your Choice Realty whose clients own units in the building. Trump’s name resonates more with foreign investors than Canadians, he said, and most calls he gets on the project are from outside the country or recent immigrants.
Trump’s name was a draw for Toronto’s John Hutson, who bought a 17th-floor hotel suite as an investment and a 48th- floor two-bedroom condo to live in.
“You associate Trump with special projects that have wow factors,” said Hutson, 50, a tax partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP whose office is a five-minute walk away. “The key is buying the best. And from a quality and location perspective, for my money, it’s Trump.”

Bloomberg.com

Leased 10 Woodford Park Road house in Toronto,

2012-01-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

Gone !

16 Woodford Park Road Gone !

Just Listed 10 Martha Eaton Way condo in Toronto

2012-01-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

Just Listed !

Just Listed Semi detached house with finished basement in Milton

2012-01-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

Just Listed !

Beautiful Semi Detached House with Finished Basement in Milton

$399,900

1124 Houston Drive

Beautiful Semi Detached House With Finished Basement.Three Good Size Bedrooms And Four Washrooms.Drive Way For Two Cars [No Side Walk].Many Upgrades.Tastefully Painted.Fully Fenced Backyard With A Two Tier Deck.Front Porch Is Done In Aggregate Concrete Which Continues As A Walkway To The Backyard.Finished Basement With Pot Lights,Laminate Flooring And 4th Bathroom.Updated Staircase With Metal Pickets & Updated Electrical Fixtures Through Out.Updated Baseboards

Just listed 5050 Intrepid Drive Townhouse #31

2012-01-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

JUST LISTED

31 - 5050 Intrepid Drive condo townhouse Mississauga On

2 bedrooms 3 washrooms

Upgraded

$319,900

Garden Villa Condo Townhouse. This updated upper floor, corner model offers extra windows and living space (just over 1200 sq ft). Painted in designer colors through-out. Main level features functional layout, living/dining room with Juliet balcony, updated laminate flooring, kitchen with breakfast area and energy efficient stainless steel appliances. Extras: appliances, kitchen backsplash, center island, balcony access & updated electrical fixtures. 2nd floor features two good sized bedrooms, two 4pc bathrooms and laundry. Ensuite bath features standing shower spa. Access to 403. Close to Erin Mills Town Centre & GO stations.

2011-08-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Colby Sambrotto is a founder of the website ForSaleByOwner.com, which, you know, lets people sell their own apartments. Colby Sambrotto had an apartment of his own—a two bedroom in Chelsea—to sell. Can you guess what happened next?

A founder of a website dedicated to direct sales of homes by their owners has sold his two-bedroom apartment in Chelsea for $2.15 million-with the help of a real-estate broker and a standard 6% commission...
"At first he wouldn't let me increase the price," [the broker] said. "I told him I know what I am doing-the market is picking up."

Not only could For Sale By Owner guy not sell his own apartment, but a broker was able to sell it for more money. That site once again, homeowners: ForSaleByOwner.com. Bookmark it!
Source: gawker.com

Rent to Own Condos

2011-08-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

Rent-to-own deals can be risky business

Last month I received an email from a firm billing itself as a “very successful real estate investment firm that invests heavily in something called rent-to-own.”
The e-mail offered several “hot deals” that were “going fast.” Three were on behalf of “high income” tenants now looking to buy a home in or near Toronto, and one was an offer to sell a “premium Mississauga lakeshore rental” home with tenants already in place.
The offers promised annual returns of 20.98 to 26.72 per cent to investors who would buy the properties and lease them to tenants with an option to purchase at a fixed price anywhere from one to five years down the road.
The rent-to-own option is also known as lease option. It consists of an agreement which combines a lease with an option to purchase at some time in the future.
The concept is said to appeal to tenants with a problematic credit score, but enough cash on hand (say $10,000) to pay for the option. The investors use the tenant’s option fee as part of their down payment and collect “above market” rent until the tenant is in a position to obtain financing and purchase from the investors.
Tenants can lock in a purchase price in a rising market and can freeze their rental payments for as long as five years.
The pitch to investors is that they can invest in rent-to-own properties which offer “low risk, high returns, hands-off investments that build substantial wealth fast.”
Unfortunately, that’s simply not true. The rent-to-own concept presents significant risk both to sellers/landlords and buyers/tenants.
Perhaps the most significant challenge is that there are no standard lease purchase agreement forms accepted by the real estate industry, and the commonly-used templates that I have seen in my practice leave a great deal to be desired.
Trying to determine an option price for a transaction taking place in three to five years in the future is largely guesswork. If the price is too high on the option date, the buyer will back out, and if it’s too low, the seller will walk away for potential additional profit.
As well, tenant buyers may be paying more than market rent so that each month some money will be credited against the eventual purchase price. If the buyer backs out at the expiry of the lease option, he or she will lose the option fee and any monies paid along the way as a credit against the purchase price.
Buyers may also be exposed to unlicensed real estate agents like the ones who sent me the marketing email last month, or to unscrupulous sellers. Back in September, 2008, the Toronto Star reported on Solution Homes, the operators of a rent-to-own scheme who leased houses from desperate sellers, subleased them to tenants, pocketed the rents without making mortgage payments, and left the tenant buyers to be evicted by the mortgage lenders.
For investor sellers, the worst case scenario is when the tenant buyer goes into default. The Landlord and Tenant Board has ruled that it does not have jurisdiction to evict a defaulting tenant who has an option to purchase. Power of sale and foreclosure proceedings cannot be used, and landlord sellers are forced to take defaulting buyers to Superior Court to evict them and terminate the option agreement. This is what happened in the case of Novotny v. Fowlerwhere the parties retained lawyers and experienced significant delay and expense to unwind their rent-to-own deal when the buyer defaulted.
In his 2010 book, Investing in Rent-to-Own Property, Mark Loeffler significantly downplays the risks involved in a worst-case scenario. His simplistic answer, for example, to the defaulting tenant problem is to check out the tenant’s credit and require post-dated cheques for the entire term, which is prohibited under Ontario law.Rent-to-own is not for everyone. For both sellers and buyers it involves a significant amount of risk. Participants in the program should only deal with licensed real estate agents and with real estate lawyers who are familiar with the concept.

source: Bob Aaron is a Toronto real estate lawyer and consumer advocate. He can be reached by email at bob@aaron.ca, phone 416-364-9366 or fax 416-364-3818.
Visit the Toronto Star column archives at http://www.aaron.ca/columns for articles on this and other topics or his main webpage at www.aaron.ca.

208 Enfield Place, Wide Suite condo

2011-08-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

208 Enfield Place is LEASED. If you are looking for condo to rent or have one and are looking to rent it out contact

BART directly for help !

1505 - 3504 Hurontario Street

2011-08-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

1505 - 3504 Hurontario Street is SOLD !

Thinking of selling YOUR condo

contact Bart directly !

SOLD - 188 - 180 Mississauga Valley Blvd.

2011-08-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

SOLD

188 - 180 MISSISSAUGA VALLEY BLVD. !

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BUYERS FOR
PURCHASING THIS AWESOME TOWNHOUSE !

For Lease Brand New Condo 2 Bedroom Wide Suite Condos Mississauga

2011-06-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

$1700

Wide Suite condos. 208 Enfield Place Mississauga !

Brand New,Never Lived In Wide Suite Condo.Over 900 Sq.Ft.This Suite Comes With One Of The Largest Balconies,Good Size Bedrooms With Split Layout.Master Bedroom Has Walk-In Closet And 4Pc Ensuite Bath.Enjoy Large Eat-In Kitchen With Stainless Steel Appliances.Walk-Out To Large Balcony From Living Room And Second Bedroom.This Condo Comes With One Parking And One Good Size Locker.Hydro Is Extra.

Extras: Enjoy 2nd Floor Recreation Centre And Sixth Floor Spa With Indoor Pool,Sauna,Whirlpool And Much More.Excellent Location With Walkin Distance To Sq1 Shopping Centre.Close To Mayor Highways And Much Much More Do Not Miss It.

Condo For Rent 1512 - 310 Burnhamthorpe Road Mississauga

2011-06-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

1512- 310 Burnhamthorpe Road Mississauga

$1550

15th floor 2 bedroom 1 washroom 2 parking spots !

New Price 180 Mississauga Valley Blvd. #188

2011-05-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

New Price

180 Mississauga Valley Blvd. #188

$289,900

Fully renovated townhome, from top to bottom !

Central Mississauga

Don't Miss it !

Open House

2011-05-25T10:24:00.001-07:00

1901 - 61 Richview Toronto

From 2 - 4 Pm Sunday May 29th 2011

Open House 61 Richview Toronto

2011-05-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

OPEN HOUSE

1901 - 61 RICHVIEW TORONTO

SATURDAY 2 - 4 PM

OPEN HOUSE SUN MAY 15TH 2011

2011-05-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

OPEN HOUSE

SUNDAY MAY 15TH 2011

FROM 2 - 4 PM

188 - 180 MISSISSAUGA VALLEY BLVD.

MISSISSAUGA

FULLY RENOVATED 4 BEDROOM TOWNHOME

$309,900

SOLD 2607-225 Webb Drive

2011-05-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

JUST SOLD

Sold just in few days !

Corner "Jasmine" suite on the high floor with beautiful unobstructed view.

Solstice condominium 225 Webb Drive Mississauga

Just Listed Large Fully Renovated Townhouse

2011-05-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

Just Listed

$309,900

188 - 180 Mississauga Valley Blvd. Townhome

Rare Find.Large Townhome In Central Mississauga.Great Value.Four Good Size Bedrooms.Totally Renovated.Thousands Spent On Renovation.Must See.One Of The Largest Townhomes In This Complex.Only Townhome In This Complex With Complete High Efficiency Central Air Condition And Central Heating.Laminate Flooring All Through-Out.Large Kitchen With New Cabinets And Appliances,Huge Windows In Living Room.Great Layout.Two Full Washrooms And Powder Room. Good Size Patio.

Just listed

2011-05-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

Just listed

Large 2 bedroom 2 washroom condo

265,000

Top Of The Humber Condominium.This Is High Floor Large 2 Bedroom 2 Washrooms Corner Suite With Eat-In Kitchen.Renovated From Top To Bottom.New Kitchen,New Floors,New Bathrooms. This Suite Feature Large Living/Dinning Room,Kitchen With New Cabinets.Master Bedroom With Renovated Ensuite Bathroom And Walk-In Closet.Good Size Second Bedroom With Parquet Flooring. Renovated Second Bathroom With Marble Tiles. Balcony With Unobstructed View.

Just listed 1505 - 3504 Hurontario Street Eden Park

2011-03-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

Just listed beautiful condo in Mississauga. 2 bedroom 2 washroom. Eden Park with two parking spots. 315,900

GTA High-Rise Condo Sales Reach Record Highs

2011-02-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

According to newly released statistics from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), 2011 has started off with a bang in GTA- in regards to the high-rise condo sector.

According to RealNet, their primary information source, 2,335 new homes and condominium suites sold in the GTA during January 2011. This does signal a 13 % decline from this time a year ago; however, high-rise sales skyrocketed, reaching the second highest level since 2000.

BILD President and CEO Stephen Dupuis indicated that 2,335 unit sales in January is quite respectable considering that most builders are using that month to sell inventory as they prepare to launch new phases and projects in February and March.

"January is not a heavily weighted month in the grand scheme of things, but sales of over 2,300 units in January bodes well for the Spring market," Dupuis said.

Regionally, low-rises in Toronto itself saw the greatest decline- dropping almost 45% from last January. The biggest increase for low-rises occurred in Halton, where there was actually an increase of 72.4%.

For high-rises, the greatest drop occurred in Halton, where sales fell by 45.7%. The greatest increase was in Peel, where sales went up by 23.3%.

Source: propertywire.ca

if you are planning to buy brand new condo from the builder in Mississauga or Toronto contact me first. We real estate agents receives incentives, discounts special pricing from the builders which are not available to the public. Also I can negotiate for you on your behalf and typically you can save few thousand dollars on new condo purchase. contact me directly for details.

Grand Ovation Mississauga 2 bedroom condo for rent

2011-02-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

Unit For Rent

Tridel Grand Ovation for $1600 a months.

Included one parking and one locker.

Superb, specious unit. Great amenties, excellent location

Home sales pace hits 9-month high

2011-02-21T07:53:00.000-08:00

Home sales in Canada increased 4.5 per cent in January over the previous month, their highest seasonally adjusted point since last April.

The Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday the Vancouver and Toronto markets led the way, but there were gains in more than half of all local markets during the month. "We anticipated the recent announcement of tighter mortgage regulations, which will come into effect this March, would pull forward sales activity into the first quarter of 2011, particularly in some of Canada’s more expensive housing markets,” CREA chief economist Gregory Klump said.

“The sharp rise in sales activity in Toronto following the announcement provides early evidence confirming this."

Klump was referring to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's announcement in January that Ottawa will no longer insure mortgages of longer than 30 years.National sales activity has improved steadily since last summer, and now stands almost 25 per cent above the low point reached in July 2010, CREA said. The national average price for homes sold in January was $343,675. While little changed compared to the previous three months, much like the total sales numbers, the price figure is 4.5 per cent higher than the average price level in January 2010. New listings of homes for sale normally post their biggest month-over-month increase in January, and January 2011 was no exception.

New listings more than doubled in January compared to the previous month, the largest such gain since 2007.

Source: CBC.ca

Leased For Full Price

2011-02-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

Leased Just In Few Days For Full Price !

SOLD - 5050 Intrepid Drive 59

2011-02-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

Sold in just few days!!!

Canadian Real Estate Market Compared over last 10 years

2011-02-08T05:16:00.000-08:00

Mississauga, ON (February 8th, 2011) - Tighter inventory levels helped to make the last decade one of the healthiest periods on record for Canadian real estate, insulating markets in major centres from the peaks and valleys characteristic of past decades, according to a report released by RE/MAX.
The RE/MAX Housing Barometer Report measured monthly sales-to-new listings ratios in 18 major centres across the country from January 2000 to December 2010. The report found strong seller's/balanced conditions prevailed for much of the time frame, prompting significant gains in housing values. The lone exception was when the market dipped into buyer's territory during the latter half of 2008 and early 2009. However, fewer listings served to offset diminished demand and provided greater stability. Average price increases from 2000 to 2010 ranged from an annually compounded rate of return of 4.82 per cent in London-St. Thomas to a high of 9.56 per cent in Regina. The national average was 6.82 per cent. By far the tightest market in the nation was Winnipeg, where seller's ruled the roost for 85 per cent of the decade, followed by Hamilton-Burlington (67 per cent), Regina (63.6 per cent), Kitchener-Waterloo (59.8 per cent) and Edmonton (57.5 per cent).

Good Start to 2011

2011-02-07T13:30:00.001-08:00

Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,337 transactions through the TorontoMLS® system in January 2011. This result was 13 per cent lower than the record result reported in January 2010.

"While off the record pace experienced a year ago, the GTA resale market has started the year on a solid footing. Home buyers in Toronto and surrounding areas continue to benefit from a diversity of housing types for sale at many different price points," said TREB President Bill Johnston.

The average selling price for January 2011 sales was $427,037, representing an increase of over four per cent compared to the average of $409,058 reported in January 2010.

"The average selling price is expected to grow at a moderate pace in 2011. Growth rates in the three to five per cent range will be sustainable from an affordability perspective," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

Median Price
In January, the median price was $360,000, from the $350,000 recorded during January of 2010.

For Lease Detached House 16 Woodford Park Rd Etobicoke

2011-02-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

Short Term Lease For 6 Months. Detached House $1600

For Lease Detached House 16 Woodford Park Rd , Etobicoke

Just Listed 59 - 5050 Intrepid Drive

2011-02-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

$285,000

Just Listed Condo Townhouse. 2 Bedrooms 2 Washrooms Upper Floor Unit. Two Balconies, Good size. Sold With One Parking. Visit www.barttherealtor.com or mycondospace.ca for more photos !

Average Real Estate Prices in GTA compared over last 4 years

2011-02-04T05:31:00.001-08:00

Year 2010 was the Year Of Condos In Greater Toronto Area

2011-01-21T05:55:00.000-08:00

High rise condominium sales in the Greater Toronto Area accounted for more than half the new home sales last year for the first time ever, according to figures released by RealNet Canada Inc.
“The popularity of condos has been an increasing trend that we have seen over the last decade,” said George Carras, president of RealNet .
High rise sales accounted for 52 per cent of all purchases last year, compared with 42 per cent in 2009. Affordability issues, along with a lack of buildable lots for low rise development have helped condos become the popular choice with new home buyers.
“Within the last decade, the share of the GTA housing market captured by high rise condo developers has risen steadily from one quarter, which was considered normal, to a third, which was called the new normal,” said Building Industry and Land Development president Stephen Dupuis. “To the point today where more than half of all new home sales annually are high rise.”
Dupuis notes that when condo sales hit the 40 per cent level some builders dubbed that the year of the condo. But this is the first year on record that condos officially passed the half way mark.
All that condo building has some analysts worried that there is a massive oversupply in the works. Analysts have been warning that there could be a correction in prices as a result.
So far that hasn’t happened.
Carras says one problem is structural. Builders are going flat out, but they can only put so much supply on the market.
In 2010 there were 15,874 occupancies for high rise buildings, about average for the decade.
“They’re not sitting idly by. But they only have so many resources. It’s not like you’re Ford Motor Company and you can put on an additional midnight shift. So the supply is not coming on as fast as the demand,” says Carras.
That has helped to hold prices up, at least so far.
New home prices also hit new records at the end of 2010.
Average prices of single detached homes exceeded the $500,000 threshold, closing the year at $503,190.
Condominiums passed the $400,000 threshold, hitting an average price of $441,663.
Many of the recent sales have been to foreign investors from Asia and the Middle East. There is some concern that units will ultimately come back on the resale market if investors do not see price appreciation, or if they are unable to rent their properties because of a glut.
Part of the popularity of condos though is by default. Low rise sales have taken a hit because builders have had trouble finding lots. Another complaint has been red tape at city hall in getting project approvals.
“You can’t sell what you don’t have,” says Carras. Sales of low rise homes decreased by 10 per cent over 2009, facing the second worst year since 2000.
Overall, 2010 sales were up by 8 per cent to 33,996 units compared with 2009.
However, that makes it the third worst year since 2000.
The low was in 2008 was when the recession hit hard and consumers were paralyzed with indecision. Sales plummeted to 26,768.
In terms of builder sales, Mattamy Homes, had the biggest year selling 1,815 new homes.
Monarch Homes was in second place at 1,403 and Tridel Corp. came in third at 1,277.

Source: http://www.moneyville.ca/article/925581--2010-was-gta-s-year-of-the-condo

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2011-01-20T14:27:00.000-08:00

FOR SALE

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Home resales strong despite January slide

2011-01-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

January sales for existing homes in the Greater Toronto Area has stumbled out of the gate, at least compared to last year.

Sales were down by 11 per cent in the first two weeks of 2011 according to figures released by the Toronto Real Estate Board Wednesday.

The board reported 1,583 sales compared with 1,749 at the same time last year. This is the first indicator of the health of the market for 2011.

“While off the record pace experienced last January, sales remain high from a historical perspective and market conditions remain tight enough to support a sustainable rate of price growth,” said Toronto Real Estate Board president Bill Johnston.

But new mortgage rule changes announced this week which reduces the maximum amortization to 30 years from 35 effective in March, are expected to bring forward buyers in the coming months.

Prices still remained solid at $413,565, up five per cent from the first two weeks of 2010.

In the city of Toronto prices were $418,951 compared with $401,120 in 2010.

In the 905 region, prices were slightly lower at $409,947 compared with $391,353 a year earlier.

http://www.moneyville.ca/article/924425--home-resales-strong-despite-january-slide

Will new mortgage rules trigger winter buying?

2011-01-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

Will new mortgage rules trigger winter buying?

if you are considering buying condo or selling condo in Mississauga and area and want to post pone this step until summer you might want to list or buy your property now. I offer professional service to both buyers and seller. Access to all new listings across GTA and full, proven marketing plan. I work with team of lawyers, mortgage specialists, home stagers and more ...

Canadian Real Estate Association is concerned that changes to mortgage rules will force Canadians to buy homes through the traditionally slow winter market rather than waiting until the spring.

The federal government said that in 60 days, Canadians will no longer be able to obtain mortgages that have an amortization period of longer than 30 years. This will raise mortgage payments on a typical resale home by some $1,400 a year compared to the 35 year amortization rate available today.

With interest rates expected to move higher by the summer, CREA vice-president of government relations Randall McCauley said many would-be buyers could be tempted to jump into the market early to secure lower payments.

“Frankly, we’re concerned that the announcement came today when tomorrow there will be all sorts of speculation about interest rates even if they don’t change,” he said, referring to a Bank of Canada meeting Tuesday, when Governor Mark Carney is expected to hold his benchmark rate stead. “Even if rates don’t change, people will speculate about when they will change. That could bring people into the market early, since [the amortization change] is not coming into effect for 60 days.”

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Monday that new federal rules will reduce the maximum amortization period to 30 years from 35 years for government-backed insured mortgages when a buyer has a down payment of less than 20 per cent. He also said he would lower the maximum amount Canadians can borrow in refinancing their mortgages to 85 per cent from 90 per cent of the value of their homes and said it would withdraw government insurance backing on lines of credit secured by homes.

The last time the government made changes – last year it made it more difficult for Canadians to qualify for mortgages by forcing them to qualify for a 5-year fixed rate rather than the lower variable rate – buyers went a buying binge that drove prices to an all-time high by May (the changes came into effect in April).

Sales then slumped across the country in July, and picked up slowly to end the year on a relatively steady note that had some economists suggesting the market had corrected itself without any need of government intervention.

“At the risk of dipping deep into cliché, the Canadian housing market appears to have achieved a perfect soft landing after its flying start in the recovery,” BMO Nesbitt Burns deputy chief economist Douglas Porter said on Friday. “

“The market is relatively well balanced and prices are still meandering ahead. We expect no fireworks in 2011, with rates poised to slowly grind higher later in the year, job growth decent but not spectacular, and buyers potentially constrained by concerns over record household debt levels.”

Calling the changes “prudent,” the Canadian Real Estate Association cautioned that the effect of changes to the amortization period aren’t easily gauged and will have to be monitored closely.

“We understand where the government is coming from and you’d have to have your head in the sand not to have noticed this has been a topic of conversation,” Mr. McCauley said. “We think by and large the changes are wise and prudent. But we are a little concerned – the amortization change is not a precise instrument – you can’t make a change an know it will have a certain effect.”

The average Canadian resale home sold for $344,551 in December. Assuming a five-year mortgage at 4 per cent interest, and the minimum 5 per cent down payment of $17,227, a 35-year mortgage would have monthly payments of $1,441. Shorten the amortization period to 30 years, and the monthly payment increases to $1,555.

The Canadian Association of Mortgage Professionals spoke to the government frequently over the last three months, and was pleased that the changes didn’t include any modification to the minimum down payment required to buy a home. And while president Jim Murphy said that he generally approves of the changes to amortization lengths, he hopes the government shows the same willingness to change if the market cools further.

“We understand why he did what he did,” Mr. Murphy said. “But we hope when the time comes, he’ll revisit that decision. Real estate is very important to the economy, and it’s crucial that we find a balance because you don’t want to overreact to temporary market conditions.”

He said a better choice would have been to keep 35 year amortizations, but force all applicants to qualify with the assumption of a 25 year amortization.

CAAMP, which represents the mortgage brokerage industry, released a study late last year that showed mortgage debt in Canada surpassed $1-trillion for the first time in 2010. About 22 per cent of all new mortgages had amortization rates longer than 25 years, up from 18 per cent the year before.

There was a jump in the number of Canadians using their mortgages to free up cash, with 18 per cent taking out equity as the cited a need for “debt consolidation or repayment.” The average amount borrowed against home equity was $46,000. Given that there are 5.65 million mortgage holders in Canada, CAAMP estimated the borrowing at $41-billion, about the same as last year.

“It is estimated that 30 per cent of the takeout was for debt reconsolidation and repayment,” the report states. “Therefore, while the amount of outstanding mortgage debt would have increased by this amount, totals for other types of debt would be correspondingly reduced. About $15-billion was taken out for renovations, $6-billion for education and other spending, $7.5-billion for investments and $4-billion for other purposes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/will-new-mortgage-rules-trigger-winter-buying/article1872727/

HST fears fuelled record housing sales

2011-01-17T05:33:00.000-08:00

Fear of a phantom 13%-tax bite on resale homes fuelled record sales in the spring but that’s unlikely to be the case in the coming year, the Toronto Real Estate Board says,

“It was booming. It was crazy with tons of multiple offer situations,” said TREB president Bill Johnston of the market in the first quarter of 2010.

“Once they get the clear message, they tend to overlook these taxation issues and get on with their lives.”

Johnston said many prospective home buyers misunderstood how the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) would be applied once it kicked in last July, and believed it would add “a big whack” to the purchase price of any home they bought.

In fact, the HST doesn’t apply to resale homes and is only levied on new homes, although buyers can get some of the tax rebated on purchases of $500,000 or less.

TREB reported first quarter home sales in the GTA set a record in March this year with total sales of 22,418. New listings that month were 42% higher than the previous march, the board said.

And while that fell off after the HST came in on July 1, Johnston said sales still held up credibly for the rest of the year and he’s optimistic about 2011.

“I think we’ll see a stable market, frankly,” he said. “The economic news, as you know, has been relatively positive for Canada and the U.S. seems to be showing more signs of life than it did this time last year.”

Ending the City of Toronto’s Municipal Land Transfer Tax — as new Mayor Rob Ford has promised to do — would be a big boost, Johnston said.

But he said he doesn’t expect Ford to move on that promise until 2012. The tax brings in almost $200 million a year to the city.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce also believes home buyers in Ontario and British Columbia pushed forward purchases in the first half of the year because the HST was looming, president Perrin Beatty said in a news release Monday.

The cooler housing sector and cautious consumers will mean moderate economic growth next year, Beatty said.

“The Canadian economy is chugging along but not at full steam,” Beatty added.

Source: Toronto Sun

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/12/27/16684631.html

2010, A Year of Real Estate In Review

2011-01-17T05:32:00.001-08:00

Here’s a look at some of the events that made headlines this past year:

Source: propertywire.ca Written by:WRITTEN BY DAVID HATTON, EDITORIAL TEAM

2010 has been a year that resembled an amusement park roller coaster ride, complete with twists & turns . But the year will also go down in the record books as the year that realtors took a good look at the value added services clients are paying for. Or choosing not to.

Here’s a look at some of the events that made headlines this past year:

The year in Toronto got off to a good start with reports that 87,308 transactions were processed during 2009 – a 17% increase over 2008. That included 5,541 properties bought and sold during the month of December 2009 alone. The average home price climbed 4 % in 2009 to $395,460, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB).January

A survey of 1,225 Royal LePage agents and brokers across Canada revealed buyers were still nervous about the stability of the economy. When asked to comment on the most common fears they heard from home buyers during the last three months, 38% of Royal LePage agents and brokers cited economic stability and related factors such as job security. 23% said home buyers fear they may not be able to sell their existing homes at the price they are hoping for, while 12% said buyers are hesitant because they believe prices have not yet hit the bottom of the cycle.

Meanwhile, realtors in the Halifax area were encouraged by news that sales from November 2009 to January 2010 were up 27.5% compared to the same months last year. Nova Scotia Association of Realtors president Linda Smardon explained it was no surprise. “This time last year we were experiencing large decreases so we fully expect our numbers to be up provincially. With listings down and sales up, the real estate market is more balanced,” she said in a news release, adding the average price in the province was up 8.5 %.

February

February was the month of Valentines Day, and TREB released statistics showing clients loved buying and selling properties, reporting that there were 4,986 transactions in January, a “huge” increase over the 2,670 sales during the same period in recession battered 2009.

Century21.ca announced they would be adding Chinese language support for sales representatives and brokers in the Century 21 System. “Cantonese and Mandarin are commonly spoken languages in Canada’s metropolitan centres such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal,” says Century 21 Canada President Don Lawby. “We now offer a unique advantage to franchises and sales representatives whose clients predominantly speak these Chinese languages.” Century21.ca already serves Canadians in the country’s two official languages – English and French – and the addition of Chinese makes it the first trilingual, nationally branded real estate website in Canada.

March

Greater Toronto realtors reported 10,430 sales through the MLS in March, pushing total first quarter 2010 sales to 22,418 – the best result on record under the current TREB boundaries.

March was also when CREA filed its response to the Competition Bureau’s challenge of its MLS rules, calling comments by commissioner Melanie Aitken “preposterous”. “There is simply no legal, economic or factual basis upon which to order the remedy sought by the commissioner,” a statement from CREA said.

CREA’s response, filed with the Competition Tribunal March 26, stated the challenge was “fundamentally misconceived. Contrary to the commissioner’s allegations, is it simply untrue that consumers have only one option if they want to sell a house using a MLS system operated by a local real estate board or association?”

CREA even went after Aitken for statements to the media. “The commissioner of competition has stated in multiple media statements that (CREA’s MLS rule amendments) amount to a ‘blank cheque’ because new anti-competitive rules could be introduced by CREA or its member boards. In CREA’s view, this allegation is preposterous. CREA has and always has had the ability to make rules, as do its member boards. CREA and member boards...comply with competition law,” says the response.

CREA officials also addressed the Competition Bureau’s statements that “MLS restrictions have caused at least one broker to exit the relevant market.” It’s a reference to the Toronto firm Realtysellers, which has pending legal action against TREB and CREA. In its response, CREA added, “Realtysellers suspended operations because of impending disciplinary proceedings. The Real Estate Council of Ontario commenced proceedings to strip Realtysellers of its broker registration because the conduct of its principal Stephen Moranis afforded ‘reasonable grounds for belief that he will not carry on business in accordance with the law and with integrity and honesty.’” It said the RECO investigation and proceedings against Realtysellers were commenced prior to CREA’s March 2007 introduction of the interpretations to the MLS rules.
Finally, the last word went to Michael Polzler. The Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic executive vice-president took out an advertisement in one industry publication, taking aim at part-time realtors who do one deal per quarter. He questioned their professionalism and value and launched a website for realtors to voice their thoughts.

CREA and RECO declined to comment specifically on Polzler’s letter, although RECO’s communications manager Sherri Haigh suggested Polzler take his concerns to Ontario’s Ministry of Consumer Services.

April

In April, real estate boards and associations across Canada were trying to get rid of land transfer taxes. The Winnipeg Real Estate Board released a study showing Manitoba had seen its land transfer tax revenues increase from $31 million in 2006 to $44.8 million in 2008, representing a 44 % increase. The board cited a November 2007 land transfer tax study by Will Dunning, the chief economist of the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP), showing “the taxes levied on land transfers are far in excess of any social or governmental ‘costs’ that result from the activity of home buying and therefore these discriminatory taxes are not justifiable.”

Dunning compared 1997 to the first nine months of 2007 and showed over a slightly less than ten year period, the tax payable had gone up more rapidly than house prices.

TREB officials released a poll showing that 70 % of Torontonians believe the Toronto land transfer tax was not a fair way for the city to address its budgetary needs. That was up from 62 % of Torontonians who felt the same way according to an earlier Environics poll conducted for TREB in 2007, prior to the implementation of the tax. That still didn’t stop TREB from also reporting 10,898 sales through MLS in April, representing a 34 % increase compared to April 2009. There were also 20,683 new listings in April –a 59 % annual increase. Both the sales and new listings results amounted to new records for the month of April under the current TREB boundaries

May

Greater Toronto realtors reported 9,470 sales though the MLS system in May, representing a one % dip from May. 2009. In comparison to previous years, this was the third highest May sales result on record.

Century 21 Canada unveiled a new branding direction during May as part of a multi-year online marketing strategy that it says has seen the number of visits to Century21.ca rise by nearly ten-fold since late 2007. “The goal behind our new tagline, Connected to More, is to communicate to home buyers how Century 21 has evolved as a brand,” company president Don Lawby said in a news release. “It also represents our vision for how we want consumers, potential sales representatives and franchisees to relate to the Century 21 brand in the future.”

May was also when realtors got suspicious and angry with Real Trends. The US-based research firm had been producing a list of Top 500 brokers for 22 years, ranking everyone by number of transactions and closed sales dollar volume. When it attempted to release a Canadian Top 200 list, however, there were initial problems with accuracy. Real Trends said it was due to not all brokers returning their surveys, and still wanted to do the lists on an annual basis.

June

The battle between CREA and the Competition Bureau heated up in June with the tribunal chair turning down Lawrence Dale’s request for intervenor status in the case. The co-founder of the former Realtysellers discount brokerage was expected to be a witness in the case while another applicant, Stephen Skelly, vice-president of operations for the National FSBO Network, was granted intervenor status. Skelley was asked to submit an affidavit for cross-examination by counsel for both parties in the case.

In other news, Greater Toronto realtors reported 8,442 sales through MLS in June. This represented a 23% decrease compared with the 10, 995 originally sold during June of the previous year.

That was still substantially less unit volume than in the Vancouver area, where the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported 2,972 properties were sold, a decline of 30.2% compared to the 4,259 properties that changed hands in June 2009, the highest selling June on record for the board.

But Edmonton realtors were still satisfied with the pace in their market with sales of 1,539 properties in June, said Larry Westergard, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton. “There was less external pressure on the market from incentives or rate changes last month and as a result the market seems to be operating in a normal controlled manner...It has been...very busy in REALTORS® offices as they list client’s properties for sale, book showings for buyers and attend open houses. This has not resulted in immediate sales, however, and, in anticipation that this slowdown will continue through the year, we have reduced our 2010 sales forecast by 2,000 units from 21,000 to just 19,000.” There were 9,406 residential properties in inventory at the end of June as a result of 3,473 new residential listings and sales of the 1,539 properties. The sales-to-listing ratio was 44%. The average days-on-market was up at 47 days. The record inventory levels were set in September 2007 at 9,913 residential properties available through the Edmonton MLS system, according to Edmonton board officials.

July

On July 1st, Ontario and British Columbia joined the Atlantic provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia when they introduced the controversial Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). The new tax is 13% in Ontario and 12% in B.C.

Meanwhile, over a dozen Kitchener Waterloo area realtors met with Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak to discuss the controversial land transfer tax. Hudak had advocated for a one year land transfer tax holiday to give buyers a break for that first year.

August

CREA launched a new national television commercial month called Faces, that was intended to highlight the value realtors bring to home buying and selling. In the 30-second ad, viewers see and hear testimonials from several individuals about their experience with their realtor. Men and women representing people from all walks of life talk about their unique needs when buying and selling a home. While they talk, their faces continually change, eventually becoming another person with another positive story.

September

Keller Williams Realty announced plans to launch a Keller Williams Realty Commercial Division this fall. “Our goal is to expand our platform and make Keller Williams Realty the real estate company of choice in both the residential and commercial worlds by providing our associates the technology, marketing tools, and resources to succeed in the commercial business,” Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams Realty, said in a press release.

Re/Max launched a new entrepreneurial series for its top sales representatives, led by real estate coach Ken Goodfellow. The entrepreneurial program, exclusive to Re/Max, provides sales associates who have achieved Platinum Status (more than $250,000 in annual commission) with “the skills necessary to create a ‘systems driven’ business, including strategies to achieve long-term growth, financial planning and leadership skills for better results,” the company said.

October

October will be remembered as the month when The Big Vote took place.

Representatives of the country’s 101 real estate boards crowded into the ballroom of a Newfoundland hotel to vote 97% in favour of a deal that some warned could mean the end of the Canadian Real Estate Association. Visitors rushed to the PropertyWire.ca website almost immediately, making it the most-read story of the year.

There were also reports that the federal Competition Bureau may not be finished with organized real estate and set its sights on investigating how MLS data is stored.

The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) was also upset this month, but over another issue. The group commissioned an Ipsos Reid survey that showed 56% of Ontario residents mistakenly believed the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) applied to the full purchase price of a resale home, when it is only levied on the various transaction fees associated with the purchase. “We’re doing our part to inform our clients, but we shouldn’t have to do it alone. We’re calling on the Ontario government to launch an immediate public awareness campaign to educate taxpayers and end the HST confusion,” said Dorothy Mason, President of OREA.“For average homebuyers, learning that the HST does not apply to the full purchase price means a $40,000 saving they weren’t expecting.”

TREB reported 6,681 sales through the MLS system in October 2010, while the REBGV showed home sales were steady the past four months, lending a sense of stability to the market. According to the MLS Link Housing Price Index (HPI), the benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 4.6% to $579,349 in October 2010 from $553,702 in October 2009. Since June, however, residential home prices in Greater Vancouver have remained relatively unchanged, declining 0.2%. “We’ve seen a lot more consistency and less volatility in recent months when it comes to both number of sales and pricing, although it’s important to remember that conditions often vary between communities and neighbourhoods,” Jake Moldowan, REBGV president said.

November

CREA announced that, after a six month review of potential candidates, Gary Simonsen would become its next CEO when Pierre Beauchamp retires next spring. Well-known within organized real estate in Canada, Simonsen has been CREA’s chief operating officer since 2008, having previously served for a decade as associate executive officer.

Toronto area realtors reported 6,510 existing home sales in November – down 13 % from 7,446 sales in November 2009. New listings were also down 13 % annually to 8,642, according to a news release. Meanwhile in Greater Vancouver, residential home sales improved in November compared to the previous four months, with the number of sales posted on the MLS coming in slightly higher than the 10-year average for that month. REBGV reports that the number of residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totaled 2,509 in November 2010. This represents a 7.4% increase compared to October 2010 and an 18.6 % decline from November 2009.

December

According to the sixth Annual State of the Residential Mortgage Market report from the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP), Canadian homeowners are comfortable with their mortgage debt, have significant home equity and could withstand an increase in their mortgage interest rate.

With a month to go in the year, Winnipeg realtors were preparing to celebrate a new record for dollar volume sales. MLS sales totaled $2.58 billion as of the end of November, surpassing the previous record of $2.47 billion set in 2009. “In many respects,” said WinnipegREALTORS president Claude Davis, “the first 11 months bore a striking resemblance to last year with the exception that prices are continuing to climb, as they have been doing year-over year since 2003. “Looking ahead to the end of the year, WinnipegREALTORS has already set a new annual MLS dollar volume record and will see MLS sales finish over the 12,000 unit mark — a level only surpassed five times previously,” he added. With 11,583 units sold by the end of November, year-to-date MLS® sales were virtually deadlocked with last year’s total of 11,563. November MLS unit sales were down less than one % to 829 transactions. On the other hand dollar volume sales during last month rose by 10 % to $182.2 million when compared to the same month in 2009, which is a new record for the month.

We could not include everything in our yearly review but we'd like to hear from you; what was your highlight of 2010 so far? Tell us about your highs, and lows, this past year in the comment section below.

GTA Realtors Report Mid-Month Resale Housing Market Figures

2011-01-17T05:31:00.001-08:00

All in all, 2010 is set to close out at good levels, according to a recently released report from TREB.

These figures indicate a 19 % decrease compared to the 3,079 sales recorded during the same period in last December. Year-to-date sales amounted to 84,316 – a one % drop from the 2009 total of 84,888.Today, the Greater Toronto REALTORS reported 2,509 sales through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) during the first two weeks of December 2010.

"While off the 2009 record, the level of December transactions remains strong from a historic perspective. The number of transactions in 2010 will be the third highest on record," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Bill Johnston
Prices have also shown an increase both in the City of Toronto, and in the rest GTA itself, from Dec 2009- with the city of Toronto increasing from $460,828 during the same period in 2009 to $ 470,918. Similarly, the rest of the GTA was at $393,918 in 2009, increasing to $408,118 in 2010.

December mid-month transactions came in at an average price of $435,225 – a three % rise compared to the average of $423,103 tallied during the first 14 days of December 2009.

"Market conditions remain tight enough to support moderate growth in the average selling price. Expect the three per cent annual rate of growth reported for the first two weeks of December to be the norm in 2011," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

Source: propertywire.ca

New home prices 0.3% higher

2011-01-17T05:30:00.002-08:00

Canada's new housing price index rose 0.3 per cent in November after a 0.1 per cent advance in October.

Statistics Canada said prices increased the most in St. John's, N.L. (up 4.2 per cent), followed by Ottawa-Gatineau (1.6) and Halifax (1.2).

In St. John's, prices rose as a result of increased labour costs and higher land development fees, while increases in material and labour costs were the main factors in Ottawa-Gatineau and Halifax.

The largest price declines were recorded in the Ontario cities of Windsor (down 1.8 per cent) and St. Catharines-Niagara (down 1.1), followed by Charlottetown and Victoria (both down 0.4).

The agency says some builders in Windsor and in St. Catharines-Niagara lowered their prices to generate sales while others offered discounts and bonus incentive packages in November.

Year-over-year, the new housing price index was up 2.3 per cent in November after a 2.5 per cent increase in October.

Flaherty expected to tighten mortgage rules

2011-01-17T05:30:00.000-08:00

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is expected to announce tighter mortgage rules on Monday to combat concerns over high Canadian household debt.

The announcement is set for 8 a.m. ET in Ottawa.

Among the expected changes are the lowering of the maximum number of years the government will back mortgages — from 35 to 30.

Ottawa is also expected to:

Limit the insurance coverage by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. on lines of credit.
Reduce the upper limit that Canadians can borrow against their home equity to 85 per cent from 90 per cent.

The changes come following recent warnings from the Bank of Canada on household debt levels.

In December, bank governor Mark Carney cautioned Canadian households and businesses not to be lulled by current low interest rates, because repercussions from a hike could be swift.

Last week, Agathe Cote, a deputy governor at the bank, told a Kingston, Ont., audience that a sudden weakening in the Canadian housing sector could affect other areas of the economy given the high debt loads of some households.

If that shock hits, Canadians would be expected to cut back on their spending, she said

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2011-01-17T05:28:00.000-08:00

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2011-01-17T05:26:00.000-08:00

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2011-01-12T05:58:00.000-08:00

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2011-01-12T05:56:00.000-08:00

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Teranet-National Bank National House Price Index Results

2010-11-03T13:33:00.001-07:00

The housing market in Canada continues to be healthy with modest price increases, but according to the Teranet-National Bank national house price index, the rate of this increase has experienced a significant slowdown.

Released on Wednesday, October 27, the index reflected these findings across the country- a mixture of modest gains in price, compared with modest dips in price, essentially keeping prices fairly flat.

Representing the Western Markets, and bucking the trend of modest price gains, the Vancouver index showed a decline of0.4 per cent and the Calgary index was down 0.5 per cent. It was the second monthly decline in a row for Vancouver.

This balance between modest price gains and decreases is actually a healthy prop up for market prices overall. Says Shahrzad Mobasher Fard of TD Economics in a note to investors, ”If the recent trend of growth in existing home sales and decline in the supply of homes listed on the market is maintained, it should keep a floor under home prices going forward. Prospects for any acceleration in price growth is however, expected to be limited as factors such as the decelerating pace of the economy, high debt loads and weak growth in personal disposable income limit consumers' propensity to spend."According to the Teranet-National Bank national house price index, August housing prices nationally were (% change m/m y/y):Vancouver -0.4 11.8,Calgary -0.5 5.0,Toronto 0.4 12.5,Halifax 0.9 6.8, Montreal 0.5 7.7 and Ottawa 0.4 10.7. In total the National composite was 0.2 10.4.

These numbers are significant because they reflect the smallest rise in prices since the index began its consecutive climb 16 months ago. Showing the smallest year-over-year price increase in six months, prices were 10.9% higher from August 2009.

Although indications are that the rate of price growth has slowed substantially, prices in the Canadian market still are robust and healthy when compared to our neighbors to the south. In Canada, compared to the pre-recession peak, housing prices are 6.6 per cent higher. However, as yet another symptom of a market in turmoil, prices in the United States are 29% lower than their peak four years ago. This is one of many stark contrasts between the two markets.

Marc Pinsonneault, senior economist at National Bank Financial Group comments on what the market can expect to see in the near future: "Looking ahead, prices are likely to fluctuate without tendency over the next few years. At the national level, current market conditions, close to the boundary between balanced market and buyers' market, herald a deceleration in home price deflation. Also, house prices are undoubtedly high, and affordability rests on historically low mortgage rates. People will realize that rates are due to go up sooner or later. When that happens, preference for renting instead of buying should increase."

Source: http://www.propertywire.ca/news/latest/539-teranet-national-bank-national-house-price-index-results.html

56% of people in Ontario incorrectly believe that the new HST applies to the cost of resale homes

2010-11-01T14:46:00.001-07:00

Most recent Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) shows that 56% of people in Ontario believe that the new HST applies to the cost of resale homes. This confusion means that many buyers think the cost of a resale home is tens of thousands of dollars higher than it actually is.”With the average resale home price sitting at $333,000 in Ontario, this means that many would expect to pay an additional $40,000 in sales tax if they bought a home at that value. The reality is that there is no HST collected on th full purchase price of a resale home. In fact the HST is only levied on the various transaction fees associated with the purchase of a home that has been previously occupied (i.e. not a newly-built home).
HST is not added to the selling price of your home.It only applies to the services which are associated with selling of your home. Before HST came into effect, seller would need to pay GST (5%) on commission, lawyer fees, etc.Now Seller needs to pay GST (13%) on commission, lawyer fees, etc. THAT IS IT. AGAIN YOU DO NOT PAY HST on the top of the selling price of your home. Bottom line is that you the SELLER will net same money as before after selling your home less 7% difference paid for the services.
HST does apply to buying new homes from the builder but only on does homes which value is OVER $400,000.
If you have additional questions just send me an email and i will be happy to answer your further questions. If you are considering selling your property please let me know and i will be happy to show you what i can do for you to sell your home for top $$$$.

Condominiums first step to homeownership in most major centres, says RE/MAX

2010-11-01T05:55:00.001-07:00

Mississauga, ON (November 1, 2010) - Given serious escalation in detached housing values, condominium apartments and towns have now emerged as the first step to homeownership, says RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada.
Affordability has fuelled buying activity across the board, according to the 2010 RE/MAX Condominium Report, highlighting trends and developments in eight Ontario markets and one in Nova Scotia. Condominiums now represent one in every three homes sold in the Greater Toronto Area; close to one in every four homes sold in Ottawa and Hamilton-Burlington; and almost one in every five homes sold in London, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Collingwood. The trend has translated into a solid upswing in unit sales activity, with 78 per cent of markets posting an increase in year-to-date sales (January - September 2010 vs. 2009)-with percentage gains outperforming overall residential sales in most markets examined.
"As one of few affordable housing options available to first-time buyers, the concept is poised for dramatic growth in years to come," says Michael Polzler, Executive Vice President, RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. "The lifestyle has also gained a foothold with younger, hipper audiences, as the definition of homeownership evolves with the changing demographic. Dreams of the small home with a white picket fence are being replaced by the funky loft apartment in close proximity to shops, restaurants, and entertainment."

2110 - 225 Webb Drive Sold

2010-10-30T06:14:00.001-07:00

225 WEBB DRIVE SOLD IN 1 DAY !

co-op vs condominium

2010-10-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes i am being asked by my clients what is co-op and how it is different from condominium. the main difference between the two is ownership. In condominium you own the unit and share common elements which are paid for with monthly condo fees. With co-op you do not physically a unit but rather you buy shares in a corporation that owns the building. Also in co-op current residents have the right to accept or reject applicant owners or tenants.

Just Listed 2110 - 225 Webb Drive Solstice Condos

2010-10-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

$330,000

Solstice Condos On Sq1. High Floor Corner 'Jasmine' Suite With Large Balcony And Beautiful, One Of The Best View Of The Lake. This Unit Features Unique Wall To Wall Glass Windows With Lot Of Sun Light,High Ceilings,Just Installed Premium 13.5Mm Laminate Flooring In Entire Suite.Large Living/Dinning Area, Open Concept Kitchen With Upgraded Cabinets,Granite Countertops And Stainless Steel Appliances.Two Good Size Bedrooms,Den,Two Full Washrooms & Laundry

The Unit Is Sold With All Appliances,Electrical Fixtures,One Underground Parking And One Locker.Solstice Is State Of The Art Condo Building With Awesome Amenities And 24Hr Security.Located Across Sq1 Plaza,Minutes To Highway.Do Not Miss It!

GTA Housing Market Conditions Remain Healthy in September

2010-10-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

GTA Housing Market Conditions Remain Healthy in September
October 5, 2010 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 6,310 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in September 2010. This represented a 23 per cent decrease compared to the 8,196 sales recorded during the same period in 2009. Through the first nine months of the year, sales amounted to 69,069 – up four per cent compared to the first three quarters of 2009.

"The level of sales in the second half of 2010 has been lower, representing a balancing out period following record levels of sales in the latter half of 2009 and first few months of 2010. We remain on track for one of the best years in history for existing home transactions in the GTA," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Bill Johnston.

The average price for September transactions was $427,329– up five per cent compared to the average of $406,877 reported in September 2009. The average selling price through the first nine months of the year was $429,657.

"Resale homes in the GTA remain affordable," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

"It is important to consider the positive impact of declining mortgage rates over the past two decades. Simply considering home prices relative to incomes does not allow for an accurate analysis of affordability," continued Mercer. "The share of average household income going toward a mortgage payment on the average priced home in the GTA remains within accepted lending guidelines. This is why the average home selling price has continued to grow."

Median Price
In September, the median price was $360,325, from the $347,000 recorded during September of 2009.

what are differences between exclusive, owned and rented parking.

2010-10-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

When you buy your condo , parking or locker that comes with it can be owned, exclusive or rented. Owned parking means that you are purchasing a parking space with seperate deed. It is yours and you can sell it as you please. So if you buy a condo with two parkings and then you decided that you do not need one you can just put it on the market and sell it seperately to the unit. Exclusive use means that you are assigned a parking spot that is for your own and only use as long as you own condo condo. Rental parking means that there is no parking sold with the unit but it is sometimes available but for which you need to pay extra monthly fee.

Tax rebate for home owners, not investors

2010-09-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

I have purchased a new condo that is scheduled to close in a few days and my lawyer has called requesting I indicate if I will be moving into the unit or if I am buying as an investment. I don’t see this being any of his business, or that of the builder, as I am buying it with my savings so there is no mortgage on the property. How should I respond to this inquiry?

The answer to the question is extremely important from a documentation perspective and in the end result, the amount you pay for the condo.

Built into almost all new condominium Agreements of Purchase and Sale is the provision that GST/HST is included in the purchase price. This is standard, and effectively lowers the actual value of your property at the time of registration.

The federal government, in a move to spur new home and condo development, has instituted a tax break for purchasers of new builds whereby if the buyer is purchasing for themselves or for a close family member to live in the home, they offer a GST/HST rebate. This amounts to approximately 36 per cent of the applicable built-in tax. This rebate is not available to people who are purchasing new property as an investment, for whatever reason.

When you attend at your lawyer’s office to sign the documents for your new home, you have to swear a declaration in front of the staff member that you will occupy the premises. If you fail to occupy the residence after swearing to do so and you are caught by the Canada Revenue Agency, not only will you have to refund the tax rebate — which the builder claims on your behalf — but you could have criminal charges brought against you under the Canada Evidence Act.

It is a criminal offence to swear a declaration with a Commission of Oaths that is not true.
Therefore, you need to be quite clear and up front with your lawyer as to how you will take possession of your new home or condo.

Clearly, you are treading on thin ice if you think you can claim the rebate if you do not move into the property.

Source:
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/comment/article/621236--tax-rebate-for-home-owners-not-investors

Just SOLD - 26 - 5050 Intrepid Drive

2010-09-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Buying new from the builder is not always a great idea.

2010-09-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

I think that you should read this article if you are not sure whether to buy new new vs resale

Undisclosed costs can really add up

It’s hard to think of any consumer purchase contract where the price on the front page is not the full purchase price, where additional charges are unlimited, and where the seller has no legal obligation to make full disclosure of extra charges to the buyer at the time of sale.

And yet this is a common practice among some Toronto-area condominium builders. It is an issue that cries out for the government to intervene in the public interest.

I was reminded of this problem once again last week while I was reviewing a client’s pre-construction purchase contract for a unit in a large mixed-use condominium development in downtown Toronto.

When I added up all the extra charges buried in the disclosure statement but not even hinted at in my client’s purchase agreement, the total came to just shy of a staggering $70,000.

The 33-page purchase and sale agreement for this project is typical for pre-construction condominium contracts. For a mere $935,3000, the buyer gets a floor plan without measurements or any guaranteed size, along with an obligation to pay a number of disclosed but unlimited charges such as government taxes and levies, and the costs of utility meters and connections. In order to discourage buyers — and their lawyers — from actually reading the contract, it is written in the tiniest type face possible. (No wonder I have to use trifocals after years of reading these contracts!)

But the $935,300 cost of the condo (plus the disclosed but unlimited extras) is far from the total tab the buyer has to pay.

Under the 1998 Condominium Act, at the time a purchase contract is signed, the builder is required to deliver to the purchaser a thick volume of materials which includes the proposed condominium organization documents and a disclosure statement setting out 27 specific details of the project.

Buried in the disclosure document is a statement setting out whether the unit buyers jointly will be required to purchase assets or services from the developer.

In my experience, the vast majority of buyers find these disclosure documents intimidating and incomprehensible and do not bother to read them.

In reviewing the disclosure statement for the new downtown project with my client last week, I pointed out that after the condominium project is registered, all of the unit owners as a group will be required to purchase from the developer:

• Up to 6 guest suites at $200,000 plus HST each, or $1,356,000, plus 8 per cent interest over 10 years,

• A superintendent unit for $565,000 including HST, plus 8 per cent interest over 10 years.

• A recreation centre for an astonishing $11.3 million, repayable without interest over 10 years.

Including $860,000 in interest on the guest suites and superintendent’s unit, the unit owners as a group are on the hook to the developer for a total of slightly more than $14 million during the first 10 years of ownership.

My client’s share of the total cost works out to $69,560, or a hit of more than 7.4 per cent in addition to his purchase price.

None of these charges were disclosed in the sales office, so when I calculated it out for my client, he was in shock at the total amount of the costs.

In my experience, this project marks a new high — or low, depending on your viewpoint — in undisclosed extra charges for condominium buyers. It’s a situation which demands greater government protection for unsuspecting consumers.

And it’s also an issue which the members of the Building Industry and Land Development Association might want to tackle before the government does it for them.

Until the disclosure laws are changed, condominium buyers can protect themselves by taking several steps:

• Ask about undisclosed charges in the sales office before signing anything.

• Read the disclosure statement and especially Section 17 (about extra costs).

• Above all, always have an experienced condominium lawyer review the purchase agreement and disclosure statement within the 10 day cancellation period after signing it.

Bob Aaron is a Toronto real estate lawyer. He can be reached by email at bob@aaron.ca, phone 416-364-9366 or fax 416-364-3818. Visit the column archives at http://aaron.ca/columns/toronto-star-index.htm for articles on this and other topics.

Mississauga condos: Absolutely brilliant

2010-09-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Source: yourhome.ca Written by STEPHEN WEIR

Long after the memories of Marilyn Monroe have faded, two well endowed condos will still be twisting the years away in downtown Mississauga.

Curvaceous. Shockingly new.

Absolute Buildings 4 and 5 are being built to last for the next century and beyond.

While their growing shapes are unconventional — the 56-storeyAbsolute 4 has been dubbed the Marilyn Monroe building because of its curves while Absolute 5, at 50 storeys, will sport a masculine big butt profile — it is the traditional application of concrete, and lots of it, that will make these buildings an eye-catching monument in time.

The condominiums have been under construction for over three years. Now, as the structures begin to tower over the nearby City Hall and Square One shopping centre, motorists, pedestrians and probably even the pilots of low flying planes are taking note of the now undulating skyline.

Designed by MAD architects, a very cutting edge and oh-so-chic Beijing-based architectural firm, their Mississauga condos with curves are being hailed as examples of “structural expressionism.”

Both condos break the mold on status quo. And of the two, Marilyn Monroe is the most different and therefore most interesting in terms of how it is being built.

Anthony Pignetti of the Dominus Construction Group is the director of highrise construction of the Marilyn Monroe building. Dominus is overseeing the building for Fernbrook Homes and the Cityzen Development Group.

Pignetti is quite used to being asked how a building can be rotated in space. Taking up a stack of his business cards, he shows how it is being done on the worksite. He holds the cards tightly in the centre and fans them out. While each card is the same size, the overall shape of the deck has morphed.

The cards, like the 56 egg shaped floors in the new Marilyn Monroe condo, remain rooted to the center (where fingers hold them in place) but are angled away from each other at a measurable angle.

“Each floor in Absolute 4 (Marilyn Monroe) is egg shaped and, like the cards, is fanned out from the centre of the building,” explains Pignetti. “The angle of difference between one floor and another ranges from one to eight degrees. Absolute 5 is different because the floors are shifted (from the core) at a constant angle shift of four degrees.”

HOW MARILYN MONROE

IS BEING BUILT

The business of building a condo with off-centered ovoid floors began not with a deep hole, but rather in a wind tunnel — it was essential for the architects to find out how a non-rectangular building would be affected by the elements.

“The wind tunnel tests at the University of Waterloo showed we had to build heavy underground and the first 25-floors above ground,” says Pignetti.

He estimates that the building’s base is about 20 per cent stronger than a traditional condo of the same size. Not surprising, the actual construction cost of the building will be about 20 per cent more than a typical 400 unit glass skyscraper.

And under Marilyn Monroe’s glass exterior is special concrete and steel, and lots of it.

The basement, all six floors of it, was dug like any other big project. The differences come into play with the Marilyn Monroe when her foundation — the basement walls and the floors — were made. Her bottom was constructed using a thick network of reinforced steel poles (rebar) that increases the tensile strength of the concrete that now covers it.

All buildings rely on rebar, but, in the case of Marilyn Monroe, a bigger rebar has been used. “Not only is it a thicker grade of rebar, we have used more of it” explains Pignetti “It is so tightly packed together you could easily walk across the rebar in the beams.”

So dense is this forest of rebar that traditional concrete could not be poured over and around it. Instead a special flowing concrete has been used on the lower floors.

Dump run-of-the-mill concrete inside a form made of plywood and you won’t get a solid wall after it has set. Concrete, when left on its own, leaves large air gaps inside the mix. In fact construction experts say that with traditional concrete as much of 20 per cent of its volume is made of trapped air. Bubbles reduce the density of concrete and that lowers its strength while increasing the chances that water will do damage.

On “typical” construction sites it is very much a case of shake while you bake. The concrete is vibrated to shake all the big air bubbles out. The oversized rebar used in the Marilyn Monroe is too thick and too close together to allow for equipment to vibrate poured concrete. Instead, a relatively new and more expensive concrete has been used for the foundation and the first 25-floors above ground.

“We have been pouring SCC — self-consolidating concrete,” explains Sergio Vacilotto, Dominus’ director of site operations. “It is highly flowable. In fact it fills the forms so completely we have to seal off their ends so that it doesn’t drain right out of the seams and onto the floor.”

This new expensive concrete uses super plasticizers and it is the weight of its mass, not vibration, that allows it to set without air pockets or seams. The concrete now exposed in Marilyn Monroe’s unfinished first floor lobby has a noticeable superior, almost polished, surface finish.

This summer Marilyn Monroe’s SCC passed the earthquake test. Workers already working on the 50th floor barely felt the 5.5 earthquake that rumbled through Ontario in July. “We didn’t even lay down our tools” said Vacilotto.

Because the windows have not yet been installed the innards of the building are easy to see. There are five ramrod straight concrete pillars that run from her bottom to her top. These pillars, the building’s core, form a tower that each floor, no matter its angle, is attached to.

Inside these pillars six high-speed elevators will soon be installed. “Sure the building has curves but you can’t run elevators at an angle so there has to a perpendicular core.”

At right angles to the centre tower there are four “C” shaped smaller concrete pillars. Like the central core, the squared Cs run straight and true from the basement to the roof. These are the passageways that carry the electricity and water upwards and residential garbage and recycled goods downwards.

Sounds normal. Where it gets a little wacky is in the building of each individual floor around these core shafts and tower.

The floors are egg shaped concrete platters. Since each individual plate is skewed at a different angle than the floor directly below or above it, each suite in the building is different.

While in a traditional condo tower each unit’s kitchen and bathroom is directly in line with the kitchen and bathroom above and below it, the same isn’t true in the Marilyn Monroe.

Wearing a hard hat and work boots and standing on the 49th floor, Vacilotto uses his hands to show where a unit’s bathrooms and kitchen will be. “If we drilled down to a lower floor chances are there wouldn’t be a kitchen or bathroom there. They could be here (pointing to a spot close to the open edge of the building) or over there (gesturing back to the core tower).”

This gives unit owners uniqueness not found in any other large format condo build. But by not having water and sewage services running down the building in a straight line, the actual placement of pipes becomes an integral part of the initial stages of the construction.

“On some floors we have more piping running horizontally across the ceiling than we do going vertically through the floor to the next unit below,” Vacilotto says.

Building a tall condo is akin to creating a vertical assembly line. Each floor has to be created by a team of skilled tradesmen before the next level can be added.

Pouring concrete inside standing plywood forms creates the load bearing walls. Since the ceiling (and the next level’s floor) comes after the walls, the concrete is poured in between the wooden forms from above.

When the walls have firmly set, the plywood forms come down. The ceiling is poured and the basic services — electricity, water, sewage and gas — are roughed in.

There are no outside walls, so the forms are bundled up and put on a platform on the outside of Ms Monroe and lifted up to the next level so the floor building process can continue.

We can’t “fly” form (a crane swings the forms out the side of a building and lifts it up to the next level) the way other buildings do,” said Vacilotto. “The shape doesn’t allow for it.”

It takes about four days to build a floor at the Marilyn Monroe site. Periodically the roof crane and a concrete pumping rig are raised to keep pace with the growing condo.

Driving by you can’t see how busy the construction site is. The top two floors of Marilyn Monroe have a downward slanting brightly coloured collar around it.

The covering is there to make sure the workers, their tools and building material don’t fall down onto a busy Burnhamthorpe Rd. below. The barrier also protects the workers from the constant wind. And it takes the edge off anyone suffering from a fear of heights.

Watching the concrete being pumped from a crane you don’t see that you are at the top of the tallest building in Mississauga. But once the structure is complete, the view from inside will be just as interesting as the view from outside.

Cookie cutter and tiny boxes on boxes are two condo clichés that don’t get used much when talking about the Marilyn Monroe. Each suite is aligned differently than the units above and below it. And each suite varies in shapes and sizes depending on where it is on the ovoid shaped floor.

A unit’s view of the outside world will be through a curved bank of windows and glass doors. Where there isn’t window glass there will be spandrel opaque glass panels giving Marilyn Monroe a wall-of-glass look.

These windows don’t open, instead there are sliding doors leading out to balconies. The balconies range in size; from 10 to 50 feet — it all depends if you are on a hip or a waist. If you stand on the bulge side of the ovoid and look down, you can’t see any other balconies. Go to another unit and look over the edge and you see a stepped progression of balconies below you. Look up and you will see ledge upon ledge of concrete.

Dominus Construction Group readily admits that the building is over built. All that extra concrete, rebar and snaking pipe work does have its advantages. This is a building that could well be standing in the year 2110.

The project has caught the interest of buyers and builders alike. Only a handful of suites are left for sale and the top floor was snapped up long ago by a single customer. A steady stream of companies from across the country have sent their own builders in to look up Marilyn Monroe’s skirt to see for themselves how it is being done.

Facts & Figures

• Absolute consists of five buildings in the block on the northeast corner of Burnhamthorpe Rd. and Hurontario St. in Mississauga.

• Absolute 4 (Marilyn Monroe) has a rotation of 207 degrees from the base to the top.

• Absolute 5 has a rotation of 200 degrees from the base to the top.

• Absolute 4 will reach 56 storeys. Each level has nine-foot ceilings except the penthouse level, which will have 10-foot ceilings

• Marilyn Monroe has 428 suites; her shorter companion will have 453.

• Marilyn Monroe’s largest suite will be 3,500 square feet, her smallest will be 545 square feet.

• Marilyn Monroe will have six penthouse units, 100 2 ½ -bedroom suites, 217 2-bedroom suites and only 28 1-bedroom units.

• Amount of concrete that has been poured at Absolute 4: 4,400 cubic meters

• Amount of concrete still to be poured at Absolute 4: 1,500 cubic meters

• Absolute 4 and 5 share a common garage with 954 parking spaces.

• There will be a retail space between the two buildings.

• A 30,000-square-foot, three-storey recreation centre has already been built. It has indoor and outdoor pools, a basketball court, two squash courts, weight room, cardio room, games room, three party rooms, five furnished guest suites, a 48-seat theatre, spa, indoor and outdoor whirlpool, men’s and women’s change rooms with showers, lockers and sauna/steam room, library room and outdoor barbeque facilities.

August Sales and New Listings Down, Prices Up

2010-09-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

September 3, 2010 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 6,232 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in August 2010. This represented a 22 per cent decrease compared to the 8,035 sales recorded during the same period in 2009. New listings decreased by one per cent year-over-year to 10,488.

"The prospect of interest rate hikes and new mortgage lending rules prompted some households to purchase a home sooner than they otherwise would have this year. The result has been a larger than normal dip in sales over the summer months. With this said, it is important to recognize that sales on the year were eight per cent higher than in 2009," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Bill Johnston.

The average price for August transactions was $411,012 – up six per cent compared to the average of $387,921 reported in August 2009.

"Market conditions have remained tight enough to support higher home prices in comparison to last year. Under current mortgage lending standards, a household earning the average income in the GTA can comfortably afford the mortgage payments on an average priced home. Market conditions and the affordability picture would have to change dramatically before a sustained drop in the average selling price would take place," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

Why rising rates haven't hurt housing

2010-09-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

Why rising rates haven't hurt housing

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Recent mortgage-pricing trends are helping to offset the Bank of Canada's moves

ROB CARRICK

So much for the housing market being crushed by rising interest rates.

The Bank of Canada cranked up its trendsetting overnight rate for the third time in four months on Wednesday and the impact will be felt by a wide range of borrowers. But home buyers? Not so much.

True, the central bank's increase of one-quarter of a percentage point has already been applied by the major banks to their prime lending rate. That in turn means variable-rate mortgages, plus lines of credit, are now a quarter-point more expensive.

But there are two trends that offset higher carrying costs for variable-rate mortgages. One is that fixed-rate mortgages, notably in the popular five-year term, have been coming down in recent weeks and are now as low as 3.59 per cent. That's a fabulous rate, by the way.

The other trend is a return to previous levels of discounting in variable-rate mortgages. With their usual dexterity, the banks used the financial panic of 2008 and early 2009 to ram through higher lending costs on a variety of products, including variable-rate mortgages. Now, some of these rate hikes are being unwound.

MorCan Direct, a Toronto mortgage broker, notes that pricing on variable-rate mortgages has over the past 20 months fallen from prime plus a full percentage point to prime minus as much as 0.65 to 0.8 of a point. The level of competition in the mortgage market suggests to MorCan's Travis Allinott that by next year we'll see banks offering their best precrisis deal on variable-rate mortgages - prime minus one percentage point.

"We definitely believe it's going to get back to prime minus 1," Mr. Allinott said "It's a rate war out there."

Wherever variable-rate mortgages end up, it's clear that pricing trends in the marketplace are offsetting the Bank of Canada's rate moves to some extent.

On the fixed-rate side, there have been at least four rounds of rate cuts by the big banks since the end of May. Last week, Bank of Montreal lowered its special five-year rate to 3.59 per cent from 3.79 per cent (note: this rate applies only to 25-year mortgages and offers limited prepayment privileges). Back in May, discounted five-year mortgages went for something like 4.7 per cent.

Lenders price fixed-rate mortgages off the yield on Government of Canada bonds, not the Bank of Canada's overnight rate. Bond prices have been rising lately, which means yields have fallen because the two move in opposite directions.

Things get a bit weird here because good times for bonds have lately coincided with bad times for the economy. And yet, the Bank of Canada is confident enough about the economy to have raised rates repeatedly.

Craig Alexander, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, explains that trading in Canadian bonds is heavily influenced by what's happening in the U.S. market. Down there, of course, there's a lot of worry about a return to recession - the dreaded double dip.

The Canadian economy has slowed, too, and nowhere more markedly than the housing market. This was widely predicted many months ago, but ironically it was rising interest rates that were supposed to drive the decline.

Mr. Alexander said rising rates have had only a very small negative impact on house prices. More important factors have been a rise in the inventory of homes for sale, a rush to buy in 2009 and early 2010 when rates were at rock bottom, and the expectation that rates would rise.

Today, he sees rates as being supportive of housing. "Rates are remarkably low by historical standards. People get so hung up on the direction of interest rates. The level matters."

Rates will increase from here, but Mr. Alexander doesn't seem them as a major problem for housing.

"The fact that rates are low and likely to rise at only a gradual pace in the next 18 months suggests you really aren't going to get a major correction in the housing market," he said. "What you're going to get is a period of softening, some declines in sales and a modest correction in housing prices. But after such a strong run, you could expect that."

Interested in variable-rate mortgages even though they're captive to the Bank of Canada's rate moves? Mr. Allinott suggested starting with a one-year closed mortgage, which you may be able to get for as little as 2.44 per cent. In a year, he suggests jumping into a variable-rate mortgage.

Variable-rate mortgages could be more costly then, but pricing pressure might just get you a prime-minus-1 deal.

Source: https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20100909/GICARRICK0909ATL

Bank of Canada Rises Interest Rates

2010-09-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

OTTAWA -- The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate Wednesday by 25 basis points to 1%, arguing financial conditions remain “exceptionally stimulative” even in the face of a slowing -- but still growing -- economy.

In its accompanying statement, the central bank acknowledged the economic recovery in Canada would be “slightly more gradual” than envisaged it its most-recent economic outlook, due to sluggish private-sector demand in the United States. However, it said domestic demand was expected to be “solid” and business investment to advance “strongly” -- powered by “accommodative” credit conditions that have eased further in recent weeks due to sharp declines in bond yields.

Banks price loans, such as mortgages, based on yields for relatively safe government debt.

The statement provided no suggestion the central bank was set to keep rates on hold for an indefinite period, as some analysts now expect.

“As a result of monetary policy measures taken since April, financial conditions in Canada have tightened modestly but remain exceptionally stimulative,” the central bank said.

For instance, consumers continue to take out loans at a steady pace, with central bank data suggesting household credit expanded at an annualized 7.1% pace for the three-month period ended July 31.

The Bank of Canada said future hikes in its key lending rate, up 75 basis points in the past three months, “would need to be carefully considered in light of the unusual uncertainty surrounding the outlook.”

This decision may come as a bit of a surprise for traders, who have been largely divided as to which way Mark Carney, the central bank governor, and his colleagues would lean toward in the face of slower than anticipated economic growth. Markets had priced in a roughly 60% chance of a rate hike, and those odds increased over the past week from a less than 50-50 chance based on better-than-expected manufacturing and labour data in the United States.

Canadian GDP expanded 2% annualized in the second quarter, well below the central bank’s forecast of 3%. However, analysts have said the economy was stronger than the headline print indicated, as final domestic demand advanced at a robust pace (3.5%). Plus, much of the drag in the second-quarter was from so-called “import leakage,” in which gains in imports -- as firms acquired productivity-enhancing equipment at the fastest pace since 2005 -- outstripped exports.

Of the GDP results, the Bank of Canada said economic activity “was slightly softer” than expected, “although consumption and investment have evolved largely as anticipated.”

The central bank is likely pleased at the turnaround in business investment, which it has argued is required for the recovery to maintain momentum once consumer spending tapers off. Plus, investment from firms in productivity-enhancing technology is required to ensure future growth.

The bank said the Canadian recovery would be “slightly more gradual than it had projected in July … largely reflecting a weak profile for U.S. activity.” The U.S. Federal Reserve has said it was prepared to take further action if required to stoke the recovery, although officials at the powerful central bank are unsure such measures are required.

The Bank of Canada said inflation -- which the central bank aims through rate decisions to hit and maintain a 2% level -- has been “broadly in line” with expectations and “its dynamics are essentially unchanged.”

In terms of the global picture, it said the recovery is proceeding “but remains uneven, balancing strong activity in emerging market economies with weak growth in some advanced countries.” As for the United States, the world’s biggest economy and Canada’s biggest trading partner, the central bank said the recovery in private demand is “being held back by high unemployment and recent indicators suggest a more muted recovery in the near term.”

Economists have scaled back growth expectations for both Canada and the United States, although at the same time boosting the forecast for Europe as its major economies are advancing better than expected following the sovereign debt crisis in the spring.

The central bank is scheduled to provide an updated economic outlook next month, two days following its next rate decision on Oct. 19. Previously, the central bank had forecast 3.5% economic growth this year, followed by 2.9% expansion in 2011. The output gap -- a rough measure of the amount of excess capacity in the economy -- is expected to close by the end of 2011

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2010-08-31T06:09:00.000-07:00

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2010-08-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

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Canadian home prices continue to rise

2010-08-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

"Canadian home prices are still on the rise even as sales fall as demand peters out, one factor that is making homes less and less affordable, according to a study by the Conference Board of Canada.

Home sales have fallen by 25 per cent since reaching a peak at the beginning of the year as fewer buyers compete and more houses come onto the market. That hasn't stopped houses from becoming more expensive, a trend that is likely to continue, said conference board associate director Michael Burt.

“Most of the costs associated with home ownership, such as mortgage costs and insurance, are outstripping inflation and income growth,” said Mr. Burt, who studies industrial economic trends.

“As a result, housing affordability in Canada, which has been deteriorating over the past decade, will continue to decline during the next two years.”

Canadian home prices were up 13.6 per cent in June from a year ago, according to the Teranet—National Bank composite house price index, released Wednesday. Month over month, June prices were up 1.5 per cent — the largest monthly increase since last August and the 14th straight monthly increase.

Price increases in June were driven by the bustling housing markets of Vancouver and Toronto, where many buyers entered the market in advance of the new harmonized sales tax that took effect July 1 in Ontario and British Columbia.

Recent figures from the real estate brokerage industry show July sales fell 30 per cent and prices were essentially flat.

As more resale houses come onto the market and fewer buyers compete for homes, the housing market is at a crossroads between a balanced market and one that favours buyers.

Many economists predict the sector could move further toward a buyers market, which could be accompanied by a deceleration of price increases, if not outright price drops as seen in the United States.

Marc Pinsonneault of National Bank (TSX:NA) says home prices could soon fall, especially since the introduction of the HST in the hot housing markets of B.C. and Ontario have raised the price of many home purchases

His report on the index — a compilation of average home price changes in six metropolitan areas — suggests that it may be too early to conclude that vigorous price rises in April, May and June represent a trend.

“The prospect of harmonized sales taxes coming into effect July 1 in Ontario and B.C. may have stimulated sales in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa in the preceding months,” the report said.

Seasonally-adjusted home sales fell 8.2 per cent in June from the month before and shrunk 19.7 per cent compared to June 2009, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

However, the average Canadian home price sat at $342,662 compared to $326,689 in 2009.

Sales activity peaked in December 2009 and hovered near record levels during the first quarter of this year as buyers rushed into the housing market ahead of changes to mortgage rules, interest rate hikes and the HST.

Activity so far this year is up 5.6 per cent compared to the first seven months of last year, but the gap is expected to shrink as the year progresses because sales ramped up heavily during the latter part of 2009.

The strong pace of spending at the beginning of the year indicates the Canadian industry has fully recovered from the recession, and although new home construction activity is expected to slow, housing starts will remain at a healthy level, the Conference Board said in its report.

Housing starts slowed to 192,800 units in June, the slowest monthly pace this year. And home building is expected to slow during the second half of the year.

“The slowdown represents a shift to a more sustainable building pace rather than the beginning of a large correction in demand,” said the Conference Board.

Many economists predict an accompanying deceleration of price increases, with some saying prices could begin to fall modestly by the end of the year.

While performance in the Canadian housing market is weakening, it is faring much better than the U.S. market, where the past three months have been the worst on record for new home sales.

Sales of new U.S. homes dropped sharply last month to the slowest pace on records going back nearly half a century, the latest sign that the economic recovery is fading.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday that new home sales fell 12.4 per cent in July from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 276,600."

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com

Welcome To My New Blog

2010-08-25T16:45:00.001-07:00

Welcome To My New Blog! This is first post. You will find here information on real estate market in general, condo market in Toronto and area and much more. For other blogs and my other website visit www.barttherealtor.com !