There is an election next month for a new mayor of Toronto - the largest housing market in Canada. The current front runner for the job, Rob Ford, has gone on record in recent weeks decrying the influx of immigration to that city, and how the coffers of City Hall can no longer support as many immigrants as are expected to take up residence in Toronto over the next decade.
What I wonder is, can Toronto ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on September 27, 2010
Canada has yet another reason to be proud of our real estate market. The respected biannual study, Jones Lang LaSalle’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI), has listed Canada as the second best market in the world as it relates to “transparency” in real estate – meaning how much data is available on commercial real estate debt (originations, outstanding balances, ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on August 4, 2010
MoneySense Magazine - a Canadian personal finance publication - has revealed its Top 10 Best Places to Live in Canada in 2010:
Ottawa-Gatineau, ON
Kingston, ON
Burlington, ON
Fredericton, NB
Moncton, NB
Repentigny, QC
Brandon, MN
Victoria, BC
Winnipeg, MN
Levis, QC
The magazine used data compiled from 179 Canadian cities and towns with populations over 10,000 people. They rated cities ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on May 10, 2010
Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, St. John's, Waterloo, ON and the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill - hard to imagine what they could have in common given their differences. Turns out, these six cities top the list of all Canadian cities for drawing new residents - according to a January 2010 study by the Conference Board of Canada.
Funded by 15 municipal and regional organizations, the study looked at ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on February 15, 2010
It's great to be on the front line of the Canadian real estate industry as we watch the market start to rebound, showing some of the best numbers in a while.
The number of Canadian homes sold went up 18%- the biggest year-over-year increase since early 2002, and the most homes sold countrywide - ever - in the third quarter of a year (July to September).
The Canadian Real Estate Association ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on October 26, 2009
As we celebrate that the Canadian economy is beginning to heal, consider the fact that the sale of a single home can boost the economy substantially.
The ripple effect set off by the sale of each house is far-reaching, as indicated by a new report for The Canadian Real Estate Association. It found that between 2006 and 2008, about $46,400 in ancillary spending (on items other than the house and land) ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on October 15, 2009
Traditionally, newcomers to Canada rent more often, and for longer periods, than do their Canadian-born neighbours. But times they are a-changing... immigrant families are playing catch up in the home buyer market.
Recent census data shows that in 2006, almost 72% of immigrants live in a dwelling owned by a household member - up from 68% in 2001... That's a bigger increase than Canadian-born homeowners ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on August 20, 2009
According to the Fifth Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, Cape Breton ranked number one of 10 cities found to have affordable housing out of 34 Canadian Markets.
Cape Breton also ranked the fifth most affordable housing market internationally.
The Nova Scotia Association of Realtors (NSAR) received a certificate from Demographia's Canadian partners, the Frontier Centre ...
Posted by Robert Doucette
on July 9, 2009
Defining "hot" as homes experiencing price increases over the past year and over the past month, these are the hottest neighbourhoods in which to sell homes in Canada right now: • Toronto (3 areas) • Toronto suburbs (8) • Vancouver (2) • Vancouver suburbs (1) • Ottawa (1) • Ottawa burbs (2) • Winnipeg (2) • Halifax (1) • Regina (1) Over the ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on June 11, 2009
You've looked at enough houses to know there's no such thing as an "average" home...
So why, then, do so many news stories and provincial or national home statistics list 'average' prices?
Beats us
In reality, 'average prices' do not help in understanding the true value of a home. What does help is basing the value of your home on the selling prices in your own neighbourhood.
Suppose five homes ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on May 7, 2009