Toronto Real Estate and Neighbourhoods Blog | Move Smartly

Monopoly of land registration system inappropriate

Bob Aaron in Legal

Is the Ontario government about to auction off exclusive access to our land registration system to the highest bidder? Is it in the public interest to have a private monopoly control our land registration system?

These are two of the questions which arise from the passage of the Electronic Land Registration Services Act, 2010 (ELRSA) which received Royal Assent on May 18. It is certain to have a profound impact on every Ontario resident who is a party to a deed, mortgage or other document registered in the province’s electronic land registration system.

The legislation was buried in the March 25, 2010, budget bill and enacted without any announcement, publicity or meaningful stakeholder consultation. Since it originated with the Ministry of Finance rather than the Ministry of Government Services (which oversees the land registration system), it is reasonable to assume that the purpose of the law is to raise money for the government.

A ministry spokesman explained to me that the ELRSA legislation gives the province “new tools” to manage contracts effectively and efficiently for the delivery of electronic land registration services. It allows the province to enter into “new business arrangements to continue to enhance and modernize the electronic service offerings available to the public.”

The new law creates the position of Electronic Land Registration Services Commissioner to oversee and regulate the financial and operating relationship among the government, Teranet and third party service providers.

Real Estate Roundup May 28th 2010

Real Estate Roundup

Real Estate News

Overvalued homes, higher mortgage rates drop hot resale market (Globe and Mail)

Home ownership costs rise across Canada (Globe and Mail)

Why flipping is not investing in real estate (Globe and Mail)

The pros and cons of hybrid mortgages (Globe and Mail)

Canada home prices expected to drop, costs to rise (Reuters) 

Foreclosure wave deemed unlikely (CTV)

House prices overvalued by 14 per cent in Canada: CIBC (Toronto Star)

Thefts at open houses a new worry (CBC)

House prices have become the steroids of the Canadian economy (Toronto Life)

Bank of Canada should hike interest rates: OECD (Toronto Star)

U.S.-style housing market collapse not likely in Canada, CREA says (Calgary Herald)

Is Toronto's Housing Market a Bubble?

John in Toronto Real Estate News

For the average home buyer, making sense of Toronto’s real estate market is not easy.   We often read conflicting media reports about the market because economists rarely agree on where things are heading.  One week we’ll read about a report forecasting a significant downturn in Canada’s real estate market, the next week we’ll read a more balanced outlook forecasting modest price appreciation.

This leaves most buyers confused when trying to answer two equally important questions:

1. Is Toronto in the middle of a real estate bubble?
2. Is this the right time to buy a house?

Today I’ll do my best to tackle the first question by giving our readers some tips on how to make sense of Toronto’s real estate market.

Think Local

Most media reports talk about Canada’s real estate market as a whole.  The problem with a national forecast of the the real estate market is that it tells us very little about what's going on in Toronto.  House prices can appreciate and depreciate at very different rates across different cities.

We can see this in action by looking at a chart of house prices over the past ten years for 20 different US cities.

The cities with the most rapid appreciation in prices experienced the biggest drop in prices while cities with a moderate appreciation generally experienced a more modest decline in prices.

Do your best to find reports that are focused on Toronto's real estate market and put less emphasis on national forecasts.

What is the Best Toronto Neighbourhood for You?

Urmi in Realosophy News

Realosophy is very excited to announce the launch of our new Neighbourhood Match tool (click here). Dubbing this our 'e-harmony for Toronto neighbourhoods', we've pushed ourselves to create something that's both technically smart and extremely fun and easy to use.  The online tool dynamically matches home buyers to the Toronto neighbourhoods that best meet their needs based on personalized criteria including budget, housing style and walkability. We are completely addicted to it!

While there are over 170 Toronto neighbourhoods, the media only talks about a handful, leaving home buyers unaware of the choices that are available to them. We created Neighbourhood Match to help home buyers build the lifestyles they want on their own terms, within their own budgets. We created Neighbourhood Match to help consumers base their housing decisions - likely the biggest financial decision they will ever make - on solid numbers and straight facts. We also created Neighbourhood Match because we believe that community matters. We are learning that high tech gadgets and large screen televisions will not replace our very human need to connect with those around us. The communities of today may look different from those of yesterday, but they still improve schools, share sidewalks and shop together. We still need to belong.

Our free Neighbourhood Match tool can be found at realosophy.com. Realosophy clients benefit from additional premium criteria including school quality and neighbourhood appreciation. Over the coming months, we'll be adding more criteria to further map out diverse lifestyles.

Try it out for yourself and tell us what you think!

Urmi Desai is responsible for Realosophy’s business development and marketing. Realosophy Realty Inc. Brokerage focuses on researching Toronto neighbourhoods to help their clients make smarter real estate decisions. She is editor of the Move Smartly blog. Email Urmi

Real Estate Roundup May 21st 2010

Real Estate Roundup

Real Estate News

Lawyers jump into listing battle (Financial Post)

Home listings firms fight over data (Globe and Mail)

Private sellers shaking up real estate industry (Globe and Mail)

House prices to rise ‘modestly’ (Globe and Mail)

Housing market expected to moderate this year and next: CMHC (Vancouver Sun)

Canadian home sales drop 2.6% in April (Toronto Star)

GTA existing home sales up 7 per cent (Toronto Star)

Do your homework before listing your house (Toronto Star)

New housing listings soar as experts expect slowdown (Financial Post)

Is Canada’s housing bubble about to burst? (Financial Post)

Is Canada's Property Market Due For A Downturn? (NuWire Investor)

Cottage sales lag as Canadian buyers look south (Toronto Star)

Recreational property market heats up (CBC)

HSBC stops using outside mortgage brokers (Globe and Mail)

Construction of Eglinton LRT gets provincial approval (CTV)

Toronto Real Estate Listings Up 48% Mid May

John in Toronto Real Estate News

Earlier this month I wrote a post titled A Turning Point in Toronto's Real Estate Market where I highlighted the shift we are seeing in the market with new listings increasing at a much faster rate than the increase in sales.  This change in our market is moving us further away from the Seller's market we've been in over the past year and is moving us much closer to a more balanced market.

We can see this trend continuing in the mid May sales figures published by the Toronto Real Estate Board.  The number of new listings coming on the market during the first half of May increased by 48% to 10,059 over the same time last year.  Sales on the other hand increased by 7% to 4,887.

Many buyers are already seeing this shift as fewer houses are actually getting multiple offers and of the houses that are getting multiple offers, we are seeing fewer buyers at the table.

The days of having 20 buyers compete for a single house appear to be behind us.

John Pasalis is the Broker owner of Realosophy Realty Inc in Toronto. Realosophy focuses on researching Toronto neighbourhoods to help their clients make smarter real estate decisions. Email John

Leslieville News: The Pit at Queen and Pape

David Eakins in Toronto Neighbourhoods, Leslieville

"What's the story with the stagnating pit at the corner of Queen and Pape?" That's the question many residents have been asking as it has been months since there has been any sign of activity at the site of the Film Studio Lofts. What's baffling about the abandoned project is that for the past three years there has been a sign posted at the site proudly proclaiming that the project sold out and occupancy would start in Fall 2007.

Well as many of you probably already guessed nobody is going to "live in the spotlight", at least for now.

A little investigative blog-ism, which included calls to the city, a conversation with a purchaser of one of the units, some extensive Googling and a call to Councillor Fletcher's office, and I've pieced together the story - past, present and future.

Leslieville News: Joel Weeks Park Redesign

David Eakins in Toronto Neighbourhoods, Leslieville

Last night at the Ralph Thornton Centre, South Riverdale and Leslieville residents witnessed the City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Department's unveiling of the final two designs for the expansion of Joel Weeks Park. (Here's a Google map in case you're not familiar with the current location of Joel Weeks Park.)

The two final designs are the product of several months of community interaction and input with the city and the landscape design firm, Janet Rosenberg and Associates.

Both designs see the size of Joel Weeks doubling as Carroll Street will be closed at the south and north ends of the park will and become the main pedestrian path through the park. Traffic coming south from Dundas down to Queen or north from Queen up to Dundas will be re-routed along the yet-to-be completed extension of Munro Street. Check out this Google Map to get a better sense of the footprint of the new park.

The first option is known as the Urban Grid and is built around the idea of creating a gathering place for the community with market spaces, public art displays and an outdoor room for events and performances. Click on the icon to the left of the paragraph to view the full size image.

Attached religious object likely should have stayed with house

Bob Aaron in Legal

Is a religious object attached to the outside of a house or condominium a fixture, which remains with the home on a sale, or a chattel, which can be removed by a departing owner?

That was the issue raised recently by a colleague, Gary Posesorski, who practices real estate law in Toronto.

One of his Jewish clients was selling his house and asked Posesorski whether he could remove the mezuzahs attached to the doorframes. Posesorski asked for my take.

A mezuzah is a small piece of parchment contained in a decorative case. The parchment contains handwritten Hebrew verses from chapters six and 11 of the book of Deuteronomy. Following the biblical commandment to write these words “on the doorposts of your house,” ancient custom requires a mezuzah to be attached to the doorframe of the front door and often most other rooms in a Jewish home.

The purpose of the mezuzah is to remind the occupants of God’s presence in the home.

I asked six lawyer colleagues whether a mezuzah may be removed when the house is sold, and, predictably, I received seven different answers.

The law of fixtures is, at best, murky when it comes to making a determination of whether an item of personal property — a chattel — becomes a permanent fixture when it is attached to a building.

According to court cases dating back some 150 years, a chattel becomes a permanent fixture when it is “sufficiently attached” to land or buildings so as to become part of the ownership of the property itself.

Real Estate Roundup May 14th 2010

Real Estate Roundup

Real Estate News

Aitken Says Canadian Real Estate Agent Fees May Drop on Lawsuit (Bloomberg)

Deregulating real estate market will reduce service: Realtors (Toronto Star)

Novel marketing approach not without risks  (Toronto Star)

New house prices up 0.1 per cent in Toronto (Toronto Star)

Rate hikes mean some mortgage holders would face difficulty (Toronto Star)

Rising mortgage rates, rising trouble (Globe and Mail)

Police to probe BMO mortgage fraud (CBC)

New house prices creep upward in March (Toronto Sun)

Fed urges stricter rules to fight asset bubbles (CTV News)

Global Housing Markets Show Further Improvement in Q1: Scotia Economics (Fox Business)