Toronto Real Estate Roundup - October 23 2015

Realosophy Team in Media RoundupToronto Real Estate News

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All you need to know regarding the housing market in Toronto, Canada and abroad.

This week in Toronto:  Homes in Toronto are increasingly becoming unaffordable to either own or rent, why did a King Street condo sit for three months without a bid and the long weekend draws out eager house hunters. 

Elsewhere: Does Justin Trudeau have a solution to Canada's housing problem, the U.S. economy is improving thanks to a strong housing market and a real estate frenzy is set to return to London. 

Toronto

Moody's, The Economist warn of high Canadian debt, housing prices (CBC)

"The risks are less around the rapid house price appreciation per se, than the fact that, relative to incomes, homes in Toronto and Vancouver are increasingly becoming unaffordable either to own or to rent," he wrote in a research note to investors.

Why did this King Street condo sit for 3 months without a bid? (The Globe and Mail)

A condo in the financial district close to the St. Lawrence Market goes three months without a bid. 

Long weekend draws out eager house hunters in Toronto (The Globe)

One buyer got up Saturday morning and purchased an 1,800-square-foot loft in the 1930s-era Creed Building at Davenport and Bedford. The two-storey unit’s former residents include the actor Kim Cattrall, who lived there while she was in town to film the 2005 movie Ice Princess.

Mapping Toronto’s Homeless Shelters (Torontoist)

Most shelter beds, such as the 580-bed Seaton House, (by far the largest in Toronto), are located in the inner city, with the East Downtown having the greatest concentration. But shelters housing youth, single women and families are generally more spread out, with many in the suburbs, where homelessness and the lack of affordable housing is increasingly a problem. Four motels on Kingston Road in Scarborough now serve as permanent, city-operated, family shelters. Also in Scarborough, Second Base (Scarborough’s only youth shelter) closed on October 1, and with it, 60 beds.

Canada

Canada Reaches 'Peak' Housing, But Trudeau Just Might Have A Solution (Huffington Post)

But the Liberal party’s election platform includes a pledge to run a $10-billion deficit to fund programs to stimulate the economy, including more than $4 billion for new infrastructure projects. While that would do nothing to restore the lost value of people's homes in a slowdown, it would help to offset the unemployment caused by it.

Take B.C. and Ontario out of the housing mix, and here’s what you’ve got (The Globe)

“Housing market activity across regions, in terms of sales, starts and price growth, continues to be characterized by trifurcation: markets in British Columbia and Ontario have maintained their strength, Alberta and Saskatchewan and experiencing further weakness, and activity in the rest of Canada has been soft,” the central bank said.

Book warns of silent crisis in Winnipeg low-income housing (CBC)

A lack of decent, affordable housing in Winnipeg is forcing residents to live in cold, mice-ridden and bedbug-infested apartments, says Jim Silver, chair of the University of Winnipeg's urban and inner-city studies program.

Poloz warns of oil shock’s effects as Bank of Canada holds lending rate (The Globe)

Mr. Poloz, who was appointed by the Conservatives in 2013, also said he looks forward to working with the incoming Liberal government. But he deflected questions about the impact of prime-minister-designate Justin Trudeau’s promise of three years of deficits to fund a mix of infrastructure spending and tax cuts. 

USA 
 

U.S. home resales rebounded strongly in September and new applications for unemployment benefits hovered around 42-year lows last week, pointing at solid domestic fundamentals even as the global economy falters.

The Silicon Valley housing crisis is so bad that a Google engineer is living in a truck (Vox)

Google has noticed that its younger workers are struggling to find affordable and convenient housing, and has been lobbying the Mountain View city council for permission to build more high-density housing in the northernmost part of Mountain View. But city council members have been hostile to the very idea of providing small, affordable apartments for young workers.

Prosecutors open Baltimore public housing sex-for-repairs investigation (Al Jazeera)

Prosecutors in Baltimore are investigating allegations that three maintenance men working for the city's troubled public housing authority refused to perform basic repairs for female residents unless they had sex with them. The Baltimore state's attorney's office announced the probe Wednesday.

International 

London Housing Frenzy to Return as Lenders Loosen Loan Terms (Bloomberg)

Lower mortgage costs and a shortage of homes are fueling speculation that values in the U.K. capital are set to spike again. Lenders are also loosening borrowing conditions, with loan-to-income ratios rising for the first time in a year in the third quarter, according to the Bank of England. That’s prompting brokers to increase price forecasts for London homes, which cost an average of 522,000 pounds ($808,000).

Stockholm housing list could get world record (The Local)

The queue for a first hand rental contract in Stockholm is now so long that a Swedish politician is trying to get the city into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2016. The accolade of ‘the world’s longest waiting list’ probably isn’t one that city officials will be excited to shout about.

Realosophy Realty Inc. Brokerage is an innovative residential real estate brokerage in Toronto. A leader in real estate analytics and pro-consumer advice, Realosophy helps clients buy or sell a home the right way. Email Realosophy

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