Realosophy Team in Media Roundup, Toronto Real Estate News
All you need to know regarding the housing market in Toronto, Canada and abroad.
This week in Toronto: Tumbling sales signal a return to a normal market, the supply challenge and growth plan paradox and will Toronto follow Vancouver's lead on speculation tax?
Elsewhere: S&P warns more mortgage fraud could emerge at Canadian banks, a ponzi scheme sapping L.A's trophy home market and house prices fall in the UK.
Toronto
Tumbling Toronto home sales signal a return to normal market, say analysts (Toronto Star)
Although prices appear relatively flat, house sales were down about 40 per cent over the last two weeks in the Toronto area compared to the same period in 2017, while condo sales dropped about 30 per cent, said Pasalis, president of Toronto’s Realosophy brokerage.
Toronto’s housing supply challenge and the growth plan paradox (The Globe and Mail)
New homes replace demolished ones at a sharply lower rate than early this decade, completion times for multi-family projects have doubled and prospective buyers have far fewer new homes to choose from than only a few years ago.
Expect Toronto to follow suit if Vancouver's 'very aggressive' speculation tax on property succeeds (Financial Post)
“The Toronto market is still adjusting to that round of measures so it’s probably a little early for any new moves yet,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. “But if we start to see evidence that the market’s taking off again and foreign investment starts rising I think B.C’s speculation tax in particular, is a key measure they’ll need to take a closer look at.”
Condo owners allege former board members siphoned money, left them on hook for $750K (CBC)
Condo owners at a Toronto highrise are suing several former members of their board for $800,000, alleging those members conspired to divert hundreds of thousands of dollars from the building's operating budget for their own benefit.
S&P warns more mortgage fraud could emerge at Canadian banks (Bloomberg)
High housing prices and debt loads increase incentives for fraudulent activity such as overstating a borrower’s income to meet qualifying criteria. Additionally, a growing share of mortgages is being originated by brokers who don’t bear the credit risk for the loans like lenders, according to the statement.
Canadian Housing Affordability Is Now Improving, After Years Of Deterioration (Huffington Post)
The National Bank of Canada's home affordability measure fell 0.2 points in the fourth quarter of 2017, meaning that an average mortgage on a representative home was slightly cheaper than it was a quarter earlier.
B.C. housing taxes could put recent buyers underwater on mortgages (Vancouver Sun)
“The most worrisome is the people who bought in the last year,” said a University of B.C. professor and economist, Tom Davidoff. “If you bought three years ago, it doesn’t matter because prices have gone so high it’s very unlikely you’d go ‘underwater’. But if you bought in the last year you are at risk. And that year is the most worrisome.”
Alberta and B.C.’s latest conflict: a new tax that hits vacation homes (Macleans)
Marsha Graham, a realtor licensed to sell in Alberta and B.C., lives primarily in Calgary but dreams of the day she can retire to live full-time in her Victoria inner harbour condominium. If she can still afford it.
There are a lot of people in Hong Kong – 7.4 million to be more specific, all in an area that’s 106 sq km (41 sq mi). Alongside a dense population, prices have soared at breakneck speed, leaving many unable to afford the dizzy heights of property prices.
March 2, 2018
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