In Toronto: The market is back to its old tricks as prices soar, making it harder for newcomers to find affordable housing in the city.
Elsewhere: Calls for caution as Ottawa reconsiders the mortgage stress test, Manhattan's new flood of condos could take six years to sell, and one paper says there is no plan to fix the UK housing crisis.
Toronto
Toronto home prices likely to be hot again in 2020 after 4 per cent increase last year (Toronto Star)
Resale home prices rose by 4 per cent in the Greater Toronto Area in 2019, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) — and prices will continue to rise into 2020 unless there’s an increase in the housing supply, the board predicts.
Toronto Real Estate Back To Old Tricks As Prices Soar 12% (Huffington Post)
For the year, condos saw the biggest price gains, up 6.4 per cent to an average of $587,959 compared with 2018, while detached home prices were up 0.9 per cent to an average of $1.02 million compared with the previous year. Condo sales activity was up only three per cent overall last year, while detached home sales were up 18.8 per cent.
Newcomers to Canada struggle amid Toronto’s housing crisis (The Globe and Mail)
With a vacancy rate that hovers around 1 per cent and rents that have skyrocketed in the past five years, Toronto’s housing crisis has had an outsized effect on newcomers, particularly refugees, who the city identifies as some of its most vulnerable residents.
Growing competition in the Toronto housing market (Bloomberg)
John Pasalis, president of Realosophy, breaks down the latest housing data from Toronto and Ottawa that show and increase in activity over 2019 after the new mortgage stress tests were introduced
Canada
CEO of Canada’s biggest bank calls for caution as Ottawa considers adjusting mortgage stress test (Financial Post)
The chief executive of Canada’s biggest bank says the federal government needs to exercise caution as it considers adjusting the mortgage stress test that has loomed over the country’s housing market since it was introduced in 2018, rankling many in the real-estate industry.
CMHC reports annual pace of housing starts in Canada slowed in December (The Star)
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the pace of housing starts slowed in December, mostly because of a decline in multiple-unit projects in urban areas.
Vancouver's housing market cools, but rental market stays the same (CBC)
"I think the big elephant in the room here is, if we don't start really building a ton to start addressing the low vacancy rates, it is going to get worse before it gets better, and that's unnecessary and very unfortunate," he said.
Posthaste: New and old Canadians are flooding into these 10 towns as Toronto and Vancouver get pricey (Financial Post)
The top ten list was dominated by Ontario cities, with Trenton, Saint Thomas, Brockville and North Bay rounding out the top five Canadian growth cities for 2019. Sherbrook, Que., was sixth, followed by Stratford, On., Collingwood, On., Levis, Que. and Chatham, Ont. Ontario has 19 markets among the top 25.
USA
Manhattan’s Flood of New Condos Could Take Six Years to Sell (Bloomberg)
The secret supply is a heavy weight on a market in which sales, especially of higher-end properties, have slowed to a crawl. It would take take 74 months -- more than 6 years -- to clear all of Manhattan’s unsold units at the pace of contracts in 2019, the report shows.
Trump Pulls Back Efforts to Enforce Housing Desegregation (NY Times)
The Trump administration plans to propose a rule next week that will pull back those guidelines, arguing that they are onerous and actually holding back the construction of affordable housing. “Fair housing choice,” the new proposal says, is ensuring that people have the opportunity and option to live “where they choose” as long as there is no “unlawful discrimination.”
As Trump Ditches a Fair Housing Rule, New York City Doubles Down (City Lab)
Officials in New York City, however, are standing by the original rule, which requires jurisdictions that receive federal housing dollars to produce a comprehensive fair housing assessment. While the city was no longer on the hook for the report after HUD paused the process two years ago, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio finished the assessment anyway—then built an entire policy platform around the results.
International
The Guardian view on the UK housing crisis: no plan to fix it (The Guardian)
Estate agents say the proportion of homes in England and Wales let by overseas-based landlords rose to 11% during the first 10 months of 2019, the first year-on-year increase since 2010. Nearly one in five of London’s homes are rented out by people not based in the UK. The trend is not just visible in the capital. The east of England recorded the biggest jumps in the number of overseas landlords. People say they are being priced out of living in Manchester because of foreign cash.
Hong Kong Government Thinks Disneyland Could Help Ease the City’s Housing Crisis (TIME)
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Transport and Housing urged the operators of Hong Kong Disneyland on Monday to release a tract of land earmarked for the park’s future expansion. Frank Chan said it could be put to better use as a site for transitional homes for those on the city’s long waitlist for public housing.
Realosophy Realty Inc. Brokerage is an innovative residential real estate brokerage in Toronto. A leader in real estate analytics, Realosophy educates consumers at Realosophy.com and MoveSmartly.com and and helps clients make better decisions when buying or selling a home.
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January 10, 2020
This Week In Real Estate |