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Toronto

Luxury home sales plummet 58% in Toronto as high-end sector hit hardest in slump (Financial Post)

Sales of luxury homes in the Toronto area were hit hardest by the slump in real estate during the past two months, with the number of high-end detached houses sold plummeting even as prices nudged up.

Sales of homes worth more than $3 million fell 58 per cent between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28 with just 76 properties changing hands, compared to 180 transactions during the same period a year ago, according to a report by Re/MAX Integra.


Developer pitches plan for 50,000 units of affordable housing in Toronto, Vancouver (Globe and Mail)

The federal government is looking at a real estate developer’s proposal to build 50,000 units of affordable housing primarily in Toronto and Vancouver - a plan valued at as much as $14-billion that could become a big part of Ottawa’s national housing strategy.

According to a proposal submitted to Ottawa, the project would be led by the Creative Housing Society, an independent non-profit group to be based in Toronto. Creative Housing was established last fall by Ian Gillespie, a prominent Vancouver real estate developer whose firm, Westbank, is active in Toronto and Vancouver.

Teranet: Toronto Real Estate Prices Continue Declines, Lowest Rate Of Growth Since 2014 (Better Dwelling)

Toronto real estate prices continued its rollercoaster pattern. The Teranet–National Bank of Canada (NBC) HPI shows prices declining in February. The decline comes just one month after breaking a down pattern in January. Even though the city’s price growth is still very high, it’s at the lowest level in over 3 years.

Canada

Dispute over mansion's bloody history provides a window into Vancouver's high-stakes housing market (CBC News)

The story begins with an apparent gangland hit in an exclusive Vancouver neighbourhood. But from there, it spins out into a tangled web that includes a disgraced former real estate agent, hints of shadow-flipping and a real estate investor with a massive portfolio.

A B.C. Supreme Court decision issued last week has already revealed how the $6.1-million sale of 3883 Cartier St. was scuttled when a prospective buyer discovered alleged gang member Raymond Huang had been shot and killed at the front gate.

Real estate gender parity a slow process (Real Estate News EXchange)

While the presence of women in C-suites and boardrooms in the Canadian real estate industry is even more rare than in the rest of the Canadian corporate world, steps are slowly being taken to remedy the situation.

“I’ll admit that we’re not getting this right as a society, as an industry or at Oxford” said Oxford Properties president and chief executive officer Blake Hutcheson (who will become president and chief pension officer of OMERS on April 1).

USA

Why real estate and insurance lobbies will have a huge influence on climate policy (GreenBiz)

Climate change is often seen as synonymous with global warming, a misperception deriving from the historical mislabeling of the phenomenon.

Certainly, "warming" is part of it, but the real danger is the increasing variance or the greater-than-normal fluctuations in all aspects of climate: temperature; humidity; winds; rain; snow; hurricanes; seasons; etc.

Take a look inside L’Oreal USA's HQ - where employees can enjoy VR gadgets, beauty products and views of Manhattan (CNBC)

The headquarters of L'Oreal USA lies in a private real estate development on the West Side of Manhattan.

Each weekday, 1,400 employees enter the cosmetics giant's state-of-the-art offices at 10 Hudson Yards” but if you thought that it contained just computers and desks, you'd be in for a surprise.

Millennials Now Biggest Segment of Active U.S. Homebuyers In 2018 (World Property Journal)

The National Association of Realtors is reporting this week that U.S. home purchases by millennials ticked up over the past year, but inventory constraints and higher housing costs kept their overall activity subdued and prevented some from leaving the more affordable confines of their Gen X and baby boomer parents' homes.

This is according to the National Association of Realtors 2018 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study, which evaluates the generational differences of recent home buyers and sellers. The survey additionally found that millennial buyers prioritize living close to friends and family over a home's location and proximity to schools, and an overwhelming majority used a real estate agent to buy or sell a home.

International

NIMBYs are alive and well in Britain with many home owners against new development (Property Wire)

The majority of home owners admit it is difficult for first time buyers to get on the property ladder in their local area but more than half are against new homes being built, a new survey has found.

While 74% feel first time buyers are having a hard time, some 51% of them do not want a new housing development to be built in their area, according to the research from national estate agent Jackson-Stops.

China property investment growth surges to a three-year high, as local governments urge construction ramp up (South China Morning Post)

Property investment jumped 9.9 per cent during the two-month period on year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. This is the strongest growth since the January to February period in 2015. Residential property investment was up 12.3 per cent, the fastest pace since August 2014.

The upbeat figures contrasted with a substantial slowdown in property sales and home new starts, which usually go in sync with the property investment data.

Real Estate News