Our weekly round-up of real estate news in Toronto, across Canada and the world for the week ending July 29, 2016.
Toronto
Short-Term Toronto House Rentals Up 350 per cent Trip Advisor Says (CBC)
There is a lot to do in the city this time of year. From music festivals to the Caribbean Carnival to the Toronto International Film Festival, thousands have good reason to flock to Toronto.
Those people all need places to stay, and homeowners are taking advantage of the short-term rental boom.
Toronto Condo Builders Taking the Safe Route Says CMHC (CBC)
New research from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) says condo builders in Toronto are being more conservative in bringing new units to market than they were in the late 1980s, when overbuilding played a big role in the subsequent housing market crash.
Unpaving a Parking Lot to Create Paradise: It’s Not Easy (Toronto Star)
A Toronto councillor is looking to un-pave paradise and green over a parking lot to fill a void of parkland in the downtown core.
Councillor Joe Cressy’s move to expropriate a parking lot in the King-Spadina area highlights the challenge council faces to create livable communities in the midst of unprecedented development.
Yonge & Eglinton in the Midst of Major Condo Boom (BlogTO)
At times it seems like all of Toronto is sprouting with condos, but this perception stems from the various hub neighbourhoods where the vast majority of the development is taking place. The Lower Yonge St. corridor certainly fits this bill, as does Yorkville and much of the waterfront. But perhaps the biggest changes are happening at Yonge and Eglinton.
Canada
Ontario Considering Following BC on Taxing Foreign Real Estate Investors (Globe & Mail)
Ontario’s Finance Minister “will be looking very closely” at a move by his B.C. counterpart to tax foreign real estate investors in the Vancouver region, as market watchers predict the push to curb speculation in Vancouver’s housing market will shift more demand to Toronto.
High House Prices Spreading to More Markets, CMHC Warns (Globe & Mail)
Canada’s federal housing agency has raised new alarms about Canada’s housing market, warning that euphoria over real estate is spreading beyond detached homes in Toronto and Vancouver to townhouses and condos, and to other cities.
What a Real Estate Crash Could Mean for Canadians (Global News)
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) latest report warns of “problematic conditions” in the country’s largest housing markets.
Overall, there is “strong evidence of overvaluation across Canada,” the report states, with Canada’s hottest housing markets leading the pack.
USA
U.S. Expands Real-Estate Data Targeting Order (Wall St Journal)
The Treasury Department is expanding its crackdown on money laundering in U.S. real estate.
The government announced on Wednesday an expansion of the order governing all-cash purchases of high-end homes via shell companies.
Verizon to Gain Yahoo’s Silicon Valley Real Estate (The Courier-Tribune)
With its $4.8 billion acquisition of Yahoo, Verizon has snatched up an internet pioneer with a massive audience. But it has also secured something equally coveted in Silicon Valley: real estate.
When the deal closes, the New York telecom giant will become one of the largest office landlords in the nation’s technology hub thanks to the roughly 1 million-square-foot campus Yahoo owns in Sunnyvale, Calif.—a desirable position amid the current tech boom.
Around the World
How Other Countries Have Tried to Deter Foreign Real Estate Investors (Globe & Mail)
British Columbia joins a growing list of regions around the world that are restricting foreign investment and speculation in their housing markets. Here are measures taken in six other countries to cool house prices.
