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Our weekly round-up of real estate news in Toronto, across Canada and the world for the week ending July 22, 2016.


Toronto

TREB Releases Q2 2016 Condo and Rental Figures (UrbanToronto)

The Greater Toronto area's condominium housing market continues to show signs of strength, evidenced by today's release of Q2 2016 market figures from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). A total of 8,965 condominium apartment sales were reported between the start of April and the end of June, marking a substantial year-over year increase of 17.4 per cent.

Growing Upwards: Why Toronto Wants to Make High-Rises More Family-Friendly (Toronto Star)

John Preece and Amelia Bowler chose to abandon the idea of a backyard and white picket fence in Toronto—and trade it in for time spent with their children.

That meant buying a two-bedroom condo in 2012, a growing trend for middle-class parents as they get priced out of Toronto's scorching market for single-family homes

New Home Prices More Than Double as Supply Dwindles (Toronto Star)

The cost of a new low-rise home in the Toronto region has more than doubled in the last decade to $887,543 in June, up from $393,398 in 2006—a trend that is being fed by a record low supply within the same period.

A report on housing trends over the last decade from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) shows that the price on new low-rise homes, including detached, semi-detached and townhouses, has risen more than $100,000 in the last year alone.

Toronto’s Office Vacancy Rate Lowest in North America: Report (Toronto Star)

Downtown Toronto has the lowest office vacancy rate in North America, dropping to 4.9 per cent in the second quarter of the year from 5.3 per cent in the first quarter, according to a report by commercial real estate firm CBRE.

The continuation of a three-year decline in vacancies means Toronto is outperforming markets like Midtown Manhattan and San Francisco, traditionally the most solid markets in the U.S., said Paul Morassutti, executive managing director on Tuesday.

Builders in Toronto Wait for Sale ‘Green Light’ to Begin Condo Constructions (HiBusiness)

It has been a busy year so far for real estate agencies and construction companies alike, rising housing demand has given suppliers their fair share to worry about as they have come up with a new strategy to effectively address demand concerns.

Demand has reached such high rates that units are being sold only moments after listing and at times even before construction has begun. Pre-sales are becoming a lot more common and are now being used as leverage for construction companies to begin condominium construction in the Greater Toronto Area.

Electric Charging Should be Allowed if Owner Pays: Condo Law (Toronto Star)

Can a condo board prevent an owner from using an electrical outlet in a parking unit that is the property of the owner, to charge an electric vehicle?

The Condominium Act provides that a board may make rules respecting the use of common elements and units. This indicates that a rule could be passed providing that the outlets in parking units will not be used to charge vehicles.

Canada

How the CRA is Cracking Down on Non-Compliance in Canada’s Hottest Housing Markets (Financial Post)

With the red-hot residential real estate markets of Toronto and Vancouver showing no signs of cooling down, taxpayers need to be aware that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is paying even closer attention to tax compliance in this sector. While transactions in the Greater Toronto Area have so far been the subject of greater scrutiny, including audits, the CRA has recently been actively monitoring and auditing real estate transactions in British Columbia.

Mysterious Wheeler-Dealer is at Centre of Web of BC Real Estate Deals (The Province)

A Chinese property tycoon linked to a massive banking scandal in China’s industrial north is at the centre of more than $500 million in B.C. property deals, a joint investigation by Postmedia and global due diligence firm IPSA International shows. Chinese real estate magnate Kevin Sun—also known as Hong Sun, Kevin Lin, Hong Wei Sun and Sun Hongwei—founded Sun Commercial Real Estate in 2013.

Our New Down Payment Tool Shows Just How Brutal It Is Out There for Home-Buying Millennials (Globe & Mail)

What we are asking our young people to do in order to afford a home is cruel and unusual.

Buying a home in some cities now requires that you save frantically for as much as a decade or more. This is the message delivered by the new Globe and Mail Down Payment Tool, which was developed by my colleagues Chris Manza, Matt Lundy and me. Saving for a home down payment is brutal if you live in not only Toronto and Vancouver, but some nearby cities as well.

In a Hot Real Estate Market, Realtors Are Going to Make You an Offer Whether You Want One or Not (Financial Post)

With listings in short supply and real estate agents dealing with clients trying to break into the market, the number of unsolicited offers is probably going to just keep growing in hot markets like Toronto and Vancouver.

Think of the unsolicited offer as the ultimate bully bid: You don’t even have a for sale sign up but someone out there is trying to move you out of house and home.

USA

Moving to Canada? U.S. Real Estate Agent Tells Trump, Clinton Haters No to Worry: He’ll Sell Their House(National Post)

Any South Carolinian aggrieved by the state of the U.S. presidential race can take comfort in the words of Jeff Cook: If their candidate loses, he’ll help them move to Canada.

Cook, a real estate agent in Charleston, unveiled a series of 15-metre-wide billboards across town this week, showing his smiling face beside photos of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the Republican Party’s Donald Trump.

Real Estate ‘Reboot Week’ Aims to Give Buyers a Break in Portland (KATU.com)

It’s no secret Portland’s real estate market is one of the hottest in the country, but you may not realize a red-hot market can actually hold sellers back. But an event next week, called Reboot Week, hopes to change that, at least temporarily. And while a surging real estate market seems like good news for sellers, it may actually lead to fewer homes being listed.

Around the World

China Wonders: Does Brexit Mean Buy Real Estate? (MSN.com)

Brexit doesn’t translate very well in Chinese, it seems. Britain’s decision a month ago to leave the European Union has left Chinese real estate buyers confused, according to a survey by East-West Property Advisors. The company, a platform for brokers and developers to market their product in China asked 700 clients and property professionals in China and Hong Kong whether they were more or less inclined to in both US and UK real estate.

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