Category: Real Estate

HELOCs, refinancing helped fuel spending, Bank of Canada researchers say

CanadianInvestor
HELOCs, refinancing helped fuel spending, Bank of Canada researchers say
OTTAWA — Research by staff at the Bank of Canada suggests Canadian homeowners who accessed their home equity through a loan or refinancing helped fuel household spending in recent years. The staff analytical note by several of the central bank’s researchers says household spending has moved in a similar direction to home prices over roughly the past decade, with both... Read More

Choice Properties REIT selling portfolio of 30 properties for $426 million

CanadianInvestor
Choice Properties REIT selling portfolio of 30 properties for $426 million
TORONTO — Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust has signed a deal to sell 30 properties in mostly smaller communities across Canada for $426 million. The buyer was not immediately identified. The portfolio includes 27 stand-alone retail properties and three distribution centres. They have an average lease term of approximately 12 years with Loblaw Companies Ltd., an affiliated company. The buyer also has... Read More

Understanding weather risks for home insurance as premiums, coverage shift

CanadianInvestor
Understanding weather risks for home insurance as premiums, coverage shift
TORONTO — As the immediate impacts of hurricane Dorian fade from the East Coast, its effects on home insurance profiles will linger on. The claims made by homeowners for storm-related damage are added to a long-term profile of their properties, which, like a credit report, creates an overall picture of risk that can sway how much they may have to pay in premiums, and potentially, if they... Read More

You can pay your property taxes with Bitcoin in certain places (if you want to)

CanadianInvestor
You can pay your property taxes with Bitcoin in certain places (if you want to)
Residents in a handful of Canadian municipalities have a new payment option for property taxes. The cities of Richmond Hill and Innisfil, both north of Toronto, have become the first in the country to accept cryptocurrency — a digital-based payment system operating without the central oversight of banks or credit card companies — for property tax payments. Other cities, including Toronto, have... Read More

CREA reports August home sales up from year ago, raises forecast for 2019

CanadianInvestor
CREA reports August home sales up from year ago, raises forecast for 2019
OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association raised its forecast for home sales this year, helped by economic fundamentals and falling mortgage rates. The organization says national home sales are now projected to rise to 482,000 units this year, up five per cent from 2018. In June, CREA predicted sales to climb 1.2 per cent to 463,000 this year. The improved... Read More

Blackstone signs deal to acquire Dream Global Real Estate Investment Trust

CanadianInvestor
Blackstone signs deal to acquire Dream Global Real Estate Investment Trust
TORONTO — Blackstone has signed a deal to acquire Dream Global Real Estate Investment Trust in a deal valued at $6.2 billion, including debt. Dream Global holds a portfolio of office and industrial properties located in Western Europe, focused on Germany and the Netherlands. Under the agreement, Dream Global unitholders will receive $16.79 per unit. Dream Global units closed at... Read More

B.C. raked in $115 million in vacancy tax from about 12,000 homeowners

CanadianInvestor
B.C. raked in $115 million in vacancy tax from about 12,000 homeowners
VANCOUVER — British Columbia collected $115 million in the 2018-19 fiscal year from homeowners who paid the province’s speculation and vacancy tax. As of Sept. 3, the government said almost 12,000 homeowners were paying the tax targeting people who own vacant property in B.C., Finance Minister Carole James said Thursday. James said more than 1.6 million tax declarations were filed and Ministry... Read More

Realtor groups push for eased mortgage rules as federal campaign gets underway

CanadianInvestor
Realtor groups push for eased mortgage rules as federal campaign gets underway
TORONTO — Real estate associations representing nearly three-quarters of the realtors in Canada have called for federal parties to commit to ease mortgage rules as the election campaign gets underway. Organizations representing realtors and brokers in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec and Nova Scotia say too much regulation makes ownership unaffordable. With the federal election set for Oct. 21, the boards and associations have urged federal political... Read More

CMHC reports annual pace of housing starts climbed 1.9 per cent in August

CanadianInvestor
CMHC reports annual pace of housing starts climbed 1.9 per cent in August
OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the pace of new housing starts in August climbed 1.9 per cent compared with July. The housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts rose to 226,639 units in August, up from 222,467 units in July. Economists on average had expected an annual pace of 215,000, according to financial... Read More