Category: Real Estate

Sears staves off liquidation, stores to remain open

CanadianInvestor
Sears staves off liquidation, stores to remain open
NEW YORK — Sears will live on— at least for now. The company’s chairman and largest shareholder, Eddie Lampert, won a bankruptcy auction for Sears, averting liquidation of the iconic chain, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The person agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiation publicly. Lampert is... Read More

Home sales down in December to cap weakest annual sales since 2012: CREA

CanadianInvestor
Home sales down in December to cap weakest annual sales since 2012: CREA
OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of home sales in December was down for a fourth month in a row, capping the weakest annual sales since 2012. On an month-over-month basis, home sales fell 2.5 per cent in December, reaching 36,759 on a seasonally adjusted basis. Sales were down in about 60 per cent of all local markets... Read More

Tiny coffeeshops help owners save on rent in high-cost Toronto, Vancouver

CanadianInvestor
Tiny coffeeshops help owners save on rent in high-cost Toronto, Vancouver
VANCOUVER — Customers who don’t work in the building that houses Kento Kitayama’s tiny cafe near Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood better be prepared to settle for takeout. He can only take orders through a little window facing the sidewalk. Iktsuarpok Coffee Stand, which opened late last month, has no seating and sparse furnishings. Kitayama could likely stand in the middle of the roughly 17-square-metre... Read More

Annual pace of housing starts in Canada fell in December: CMHC report

CanadianInvestor
Annual pace of housing starts in Canada fell in December: CMHC report
OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts fell last month. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in Canada was 213,419 units in December, down from 224,349 in November. Economists had expected an annual rate of 205,000, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon. The annual pace of urban starts dropped by 5.8 per... Read More

Luxury home sales fall in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary in 2018: Sotheby’s

CanadianInvestor
Luxury home sales fall in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary in 2018: Sotheby’s
TORONTO — Sales of luxury properties fell in three of Canada’s biggest cities last year as homebuyers retreated amid tightened mortgage guidelines and higher interest rates, according to a report by Sotheby’s International Realty Canada. The report released Wednesday found that Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary saw large drops in high-end real estate sales in 2018 as the markets dealt with a number of headwinds including tighter supply,... Read More

Plunging Calgary office values linked to high oil and gas unemployment rate

CanadianInvestor
Plunging Calgary office values linked to high oil and gas unemployment rate
CALGARY — A commercial realtor says a 32 per cent decline in Calgary’s downtown office building property assessment this year will likely translate into lower costs for some tenants, but he doesn’t expect much improvement in the vacancy rate. Greg Kwong, Alberta managing director for realtor CBRE, says companies will have to start replacing the thousands of energy industry workers laid... Read More

Greater Toronto home sales drop 16 per cent in 2018, fewer houses listed: TREB

CanadianInvestor
Greater Toronto home sales drop 16 per cent in 2018, fewer houses listed: TREB
TORONTO — The number of homes sold in Toronto and the surrounding area fell in 2018, along with the number of new listings hitting the market, as homebuyers and sellers grappled with a new reality of higher interest rates and stricter mortgage rules. The Toronto Real Estate Board says there were 77,426 residential transactions recorded through its Multiple Listing Service (MLS)... Read More

Vancouver home sales fall to lowest total since 2000, detached home prices down

CanadianInvestor
Vancouver home sales fall to lowest total since 2000, detached home prices down
VANCOUVER — Home sales in Metro Vancouver plummeted to their lowest level in nearly two decades last year and the average home price moved lower in the once red-hot real estate market. The total number of homes sold in Metro Vancouver last year fell to 24,619, marking the lowest total since 2000, according to data from the Real Estate Board of... Read More

B.C. housing market shows signs of moderation: assessment agency

CanadianInvestor
B.C. housing market shows signs of moderation: assessment agency
VANCOUVER — Assessed values of some single family homes in Metro Vancouver’s once red hot housing market dropped between five and 10 per cent in the latest assessments used to determine property taxes in British Columbia. Meanwhile, BC Assessment says some property owners in the rest of the province have seen five to 15 per cent increases in their property values. The agency forecasts condominium... Read More