SOTTO SOTTO HOW A SMALL RESTAURANT BECAME A 'SECOND HOME' FOR A-LISTERS On Christmas night, a still-unexplained fire destroyed the building at 116 Avenue Rd., home to Spuntini restaurant on the top floor an the aptly named Sotto Sotto (Italian for underneath) in the basement.  Many Yorkville residents were tipped off to the three-alarm disaster via the throngs of smoke and screaming sirens. Ninety firefighters worked to put out the blaze, which officials... [read more]

5 REASONS WHY THE TORONTO LUXURY CONDO MARKET IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE "The Ritz Carlton continues to be one of the best bargains in Toronto. I think, in time, we will look back in future years in disbelief at the prices that people are getting these units for..." I wrote those words in the fall of 2012. At the time, units at the Rtiz Carlton (183 Wellington) were going for around $700 per square foot. I urged my clients to invest in the building, arguably one of the most... [read more]

WHY HIGH CANADIAN HOUSEHOLD DEBT IS MANAGEABLE Canadian household debt has swollen to record highs during a period of low mortgage rates, but an economist with Canada's sixth-largest bank says the debt level is "manageable". "Analysts often raise alarm bells by pointing to measures such as debt-to-disposable income. But as we often caution, comparing a stock variable such as debt to a flow variable such as income has its limitations," writes Krishen... [read more]

TORONTONIANS TURN TO CONDOS AS DETACHED HOME COSTS STAY HIGH The Toronto market is experiencing a growing disconnect between the price of a single-family home and a condominium. While pursuing MLS listings of Toronto single-family houses, one would get the impression that one- and two-million dollar homes are not out of the ordinary these days. Once again, the condominium market seems to be the more affordable option for first-time buyers who want to continue to live in the... [read more]

IT'S NOT JUST YOU Almost Every Housing Prediction Was Wrong For the last six years, Canadians have been plagued by constant predictions of a housing crash coupled with dire warnings that homes are overvalued by 20% to 35% - and yet, year after year housing prices keep going up, as is shown below. Take last year, when prices increased by 6%, despite the Bank of Canada forecasting a possible 30% market correction. Or go back to 2010 when prices increased by 6.8%, despite the... [read more]