HOW HEALTHY IS OUR REAL ESTATE MARKET? In September 2015 Canadian Housing Starts Jump as Toronto Condo Building Booms Canadian housing starts unexpectedly jumped in August from July as condo building surged to meet demand for lower-cost options in the nation's hottest market, extending a housing boom that is one of the few bright spots in Canada's otherwise tepid economy. Last week's report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. showed the seasonally adjusted... [read more]

TORONTO HOMES NEAR THE SUBWAY ARE WORTH 14% MORE THAN THE CITY AVERAGE Location. Location. Location. "Steps to the subway" is a phrase so commonly uttered by Toronto home hunters and branded on real estate ads that it begs the question - what really warrants the term walking distance? Anything 5 minutes or less is a no brainer, but after posing the question to a handful of condo seekers, some doubts arose about anything over the 10-minute mark. "When it feels like -20... [read more]

REAL ESTATE 'CHAOS' SENDS MILLENNIALS SCRAMBLING BEFORE THEY'RE PRICED OUT The modest house in west Toronto wasn't their ideal starter home, but with a little compromise, it was close enough. Besides, it has a newly renovated kitchen and there was a daycare centre right around the corner.  The semi-detached was listed for an enticing $649,000 in a neighbourhood where 30-year-old Elia Briganti grew up, where much of her family still lives and where she'd like... [read more]

BRACE FOR IT! TORONTO RENTS RISING FASTER THAN CONDO PRICES Would-be homebuyers who have already been priced out of the Greater Toronto Area's white-hot real estate market may be feeling the pinch when apartment hunting, too, a new report suggests.  Increasing home prices are feeding demand for condo rentals as some put their ownership aspirations on hold, and this is driving rents up, according to Urbanation's first quarter 2016 rental market report. "The rental... [read more]

LARGE COMMERCIAL OPERATORS A GROWING CONCERN IN THE AIRBNB MARKET Betsy Powell, City Hall Bureau Image courtesty of: AirBnB Large commercial players are dominating the short-term rental market in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and raking in most of the revenue, according to research analyzing AirBnB activity.  And contrary to the AirBnB narrative that the online booking service is about regular people sharing their homes to help pay the mortgage, there has been... [read more]