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]

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]

ONTARIO TRIED A SPECULATION TAX ON PROPERTY AND THE MARKET COLLAPSED OVERNIGHT For decades, Barry Lebow has kept a scapbook of one of the most traumatic business days in his life. There are some dates you always remember, and for the Ontario real estate industry it's April 9, 1974. That is the day the province shocked the sector by announcing a 50% land speculation tax.  "We had no wind of this," said Lebow, now 69. "I was 27 years old and I owned 53 houses... [read more]

PRE-CONSTRUCTION CONDOS: SHOULD YOU USE A REALTOR? Should you use a realtor when buying a new pre-construction condo? The answer for this is a definite YES. Toronto Realtor Matt Smith, who specializes in helping buyers navigate through the complicated process of buying new condos, has shared with me the many pitfalls and disadvantages of buyers going at it alone when dealing with the builders' sales staff. Above all else, realize that the builder's sales team works for... [read more]

GTA HOME PRICES CLIMB 16.8% IN JUNE The uphill journey facing would-be-buyers got even steeper in June with home prices climbing by double digits compared to a year ago as supply hit record lows. The average price of a GTA property last month rose by 16.8% to $746,546 according to the Toronto Real Estate Board. As has been the trend, low-rise houses that includes detached, semis and townhomes saw the most significant price gains. The average detached home in the suburban GTA will... [read more]