Brampton third most expensive city in Canada to own a home, study finds, in January, 2023
A study conducted by online real estate portal Point2Homes has ranked Brampton third among all Canadian cities for home ownership costs.
The study, which compared shelter costs in 50 of Canada’s largest cities using 2021 census data, found the average monthly cost to own a home in Brampton was $2,304.
The average monthly mortgage payment across all of Canada was $2,066, while renters paid significantly less at a national average of $1,209, the study found. Brampton ranked significantly higher than average in both cases.
Brampton, which is Canada’s ninth-largest city by population and was ranked the country’s fastest-growing city in the 2021 census, only trailed Oakville and Richmond Hill at $2,384 and $2,350, respectively……….
Majority of affordable homes approved under federal program not yet constructed, in January, 2023
The federal government has set aside billions of dollars to quickly build affordable housing across the country, but delays in construction suggest many of the projects approved for funding are missing their deadlines.
The Rapid Housing Initiative is a federal program launched in 2020 that provides funding to cities and non-profit organizations to build affordable homes for vulnerable Canadians, including those experiencing homelessness.
The federal government offered $2.5 billion during the first two rounds of project funding, with the condition that approved units must be built within 12 months in most places or 18 months in northern or remote communities.
But a document put together by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. in response to a written question from a member of Parliament shows the majority of units approved have not yet been constructed…………
How was the Greater Toronto Area new housing market’s performance in 2022?, in January, 2023
Over the course of 2022, the Greater Toronto Area saw its lowest level of new home sales since 2018, according to Altus Group and the Building Industry and Land Development Association.
Condo apartment sales — which include those involving low, medium, and high-rise buildings, as well as stacked townhouses and loft units — amounted to 20,917, around 12% below the asset category’s 10-year average.
The single-family housing segment — including detached, linked, and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses) — totalled 4,483 sales in 2022, a significant 64% lower than the 10-year average.
Benchmark prices in December were at around $1.131 million for new condo apartments and at around $1.753 million for new single-family residences.
Total new home active inventory stood at 13,320 listings, including 11,590 condo apartment units (6.6 months of inventory) and 1,730 single-family homes (4.6 months of inventory)………..
Selling a home? How to know if you qualify for a capital gains exemption in January, 2023
When selling a home, Canadians may be exempted from paying capital gains tax on a residential property if it is determined to be their principal residence. A capital gains tax is normally applied to 50% of your profits made from selling an asset for a profit.
However, the CRA is a bit vague when defining one’s principal residence, and several factors could either help or prevent you from qualifying for the principal residence tax exemption.
Below, I’ll explain more about how the CRA determines principal residence and answer some questions about what types of properties may be eligible for the tax exemption………..
3 charged after allegedly selling home they didn’t own in Toronto in January, 2023
Three people have been charged after they allegedly sold a house in Toronto that they didn’t own and tried to collect the proceeds.
In a news release on Friday, Toronto police say they have charged a Markham woman, 41, and two Toronto men, both 22, in a title fraud scam investigation.
The woman has been charged with fraud over $5,000, possession of proceeds obtained by crime over $5,000, laundering proceeds of crime, personation with intent to obtain property and uttering a forged document. The men have both been charged with fraud over $5,000.
All three are due in a Toronto courtroom on Monday.
According to police, the two men and a woman pretended to be the owners of a Toronto property in January 2023 while the real owners were out of the country……………..
Impersonators posing as homeowners linked to 32 fraud cases in Ontario and B.C. in January, 2023
Mortgage and title fraudsters who impersonate homeowners and tenants have targeted at least 32 properties in Ontario and British Columbia, investigators and official warnings suggest.
Insurance investigator Brian King, president and CEO of King International Advisory Group, said his firm had received 30 such claims in Ontario.
They include six instances of “total title fraud” in which con artists pose as homeowners to list properties for sale…………
When Stephanie logged online to pay her monthly bills last year she noticed something strange.
The mortgage she shared with her husband, Derrick, had disappeared from the home screen of her Canadian bank account. After making some calls, she found out her mortgage was closed.
“We knew something was wrong. We weren’t the ones to close our mortgage,” said Stephanie.
Toronto & Vancouver Real Estate Are Correcting in 2023
Toronto and Vancouver real estate didn’t quite make the extremes, but they aren’t immune to the correction. A typical home in Toronto has dropped 18.4% (-$245,200) since peaking in March 2022. Over in Vancouver, prices are down 10.5% (-$133,100) from the April 2022 peak. It’s worth mentioning that Vancouver prices didn’t experience as large of a boom as Toronto over the past two years. However, these are still 6-figure losses in less than a year.
The Canadian real estate price correction is widely blamed on interest rates. Those play a big role when it comes to financing, and profitability for investors, helping to cool demand. However, it’s worth noting that prices peaked in March—before interest rates had a substantial impact on buying power. Most buyers would have a buyer pre-approval that would have limited the impact of the rate hike on absorption.
Some banks have argued this reinforces the belief that sentiment was driving growth. Sentiment-driven price growth tends to produce the largest bubbles and sharpest corrections……..
Are you ready for Toronto’s new vacant home tax? Deadline to declare is Feb. 2, 2023
Toronto residents who own an empty home will soon be taxed for it, as the city pushes forward with a fee it says will help increase housing supply and raise as much as $66 million a year.
City hall’s new vacant home tax will start in the new year and the deadline for all property owners in the city to declare whether their home is vacant or not is Feb. 2. The lone councillor who voted against the tax says he’s already receiving complaints about the “heavy-handed” notices issued by the city to alert homeowners to the need to make a declaration.
Stephen Holyday, who represents Ward 2, Etobicoke Centre, said he’s received numerous calls about the message, its tone and the complexity of the new system.
He says it’s struck a nerve……..
Canada Bans Most Foreigners From Buying Homes in January, 2023
A ban on foreigners buying residential property in Canada took effect Sunday, aiming to make more homes available to locals facing a housing crunch.
Several exceptions in the act allow individuals such as refugees and permanent residents who are not citizens to buy homes.
In late December, Ottawa also clarified that the ban would apply only to city dwellings and not to recreational properties such as summer cottages.
The temporary two-year measure was proposed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the 2021 election campaign when soaring prices put home ownership beyond the reach of many Canadians.
“The desirability of Canadian homes is attracting profiteers, wealthy corporations, and foreign investors,” his Liberal Party said in its election plank at the time.
“This is leading to a real problem of underused and vacant housing, rampant speculation, and skyrocketing prices. Homes are for people, not investors.”……..
Where Ontario’s housing market is headed in 2023
The price of buying a home in Ontario dropped from its lofty heights during the past year, and the question for 2023 is whether the downward trend will continue.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) benchmark price of a home in Ontario — a measure that combines sale prices of condominiums, attached and detached houses across all markets in the province — peaked at $1.08 million in March of 2022.
That was a staggering 64 per cent leap in just two years, from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CREA’s benchmark figure for Ontario has since fallen by nearly 20 per cent, but even that sharp decline only takes prices back to the level they were at in September of 2021. ………
