As Toronto rents near Brooklyn-level prices, tenants grow desperate

Apartment-seekers are driving the streets looking for rentals and creating web profiles, similar to dating bios, to attract landlords. Trying to find an apartment in Toronto is a lot like online dating, only more demoralizing. Ask Kin Lau. Normally, landlords would be swiping right on him. He’s got a perfect credit score and a good job. But last week he …

Toronto home-price downturn? Not in these neighbourhoods

Toronto’s housing downturn is not being felt equally across the region, with many neighbourhoods still seeing the prices of detached houses climb even while the average price falls across the Greater Toronto Area. A new report by realty firm Re/Max Integra shows that 40 per cent of 65 districts within the Toronto Real Estate Board recorded detached house price increases …

Toronto housing market downturn will be short-lived, CMHC says

In its latest housing market assessment released today, CMHC kept its overall risk rating for the national housing market at strong. The federal housing agency says the current downturn in Toronto’s housing market is expected to be short-lived. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) says Toronto property prices, which have fallen over the last couple of months, should pick up …

Ontario to roll out new rules for condo boards

Ontario’s 1.6 million condo dwellers will be able to take disputes to a tribunal under new provincial rules that include mandatory training for condo directors and licensing for building managers. Until now, condo owners and corporations had to hire a private mediator or go through the courts to pursue issues ranging from noisy neighbours to corporate record access. It’s an …

Toronto housing takes sharp turn into buyer’s market

By one metric, the Greater Toronto housing market has quickly shifted from a seller’s market to one favouring buyers. The area’s sales-to-new-listings ratio dropped to 39.4 per cent in June, according to seasonally adjusted figures released Monday by the Canadian Real Estate Association. In January, it topped 94 per cent. A ratio between 40 and 60 per cent is generally …

Canadian home prices rise in June as Toronto keeps climbing: Teranet

Canadian home prices rose in June as the cities of Toronto and Hamilton led the way with record increases despite provincial government efforts to rein in demand in the hot markets, data showed on Wednesday. The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which measures changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, showed prices rose 2.6 per cent from May. It …

Foreign buyer tax impact mostly psychological, says Sousa

The government had to act because families were being squeezed out of the market, said the minister. The province’s Fair Housing policy, including its 15 per cent foreign speculation tax, has cooled the Toronto area’s overheated housing market, but its impact has been largely psychological, Finance Minister Charles Sousa said Wednesday. “We are tempering not only non-resident Canadians . . …

The Best (and Worst) Places to Live in Toronto

The great thing about living in Toronto is that every neighbourhood comes with bragging rights. Rosedale has prestige schools. Trinity-Bellwoods is the capital for small-batch picklers. Etobicoke has low crime rates, Scarborough has lush parks, downtown has the most transit. Every neighbourhood has something going for it. But Torontonians are competitive, and we like knowing how we stack up. To …

As market shifts, Toronto homeowners caught between buy and sell

If you managed to buy a house in Toronto recently after several failed bids, you might be celebrating. Until you remember you have to sell the place you already own. That’s the scenario the clients of Toronto-based real estate agent Manu Singh found themselves in – just as the market shifted. Their circumstances are familiar to a lot of the …