May 2014 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Toronto condo sales booming once again








Anecdotally, we`ve been hearing how strongly sales of condo units in Toronto bounced back in the first quarter of 2014. Investors swarmed some condo sales centres as soon as new projects were launched. In the resale market, some sellers were choosing among competing buyers for the first time in a long while.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Peterborough's unemployment rate highest in Canada





Peterborough's unemployment rate shot up in April to 11.6%, from 11.2% in March, solidifying its hold as the city with the highest jobless rate in Canada out of Canada's 34 census metropolitan areas.





The national jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.9% in April, while Ontario's edged up to 7.4% from 7.3%.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Ontario economy to get a boost thanks to increased U.S. demand








The Ontario economy will experience increased growth this year due to stronger demand from the United States and a weaker Canadian dollar, but the provincial government is expected to continue to run a deficit.





`Combined with other infrastructure builds such as hospitals, court house rebuilds and schools, the ongoing supply of major projects represents good news for local contractors,` said Doug Palmer, regional vice-president of commercial banking with BMO Bank of Montreal in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Central region.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

The houses that don't sell






Two weeks from now, Bryce and Ashlee Collins are likely to be the terrified owners of two homes.







One is the three-bedroom Etobicoke backsplit ` `our forever home` ` they bought last month and where they plan to raise their six-month-old son, Ben.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Waterloo reports rental license surplus for second straight year





WATERLOO ` The City of Waterloo's two-year-old rental housing licensing system ` slammed as a cash grab by landlords from the outset ` has accumulated nearly $900,000 in surplus in two years.





According to a financial report to councillors Monday, there was a $518,000 surplus in rental licence fees in 2013. That's in addition to about $344,000 in 2012.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Lagging exports a drag on Canadian economy






The 90 cent `loonie` was supposed to push Canada`s stalled exports into high gear helping boost overall economic growth particularly in manufacturing dependent Ontario.







But Canada`s export recovery remains elusive despite gradually improving conditions in the U.S., its largest trading partner, and a Canadian dollar that trades at a nearly a 10 per cent discount to the U.S. greenback.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canada's next housing bubble: Real estate agents





The housing boom has not only resulted in record real estate prices, it has spawned an unprecedented number of realtors.





The number of people selling real estate reached 108,706 during the first quarter of the year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. To put it another way, that`s one realtor for every 245 Canadians over the age of 19.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Ottawa student residence to operate at shuttered senior's home





A downtown retirement home that didn`t have enough residents will close this summer in time to be sold and open under new management as a student residence in the fall.





The University of Ottawa was to announce on Tuesday that it plans to partner with a private company to lease the existing eight-storey building at Rideau and Friel Streets. The lease, which the university describes as a long-term agreement, would give U of O 400 more residences spaces, according to a statement to be released Tuesday.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Ottawa planning committee OKs baseline tower proposal





Ottawa`s planning committee approved a development proposal on Baseline Road, just east of the Queensway-Carleton Hospital, after three years and many revisions to the developer`s first proposal for the property.





The proposal by Brigil Construction for two properties at Baseline Road and Sandcastle Drive calls for 504 residential units in three highrise and one midrise building.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Ottawa tech jobs near all-time high as region's jobless rate hits 6.8%





Perhaps the biggest surprise from Statistics Canada`s jobs reports over the past year has been the consistent surge in high-tech employment in the National Capital Region.





The federal agency revealed Friday that the number of tech jobs steadied at 68,300 in April ` the same as in March. However, this is about 20,000 higher than in April, 2013 ` a rather stunning, and puzzling, one-year rise.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Toronto condo builders complain of little respect





Builders of Toronto condominiums get as little respect these days as the embattled mayor, according to one of the city`s largest high-rise developers.





`I almost know what Rob Ford feels some days because people are always taking runs at the guy,` Barry Fenton, chief executive officer of Lanterra Developments, said at the Bloomberg Canada Economic Summit on Tuesday. `The truth of it is we`re good, the market is really healthy still and we have a long ways to go on the upside.`










Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Economy in transition effects Ontario's performance





OTTAWA, May 15, 2014 /CNW/ - Ontario's standard of living compared to other provinces and developed countries has slipped in recent decades, giving it a "B" grade, although it still remains a top-10 economic performer. This shift reflects the ongoing economic transition in the province, according to The Conference Board of Canada's first "How Canada Performs: Economy" report card to compare the 10 provinces and 16 advanced countries.





Released today, and building on previous "How Canada Performs" analyses, the Economy report card is the first of six to be produced over the next year on Canadian and provincial socio-economic performance.










Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Waterloo tenants caught in the crossfire





It appears renters are about to be pulled into the ongoing fight between landlords and the city over Waterloo`s controversial rental license bylaw.





Landlord Wally Janzen is in the process of applying to the province to request permission to raise his rent about nine times the provincially approved rate to help recoup some of the costs associated with the bylaw.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Toronto tops for speedy home sales





Calgary might have the hottest housing market in the country right now, and Vancouver`s might be the priciest, but Toronto is tops when it comes to the speed with which homes are selling.





The homes that sold in the Toronto area last month were on the market for an average of 20 days. Homes that sold in and around Calgary, in contrast, were on the market for an average of 34 days before they sold.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Ottawa real estate agent takes to the high skies to try and sell homes





Stealth angles of your home, roof, and backyard may soon be popping up on YouTube.





Don't call the cops, though.





Drones are being used to buy and sell homes -- well, just one house, pending government red tape, by an agent in the capital.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Kathleen Wynne's travel tax





Rarely is a minority government so brazen as to table a budget that includes both tax hikes and an increased deficit. But the Liberal budget that triggered the current Ontario election did just that. The government proposed dozens of tax increases and spending measures that will likely be debated throughout the current election. One major tax hike, however, has yet to be fully considered.





Kathleen Wynne`s budget proposed a new tax that will increase the average price of an overseas trip for a family of four by hundreds of dollars. This 148% hike on aviation fuel tax, from 2.7 to 6.7 cents per litre, comes at a time when other jurisdictions like British Columbia have eliminated this tax altogether.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

The other side of the story X - don't start with me!





This is the tenth installment of our `Other Side of the Story` series, where we have provided an alternative view on newspaper articles pertaining to the Canadian housing market. Our intent hasn`t been to demean the journalist or the publication, but to simply provide a further perspective on the results for Fortress, our partners and investors in the Fortress Real Capital product.





This week Tara Perkins wrote an article on Canadian housing starts in the Globe and Mail: click here to read. The line that really grabbed my attention was `Economists have pegged the number of new homes that we need in Canada each year, based on demographics, to be in the neighbourhood of 165,000 to 180,000`. Really economists? This is a strange conclusion, Canada has had only one year below 180,000 starts since 2002, the 10-year average for starts in Canada was 206,000, and the 50-year average (yes you read that right, 50-year average) for starts in Canada was 189,000!





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Property managers reap the benefits of Toronto's condo boom





Property managers find tenants for landlords, and then generally handle things like maintenance issues and collecting rent. A rising number of them are popping up in Toronto, attracted by the plethora of units that are being rented out. (Of note, The Real Estate Council of British Columbia licenses property managers in that province, so far there is no regulation of the business in Ontario).





Martin Schoenberg got into the property management business in Vancouver when he started a business called Rentforthegames.com to match property owners with people who needed a place to stay during the Olympics. He also created a more traditional property management business in Vancouver, and then expanded to Toronto about a year ago with Toronto Luxury Rentals. It`s currently managing properties for about 80 clients, but Mr. Schoenberg says he`s hoping to have ` wait for it ` 1,000 by the end of next year (his Vancouver business has about 350 he says).





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Ontario home sales to remain steady until 2016





TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 21, 2014) - For the next two years Ontario's housing market will see steady sales and new home construction with prices increasing, but more slowly than in the past decade, says Central 1 Credit Union.





This year home prices will increase by about five per cent and then from 2015 to 2017 they will gain about three per cent per year, down from the average six per cent of the last decade, said Helmut Pastrick, Chief Economist for Central 1, which is the trade association for most Ontario credit unions.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Rental licensing fee is just a "poor tax" on people





After years of living as renters in another city, my husband and I recently moved here and purchased our first home, and we have been following the story of the rental licensing fee with interest.





According to your article, the Director of Municipal Enforcement Services, Jim Barry, claims that the licensing fee were not supposed to result in rent increases for tenants. I find such a statement to be surprisingly naive coming from someone in his position.





Read the full article here.