interesting real estate articles 2018 Archives

Real estate: Comparing house and condo costs in Canada

21/07/2023dansa

As the average price of a home in Canada rises year-over-year, a new study is highlighting the growing gap between the cost of condominiums and houses in major Canadian cities.

Conducted by Point2 Homes and published earlier this month, the study shows that house prices are more than double the cost of condominiums in 14 Canadian cities, most of which are in Ontario and British Columbia. The data is based on MLS benchmark prices determined by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and realtor associations in each local market as of May 2023. Benchmark prices are assigned based on property types rather than square footage.

According to Point2 Homes, the study’s results paint “a bleach picture” for those looking to upsize from condos to houses, particularly in major real estate markets such as the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas.

In Vancouver, for example, houses are approximately $1.2 million more expensive than condos, on average, representing a difference of about 153 per cent. The term “house” refers to single-family houses, attached single-family houses and townhouses or row houses, while “condominium” refers to apartments.

Meanwhile, in Trois Rivieres, Que., there is a price difference of $44,000 when comparing the average cost of

Buying Property For Airbnb – How to Get Started

17/07/2023dansa

It’s undeniable that Airbnb properties have the potential to generate huge rental returns, but unfortunately, this potential alone will not boost your bank balance.

As I’m sure you’ve already gathered, with successful short-term letting businesses, location is everything!

Now, although Airbnb is famous for having rental properties in pretty much all environments in every corner of the globe, there are some key recommendations when it comes to investing in a property that will provide steady returns and high occupancy rates throughout the calendar year.

To achieve this, buying an Airbnb investment property in a popular UK city that offers a combination of affordable prices, strong rental yields, high visitor rates and regular music and sporting events is usually a winner!

Take Liverpool for example.

A city with a rich history, world-renowned character, popular nightlife scene, two premier league football clubs and the birthplace of the band that changed music forever – need I say the name?…

Liverpool is an ideal location to invest in a short-term rental property in terms of securing bookings all year round.

Additionally, the average property price in Liverpool is almost £110,000 below the UK average according to the most recent House Price Index, while rental

Toronto Rental Market “A Perfect Storm”

10/03/2023dansa

In a narrative that Torontonians know all too well, rents across the city are soaring. According to the latest national rent report from Rentals.ca, average rent in the city rose to a budget-bruising $2,763 in January, up 20.8% from the year prior. The Toronto rental market continues to be the second-priciest in the country.

Rental affordability challenges have also spilled out of the Toronto core. In fact, Rentals.ca found that some of the highest rents in the country are in mid-sized markets in the Greater Toronto Area, with average monthly rent in Vaughan, Oakville, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Brampton, and Burlington climbing past the $2,400 mark in January.

For renters in and around the city, there’s little reprieve in sight.

Homeownership Still “Out of Reach”

“It’s a perfect storm. I mean, you can’t point to just one thing,” says Karen Chapple, Director of the School of Cities at the University of Toronto. “But number one is the interest rate increases, and how that’s pushed homeowners into the rental market. Homeownership is out of reach for even more people right now.”

She adds, “Incomes have really hardly budged as housing prices have skyrocketed, so that’s a huge problem.”

62% of Buy to Let Landlords Report Increase in Tenant Demand

22/02/2023dansa

In the midst of the current economic climate, the demand for rental properties has seen a significant upsurge, the latest studies show.

A recent 2023 Landlord Report has seen 62.24% of buy-to-let landlords state they have experienced an increase in demand for their rental properties over the last 12 months.

The research comes courtesy of specialist property finance broker Finbri where an associate has highlighted how owing to the “continued instability of the mortgage market and the UK economy, rental property demand is rising. Due to prolonged uncertainty, first-time buyers are postponing entry into the market.”

Landlords in Central London report even higher figures – with an astonishing 94% of landlords reporting increased demand according to a survey undertaken by specialist buy-to-let lender Paragon Bank.

In turn, rooms in HMO’s (housing in multiple occupations) have seen their rents reach record heights as tenant demand far outweighs supply. SpareRoom outlined how tenant demand hit a nine-year high last August – which corresponds to the wider rental market witnessing a 23% year-on-year growth in demand for rental properties.

This heightened demand shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon as tenants withhold trying to get onto the property ladder at present. In

Opinion: Stronger tenant protections keep real estate speculators at bay

08/02/2023dansa

Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by Neil Vokey, who is a renter in East Vancouver and a member of the Vancouver Tenants Union.

Last year, the City of Vancouver passed the controversial Broadway Plan covering 485 city blocks that parallel the incoming SkyTrain Millennium Line extension to Arbutus.

The Broadway Plan aims to guide development over the next 30 years and eventually double the corridor’s current residential population. However, even prior to the plan passing, real estate speculation along the corridor has already mounted enormous pressure on the thousands of tenants who live there — roughly 25% of the city’s existing purpose-built rental stock.

When members of the Vancouver Tenants Union (VTU) surveyed hundreds of renters living next to future subway stations, they talked to renters in buildings where services and communication had drastically scaled back after their buildings were sold — evidence that the new owners were interested in speculation opportunities more than being landlords. VTU members also found significant rent gaps — the difference between rents being paid and market rates — meaning that an eviction due to redevelopment would mean 60% to 70% rent increase for the average renter along Broadway.

Perhaps recognizing that this scale of

Canadian luxury real estate entering ‘buyer’s market’: Report

29/01/2023dansa

Canadian luxury real estate may be shifting into buyer’s market conditions this year, according to a new report from Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, as prices readjust from pandemic-related upheavals.

The report issued Wednesday said buyers and sellers retreated from the luxury market in 2022 as the housing market responded to challenges like interest rate hikes, high inflation and regulatory challenges, setting the stage for prices to cool this year amid continued demand for housing.

Don Kottick, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, said luxury housing segments in some Canadian metropolitan areas were either approaching or already in buyer’s market conditions by the end of 2022, and he predicted another “important adjustment” on pricing on the horizon in the coming months.

“It has taken several months for home sellers to realize the impact of the changing market on the market values of their properties. As new property listings come onto the market in 2023, their pricing will shift to meet current realities,” Kottick said in a written statement.

“This will start to unlock long-awaited opportunities for buyers and upsizers to purchase homes that meet their lifestyle needs as they acclimatize to the market.”

Sotheby’s report found luxury sales fell