Toronto condos help increase housing starts in February

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of Canadian housing starts reached 196,700 units in February 2010, up 6.1 per cent from a downwardly revised January figure of 185,400 units. Much of this gain took place in the urban multiple-family segment of the market, which includes condominium apartments. Increases in multiple-family home starts were especially noted in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), where the annual rate of total starts was up by 66 per cent compared to January.

Tight resale market conditions in the GTA and Canada-wide have started to impact new home construction. As resale market conditions tightened in 2009, more home buyers started to visit preconstruction sales centres. Stronger new home sales in the second half of last year have started to translate into increased home starts, especially in the high-rise segment of the market. Residential construction activity will continue to improve this year. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has forecast between 30,000 and 34,000 starts per year over the next two years, a substantial improvement over the 26,000 starts in 2009.

View January 2010 Housing Starts

Click here to view the GTA Release

Click here to view the Canadian Release

Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) with economic commentary by Jason Mercer – TREB Senior Manager of Market Analysis

In January, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for Canada reached 186,300 units, up six per cent from December’s upwardly revised 176,100 units. The increase encompassed both single-detached home starts, which climbed 3.3 percent to 88,900 units, and multiple-family starts (including condominium apartments), which rose 5.7 per cent to 76,300 units. While the annual rate of Ontario starts rose 1.5 per cent to 53,300 units, the GTA rate bucked the national trend and dipped 0.5 percent to 20,700 due to a decline in high-rise construction.

The Canadian numbers are representative of tightening resale market conditions during the second half of 2009. As existing home sales rose relative to listings across the country, a growing number of home buyers visited new home sales centres. Increased new home sales are now translating into an uptick in home construction. In the GTA where the volatile high-rise component registered a decline, the rate of housing starts is expected to pick up moving forward. Strong growth in new low and high-rise sales in the last two quarters of 2009 will drive an upward trend in home construction.

Click here to view the GTA Release

Click here to view the Canadian Release

Jason Mercer – TREB Senior Manager of Market Analysis

February 5, 2010 — Being in the dog days of winter, I’m certain a lot of people are dreaming longingly of summer weather, backyard barbecues, and long weekends. For many Canadians, Canada Day is always the unofficial start of the summer season. Unfortunately, this year, Canada Day is also the start of something a little less inspiring: the provincial government’s new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). Not exactly a nice way to celebrate our nation’s birthday.

What does the HST mean for you?

In a nutshell, this tax will expand the provincial eight percent sales tax to apply, as of July 1, 2010, to the things that are currently applicable to the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST). This means that home buyers will have to pay PST on numerous items that they currently do not, including home inspection fees, legal fees, moving costs, home appraisals, and real estate service fees or commissions. For the average home buyer in the Greater Toronto Area, the HST will mean about $2,000 in new taxes.

Fortunately, however, there is still action that the provincial government can, and should, take to soften the HST’s blow, particularly for home buyers. Most importantly, the provincial government should take a serious look at its current Land Transfer Tax (LTT), which, if left as-is, would mean that home buyers are paying, not two sales taxes (provincial and federal), but three!

The provincial LTT is, essentially, a sales tax on home buyers, which is calculated as a percentage of the purchase price of their home. For the average GTA home buyer, the provincial LTT costs about $4,000, up front. That’s a pretty hefty sales tax. To make things worse, if you’re buying a home in the City of Toronto, you also have to pay a Municipal Land Transfer Tax of about the same amount.

REALTORS® have always voiced concern about land transfer taxes. Simply put, these are unfair taxes that target home buyers. Furthermore, land transfer taxes are bad policy because they make home ownership more difficult to achieve.

When the provincial government first proposed the HST, provincial politicians said that the HST was not intended to generate more revenue for the Province and that, in fact, it would be revenue neutral because of the credits that businesses would be able to claim under the new system. Well, REALTORS® strongly believe that the government should also take action to ensure that the taxes charged to home buyers also remain neutral. With the HST heading towards implementation, the best way for the government to offset its impact on homebuyers would be to take action on its unfair Land Transfer Tax.

For months, the provincial government has been going to great effort to convince Ontarians that the HST is not a tax grab and is simply a re-design of the tax system to improve efficiency and economic competitiveness. Whether or not that is true is debatable, but it’s clear to REALTORS® that, by taking action on its Land Transfer Tax to offset the HST on homebuyers, the government has a clear opportunity to put its money where its mouth is.

Written by: Tom Lebour - President of the Toronto Real Estate Board, a professional association that represents 28,000 REALTORS® in the Greater Toronto Area.

Why Listing Your Vaughan Home Before The Competition Could Put Thousands Of Extra Dollars In Your Pocket!

When it comes to Real Estate, you’ve probably heard the expression that timing is everything. If you’re a homeowner in Vaughan looking to sell, the time has never been better!

There are literally thousands of qualified home buyers out there looking for the perfect home in Vaughan yet the number of homes currently available for sale is the lowest it’s been in years. The fact is we are at the peak of a seller’s market but that could all come to an end as early as this Spring.

So the obvious question is how can you as a seller take advantage of these rare circumstances before it’s too late? The answer is simple… take advantage of the narrow window of opportunity by listing your Vaughan home before the competition.

Why NOT to wait for the spring market to list your Vaughan Home

Reason #1: Less competition

• A Seller’s market is characterized by a limited supply of quality listings in the marketplace. For smart homeowners looking to sell that means there are fewer listings on the market to compete with.

Reason #2: More qualified buyers

• During a Seller’s market buyer demand is high due in part to a lack of quality listings. Smart homeowners looking to sell realize this and prepare their home for sale before the competition in order to capitalize on the thousands of qualified buyers looking for the perfect home.

Reason #3: Shorter amount of time on the market

• When you combine ‘Less Competition’ with the ‘More Qualified Buyers’ that are typically found in a seller’s market the result is that well priced homes sell quicker. That means less time and aggravation for you the home seller.

Reason #4: Thousands of extra dollars in your pocket

• With a limited supply of quality homes available for sale, the Buyers negotiating power is restricted. Those looking for the perfect home have to act fast and pay top dollar to beat out other buyers when the right home finally does come available. That could mean thousands of extra dollars in your pocket!

Buyer’s struggling to find their Dream Home in Vaughan

With mortgage rates near all time lows and existing inventory of resale homes the lowest they’ve been in years, it’s no wonder there is an excess of buyers searching for a home in Vaughan right now. With each passing day their frustration grows and their desire to find the perfect home gets stronger. As a seller you couldn’t possibly ask for a better situation… but there is a catch.

The seller’s market won’t last forever!

With each new listing that comes available in Vaughan, the balance of power slowly shifts from the seller back towards the buyer. That means that the seller’s market could easily come to an end as early as the Spring of 2010 as homeowners in your neighbourhood looking to sell rush to get their home on the market.

If you’re thinking about taking advantage of the current seller’s market in Vaughan and are curious to know what your home and other similar homes in your neighbourhood are selling for there is an easy and fast way to find out!  Get your free copy of the Vaughan Real Estate Report and learn the value of your Vaughan Home in today’s real estate market!

Steven Andrade is part of the Andrade Advantage Real Estate Team and a Real Estate Sales Representative with Royal LePage Maximum in Vaughan.  To speak with Steven about buying or selling a home in Vaughan please call: 416. 324. 2626

REALTORS® have been calling for governments at all levels to take action on the economy, and, next week, the provincial government will have an opportunity to do its part when it reveals the details of its annual budget. Ironically, given some of the talk coming from Queen’s Park lately, what the Province doesn’t do may be even more important than what it does.

In recent months, Premier McGuinty has been publicly talking about the possibility of combining the five percent federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the eight per cent Provincial Sales Tax (PST), to create a single Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). On the surface, this may seem rather benign, but the key point to remember is that these two taxes are not levied in the same way, so many things that are currently only subject to one tax, would, under this scheme, start paying both taxes.

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