Real Estate

Luxury Toronto condo The One put into receivership and more Canadian real estate news for October 21

25/10/2023
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Home of the Week, 659 Avondale Rd., Newport, N.S.Sherman Hines/Sherman Hines

Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

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Canada’s bank regulator says it won’t relax stress test on mortgage renewals

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) says it will not exempt uninsured borrowers from the mortgage stress test if they switch to a different lender at renewal time, writes Rachelle Younglai. Calls from the real estate industry to relax the stress test have been growing, as the spike in mortgage rates has made it harder for borrowers to qualify for a mortgage.

The regulator said exempting all renewals from the stress test “could cause lenders to

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Real Estate

Feds remove GST on rental builds and more Canadian real estate news for September 16

19/09/2023

Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

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Canada needs 3.45 million more homes by 2030 to cut housing costs as population grows, CMHC predicts

A new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says Canada needs 3.45 million more homes to bring housing costs down as the population increases, reports Rachelle Younglai. That’s in addition to the 1.68 million that are expected to be built by 2030 if the pace of construction remains the same. If Canada continues to admit record levels of about half-a-million new permanent residents per year, the CMHC predicts the number of new homes required will raise to 4 million.

Ottawa will remove GST from new rental construction in response

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Real Estate

Short-term relief from Bank of Canada rate hold and more Canadian real estate news for September 9

15/09/2023
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Home of the Week: 5036 Vanstone Crescent NW, CalgaryHayden Pattullo/Hayden Pattullo/Damon Hayes Couture

Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

Take The Globe’s business and investing news quiz

Homeowners with mortgages to get short-term relief, but future Bank of Canada rate hikes a ‘looming’ fear

The Bank of Canada announced Wednesday it was holding its key interest rate steady at 5 per cent, but borrowers shouldn’t celebrate just yet. Due to the rising concern about inflation, the bank is leaving the door open to future hikes. Rising rates have affected homeowners with variable-rate mortgages, reports Rachelle Younglai. This week’s decision has some borrowers in a state of “constant looming fear” that a hike in the future will

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Real Estate

Ottawa’s vacancy rates at all-time-high: Canadian real estate news for September 2

06/09/2023
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Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

Take The Globe’s business and investing news quiz

Vacancy rates in downtown Ottawa hit all-time high as public service employees continue to work from home

Ottawa’s downtown core is seeing record-high vacancy rates, and real estate insiders say the federal government’s work-from-home policy is the culprit, reports Adam Stanley. The federal government is Ottawa’s largest employer, with more than 113,000 people working in the city, but many of them are still working remotely. In an effort to revitalize the downtown area, commercial real estate veterans are calling for the government to require its employees to return to the office.

Major mortgage insurer cuts back on disclosing information about homeowners with underwater

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Real Estate

Charities helping higher-income Canadians buy houses: Canadian real estate news for July 29

04/08/2023
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This week’s top real estate and housing news.Alex Rothe/Alexander Rothe

Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

Take The Globe’s business and investing news quiz

As home prices soar, Habitat for Humanity helps higher-income Canadians buy properties

The latest sign of how unaffordable Canada has become: a charity that’s historically provided lower-income families with no-interest loans to buy a home is now seeing its client base shift to higher income brackets. Habitat for Humanity is witnessing a profound change in who it is assisting, reports Rachelle Younglai.

Should parents sell half their home to their adult kids and share the space?

In the usual narrative of family assistance in home buying, parents give down payments to their

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