Real Estate

Exorbitant building costs, and should parents charge their kids for rent? Canadian real estate news for July 1

09/07/2023
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This week in real estate, how much should parents charge their adult kids for rent?houssmax.ca

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.

The struggle of exorbitant building costs

Construction costs for residential real estate across much the country are exacerbating Canada’s housing affordability crisis, reports Erica Alini. In 11 major Canadian cities, the cost of building homes and apartment complexes was up 54 per cent in the first three months of 2023 compared to 2019, StatsCan data shows. Labour shortages, the high cost of materials, and rising interest rates all contribute to high financing costs for developers.

Should parents ask their adult kids to pay rent?

With housing and rental costs on the rise, as well as

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Forec

Charlottetown buildings to be converted to condos following freeze on rent increases

03/07/2023

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS

Charles MacDonald says he was not surprised.

The Charlottetown man received a notice on the door of his apartment unit on Waterview Heights Lane on June 26. The note stated his building, where he has lived for six years, would be divided into condominiums.

The building’s former owners, CAPREIT Apartments Inc., sold four apartment buildings, with 60 rental units in all, to a new owner, known as 102997 P.E.I. Inc. for $9.4 million in May.

The property is located on the picturesque edge of Ellen’s Creek off North River Road.

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500 P.E.I. tenants face rent hikes by one of Canada's biggest landlords

“I know they’re dealing with zero rent increases,” MacDonald said. “Why would you buy the buildings when you know you’re not going to get a rent increase on them?”

The notice, sent to all tenants in the buildings, also hinted that a 2023 freeze on rent increases, passed in the P.E.I. legislature

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Real Estate

Downtown real estate and commercial buildings are struggling. Why won’t landlords lower the rent?

31/05/2023

They call it the “debt wall,” and it is not the kind of wall that protects you. It’s the kind that might collapse and crush your village, or into which you might crash your car. Specifically, it is $1.5 trillion in commercial real estate debt, owed to banks, pension funds, and insurance companies before the end of 2025, and secured by a national portfolio of office, retail, industrial, and multifamily properties that may not be worth what they were five or 10 years ago when those loans got made.

The country’s downtown office buildings, as you may have heard, are in particularly dire shape. The return to the office has stalled, and many once-vibrant business districts have fallen on hard times. According to data from the brokerage Colliers, almost all of the biggest office buildings in downtown Los Angeles are underwater on their loans—meaning, their owners owe more to the

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Forec

Condos in GTA see ‘unsustainable’ rent growth

02/05/2023

A first quarter 15.1 per cent year-over-year hike in the cost of renting a one-bedroom condo in the GTA is setting the stage for a resurgence of buyers fed up with the high cost of paying a landlord, says the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB).

“Tight market conditions are resulting in an unsustainable pace of rent growth,” said TRREB in a news release Thursday.

Competition among renters is growing despite a 10.2 per cent boost in the number of listings on the real estate industry’s Multiple Listings Service (MLS) in the first three months of the year. The number of units leased in that period rose 4 per cent over last year’s first quarter.

The quarterly average monthly rent of a one-bedroom unit climbed to $2,474. Two-bedroom units averaged $3,162 in the first quarter, a 9.2 per cent year over year increase.

“Despite increased interest rates, mortgage payments

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Real Estate

Real estate industry begins campaign against Mayor Wu's rent control plan

22/02/2023

Real Estate

The campaign, led by The Greater Boston Real Estate Board, will incorporate text messages, mailings, online videos, and phone banks.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Matthew J. Lee/Boston Globe

Last month, it was reported that Mayor Michelle Wu is accelerating plans to propose a form of rent control in Boston. Rent control, or rent stabilization was a core part of Wu’s mayoral campaign in 2021. Last week, Wu officially filed her proposal with the City Council.

Now, prominent members of the real estate industry are amplifying their opposition to the idea. The Greater Boston Real Estate Board began a major campaign to fight rent control this week by reaching out to Boston residents directly.

The campaign, dubbed “Rent Control Hurts Housing,” is looking to reach members of the public through a coordinated blitz of text messages, direct mail, and digital videos. Phone banks are being assembled to connect residents

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