Toronto Condo and Real Estate Blog

By Roma Luciw - Globe and Mail

Canadian building permits surged to their second-highest level on record in October, making a mockery of consensus forecasts for a drop, as the value of non-residential construction intentions hit new highs.

Statistics Canada said Wednesday that municipalities issued $6.03-billion worth of building permits, a 6.1% jump from September. October’s tally was second only to the $6.3-billion worth of permits municipalities issued in December, 2005, when several applications in Toronto had to be rushed through before the end of the year to avoid higher development charges.

Stewart Hall, market strategist with HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., said the monthly increase makes a mockery of economists’ consensus expectations for a fall of 1.5%.

“So much for the view that the sector was cooling,” he said. “And lastly, so much for the GDP drag coming out of the residential construction sector that resonated negatively in the third-quarter’s GDP report.”

The Bank of Canada opted to keep interest rates at 4.25% on Tuesday, but warned of rising consumer spending and home prices. The country’s economic growth sunk to its slowest pace in three years in the third quarter, in part because of a “sharper” decline in residential construction investment.

The permits data pointed to a sharp divergence in the provincial economies, with permits in Alberta and British Columbia advancing.

“These results point to a busy winter on building sites as building permits are a leading indicator for construction activity,” Statscan said.

Non-residential permits jumped 9.1% to a record $2.41-billion, the third straight monthly gain. Alberta and British Columbia fuelled the rise in the commercial permits.

Construction intentions in the residential sector rose 4.3% to $3.6-billion, driven by a 15.4% increase in multi-family permits. The value of single-family permits fell 1.7%in October.

“Even though there has been a softening in residential activity recently, with starts showing a steady slowing in 2006 and residential investment trimming 0.5 percentage points from the annualized quarterly GDP growth rate, today’s report suggests that further weakening is likely be relatively modest,” Royal Bank of Canada’s Dawn Desjardins said in a note.

“Today’s report is in line with our view that the residential sector is likely to continue to cool but only modestly in 2007, while non-residential investment will continue at a solid clip backed by firm corporate balance sheets and decent profits.”

Building permits reached $54.7-billion in the first ten months of the this year, up 10.3%from last year, on strong gains in the residential and non-residential sectors.

By Sydnia Yu - Globe and Mail

Beaches developer Thomas Wardle plans to build a low-rise condominium building that he hopes will evoke the village atmosphere of the area more than a century ago.

The project, called the Village at Main Station, is inspired by the look of the community in the late 1800s, when it was known as the Village of East Toronto, and was anchored by the Grand Trunk Railway Station.

The new development - two four-storey buildings with a total of 32 suites - will have traditional Victorian facades, and homeowners will have their own entry via a central courtyard. There will be no interior corridors or elevators.

“We’re trying to keep it community oriented by having a small project,” Mr. Wardle explains. “[The architect] has designed these to be similar to the buildings that were here or are still here on the streets.”

Mr. Wardle, a long-time resident of and former alderman for the area, is especially familiar with the surrounding streetscapes. But he has an even stronger tie to the site itself - it’s where he and his family have run a wholesale gifts and textiles business for the past 30 years. In addition to this property, the project will utilize an adjacent site he bought last spring.

Railway tracks and a station are still parts of the community, except today they are part of the GO train system. Other urban conveniences - the subway, shops, restaurants, parks and recreation facilities - are nearby, and many more can be found to the south on Queen Street and the waterfront.

At a time when real estate prices in the area are high, having kept pace with its popularity, this project offers homes that start at $225,000 for 660 square feet of space. Since the project launch in September, more than two-thirds of the units have been sold.

“We seem to have two categories of people buying here: either retired people selling their house or… young professionals who don’t have the time or money to have a big house,” Mr. Wardle notes.

As an incentive for buyers, monthly fees will be only about 24 cents a square foot since there will not be corridors or elevators to maintain. Residents who have underground parking (priced at $9,500) will pay an extra $8 toward maintenance, and those with lockers (priced at $3,000) will pay another $4.

“We’ve eliminated the expensive things, so that’s made it affordable,” Mr. Wardle says.

Units ranging from one-bedroom to two bedrooms and a den are still available, as are two-storey penthouse suites, which will feature cathedral ceilings with dormers and skylights, as well as lofts overlooking the principal room.

The light in many suites is “absolutely phenomenal, because there are windows not only to the courtyard, but [facing]… [a] park - either Ted Reeve or Kimberley Park,” Mr. Wardle says.

Kitchens will have stainless-steel appliances, granite countertops and a ceramic backsplashes.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information

By Amit Paul - New Dream Homes and Condos Magazine

I’ve been getting requests as of late to provide definitions for real estate terms. I hope this list covers a few of the more common ones.

Condo townhome versus freehold townhome

A condo townhome legally falls under the condo structure. You own a percentage of the condo rather than your particular unit. The main difference for buyers is that this type of townhome comes with maintenance fees. A freehold townhome is like a semi-detached or a detached home, except that it’s connected to at least two other townhome properties.

Maintenance fees

These are the monthly fees payable to a condo corporation. It’s important to understand what these fees include (heat, hydro, water, common elements, etc.). In cases where heat and/or air conditioning is included but hydro is not, confusion may arise. If your hydro meter is billed directly to you, the amount of air conditioning and/or heat you use is tied to your hydro bill. So why say it’s included? For sake of clarity, the builder or Multiple Listing Service should not, in fact, say that.

Buyer’s agent versus agent/realtor

No major difference here other than the fact that a buyer’s agent refers to a realtor acting specifically for the buyer. It’s important to know that those who say they specialize in a buyer’s agency are more often than not speaking on behalf of frequency of practice rather than on education or license.

Property taxes

The annual taxes payable to the government based on the size and assessed value of the real estate that you own. They’re important to factor in when calculating your cost of ownership.

Deposit

The down payment for the unit of real estate that a buyer is purchasing or selling. This money can also be arranged to go towards the down payment percentage of your mortgage.

Loft

A type of condo unit that, unfortunately, has garnered too many definitions. For all intents and purposes, this is a term that has been coined by many builders and used where it really shouldn’t be. Don’t assume that a loft is necessarily going to boast 15-foot ceilings, exposed brick, or an open concept. It may have eight- or nine-foot ceilings, a relatively normal layout, and a clever marketing plan instead.

Square footage

Technically this number should refer to the amount of living space above ground level. That means that finished basements don’t count. In the case of condos, it’s important to determine whether the balcony has been included in this figure.