Toronto Real Estate Blog

Hundreds jammed Alterra Group’s conversion project

By Sydnia Yu – The Globe and Mail

Last year, the line outside the sales office for the new Network Lofts at Bloor and Islington started at 4:30 a.m. By the time the doors opened at 11 a.m. there were about 300 people waiting to get in and an estimated 500 visited the site by the time the doors closed – testament to the strength of the Toronto loft conversion market and the draw of good location and attractive design.

The Alterra Group’s Network Lofts development in West Kingsway is so modern it has its own blog. At NetworkLofts.blogspot.com, it’s explained that the building started life in 1971 as a Bell Canada office and was reborn this year as a loft conversion.

The website, created by the public relations team at Bradley Moseley-Williams, is a fun way for visitors to get up-to-date news on the project, as well as design tips and reviews of local restaurants. It also posts images taken from the 11th-floor model suites of the residential neighbourhood below, with its ravines, many trees and high-end retailers.

The Network Lofts building has 12-storeys plus a new penthouse floor, and a total of 205 units. Move-in dates were scheduled for late 2007.

It was built originally for hundreds of employees and visitors, and included many elevators, a parking garage, as well as industrial heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.

While the character of the converted office building will be maintained – from its original thick, industry-standard floors to columns with a radius of nearly 30 inches – it will be modernized inside and out.

The exterior will be replaced with anodized steel and extra-paned, floor-to-ceiling windows to provide more light exposure and soundproofing.

The Network Lofts lobby will have a hip, boutique feel, with rich, classic materials such as dark wood and stone. There will be six elevators, one of which will be designated for the penthouse floor.

The lofts will range in size from one bedroom to two bedrooms and a den. Ceilings will be 10-1/2 feet in standard units and up to 17 feet in two-storey suites on the 8th floor where the building’s mechanical room was originally located.

There will be polished concrete or hardwood floors, and some kitchens will feature open-concept designs conducive to cooking and entertaining.

The maintenance fee is yet to be determined, but it is expected that an industrial heat pump will save money for residents by recirculating air during shoulder seasons, reducing the demand for conventional heating and air conditioning. There will be a concierge service, fitness centre, party room and underground parking.

The Network Lofts is near the subway and GO Transit, and a short drive from major highways.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

What slowdown? 13 of 24 markets report double-digit price increases, led by Regina and Saskatoon

CBC News

The real estate market in Canada’s major cities enjoyed a record year for sales and prices in 2007, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday.

The industry group said a record 362,934 homes were sold through the condos-for-sale/mls.htm” title=”toronto mls” target=”_blank”>MLS system last year. For the year as a whole, the average price realized was $326,055 — up 10.8% from 2006 levels.

“Resale housing demand remained high throughout 2007 due to job and income growth, the continuation of attractive financing, and upbeat consumer confidence,” said the Canadian Real Estate Association chief economist Gregory Klump.

He forecast that condos-for-sale/propertysearch.htm” title=”toronto real estate” target=”_blank”>real estate sales in 2008 would slip from last year’s record levels, but would still remain strong. Average prices are expected to rise, but “at a slower pace,” he said.

In December, the average resale home in 24 major markets sold for $332,836. That’s a rise of 13.1% from the previous December — the largest year-over-year gain in more than three years.

No fewer than 13 of the 24 markets reported double-digit price increases, led by the two biggest cities in Saskatchewan. Both Regina and Saskatoon reported that home prices were more than 45% higher than they were a year earlier.

Those gains showed again that Alberta has been overtaken as the price boom leader. Average price increases in Calgary and Edmonton barely made it into the double-digit arena in December, with year-over-year gains of 10.7% and 12.1%, respectively.

The most expensive real estate continues to be located in Vancouver. The average resale home in that city was $566,192 in December, a gain of 9.0% from the previous December.

Home prices in many centres in central Canada held up well, with prices in Toronto, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Quebec City all recording double-digit year-over-year growth.

The manufacturing slump clearly weighed only in Windsor-Essex and St. Catharines, Ont. Average prices rose by just 1.3% in St. Catharines, while prices in Windsor fell 3.4% from the previous December — the only major market in Canada to report price declines.

The healthy Canadian real estate market stands in sharp contrast to the “deepening trauma south of the border,” noted BMO Capital Markets economist Doug Porter.”Housing is very unlikely to provide as much support to Canadian growth in 2008, but it’s also unlikely to follow the U.S. market’s due-south lead either,” he said.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

Garry Marr, Financial Post

The resale housing market cracked $100-billion in sales activity for the first time in Canada’s 25 largest markets, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The Ottawa-based group said 362,934 units sold last year, a 7.9% increase from a year ago. Annual sales records were set in Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, London and St. Thomas, Hamilton-Burlington, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Saint John, Halifax and Newfoundland and Labrador

“The statistics show just how dynamic the Canadian real estate market was in 2007 in virtually all parts of the country,” said Ann Bosley, president of the Canadian Real Estate Association. “The record sales activity shows it remains a very affordable real estate market.”

In terms of sales, the Canadian condos-for-sale/propertysearch.htm” title=”toronto real estate” target=”_blank”>real estate market appears to have peaked in the second quarter. However, the drop-off has been moderate with sales in the fourth quarter down only 1.6% from the third quarter.

For the year, the Canadian condos-for-sale/propertysearch.htm” title=”toronto real estate” target=”_blank”>Real Estate Association said the dollar figure for sales in the country’s 25 largest market was $118.3-billion, a 19.6% increase from a year earlier. The large dollar figure was one part record sales transactions and one part record sale prices.

For most of this year it has been a seller’s market, says the real estate group. That has meant rising prices. The average price of a home sold in 2007 reached $326,055, a 10.8% increase from a year earlier. That was the largest annual percentage increase in 18 years.

“Resale housing demand remained high throughout 2007 due to job and income growth, the continuation of attractive financing and upbeat consumer confidence,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist with the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Mr. Klump expects 2008 will continue to be strong and is predicting sales will be the second highest on record, trailing only last-year’s pace.

The real estate sector is forecast to get a boost from the Bank of Canada which many anticipate will lower rates due to slower U.S. economic growth.

“Additional interest rate cuts this year will keep the resale housing market activity on a strong footing and prices will continue to rise, but at a slower pace,” said Mr. Klump.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

But demand slumped at the end of the year, signalling a rough start to 2008; average price also hits a new high

Lori Mcleod – Globe and Mail

The value of existing home sales blew past $100-billion for the first time in 2007, but signs of fatigue late in the year are expected to carry into 2008.

Sales came in at a total of $118.3-billion last year, up 20% from the year before, according to data released yesterday by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

The average price of an existing home also hit a record $326,055 last year across the 25 major markets tracked by  the Canadian condos-for-sale/propertysearch.htm” title=”toronto real estate” target=”_blank”>Real Estate Association.

Sales peaked in the second quarter, and slowed near the end of the year because there were fewer transactions in Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal, according to  the Canadian condos-for-sale/propertysearch.htm” title=”toronto real estate” target=”_blank”>Real Estate Association. Calgary had the biggest drop in unit sales in December, down 27.8%, compared with the year before.

Some of the country’s strongest real estate markets in the latter part of 2007 were Regina, Saskatoon and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, where year-over-year sales rose 54%, 34% and 27% respectively.

While a sag in December sales activity will likely continue in 2008, the Canadian real estate market is still in much better shape than that of the U.S., said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc.

“Even with the slight sag in December, Canadian real estate sales still easily hit a new annual high last year, in staggering contrast to the deepening trauma south of the border,” Mr. Porter said in a research note.

“Housing is very unlikely to provide as much support to Canadian growth in 2008, but it’s also highly unlikely to follow the U.S. market’s due-south lead either.”

For example, a total of 362,934 units were sold in Canada last year, up almost 8% from 2006. This stands in “stark contrast” to the estimated 12.6% drop in U.S. existing home sales in 2007, Mr. Porter said.

Home prices, which rose 10.8% in 2007 from 2006, are expected to go up at a more modest rate in 2008, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

“A decline in inflationary pressures due to slower U.S. economic growth will enable the Bank of Canada to reduce interest rates,” said Gregory Klump, CREA chief economist. “Additional interest rate cuts this year will keep resale housing market activity on a strong footing, and prices will continue to rise but at a slower pace.”

By the numbers

Total dollar value of residential sales: $118-billion

Number of units sold in 2007: 362,934

Average price of home in 2007: $326,055

Number of new listings in 2007: 587,607

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

Resales Top 100 Billion Dollars

Garry Marr, Financial Post

The value of existing-home sales cracked $100-billion last year for the first time, but realtors maintain they are not getting rich in a real estate market that continues to set records.

The condos-for-sale/propertysearch.htm” title=”toronto real estate” target=”_blank”>real estate community says housing statistics have to be taken in the context of an industry that has seen its commissions squeezed at the same time as the pool of real estate agents continues to grow — leaving them with a smaller slice of a growing pie.

“There’s another crop of real estate agents in the industry each year,” said Phil Soper, chief executive of Brookfield Real Estate Services Fund. “There’s nothing like adding a few thousand agents to cut the return you’ll get.”

The Canadian condos-for-sale/propertysearch.htm” title=”toronto real estate” target=”_blank”>Real Estate Association said yesterday there was $118.3-billion in sales in Canada’s top 25 markets in 2007, a 19.6% jump from a year earlier. Given the average commission is about 5% or less, that leaves about $5.915-billion in commissions to be split among the country’s approximate 96,000 agents, or about $61,600 per agent.

Mr. Soper said the number of agents is not growing as fast as the market, adding that much of the increased profit is ending up in the pockets of the star agents. He said the typical realtor in Toronto at a high-profile firm might have annual gross earnings of $140,000 but keeps only about 60% of that once expenses are calculated.

Statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association show 1% of its members had annual income of $600,000 in 2006. About one-third of the industry made $75,000 to $150,000, and that does not include expenses.

“A lot of people come into the real estate industry thinking it’s an easy way to earn a living. In fact, it favours the hard-working and the organized,” Mr. Soper said.

“There is a lot of turnover at the low end or entry-level part of the industry,” Mr. Soper said.

Like the real estate market, the industry has grown. As of Sept. 30, the association had 95,995 members, up from 88,131 a year earlier.

Don Lawby, chief executive of Century 21 Canada, said commissions range between 4.7% and 5%, varying across the country. A decade ago, he said, they were in the 6% to 7% range.

“There is pressure on commissions. It’s not: ‘Prices are up and everybody is making more money,’ ” Mr. Lawby said.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960