Tag Archives: provincial government
Communtity Focus — North York
by Amy West – New Dreamhomes & Condominiums Magazine
The suburbs meet the city in North York, making it an attractive choice for new homebuyers. Thanks to a new subway extension along Sheppard Avenue, high-rise condos such as Empire’s C-Condos and Tridel’s Pulse are cropping up along the central North York corridor that runs from Finch to Sheppard, while single-family dwellings still dominate east and west of Yonge Street.
Originally North York was known as an agricultural hub made up of scattered villages. It was formed out of the rural section of the township of York. As North York became more urbanized, it was named a borough and later a city. The area boomed following World War II, and by the 1950s and 1960s it resembled other sprawling North American suburbs. To commemorate receiving its city charter on Valentine’s Day, its corporate slogan was “The City With Heart,†and it now forms the largest part of the area served by the North York community council—a committee of Toronto city council.
With a population of around 650,000, the North York of today forms the central part of the northern half of Toronto. Until 1998, it was one of six municipalities that comprised the larger municipal structure of Metropolitan Toronto. That year, the provincial government passed legislation merging these municipalities into a new amalgamated city.
Residents have easy access to a variety of cultural and entertainment venues. Directly beside the old city hall is the Toronto Centre for the Arts, previously known as the Ford Centre for Performing Arts, which opened in 1993. It houses three theatres and features musicals, theatre productions, and other performing arts.
Directly south of city hall in the same complex is the former North York Board of Education building, now home to the Toronto District School Board. To the north in the complex is a mall with subway access. The mall is connected to the North York Central library, the largest full-service library in Toronto. It is a part of a much larger facility that includes a school board work station, swimming pool, snack bar, veterans centre, and hotel—the rooms of which look down on the interior of the mall.
Black Creek Pioneer Village, an authentic 19th-century township, and the Ontario Science Centre, which boasts over 800 exhibits, are North York’s primary attractions. A military base and aircraft manufacturing facility are located at Downsview, although much of the land is now being transformed into a park.
Two of Ontario’s largest shopping malls, Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Fairview Mall, are in North York along with the smaller Don Mills Centre and Sheppard Plaza. The city is also home to York University and Osgoode Hall Law School, as well as major health-care facilities such as North York General Hospital, Humber River Regional Hospital, and the massive Sunnybrook Hospital complex, which includes a veterans residence and regional trauma centre.
A multitude of sports clubs dot the area, including the North York Storm (a girls’ hockey league), Gwendolen Tennis Club, and the North York Aquatic Club, which was founded in 1958 as the North York Lions Swim Club and has produced many Olympian swimmers.
The growing popularity of this area can be witnessed by the fact that the section of Highway 401 that traverses it is the busiest section of freeway in North America, exceeding 400,000 vehicles per day and widening to 21 lanes at its intersection with Highway 404.
———————————————————————————
Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information
Incoming search terms
Related posts:
- Community Real Estate Focus — North York By Andrei Zaretski – New Dream Homes and Condos Anyone...
- Pulse Condos in North York Pemberton’s latest North York release From The Condo Guide One...
- Toronto Condo Profile — C-Condos in North York New Dream Homes and Condos The landmark community of C–Condos...
- Downsview plan set for North York council vote the Downsview plan goes before North York community council when...
- Toronto Condo Profile: Aria Condos Art and nature in perfect harmony For those discerning enough...
Toronto Real Estate Agents Work to Eliminate Harmonized Sales Tax Misconceptions
Concerned that homebuyers are uncertain about the Harmonized Sales Tax’s (HST) applicability on real estate purchases, Greater Toronto REALTORS® are reaching out to consumers to eliminate misconceptions.
Using social media channels and an ongoing series of newspaper columns, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) is conveying to consumers that the HST does not apply to the purchase price of resale homes.
“Although the HST applies to newly constructed homes and professional services associated with real estate transactions, the purchase price of a resale home is exempt from this tax,” said TREB President Bill Johnston.
Since resale housing was never subject to the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) or the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST), it continues to be exempt from the new HST.
Conversely, newly constructed homes were previously subject to the GST, meaning that the HST now applies. The provincial government however, provides a rebate of 75 per cent of the PST on the first $400,000 on new homes, to a maximum of $24,000.
“When considering the purchase of any type of home, it is important to budget for additional costs, like the Land Transfer Tax and property taxes. Fortunately though, the purchase price of a resale home is one area of relief for taxpayers and recognizing that a home is many people’s single largest investment, this exemption is an important consideration.”
TREB began informing Greater Toronto Area homebuyers of this important distinction prior to the introduction of the new tax and plans to continue driving home the message.
————————————————————————————————————–
Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416−388−1960
————————————————————————————————————–
Related posts:
- Toronto real estate sales down, prices up The outlook for mortgage rates and income growth over the…
- Toronto real estate sales still up on the year Toronto REALTORS® reported 3,076 sales during the first two weeks…
- Real estate sales still higher than average While not representing a record, February 2011 sales were 50%…
- Real estate agents show optimism in slumping market Bear in mind, the average home prices in 2007 were…
- 2010 Toronto Real Estate In Review Real estate in 2010 has been a year that resembled…
HST will not affect resale homes
Bill Johnston
President of the Toronto Real Estate Board
Toronto Star Column
As of July 1st, the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) will be in effect and Ontario consumers will be hard-pressed to avoid this so called “tax on everything”. While that less than flattering nick name for the HST may be pretty close to the truth, it’s not completely accurate, especially when it comes to real estate, where the HST applies differently depending on the type of real estate, whether it is resale housing, newly constructed housing, or business properties.
Anyone who has ever purchased a home or has considered purchasing a home knows that budgeting for taxes is an important part of determining what they can afford. Whether it is the on-going cost of property taxes, or the upfront cost of land transfer taxes, the cost of taxes on housing can add up.
With that in mind, one of the most important things to know about the HST is that, fortunately, it will not increase the tax burden on the purchase price for homebuyers who purchase resale housing. That’s because resale housing, which was never subject to Provincial Sales Tax (PST) or the federal Goods and Services Tax, will continue to be exempt from both taxes once they are combined under the HST.
The same is not true for newly constructed homes, which will be hit with additional tax under the HST. Newly constructed housing has always been subject to the GST, meaning thousands of dollars of tax for home buyers choosing this option. Now, with the HST, new housing will also be subject to PST, meaning thousands of dollars in added costs for home buyers of new housing.
There is a silver lining for new housing: the provincial government provides a rebate of 75% of the PST on the first $400,000 of a newly constructed home, or a maximum of $24,000. For example, someone purchasing a new home priced at $500,000 would face $40,000 in additional tax from the provincial portion of the HST, which would be reduced to $16,000 with the rebate. Obviously, the rebate softens the blow, but an extra $16,000 of tax for a newly constructed home is nothing to laugh at.
Fortunately, home buyers choosing to purchase a resale home don’t have to worry about paying HST on the price of their home. That’s money that they can keep in their pocket, or use to keep their mortgage costs down.
There is also encouraging news when it comes to real estate for businesses. Although the costs of purchasing or renting a commercial property are subject to HST, businesses are allowed to claim tax credits to offset these costs. Even better, when purchasing a commercial property, the business can claim the tax credits immediately so that no upfront costs are incurred for the HST, and cash flow is not impacted.
It won’t be long before the HST is a reality in Ontario and taxes on a long list of goods and services will increase. Although it would be nice if HST didn’t apply to any real estate transactions, luckily, there is some encouraging news, especially for homebuyers of resale housing, who won’t see the purchase price of their home increase due to HST, and businesses buying or renting commercial properties, who will be able to offset their HST costs.
————————————————————————————————————–
Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416−388−1960
————————————————————————————————————–
Related posts:
- Harmonized Sales Tax Would Hurt Home Buyers Realtors have been calling for governments at all levels to…
- HST will raise cost of living, buying homes While the impact of the tax will be felt by…
- HST legislation means big tax increase on home buyers, sellers and owners, say Ontario Realtors For homeowners the HST will also add hundreds of dollars…
- HST legislation means big tax increase on home buyers, sellers and owners, say Ontario Realtors OREA estimates that the new tax will add $1,449 in…
- NO sense of harmony Starting July 1, 2010 Ontarians can expect to pay a…
