E.B.Dungey Realty Ltd. Brokerage

TREB President’s Column as it appears every Friday in the Toronto Sun’s Resale Homes and Condos section.

August 14, 2015 — Taking in Toronto’s landscape is like watching a scene through a vintage slide projector: signs of its metamorphosis are evident with the click of each new frame and every new sunrise.

A prime example of this growth exists throughout our city’s south core, or SoCo district, where several new office towers have sprung up in recent years, drawing some of the world’s biggest brands to their environs.

The new 31-story Bremner Tower, located just steps from the Metro Convention Centre, CN Tower and Rogers Centre, already houses Apple Canada Inc., and will soon be home to Amazon.

Next door is the 26-floor PwC tower, and neighbouring that is Telus House, a 30-storey office tower that in 2010 blazed a trail in businesses’ migration to the south core. Cisco Systems Inc., which last year announced a $100 million investment in Toronto as one of its four global innovation centres, is another key SoCo resident.

While corporations are drawn by modern office layouts, energy efficient features, and proximity to Union Station, aesthetics also play an important role in luring top talent; a point not lost on Royal Bank, which last year moved 4,000 employees to its new 30-floor headquarters, RBC WaterPark Place.

Sun Life Financial has also announced plans to move its offices to the south core next year. Its new headquarters will be a 35-storey building at One York Street.

Near Corus Entertainment’s waterfront headquarters, billions of dollars have been invested in mixed used developments planned for the East Bayfront, which in addition to condominiums and affordable rental housing units, will be home to an innovation centre and a creative industries hub.

Further east, on a former brownfield site adjacent to the Distillery District is Toronto’s newest neighbourhood, the Canary District.  This $514 million West Don Lands development includes a mix of condominiums, rental apartment buildings, George Brown College student housing, and a YMCA. It is anticipated that the community, with its expansive sidewalks, awarding winning 18-acre park Corktown Common, and 46,000 square feet of health and wellness themed retail space, will eventually include more than 6,000 residential units.  Its first role though, is to play host to the PanAm and Parapan Am Games’ 10,000 athletes, coaches and officials. After the Games come to a close, the buildings’ temporary walls and finishes will come down, to be readied for new permanent residents.

Another area that is home to sizable new condominium development lies near the foot of Yonge Street. In May, locals bid farewell to Captain John’s restaurant, a 90-metre ship moored at the base of Yonge Street for the last forty years. After a 15-year legal battle with the city, the ship was towed away to a marine scrapyard in Port Colborne. What lies ahead for this significant slip is as yet unknown, but one thing is certain: we can look forward to more exciting changes in our city’s landscape in the years ahead.

All of these changes are driven by that fact Toronto is regarded as one of the world’s most up and coming cities.  As a stable and straightforward investment, Greater Toronto Area real estate can provide you with the opportunity to quietly grow your nest egg while being a part of one of the world’s most dynamic centres. To plan your next move, talk to a Toronto Real Estate Board Professional Member REALTOR®, and visit www.TorontoRealEstateBoard.com. If commercial property is what interests you, contact a TREB Commercial Professional Member REALTOR® by visiting trebcommercial.com.

Mark McLean is President of the Toronto Real Estate Board, a professional association that represents 41,000 REALTORS® in the Greater Toronto Area.

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Article source: http://www.torontorealestateboard.com/market_news/president_columns/pres_sun_col/index.htm

TORONTO, August 11, 2015 — Housing starts in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) trended lower at 36,810 units in July compared to 39,108, in June according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)¹ of housing starts.

“Toronto housing starts decreased for the first time in five months, due to contracting apartment starts. However, strong sales of pre-construction condominium apartments over the past two years will convert to more starts as the year progresses,” said Dana Senagama, CMHC Principal Market Analyst for the GTA. “Low-rise starts remained robust. A tighter resale market also resulted in demand spilling over into the new home market.”

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analysing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets which can be quite variable from one month to the next.

The stand alone monthly SAAR was 23,657 units in July, down from 30,623 units in June. This was the result of a decrease in apartment starts this month.

The City of Toronto maintained the highest number of starts, most of which were apartment units, but also a large number of single-detached and row starts. The City of Vaughan and Brampton had the next highest number of starts, which was made up of mostly single-detached homes.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables.

As Canada’s authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and information to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

¹ All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts and the trend estimate, are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) — that is, monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. By removing seasonal ups and downs, seasonal adjustment allows for a comparison from one season to the next and from one month to the next. Reporting monthly figures at annual rates indicates the annual level of starts that would be obtained if the monthly pace was maintained for 12 months. This facilitates comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historical annual levels.

Information on this release:

Media Contact:

Angelina Ritacco
416-218-3320
aritacco@cmhc.ca

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

Additional data is available upon request.

Source: CMHC
¹ Census Metropolitan Area
² The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR).
Detailed data available upon request

Source: CMHC

Source: CMHC

Article source: http://www.cmhc.ca/en/corp/nero/nere/2015/2015-08-11-0816b.cfm