First Home Savings Account

Wednesday May 31st, 2023

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  Taking a closer look at the First Home Savings Account The currently proposed plan is that starting in 2023, the new FHSA will allow Canadians who are at least 18 to save up to $40,000 for their first home. If eligible, you can contribute up to $8,000 each year to the account but (and there's always a but, right?) you have to use these funds within 15 years of first opening an FHSA or before you turn 71 (whichever is earlier), otherwise the account would have to be closed. This... [read more]

First Home Savings Account

Thursday May 18th, 2023

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Are you a first-time home buyer in Canada or someone who aspires to own a home one day? We have exciting news for you! The Canadian government has launched a fantastic initiative called the First Home Savings Account (FHSA), designed to help you achieve your homeownership goals. Are you a first-time home buyer in Canada or someone who aspires to own a home one day? I have exciting news for you! The Canadian government has launched a fantastic initiative called the First Home Savings... [read more]

Electric Vehicle Production to Start in Oakville

Wednesday Apr 12th, 2023

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Ford Motor Company is investing $1.8 billion in its Oakville Assembly Complex to transform it into a high-volume hub of electric vehicle manufacturing in Canada.   "I congratulate and thank Ford for their EV vision and faith in the future of Oakville, Ontario, and Canada for growing their business," Mayor Burton said in response to the news.   The newly renamed 'Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex' will begin to retool and modernize in 2024 to prepare for... [read more]

New "Build More Homes faster" Legislation

Thursday Apr 6th, 2023

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Ontario’s REALTORS® are pleased to see several proposed solutions to address the housing supply and affordability crisis, many of which align with OREA recommendations: Bringing more affordable supply to market sooner through new tools supporting growth in Ontario’s large, fast-growing municipalities, including requiring planning for growth near transit stations and streamlining rules around land-use planning. OREA has long advocated for new tools, including... [read more]

Dress Code for Halton Teachers

Tuesday Jan 10th, 2023

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Oakville Trafalgar High School Oakville Trafalgar High School After five months of controversy around the enormous fake breasts that an Oakville Trafalgar High School (OTHS) shop teacher has been wearing to class, Halton school board trustees have ordered a “professionalism policy” to be developed. The policy, to be delivered by Mar. 1, will outline “the HDSB’s expectations of all staff members, including the requirement to maintain appropriate and... [read more]

Canada's Best Locations:

Wednesday Dec 28th, 2022

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Oakville has been selected as one of Canada's Best Locations by Site Selections: Invest Oakville Rebekah Diec Stormes, Director, Economic Development invest.oakville.ca “The Livable Oakville Plan is a historic achievement that helped Oakville become the most livable town in Canada. Our official plan helps us control growth and protect our existing neighborhoods.” — Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, December 2021, after a year that among other things saw... [read more]

Bill 23: "More Homes Faster": need for aggregates

Wednesday Nov 16th, 2022

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Streamlining aggregate applications To make sure home builders have the materials they need to build 1.5 million homes in the next 10 years, we’re proposing to remove the two-year freeze on amendments to new official plans, secondary plans and zoning by-laws for aggregate applications. The freeze would continue to apply to non-aggregate applications. We’re also proposing changes that would allow Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry staff to make certain... [read more]

Best 25 Cities in the World

Monday Nov 14th, 2022

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Toronto has been recognized as one of the top 25 best cities across the globe to live and work in for 2023. Resonance Consultancy, a global consultancy firm, recently released its World’s Best Cities list and Toronto is one of the few Canadian cities that made it. It is the highest-ranked city across Canada to have hit the top 100 list, coming in at 24th. Over thirty places later comes Montreal at 57, then Calgary at 65, Vancouver at 69, and Ottawa at 96th. According to the... [read more]

Foreign Buyers Bannned for Twoo tears

Sunday Nov 6th, 2022

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2 Year Ban on NonResident Buyers Takes effect January 1st, 2023 Does not apply to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Applies to non-Canadians directly or indirectly purchasing residential property in Canada for a period of two years. Applies to residential property, including detached houses or similar buildings of one to three dwelling units, as well as parts of buildings such as semi-detached houses, condominium units, or other similar premises. Applies to direct or... [read more]

New Speculation Tax

Friday Oct 28th, 2022

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  Increasing the NRST As of October 25, 2022, the NRST rate will be increased from 20% to 25% and continues to apply to all regions of the province. The NRST applies to the transfer of “designated land”, which is considered land that contains at least one and no more than six single family residences. Back in March, the government raised the NRST from 15% to 20%. The new increase to 25% makes this the highest provincial tax in Canada that exists to... [read more]

Time to invest in multifamily dwellings.

Tuesday Sep 13th, 2022

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Demand for apartments remains strong. Even with housing prices beginning to fall, homeownership is still out of reach for a growing share of Canadians. The average price is still 50 per cent higher than July 2019, when affordability was already a challenge. Now, not only are prices out of reach for many, mortgage payments are also less obtainable, causing potential homeowners to remain in the rental market. With consumers tightening their budgets and slowing down spending due to rising... [read more]

Recession impact on Real Estate in Canada

Tuesday Aug 16th, 2022

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What a Recession Would Mean for Canadian Commercial Real Estate   Canada’s yield curve has inverted. The yield spread between the 10-year and two-year bonds has reached negative 50 basis points, which, when negative, tends to be a reliable predictor for future recessions. Specifically in Canada, a recession has occurred approximately 60 per cent of the time following a negative bond spread, with the most recent ones happening in 2020 and 2008. Nonetheless, due to strong... [read more]

BLIND BIDDING BAN?

Tuesday Apr 12th, 2022

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  Premier @FordNation believes homeowners should have a right to choose how they sell their home. He opposes a ban on blind bidding which = mandatory home auctions. More red tape on real estate transactions means fewer homes on the market, making homes less affordable.   AGREED! [read more]

ENERGY GRANT

Monday Apr 4th, 2022

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Town Offering Interest-free Loans for Retrofit Projects   HALTON HILLS, ON – The Town of Halton Hills launched the Retrofit Halton Hills (RetrofitHH) pilot program today. As part of the program, the Town will provide interest-free loans to fund retrofit projects that help homeowners save on energy costs and improve the comfort and safety of their homes while reducing their impact on the environment. Homeowners approved for the pilot can use the funding to pay for measures... [read more]

Proposed reforms will fix systemic barriers to building housing by Richard Lyall on 18 Feb 2022

Tuesday Feb 22nd, 2022

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A Housing Affordability Task Force has recommended that Ontario set the ambitious and very bold goal of building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. To reach the new objective it would mean doubling the current pace of housing construction – which would be a remarkable feat by any stretch of the imagination. About 92,000 new housing units were started in 2021, and 79,000 in 2020, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Authors of the report have laid out an... [read more]

Year Over Year Summary

Monday Feb 7th, 2022

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YEAR OVER YEAR FAST FACTS:   New Listings decreased 15.6 percent for Single Family homes and 9.8 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes.   Sales decreased 24.3 percent for Single Family homes and 16.6 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes.   Inventory decreased 44.2 percent for Single Family homes and 42.2 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes.   Median Sales Price increased 25.2 percent to $1,721,101 for Single Family homes and 42.1 percent to $975,000 for... [read more]

Home Prices

Thursday Oct 14th, 2021

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In Ontario, single-family detached homes experienced price gains that are among the highest in the country, with 13 of 16 regions seeing increases of 20-35.5% year-over-year, says the report. However, Toronto is not one of them—single-family detached homes rose by 14.6% compared to a year ago, followed by Mississauga at 19.7%, and Thunder Bay at 17.1%. [read more]

Leonardo Da Vinci

Sunday Sep 26th, 2021

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It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. Leonardo da Vinci - 1452-1519 - Painter, Inventor [read more]

West Harbour Go Station

Monday Jul 26th, 2021

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HAMILTON ― Ontario is introducing hourly GO train service along the Lakeshore West line between West Harbour GO Station and Union Station each day of the week, giving customers direct service into the City of Hamilton using GO Transit services. “For far too long, commuters in Hamilton have had to rely on Aldershot GO Station in Burlington to access Union Station. Better connecting regions throughout the province has been a goal for our government since day one, and that is why... [read more]

Geothermal Energy

Wednesday Jul 21st, 2021

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Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated in the Earth, but when it comes to residential homes, it always refers to a system that uses piping buried in the ground to extract heat from the earth.   Geothermal system uses loop of piping that is buried outside of the home in order to extract heat from the ground, or deposit heat to the ground, depending on which mode the system is, heating or cooling.  The... [read more]

1% Tax on Vacant Properties in Toronto

Friday Jul 16th, 2021

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A 1% vacant home tax got approval from Mayor John Tory’s executive committee last and will be considered by city council this week. If approved, the new levy on vacant Toronto homes would start in January 2022. We spoke with TRREB (Toronto Regional Real Estate Board) President Kevin Crigger to get his thoughts on the tax. TRREB’s always been really supportive of evidence-based approaches to increasing housing supply. And, as such, we’ve been supportive of an... [read more]

laws of Money by Suze Orman

Saturday Jul 10th, 2021

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Carry these five laws of money with you always: Never talk yourself into trusting anyone. Trust yourself more than you trust others. It is better to do nothing than something you don't understand. After suffering the loss of a loved one, do nothing but keep your money safe and sound for at least one year. If you want to find the best financial advisor, look in the mirror - for no one will care about your money more than you do. [read more]

Proposed Highway 413 ( GTA West) update

Friday Jul 9th, 2021

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Fighting Congestion The Greater Golden Horseshoe is one of the fastest-growing regions in North America. It is expected to attract 1 million new people every five years, reaching nearly 15 million by 2051. That’s a population increase of more than 50 per cent compared to today. And as the region continues to be Canada’s economic engine, the number of trucks on the road is expected to double by 2051. Congestion already costs the Greater Toronto Area  $11 billion... [read more]

Proposed Tax on Vacant Properties

Thursday Jul 8th, 2021

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The City of Toronto’s Executive Committee is recommending that City Council move forward with implementation of a Vacant Home Tax, with a number of important exemptions. The tax is NOT YET IN EFFECT, and specific tax details still require approval by City Council. TRREB has worked closely with City staff in recent months and years, calling for evidence-based decision-making to ensure that the tax meets its policy objectives of improving... [read more]

Mistakes

Saturday Jul 3rd, 2021

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Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. Eleanor Roosevelt - 1884-1962 - Former First Lady of the United States [read more]

What is MZO?

Wednesday Jun 30th, 2021

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There is a big upside to Ontario’s minister’s zoning orders (MZOs) that have been much maligned recently in certain media coverage over the past few months. Indeed, MZOs are needed to cut through red tape and streamline snail-paced municipal development approval processes across the province. Why? Because we have a housing supply crisis and infrastructure deficit. Connect the dots. So, what are MZOs? Under Section 47 of Ontario’s Planning Act, the Minister of Municipal... [read more]

ENERGY GRANT

Tuesday Jun 29th, 2021

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The federal government’s Canada Greener Homes Grant is proving wildly popular after coming online less than a month ago. The grant, which will draw upon a $2.6 billion pool and is targeting 700,000 homes nationwide over seven years, provides Canadians with up to $5,000 to make energy-efficient retrofits that follow EnerGuide standards to their homes. [read more]

Canadian Economy was never as dependent on residential real estate as now...

Friday Jan 15th, 2021

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Canadian Residential Investment Reached 9.43% Of GDP Residential investment has recovered much faster than other segments of GDP. Residential investment represents 9.43% of GDP in Q3 2020, up from 7.71% during the same quarter last year. This is not only the highest rate seen in at least 60 years, but it’s also very high for any country. For context, the U.S. residential investment peaked at 6.7% in 2006 during the housing bubble. The current rate in the U.S. is just 4.3%, having also... [read more]

Townhouse, Anyone?

Wednesday Jan 13th, 2021

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Voracious demand for detached houses returned to Canada’s housing market last year, and just as in years past, unlucky buyers settled for townhouses. “The reason the townhouse has become more popular than ever in the new construction world is, whether they’re traditional, stacked or back-to-back, they’re less expensive than detached homes, which average more than $1 million in the GTA” . “As a result of prohibitive pricing for detached... [read more]

Oakville's Mayor resigns from Police Board

Monday Jan 11th, 2021

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Mayor Burton resigns from Halton Police Board This afternoon I notified Halton Regional Chair, Gary Carr, of my resignation from the Halton Police Board.   Dear Chair Carr: I am resigning now as a member of the Halton Police Board, deeply regretful for my response to the chief's proposed trip, proud of what we have accomplished in my years as chair, and hopeful for the continued nation-leading success of the HRPS and its Board. I regret sincerely that I focussed at the time on... [read more]

Year 2020 Overview

Monday Jan 11th, 2021

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TORONTO -- If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines of the real estate market with a chunk of savings hoping for house prices to plummet, 2021 probably won’t be your year, Canadian real estate market experts say. The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t devastate Canada’s hottest housing markets the way some forecasters predicted. In fact, in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, fierce competition for detached houses meant back-to-back months of record-breaking prices. TORONTO:... [read more]

Burlington Field Hospital Built for COVID19 Patients Opens Its Doors.

Wednesday Jan 6th, 2021

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Joseph Brant Hospital’s Pandemic Response Unit is gearing up to receive its first COVID-19 patients this week amid escalating infections across the province. The structure — an all-season field hospital on the Joseph Brant property and the first of its kind in Ontario — is opening in response to the increased need for COVID-19 care and pressure on hospital capacity in Burlington and beyond. “The Pandemic Response Unit (PRU) was built to ensure... [read more]

Q3 Canada's Population Growth was at 74 year-Low, Stats Canada.

Monday Jan 4th, 2021

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Canada’s population grew by 2,767, or 0.0%, from July 1 to Oct. 1 of this year, according to Statistics Canada, representing a 74-year low. The 2,767 additions brought the country’s population up to an estimated 38,008,005, meaning there was hardly any growth, while populations actually declined in British Columbia, which lost 1,861 people, and Newfoundland and Labrador, where 1,105 people left. On the other hand, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Yukon, and Alberta... [read more]

Average September Prices for Detached Homes in 905 area code

Tuesday Oct 20th, 2020

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1. Oakville: $1.754M 2. Richmond Hill: $1.494M 3. Markham: $1.391M 4. Woodbridge: $1.379M 5. Caledon:$1.317M 6. Misssisauga:$1.266M 7. Aurora:$1.245M 8. Burlington:$1.173M 9. Milton:$1.094M 10. Georgetown:$1.053M 11. Brtampton:$995K 12. Innisfil: $712K   Call Renee to Find a Hidden Treasure of a House!   [read more]

September Stats for Toronto Real Estate Board are here!

Tuesday Oct 20th, 2020

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The September 2020 MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark was up by 11.6 per cent year-over-year. The average selling price for all home types combined in September was $960,772 – up by 14 per cent year-over-year. Price growth was driven by the low-rise market segments. The relatively better supplied condominium apartment segment experienced a comparatively slower pace of price growth. [read more]

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