From the Desk of Faisal - Real Estate News for the period of Apr 10th - Apr 16th
Welcome to Properties Ontario’s weekly real estate update. Our team goes through numerous articles and summarize them for you! If you have any questions about buying, selling, or leasing residential or commercial space, we’re the team for you.
Canadian Tech Industries Growth
- The US government rejected approximately 25% of their H-1B visas in 2018, well above the 5% turn-down ratio in 2014 displaying that Trump’s policies are in full effect
- H-1B visas are crucial for tech firms when sponsoring skilled tech workers
- CBRE Group estimated that 82,000 tech jobs that were added between 2012 to 2017 were the direct result of H-1B visa rejection in the United States
- A recent poll by an immigration consulting company found out that 40% of international tech firms plan to expand into Canada and 20% already have an office here
Teranet-National Bank Home Price Index
- This index measures prices when they are registered at the land registry whereas CREA HPI measures prices through their MLS system
- The C11 index is a composite of the 11 largest cities in Canada
- In March 2019, the C11 index declined 0.31% monthly but increased 1.53% annually
- When you look at just Toronto, prices fell monthly by 0.29% but are up 3.26% annually
CMHC to Boost National Housing Strategy
- CMHC announced measures to align with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- The National Housing Strategy will prioritize housing needs of the most vulnerable, establish a council with diverse representation and create a federal housing advocate that will be supported by the Canadian Human Rights Commission
CREA March Housing Report
- CREA reported 41,964 sales in March, up 33.57% monthly but a 4.59% decline annually
- The annual decline in March was the 15th negative month in a row, the longest streak since 2008
- The largest sales growth were in Niagara, Winnipeg and Quebec City
- The largest sales declines were in Vancouver, Fraser Valley and Edmonton
TREB (GTA) Condo Report for March (March 2018 comparison in brackets)
- Benchmark Price: $522,300 (+7.17%)
- Median Price: $510,000 (+5.15%)
- Average Price: $560,020 (+1.63%)
- Sales: 1,965 (-9.98%)
- New Listings: 3,242 (-1.9%)
- SNLR: 0.61 (seller’s market)
- Inventory: 3,223 (+7%)
- Months of Inventory: 1.64 if no new listings came on the market
Toronto Condo Report for March (March 2018 comparison in brackets)
- Benchmark Price: $554,300 (+7.87%)
- Median Price: $548,000 (+5.79%)
- Average Price: $603,969 (+2.33%)
- Sales: 1,349 (-14.24%)
- New Listings: 2,221 (-0.17%)
- SNLR: 0.61 (seller’s market)
- Inventory: 2,107 (+13.64%)
- Months of Inventory: 1.56 if no new listings came on the market
Rental Growth Moderating for Investors
- Urbanation said that completions hit a 25 year high of 1,849 units of purpose-built rental apartments during the first quarter of 2019
- Purpose-built apartments rent grew by 5% year over year, slowing down from the 9% growth rate posted in Q4 2018
- As of Q1 2019, purpose-built rents in buildings completed since 2005 averaged $2,398 or $3.25 per square foot based on an average size of 738 square feet
- Condominium rents grew by 7.7% per square foot in Q1 2019, also slowing down the fourth quarter growth rate of 9.2% annually
- Volume of condos leased through MLS grew 13% year over year to 6,005 units but supply grew faster than demand, pushing down the ratio of leases-to-listing ratio