Baby, we got a bubble!?

[Eug]

Yea, it isn't the case this instant, but I feel that the lot splitting will grow in popularity. In any case, bungalows are very desirable even for end users. They have big lots and everything is on 1 floor, which is a huge plus for older buyers. Can also rent out the bottom level which would be larger than the conventional 2 storey house.

Think the way things are headed, we will see more outside the box thinking with housing.

Many of these teardowns in these areas keep the foundation and basement for tax reasons. Thus, the basement size is often the same, or at most gets an extension.

In this case it was a renovation. The foundation remained intact and the basement was heavily renovated, while the main floor was gutted and heavily altered, with additions. Hence, the basement seems to be around 1000 square feet, and the post-reno main floor is 1600+, if you include the sunroom.

Legally you cannot rent out the basement either, since these are zoned as single family homes. In these upscale homes in this area, people generally don't do this anyway. The owners want the homes just for themselves. Ironically, it's the cheaper bungalows that get the basements (illegally) rented out.

I guess what I'm saying is that these buyers are not always as cash strapped as some may have guessed. Indeed, as mentioned, this particular home was a downsize from a bigger home in a more expensive area.

 

[detroitbootybass]

Given the lot size, I think the value is that you could build two houses or a bigger building and have 3 rental units in it. I think many are thinking long term and why bungalows are HOT!

You think that lot is big? It's fifty feet wide... if you sneeze, your neighbor has to wipe their face.

 

[TheKingEast]

You think that lot is big? It's fifty feet wide... if you sneeze, your neighbor has to wipe their face.

I didn't call it big. Just that you could build a multi-unit property on it. Maybe I spend too much time downtown with shacks selling at $1.5M

 

[Eug]

I didn't call it big. Just that you could build a multi-unit property on it. Maybe I spend too much time downtown with shacks selling at $1.5M

Yeah the market downtown is very different than the inner burbs, or from central Toronto for that matter.

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

When the Baby Boomers Dump their Houses onto the Market?

So many inner city houses in TO are tall and narrow, not the easiest to navigate with bad knees, hips etc. And it's not like there's room to widen doorways, stairways etc. to accommodate wheelchairs and other mobility devices. So this article, although USian, raises a lot of interesting points.

 

[Pressa]

Can anybody comment on the impact of the 10-year visas on the market? As I understand it, they are particularly popular with Chinese and over 1 million have been issued in the past couple years, which seems to coincide with this latest surge in prices.

Chinese citizens can enter and exit Canada freely for 10 years. To me, this makes them de-facto residents except they can't access services like healthcare or education and don't pay taxes. However, many are probably wealthy and use private education/healthcare anyway.

The stats show that the market is balanced in terms of housing starts and population growth. However, are we missing the fact that there are potentially hundreds of thousands people living here on 10-year visas that aren't accounted for in the stats?

 

[TheKingEast]

Apparently there's a 60%+ increase in listings. Lets see how things work out.

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

Apparently there's a 60%+ increase in listings. Lets see how things work out.

You mean from last month? If so, wouldn't that be the spring rush?
Or are you talking year over year?
And anyway, 60 per cent of hardly anything is still hardly anything. But it's worth h watching to see if it trends.

 

[TheKingEast]

You mean from last month? If so, wouldn't that be the spring rush?
Or are you talking year over year?
And anyway, 60 per cent of hardly anything is still hardly anything. But it's worth h watching to see if it trends.

From this time last year

 

[Pressa]

Sousa hints upcoming housing measures will target market speculators

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa is giving strong hints that the government’s much-anticipated house affordability package will include measures targeting real estate speculators, or as he calls them “property scalpers.”

In public comments last week, Sousa said speculators are reselling contracts for pre-construction homes multiple times before closing, using assignment clauses.

“There are those who go into new developments, buy up a slew of properties, and then flip them, while avoiding paying their fair share of taxes,” he said. “I call them property scalpers.”

Sousa’s office would not comment on whether the government would introduce rules similar to those imposed in British Columbia, but the finance minister has floated a number of possible measures, including implementing a tax on foreign buyers, vacant homes and speculators.

He has said that at least some of the housing measures will be included in the Ontario budget, set to be tabled April 27.

Assignment sales are not illegal, but Sousa said he wants to close a loophole that allows so-called property scalpers to treat their profits as capital gains – which means only 50 per cent is taxable. His efforts to get the Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau to include capital gains changes in the federal budget were unsuccessful.

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

Is this the beginning of the panic sell-off? I found this Toronto Star article unnecessarily alarming but that's just me.

Toronto homeowners cash out of hot real estate market as uncertainty sets in

 

[ttk77]

Well some people are panicking. How far it goes will ultimately depend on how strong the underlying fundamentals are. If the market is mostly being supported by people looking for a place to live then this is probably just a small blip. Over the next few months we're likely to find out just how much of our price increases are driven by speculators and foreign investors who aren't actually putting those units back up for rent.

 

[TheKingEast]

A lot of fear mongering by the media and the government doing whatever they can to bring prices down. I'd sell too.

 

[Rainmaker]

How long does it take for a decision during a Budget meeting to take effect? For instance, if they agree on enforcing foreign buyer tax in GTA, would that be in effect starting 28th or would it take weeks?
How did it happen in Vancouver?

 

[Eug]

Panic selling? Nah, just the opposite: Cashing out / profit taking, when prices have reached shocking heights.

Is this the peak? Well, maybe so, or maybe not, but either way the prices now are super high so if you cash out (and downsize) you'd be doing well.