Most municipalities in Ontario have affordable housing programs. These programs tend to focus on rental housing in low income or developing neighbourhoods. Very few municipalities have programs that encourage residents to become home owners. One municipality, however, is a shining example of how local governments can work to help their constituents achieve their dreams of … Continued
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) predicts that Canadian home prices will remain stable with a slight rise in the next two years. See CMHC’s press release here. Experts have been warning about an overheated real estate market driven by low mortgage rates and high demand in large urban centres such as Toronto. However, “with … Continued
The Government of Canada has closed the ecoENERGY home retrofit grant program two months ahead of its official end date of March 31, 2012. By limiting the program to 250,000 homeowners, $200 million already put aside will remain unused. Originally, $400 million was set aside for the program launched in 2007 that offers Canadians up … Continued
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has launched a new system to measure home prices and home price growth – the MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI). The idea of a Home Price Index is not new to Canada. The real estate boards of Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver have been using an HPI … Continued
The Ontario Legislative Assembly resumed parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday, February 21 after adjournment on December 23, 2011. The Legislature sat for only one month since the October 2011 election that produced a Liberal minority government with 53 Liberal MPPs. The Progressive Conservative Party gained additional 11 seats bringing its number to 37 members. The New … Continued
Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak was reaffirmed as a party leader with 78.7 per cent support from the Ontario Conservatives. Out of 1,241 ballots cast, 977 were for Mr. Hudak. In his key note speech to the party’s annual general meeting in Niagara Falls, Mr. Hudak reflected on the October 2011 provincial election, which, … Continued
Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has announced a number of steps the Government of Ontario will be taking in order to eliminate the province’s $16 billion deficit by 2017-18. First, the Minister plans to sell and redevelop the LCBO warehouse and head office, located on the waterfront land in Toronto, which would generate over … Continued
Sales activity recorded through the MLS® Systems of Ontario real estate Boards and Associations rose 5.6 per cent from December 2010 to December 2011. Activity rose in more than half of all local markets, with monthly declines posted in most of the remaining markets. A total of 10,089 homes traded hands via Ontario MLS® Systems … Continued
Preliminary estimates of all area home starts across the province of Ontario grew to nearly 68,000 units in 2011, up 12 per cent from 2010, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). All of the increase last year came from a jump in construction for multi-family housing, which includes semi-detached, row and apartment … Continued
Ontario has made changes to the property tax assessment system for property owners who install renewable energy technologies. The changes will create additional categories for property tax assessment based on the size and location of energy generation. The move is aimed at mitigating rising property assessments due to the installation of renewable energy sources. … Continued