bubble

Friday February 17, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 17, 2017

Limited supply, high demand in hot Hamilton housing market ‘without precedent’

Warning bells are being sounded in some quarters about an overheated housing market that is trending toward fewer listings, higher prices and yet increased sales, at least locally.

July 13, 2016

But the president of the Realtors Association of Hamilton and Burlington suggests the situation is neither worrisome nor difficult to understand.

“It’s Economics 101,” said Lou Piriano. “There is less supply, and more and constant demand.”

A report released Wednesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association describes a “severe” shortage of homes available for sale “particularly in and around Toronto and in parts of B.C.”

The report said “the imbalance between limited housing supply and robust demand in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe region is without precedent.”

And an economist was quoted in the Toronto Star saying that the housing market in Toronto “and any city remotely within commuting distance is overheating, and perhaps dangerously so.”

May 7, 2014

In Hamilton-Burlington, the number of properties listed in January was 1,139, down 9.7 per cent from January of last year — but sales of all properties were up 17.4 per cent.

“There is less product and just as many people want it,” Piriano said.

That influenced the average home price rising 12.8 per cent over this time last year.

Piriano said it’s problematic to focus on national figures when just one housing market can distort the numbers but said the GTA continues to exert tremendous influence on Hamilton’s market. Fifteen per cent of all home sales in this area are done by Toronto realtors.

How hot is the market?

It’s just one house, but anecdotally it perhaps represents stories that area home buyers and sellers have been telling of their experiences: A central Mountain home on Desoto Drive, near Upper Wellington Street and just north of Stone Church Road, listed Feb.6 for $599,500 and received 18 offers, according to Mississauga-based ReMax realtor Carl Schuy. It sold Monday, a week later, for $740,000. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

Wednesday May 7, 2014

Wednesday May 7, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 7, 2014

Average price of single home in Toronto shoots up 13% to $965,000

It’s a record likely to be shattered by summer: The average sale price of a detached home in the City of Toronto hit $965,670 in April.

That number is expected to exceed $1 million over the coming weeks as the GTA continues to feel the effects of a shortage of new listings that helped drive up the average price of detached homes in the 416 region by 13.2 per cent from April of 2013.

The average sale price of home in the GTA — taking into account everything from detached homes to semis, townhouses and condos — hit $577,898 last month, according to figures released Tuesday by the Toronto Real Estate Board.

Sales were up just 1.8 per cent, year over year.

Leading the real estate pack in terms of price growth were semi-detached houses. The average sale price across the GTA was up 11.6 per cent over April 2013. The 18 per cent jump in prices just in the City of Toronto sent the average sale price of a semi to $702,332, according to the TREB figures.

Next in line were detached homes, where prices were up 11.3 per cent across the GTA — 9.6 per cent in the 905, where the average sale price was $645,179 in April.

Active listings, however, even for the first month of peak spring market, were down 8.4 per cent, a persistent problem that has been driving intense competition and significant price growth, largely in 416 neighbourhoods close to the core and transit lines.

TREB president Dianne Usher blamed Toronto’s double land transfer tax for the fact that more folks are choosing to stay put and renovate rather than sell.

As well, “above-trend home sales in the years leading up to the recession have meant that many households who purchased during this period simply aren’t ready to move again.”
But also skewing the numbers is the desperation of buyers, frantic to get into the Toronto market before prices shoot further out of sight.

One house, in North Toronto, reached a ludicrous new level in late April when 72 people — double the previous record for a bidding war for a house in the 416 region — registered offers on a Glencairn Ave. fixer-upper. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

Friday February 13, 2009

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 13, 2009

McGuinty asks reporters to keep away five feet

It’s not you, it’s me.

That popular break-up refrain appeared to be Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s explanation Thursday as he defended his need for some “breathing space” — namely that reporters stand at least five feet away when posing questions.

In his first availability with the media since his office instituted the rule, McGuinty spoke of his “love” for the press gallery, called them “wonderful,” but asked for a little room to breathe all the same.

“I love them like my brothers and sisters, but not even my brothers and sisters want to stand as close to me as they do,” McGuinty said as he attempted to make light of the situation.

“What I’ve asked of my friends in the gallery is that I have a little bit more breathing space.”

The premier tried to claim that he was “fully supported in this by all the people who operate cameras here” until a veteran Queen’s Park cameraman loudly voiced his objection to the premier’s statement.

“There’s a bit of a divide and conquer tactic here,” said McGuinty, “which is obviously failing.”

The opposition parties wondered what McGuinty was “afraid of,” and suggested his new objection to the same close proximity question and answer sessions — called scrums — that he’s participated in for the past five years has more to do with the recession than anything else. (Source: CTV News)