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Friday August 12, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday August 12, 2022

Cooler market helps housing consumers

You may have noticed the house around the corner with the For Sale sign planted on its lawn.

You may have noticed that the house didn’t sell in its first week on the market. Or week two. Three weeks have now passed, and there it still sits. Is it just because it’s summer? Or is it something else? It’s something else.

January 27, 2022

The correction in the housing market has arrived, as the latest numbers released by various housing groups show. The slowdown is more rapid and dramatic than most predicted. Days on the market are growing; active listings are up.

The most recent housing market forecast from the Royal Bank is predicting a national slump in resales outpacing previous peak-to-trough declines, as the bank phrases it, comparing its predictions of what lies ahead to, say, 1981-’82, or 2008-’09.

As the slowdown in the national housing market gained momentum last month, the average selling price of a home touched $665,850 — a decline of almost 20 per cent since February. Average selling prices have declined each month since February 2022, and are down by 1.8 per cent compared to what they were a year ago.

Wednesday December 1, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 1, 2021

Why Doug Ford is pushing Ontario’s cities to speed up housing construction

December 11, 2018

Premier Doug Ford and his government want Ontario municipalities to approve new home construction projects more quickly, claiming that delays in approvals are driving up the cost of housing.

Building more homes faster is the central topic of the housing summit that Ford will hold next month with the mayors of Ontario’s 29 biggest cities and the chairs of urban regional municipalities. 

In recent weeks, Ford has repeatedly cited the pace of municipal construction approvals as a barrier to making housing more affordable.   

May 13, 2010

The price of buying a home is soaring pretty much everywhere in Ontario, not just the Toronto and Ottawa areas. What’s far from clear is how much delays in municipal permit approvals contribute to those skyrocketing home prices.  

“We’ve got to start cutting the permit times down big time and start getting houses built as quickly as possible,” Ford said during a news conference in Orillia in response to a question about unscrupulous landlords. 

The province will soon start “scoring” cities and towns on how quickly it takes to issue permits, Ford said.

“Believe it or not, folks, sometimes when [developers] apply for a permit, it can take four to six years. Where in North America does it take four to six years?”. 

Ford said the vast majority of cities in Ontario are slow to approve projects. “It’s just like going on a carousel, they loop you around, loop you around, and guess who’s paying? The people are paying, the developer’s not paying.”

December 10, 2020

Ford’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, is also blaming municipal bottlenecks for pushing up the price of homes.

“We know that there are delays, particularly at the municipal level, caused by duplication and red tape that are obstructing new homes from being built, which is shutting out Ontarians and their families from realizing their dream of home ownership,” Clark said to a virtual meeting of the Empire Club of Canada on Thursday.  

“It takes too long to get shovels in the ground as part of the development process,” Clark said during the question and answer session following his speech.

The Ford government has focused on boosting the supply of new homes as its fundamental solution to housing affordability. To achieve that goal, the government is trying to pave the way for new construction to happen more quickly. (CBC) 

 

Saturday March 28, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 28, 2020

How to Stay Productive (and Sane) While Working from Home

If you’re reading this, you likely find yourself suddenly working from home.

Before the COVID-19 (coronavirus) changed the way we do business in a matter of days, working remotely was something many people imagined as sort of a future-work utopia. Having your home to yourself during the day while your partner or kids are out, sending work emails with your dog cuddled up beside you, having access to your specific brand of coffee — it all sounded like a dream.

That’s probably not how working from home looks for you right now. In reality, you’re likely juggling how to make space in your home for calls and video meetings, keep yourself productive, keep your children occupied and oh yeah — stay sane in the midst of it all.

So let us help you. Like you, my colleagues and I are suddenly working from home indefinitely. For many of us, it’s not our first time working remotely, so I thought I’d reach out to them so I could share their best working from home tips for you. I’ll also share photos of our work-from-home office setups throughout — some as inspiration, and others (like mine) in solidarity with my fellow clutterers.

So let’s dive right in before your spouse, child, or pet arrives with your next home office interruption! And don’t worry — we have a section of this article dedicated to tips for working from home with kids. (Continued: Business 2 Community) 

Graeme MacKay offers some advice for those working from home.

 

Wednesday July 13, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday July 13, 2016 Hamilton property values spike in latest MPAC assessment Average residential property values in Hamilton have spiked 27 per cent since 2012, leaving homeowners to wonder if tax hikes will follow. The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation reassesses the value of all properties in Ontario every four years. Cities use that data to figure out how much you pay in taxes. While Hamilton's assessed property values have jumped, the city didn't even make the Top 5 list for biggest municipal increases. The poster-child for overinflated home prices, Toronto, saw an average increase of 30 per cent, as did Oakville and Burlington. Richmond Hill and Markham topped the greater GTA with average increases of 47 and 45 per cent, respectively. A hot housing market is largely responsible for the dramatic boost, said Greg Baxter, director of valuation and customer relations for the non-profit assessment corporation. "There are always pockets in every community where the market behaves differently," he said. "But in the GTA, and extending all the way to Hamilton, in general real estate values are increasing substantially." It's the kind of news that worries local taxpayers waiting for MPAC notices that started going out July 4 in Hamilton. It makes city officials nervous, too Ñ mostly because they're braced for phone calls from residents asking if their taxes will go up 27 per cent. The answer is no Ñ and in fact, a property value increase doesn't even guarantee your taxes will go up, either. The city has a dedicated page on hamilton.ca to answer resident questions on property reassessment. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator)Êhttp://www.thespec.com/news-story/6762889-hamilton-property-values-spike-in-latest-mpac-assessment/ Ontario, housing, home, ownership, tax, taxation, MPAC, property, assessment, municipal

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday July 13, 2016

Hamilton property values spike in latest MPAC assessment

Average residential property values in Hamilton have spiked 27 per cent since 2012, leaving homeowners to wonder if tax hikes will follow.

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday November 20, 2012 Property Assessment vs. Air strike Crises The average assessed value of a Hamilton home will rise more than 12 per cent over the next four years. Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) notices are beginning to arrive in Hamilton homeownersÕ mailboxes with the latestÊupdate on assessed property values since 2008. Increases will be phased in over four years so locally, residential property values will increase by an average of 3.1 per cent in 2013, saidÊLou Castellani, an area MPAC representative. Decreases will not be phased, however, and should be immediately reflected in updatedÊproperty values. Just because your home is assessed at a higher value doesnÕt mean your taxes will spike, Castellani emphasized. It depends on how yourÊincrease stacks up against the city average. ÒIf you look at your notice and see your home has gone up (in value) 9 per cent, you can probably expect a tax cut,Ó he said. ÒIf you liveÊin a hot market and your property increased in value by 14 per cent, you may see a slight increase in taxes.Ó More than 161,000 homeowners in the Hamilton area will soon receive updated notices, he said. Meanwhile, more Palestinian civilians were caught in the line of fire Monday as Israel expanded the scope of its campaign in the GazaÊStrip, hitting densely packed areas of the territory with airstrikes. Israel began targeting the Gaza homes of Hamas activists and suspected military commanders over the weekend, bolstering its efforts toÊstop Hamas rocket fire on the state. The new approach, however, has led to an increased number of civilian casualties as airstrikesÊdevastate more crowded areas of Gaza. (Source: CTV News) http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/civilian-death-toll-climbs-in-israel-gaza-crisis-as-world-leaders-urge-ceasefire-1.1044011 News, Canada, Ontario, property, assessment, news, rockets, Israel, Palestine, attacks

November 20, 2012

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation reassesses the value of all properties in Ontario every four years. Cities use that data to figure out how much you pay in taxes.

While Hamilton’s assessed property values have jumped, the city didn’t even make the Top 5 list for biggest municipal increases. The poster-child for overinflated home prices, Toronto, saw an average increase of 30 per cent, as did Oakville and Burlington. Richmond Hill and Markham topped the greater GTA with average increases of 47 and 45 per cent, respectively.

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Friday October 21, 2005 Ontario ombudsman to probe MPAC Ontario's ombudsman is investigating the corporation that assigns values to private property for the purposes of municipal taxation. Andre Marin says there is a lack of transparency in how the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, or MPAC, arrives at its decisions. Marin says the complaints meter in his office has moved into the red-zone over MPAC's ways and there is deep-rooted dissatisfaction over property assessments. He calls the corporation aloof and mysterious and says citizens are dazed and confused over their inability to get the corporation to reveal basic criteria on how values are set. Marin says he knows something is wrong when the mayor of Sarnia refers to MPAC's methods as Monty Python-like. The ombudsman says he'll investigate a number of areas, including MPAC's refusal to adhere to a successful appeal of a property's valuation in subsequent assessments. The investigation is expected to last four to six months. (Source: Ottawa Citizen) Ontario, MPAC, property, assessment, tax, iceberg, hudson bay, tax, housing

October 21, 2005

A hot housing market is largely responsible for the dramatic boost, said Greg Baxter, director of valuation and customer relations for the non-profit assessment corporation.

“There are always pockets in every community where the market behaves differently,” he said. “But in the GTA, and extending all the way to Hamilton, in general real estate values are increasing substantially.”

It’s the kind of news that worries local taxpayers waiting for MPAC notices that started going out July 4 in Hamilton. It makes city officials nervous, too — mostly because they’re braced for phone calls from residents asking if their taxes will go up 27 per cent.

The answer is no — and in fact, a property value increase doesn’t even guarantee your taxes will go up, either. The city has a dedicated page on hamilton.ca to answer resident questions on property reassessment. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator)