property

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)

 

Tuesday June 23, 2015

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Tuesday June 23, 2015

Hamilton taxes 9 per cent higher than 16 big cities, report says

Cartoon originally published on Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Taxes for Hamilton homeowners remain stubbornly high compared to other large cities despite years of lower-than-average budget bumps, a new report shows.

The average municipal tax burden in 2014 for the owner of a home worth $289,000, about $3,747, is 9 per cent higher than the average among 16 cities with 100,000 or more residents.

Those taxes also represent more of our annual income, about 4.4 per cent, compared to the 4 per cent average among those cities, which include Burlington, Oshawa, Kingston and Barrie, for example.

Those numbers haven’t really budged since 2013, councillors learned after reviewing the latest “tax competitiveness” report at finance committee Monday.

On the upside, Hamilton has seen “significant” improvement over a decade, said finance head Mike Zegarac. In 2004, our taxes were on average 15 per cent higher than our comparator cities.

Industrial taxes also remain much lower than average — about 23 per cent — which Zegarac noted means residential homeowners have to shoulder more of the burden.

The tax disparity remains despite four straight years of Hamilton posting stingy tax increases, below inflation, last term. (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)

 

Tuesday November 20, 2012

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

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 homeowners’ mailboxes with the latest update 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, said Lou Castellani, an area MPAC representative. Decreases will not be phased, however, and should be immediately reflected in updated property values.

Just because your home is assessed at a higher value doesn’t mean your taxes will spike, Castellani emphasized. It depends on how your increase stacks up against the city average.

“If you look at your notice and see your home has gone up (in value) 9 per cent, you can probably expect a tax cut,” he said. “If you live in a hot market and your property increased in value by 14 per cent, you may see a slight increase in taxes.”

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 Gaza Strip, 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 to stop Hamas rocket fire on the state. The new approach, however, has led to an increased number of civilian casualties as airstrikes devastate more crowded areas of Gaza. (Source: CTV News)

 

Friday January 20, 2012

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hmilton Spectator – Friday January 20, 2012

Wikipedia limits service in anti-piracy act protest

Some of the best-known sites on the internet, including Wikipedia, are limiting access today in a “Dark Wednesday” protest against legislation before the U.S. Congress intended to curb copyright infringement that critics say will limit the scope of the web and adversely affect legitimate websites.

Popular Canadian sitesjoining the protest include Tucows, a Toronto-based site that hosts free software for download, Identi.ca, a social microblogging service and the blog of University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, an oft-cited expert on copyright issues.

There are two similar bills addressing protection of intellectual property online currently being considered by Congress: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which is before the House of Representatives judiciary committee, and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), which is to be voted on by the Senate next week.

Last weekend, the White House signaled its opposition to the bills, which are supposed to make it easier for copyright holders to go after “foreign rogue websites” suspected of facilitating infringement of copyright.

Under the current draft of SOPA, courts could order credit card firms, online payment companies like PayPal and advertising networks to stop doing business with those websites. They could also order search engines to stop linking to them and internet service providers (ISPs) to block their customers from accessing them, although in recent days, the lead sponsor of SOPA, Republican congressman Lamar Smith, has backed off the ISP provision. PIPA was also being revised to address some of the concerns voiced in recent days. (Source: CBC News)