Home prices to fall by 8% this year - Globe and Mail

09.02.09

Resale housing units totalling 360,900 are expected to change hands in 2009, compared with 434,477 in 2008.

Job losses and flagging consumer confidence are hurting the resale market, said CREA president Calvin Lindberg in a statement.

The average existing home price is expected to fall by 8 per cent in 2009 from the year before, and then stabilize in 2010.

In 2008, home sales in Canada fell by 17 per cent, and prices slid by under one per cent.

CREA's estimate calls for home sales levels to bounce back by 10 per cent year-over-year in 2010, and for prices to edge up slightly.

Listings should start to drop as buyers who can't get their asking prices pull their homes from the market, said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump. In time, this should put a floor under prices, he added.

The forecast was released the same day as data for the new homes market, which showed building activity has continued to decline across the country.

Housing starts fell by 11 per cent in January to 153,000 on a seasonally-adjusted annual rate basis, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Monday.

Source: Globe and Mail, Canada

Condos 101

by Evan Sage

What is the difference between a Toronto condo and an apartment?

Condo refers to a type of ownership not a type of building. A Toronto condo usually takes the form of a high or low rise apartment style building. However, some condos could be in the form of a factory loft or town house.

When you buy a Toronto Condo what are you actually buying? 1) The physical unit that has a title to the space. 2) A portion of the common elements in the building. This portion is a percentage relative to the size of your unit, the bigger your unit the higher percentage ownership you will have of the common elements. Common elements tend to include: elevators, hallways, the lobby and any other communal spaces i.e. gym, pool. 3) The use of exclusive-use common elements. Some of these may include a parking spot, locker, balcony ect. The rights to exclusive use elements come with the unit, so if a parking spot is sold separately from the unit than it is not considered an exclusive use common element.

What are maintenance fees? These fees are paid to upkeep the building and the common elements. A unit’s maintenance fee is proportionate to the size of the unit as compared to others. The bigger your unit the more you pay. Each month a part of the fees are set aside to build up the reserve fund for any major repairs.

Who is the Condo Corp? The condo corporation is made up of all owners in a building. As a member of the corporation you have the opportunity to vote for the board of directors. The board handles the business affairs of the corporation. Is my prospective Condo Corp in a good position? A status report contains the pertinent information that will tell you if the building is in a good or bad situation. The creation of a status report is a legal requirement in Ontario.

The status report outlines the following: - All units percentage ownership of common elements - All units rights to exclusive use common elements - The condo corps rules and regulations - Any special assessments that outlines planned major repairs - Recent financial statements and budget

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Read more...

Banning smoking in apartment buildings in Ontario!?

Mar 28, 2007 by vendettachic | Posted in Law & Ethics

Ontario Health Minister Georger Smitherman wants to open a debate about BANNING SMOKING IN APARTMENT BUILDINGS!! I FOR ONE DON'T SMOKE AND I THINK THIS IS GOING WAY TOO FAR. IT IS THEIR HOMES FOR CRYING OUTLOUD!!
THIS IS TOTAL INVASION OF PEOPLE'S PRIVACY. I RESIDED IN AN APARTMENT FOR YEARS AND NEVER SMELLED SO CALLED SECOND HAND SMOKE COMING IN FROM MY NEIGHBOR, IT IS JUST LUDICROUS TO THINK THAT IT GETS IN THROUGH PLUGS AND DRYWALL!! THIS IS WHAT THESE ANTI GROUPS THINK. THERE IS A HUGE PIECE OF CONCRETE IN BETWEEN THESE WALLS AND IT IS INCONCEIVABLE THAT THIS COULD HAPPEN. I FOR ONE CAN'T BEILEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE FALLING FOR THIS BS, AND THAT HE CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS, THIS NEEDS TO BE STOPPED BEFORE HE DECIDES ANYTHING ELSE FOR US!!WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Well first off.....Kuddos to you miss non smoking Vendettachick!! for standing up for us dog crap, loser, abusing health, rotten teeth smokers! Finally a NON smoker sees what we see. It amazes me beyond belief that never mind non smokers, just anyone!!! is just going to sit back and accept that we are being CONTROLLED by a freaked out government here!!! UHm since when did the people of this province say..."Oh yes!!! we want to vote in a government that is going to control every aspect of our life!!!! YES it is fantastic!!! We love being told what to do!! It is FUN! " Give me a fu***ing break!!! Of course people don't think that!! But this WACKED out government seems to think that we do want to be controlled!! Well news flash! WE DON'T!!!! How dare that Smitherdick idiot even suggest banning smoking in an apartment building!!?? I would love to see that day when a non smoking fanatic comes knocking on my door telling me i CANNOT smoke in MY OWN DAMN HOME!!!!!!..... I would personally knock out their pearly white teeth out !!! Dalton Madinky said " it is a slippery slope to impose on people's property when it comes to smoking in cars" so how it this any different from an apartment bulding !!???? you fanatical, pshycho, maniac, ludicrus wacho non smoking group??? Tell me!! right now!! How is it different!!!???? That is all this wacked out government has been controlling on and attacking!! is smokers!! and I am totally sick of it. I would love to trap all you FANATICAL NON smoking idiots in a room and get the 5.1 million that SMOKE!!!! in Canada ( and who vote, and who pay taxes ) and smoke your butts out of this country! So oh my god!!!! oh my god!!! SOMEONE is SMOKING!!! in their OWN apartment that they pay rent for!!! Call the police!! Call the Police!!! Don't pay any attention to that guy that is being murdered!! or that woman being beaten up or that store that is being robbed!!! Come here first!!! cause someone is smoking in their apartment!!! What A JOKE!!! this province has come too! So on with my rant. Wow how many people out there wear perfume?, wear hairspray?, deodorant?, grow beautiful pink flowers in your garden?? are over weight from all the Mc Donalds burgers and fries and donuts you have eaten?, have aids,? herpes? A COLD!!!??? WATCH OUT!!! WATCH OUT!! casue this freaked out controlling government is coming after you!!! YOUR NEXT!!!! As for you miss KARMIE I have got news for you!!! You say "that us smokers should be banned period"?? Well first off come say that to my face and and secondly, how do you like what clothes you wear??, and your sweet smelling perfume?? and the spray and scents you place in your home?? cause LOOK OUT!!!!! sweetheart!! This goverment is coming after YOU!!! to BAN THAT NEXT! Why can't people open their eyes and see what is happening here!??? I feel like we live in RUSSIA!! Everytime I wake up to hear the news?? This communist ontario has banned something else! I wish I had the power to TURN back time so people could see how great it was back then, when ALL OF US HAD RIGHTS!!!! Welcome to now, where in this time you sneeze!!, burp, fart, smell of roses?? you could be arrested!!!

| Mar 28, 2007
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