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Condo Sales Increase: Not Only in The Metropolis

July 6, 2011 By 4 Comments

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Interesting information in one of the FCIQ articles called: “Condominiums: No Longer Restricted to Large Urban Centres”

It mentions that over the past 10 years (from 2000 to 2010), the condo market in Quebec has rapidly increased with sales that grew by 124% compared to that of single family homes which only went up to 41%. So more condos were sold than family homes.

You’d think that condos were only heading the market on urban areas, but they are saying: “Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Granby, condominium sales accounted respectively for 20, 14 and 12 per cent of all residential sales.”

Smaller urban centers are taking up condo living, it isn’t a downtown thing any more. And with some many options, prices and styles for condos, it doesn’t surprise you that young buyers are deciding for a more practical living quarters, such as a condo over purchasing a house.

If you’re in the market for condo buying or would like to sell your condo, contact me for more information on all our Real Estate services.

Filed Under: General Info, Headline News Tagged With: , , ,

Vito Rizzuto’s House for Sale by Sotheby’s – La Presse

June 6, 2011 By 1 Comment

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Photo: Edward Plante-Frechette

According to this article in La Presse, Vito Rizzuto’s home is now for sale.
(do we need to explain who Vito Rizzuto is? We didn’t think so either!)

The home, with a municipal evaluation of 1 million dollars, is asking for $1, 995,000.It is listed with Sotheby’s agency. When the listing agent was asked if it will be difficult to sale the home of a mafia boss, she replied: “No, why would it be a problem? It’s a magnificent home. There is no obstructions to sale it. Vito Rizzuto is gone. We’ve already have a few visitors.”

Disclaimer: The post is only a commentary on a written article by La Presse. We are not the listing agency of the above mentioned property, nor do we have affiliations

Filed Under: Headline News, Real Estate Celebrity Tagged With:

New Condo Building Collapsing – The Gazette

May 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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“It was a new condo building.
A construction flaw was making it collapse under its own weight.
The city condemned it as unsafe. The residents had to move out.
The turned to the new home owners warranty to pay for the massive repairs.
But there was a loophole.”

This was the first paragraph on the front page of Montreal Gazette’s on Saturday. Anyone, buyer or not- will become extremely wary of buying new construction after reading the entire story.

The builders have not been held accountable for the damages, nor they have repaired (or offer to do so) the disaster of construction they created. The administrators of the New Home Guarantee Program refused to cover the repair costs to the building because the (five year) warranty had expired at the time all the faults were discovered.

The warranty program requires that when construction is completed, the contractor must inform the condo association that it has to hire an independent, professional building engineer to assure the work meets the building code and the specifications of the purchase agreements. The inspector’s report is then given to each condo owner. If more work is required, the owners can hold back their final payment until the faults are repaired. When the construction is deemed to be finished, all parties sign an end-of-construction document and ownership of the building is turned over to the condo association. That’s when the five-year guarantee begins.

The dispute is over the end-of-construction agreement, whether it was legally executed by the contractor.
By now you might be wondering, how can you protect yourself from a situation like the one above?
There are several steps you can take. We will discuss it in the following article. Stay tuned!
Filed Under: Headline News Tagged With: , , ,

Commute is driving Montrealers into condos downtown

May 17, 2011 By 1 Comment

- TD Canada Trust Condo Poll suggests condo affordability is key for young homeowners -

MONTREAL, May 10 /CNW/ – Many Montrealers are attracted to condos because they want to live downtown and cut down their commute. In the 2011 TD Canada Trust Condo Poll, which surveyed Canadians who are thinking of buying, or recently bought a condo, more Montrealers named these two reasons as the main motivation for their condo purchase than respondents in any other city. The poll found affordability to be another main reason for Montrealers’ interest in condos (42%). Across all cities surveyed, affordability was most important for respondents under 35-years-old (62% versus 46% for other age groups). This age group seems to view condos as a stepping stone into homeownership, with many planning to move in the not too distant future. But, is this a good strategy?

“The convenience of living downtown and cutting down the commute time is making condos an attractive option for many Montrealers who view them as an affordable alternative to a house,” says Christine Marchildon, Senior Vice President, Quebec Region, TD Canada Trust. “However, if you ultimately hope to own a house and plan to move from your condo in a few short years, I strongly encourage you to calculate the costs that you will incur, such as condo fees, parking fees and moving expenses. Depending on how soon you plan to move, these costs could outweigh the equity you’ll build and receive from the eventual sale of your condo.”

What do Montrealers say are the most important features in a condo?

The top feature Montrealers look for in a condo is a balcony (92%). They also say low condo fees are important (91%) and nine-in-ten Montrealers (89%) said they wouldn’t pay more than $400 in monthly condo fees. These figures remain consistent with findings from a similar poll conducted by TD Canada Trust in 2010. Attractive interior design features (89%) were also important. Nationally, those over 50 are more likely to say attractive exterior design is an important consideration (88%), whereas younger respondents were more concerned about being close to public transit (85%) and near theatres, restaurants and shopping (85%).

Home Sweet Home – but for how long?

Four-in-ten (41%) Montreal respondents expect to live in their condo for three years or less (14%) or four to six years (27%). Nationally, the number planning for a short stay jumps even higher amongst respondents under 35. In fact, across cities surveyed, nearly one-quarter (22%) of respondents in this age group said they don’t plan to spend more than three years in their condo and another 45% plan to move after four to six years. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Headline News, Montreal Real Estate Tagged With: , ,

Re/Max Fall Market Report: Strong Sellers Market in Montreal

October 6, 2010 By 4 Comments

Good news for the Montreal Market. Despite all the hype on the housing bubble and slowing of sales across the country, we have just got a couple of articles published by the gazette informing us about the very optimistic Re/Max Falll Market Report, which displays a very healthy market for sellers, an increase of the home average price and a market driven by first-time buyers.

Montreal is the country’s only strong market for property sellers, with balanced conditions emerging as the norm in most of Canada’s large cities, says the Re/Max fall market trends report published yesterday.

Despite softer sales during the summer months, a three-per-cent decrease in active inventory year over year has bolstered prices, the report says. Year to date (until August)

In a nutshell:

  • The average price of a residential property in Montreal grew 8.7% – From $266,125 in 2009 to $288,923 to this year.
  • Sales of properties priced from $200,000 to $350,000 are moving quickly, with first-time buyers a driving market force.
  • The shortage of resale inventory at this price point has prompted several new construction projects targeting first-time buyers.

“Buoyed by solid economic fundamentals, Canada’s second-largest centre also has one of the greatest affordability levels,” the report says. “Yet home-ownership rates are low due to the high percentage of renters. As such, there is tremendous room for growth in the years ahead.”

Also:

Sales of high-end real estate also soared in Montreal, with properties worth $1 million and over rising 20 per cent year over year. Yet Montreal’s high-end niche has actually grown more slowly than upscale real-estate markets in other Canadian cities. Sales of high-end homes in Toronto, for example, were up more than 52 per cent, year over year, the report says.

Source: The Montreal Gazette

Looking to list your home for sale this fall? Give us a call to get your free home appraisal!

Filed Under: Headline News, Montreal Market Report Tagged With: , ,

News, Home Prices Drops and Readers Bite Back

September 13, 2010 By 2 Comments

You can always count on the media and the “Market experts” to make an issue out of something small, like the 0.1% decrease the new home prices in July.

CTV News [Edmonton] reports: “The price of new homes fell 0.1 per cent in July after a 0.1 per cent increase in June — the first drop in more than a year, according to Statistics Canada’s latest report.”

So Statistics Canada comes out with a report that shows a 0.01% price decrease, while another report by the CHMC mentions: “housing starts slipped three per cent in August“.

If I were to read this without taking in consideration the latest market updates for Montreal, I would think our city is also suffering from the same malady as the rest of the Canadian cities involved in this price-drop ordeal. But it just happens that we recently got the numbers from the previous month’s sales and price changes. Sure it wasn’t from the CMHC and Statistics Canada but from a local source like the Montreal Real Estate Board, and even if we haven’t received the news on the August market performance yet, we have a good price increase during the previous summer months.

Something the so-called market experts forget to consider is that Summer Months are usually slower than the rest of the seasons. People take vacations, enjoy time with their families and the last thing on most of their priority list is to buy or get involved with real estate transactions. This is a cyclical industry, and summer is the slowest point of the yearly cycle.

Yet the media is spreading the panic without shame. But readers are biting back!
My favorites are from the CTV News comments, here are a couple:

Dean in Abby says:
I can’t wait for the “experts” to come out with some doom and gloom philosophy about supply and demand. Oh my god, we must be heading into a dreaded recession again! Come on experts, give us your best. We can take your negativity and your 2.5 minutes in the sun.

Chris in Ottawa says:
Thank you, media, for making an issue out of 0.1 % that is really only an impact in 1/2 dozen cities throughout the whole country. Let’s continue to try to scare Canadians into another downturn. Come on… enough already

David says:
Wow! 0.1%! The sky is falling. Can you imagine the margin of error in all the statistics of home sales when the same homes don’t sell every month. A home in the same neighbourhood next to the one that sold last month can vary by a few hundred thousand. So is it a price reduction or just a different price? 0.1% indeed.

and this one has to be my favorite of all:

Honest Ed says:
Do these “experts” actually ever get out to check what they say? I read the article today, and over the radio (in Montreal) the same story about Montreal housing was mentioned. House construction wad down from last year, and fewer homes were being sold. As I was driving home, guess what? Within a 5 KM distance from my house, there were 3 excavators excavating holes in the ground, and 2 signs for preliminary condo selling. In my area of town (Western Montreal), a house sells within 2-4 weeks after having being listed.

So where do these experts get their data? And do they ever get out form their offices, or are they simply reading whatever is placed on the Net?

Aside from the fact that the article from my perspective seems faulted, I’m getting tired of experts and their “expert” opinions which seem to be projected more as fact than as opinion.

Filed Under: Canadian Real Estate, Headline News Tagged With: ,

Bubble or no Bubble? That is the question.

September 9, 2010 By 5 Comments

Ever since last week, there has been a lot of talk (in the media) of a real estate bubble about to happen in Canada. Many articles were written about the markets that are anticipated to be affected. The gazette began the topic on August 30 with Housing Bubble: An accident about to happen. Followed by the list of cities whose market are in danger of a bubble burst.

I haven’t really gotten involved with the bubble subject and I though of letting the whole thing pass without writing about it, until the heat would cool down a bit. It can be nerve wrecking to try and stay subjective when so many papers are writing about the same thing: HOUSING BUBBLE AHEAD.

Here we go again. Media frenzy, nervous sellers, confused buyers, high mortgage rates. 2007 all over again.

Now, the conference board of Canada is saying: “The housing market is taking a breather, but it’s not in free fall”, and that the main reason for its recent boom was due to the low interest rates over the past year.

What are your thoughts on this?

Filed Under: Canadian Real Estate, Headline News Tagged With: ,
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