Nero Condos in Dundas Street West combines a mix of condos, 2-storey loft style units, and larger townhomes with only 98 total units available. The condos range from studios at 400 sq ft up to 2 bedroom and den suites at just over 1000 sq ft. The 2-storey lofts range from 891 sq ft up to 1394 sq ft, and the 3-bedroom townhomes range from 1567 sq ft to 1774 sq ft!

Nero’s striking architectural design is by RAW Design, well known for their stunning designs of Cube Lofts in Little Italy, Motif (Queen and Ossington), and the new BMW MINI dealership on Eastern Avenue.

Pricing for starts at approx. $530 per square foot.

Picasso occupies one of the most significant sites in downtown Toronto. Situated at the foot of Beverly Street, and at the head of Widmer Street, along the north side of Richmond, the building will be seen as an urban icon in relation to other landmark downtown buildings.

The completed condominium will offer a unique residential environment in downtown Toronto. Owners will have living spaces that project out over the city, retail spaces and amenities at their fingertips, and spectacular views for a highly cultured, sophisticated urban living experience.

That experience begins in the contemporary open-air lobby, which recreates an art gallery ambience with light coloured iridescent surfaces enhanced by flashes of indirect light. Attentive concierge service will be provided from this striking space. Picasso’s 10th floor is amenity heaven, with a chic party lounge featuring floor-to-ceiling windows that provide an ever-changing seasonal display as a background. This floor also includes a bar and lounge areas, billiards room, yoga and fitness studio, media lounge, dining room, spa and sauna areas. And just imagine continuing the party with a moonlit stroll on the spacious outdoor terrace, which has cabanas and a walk-up deck to a hot-water oasis – all in the midst of panoramic city and lake views. Suites will surround owners in luxurious features and finishes.

Contact me to get on the VIP list now.

Lifetime Developments and Centrecourt Developments present Karma Condos.

Karma Condos will be a sleek new tower located at 21 Grenville Street (Yonge and College) and designed by architects Alliance. The building will have approx. 10 units per floor and at least 46 storeys.

As the developer site says,  nothing else compares to Karma Condominiums. Everything you’ve ever wanted from upscale living in downtown Toronto; floor to ceiling windows, engineered wood floors throughout the residences, contemporary bathrooms with deep soak tubs and large showers. Just  steps away from the Yonge subway and streetcar.

Contact me for more info.

The Toronto Real Estate Board mid-month August reports states there were 3,214 sales through the Toronto MLS  system during the first 14 days of August, representing more than a 22.5 per cent increase compared to the same period in August 2010.  Year-to-date sales through the 14th of August were all but caught up to last year’s total – down by half a per cent compared to 2010.

“The unsettled situation in financial markets over the past few weeks did not appear to sap the confidence of GTA home buyers during the first half of August,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President. “Revised forecasts for future Bank of Canada interest rate decisions coupled with the recent announcement by the US Federal Reserve, suggest that interest rate hikes in Canada are on hold at least until sometime in 2012. This is a positive for affordability and should help sustain buyer confidence moving forward.”

The average selling price was up by almost seven percent annually during the first 14 days of August to $440,150.

“The rate of price growth reported for the first two weeks of August continued to point to sellers’ market conditions in the GTA,” said  TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “However, it should be noted that new listings grew at a slightly greater pace than sales. A better supplied market in the second half of 2011 will result in prices growing at a more sustainable pace.”

The Royal Bank just released a report indicating that the Canadian housing market is making a transition to a much slower pace of growth as compared to rates seen in the previous ten years.

The report states home resales are expected to grow by 0.9 per cent this year and remain unchanged in 2012, while home prices will increase by 4.4 per cent this year and only 0.4 per cent in 2012.

The global recession as well as domestic policy shifts have led to these changes which included a drop in interest rates, mortgage rule changes and the introduction of the HST in Ontario and British Columbia.

At the provincial level, RBC forecasts that the Alberta market will post the strongest growth in home sales this year and next, while it expects a modest decline in Quebec.  As for what this means for Ontario homeowners considering buying or selling in the next 12 months…..stay tuned.

Excellent article from moneyville.ca on knowing the rules when involved in a bidding war.  Multiple offers or bidding wars continue to happen all over the GTA. Buyers, sellers and real estate agents need to be aware of what to expect. The rules may be different, depending on whether you are selling your home through a real estate agent, or privately.

To create the atmosphere for multiple offers, it may indicate on the MLS listing that interested offers are to be submitted in three days. The seller hopes this will give many buyers the opportunity to visit the property during the three-day period and that this will result in multiple offers.

However, there is nothing stopping someone from delivering an offer immediately. The seller’s agent is under an ethical obligation to bring every offer to the seller’s attention. The seller then has the right to deal with the offer, if they want to.

Most sellers will instruct their agent to tell this anxious buyer to wait until the proper time period. However, if the seller wants to consider the offer, their agent will then change the information on the MLS listing immediately to notify every other agent that the rules have changed, and that offers can be submitted that evening. The agent will also likely call every other agent who has expressed an interest in the property to tell them personally that offers can now be brought immediately.

When a buyer agent has a signed offer, they will usually call the listing agent office to register their offer verbally. There is a protocol that has been established in Toronto that if you were the first to register your offer, you will be given the first opportunity to present it to the seller in person, if there is more than one offer. This is just a protocol, and does not have to be followed by every real estate firm.

However, an offer is not completed unless it is communicated to the seller or seller’s agent, either by personal delivery, fax or email. Therefore, a buyer can still cancel their offer at any time before it is communicated. That is why an offer might be registered but never delivered. The buyer changed his or her mind.

Why can’t we have a silent auction? When buyers make offers through an agent, the agent has an ethical obligation not to disclose the contents of any offer to any of the other buyers. A seller agent can only tell all other bidders how many offers were received. They cannot tell the price or identity associated with any of the offers. However, a private seller could take one buyer offer and just show it to another bidder. This is one of the main reasons private sellers have trouble creating bidding wars.

By understanding the bidding war rules, buyers and sellers can be better prepared for this extremely stressful negotiation.

Research shows that homeowners who take a variable rate mortgage can save much more over the life of a mortgage than those who stick with a fixed rate.  But that doesn’t mean variable rate mortgages, which go up and down with the prime rate, are right for everyone.  What looks best on paper may not be what fits your life.

If you opt for a fixed rate, you know that your payments will not change over the mortgage term. You’ll pay a higher interest rate in exchange for that peace of mind.  A quick glance at RateSupermarket.ca shows the great divide between fixed and variable.

For a $200,000 mortgage at a five-year fixed rate of 5.69 per cent, you’ll have a monthly payment of $1,243. If you kept that rate and term, over the 25-year life of the mortgage, you’d pay nearly $173,000 in interest.

If instead you took at variable rate of 2.85 per cent and could maintain the same rate for 25 years, your payments on a mortgage of the same amount would be $931 a month and the total interest $79,350.

Of course, those are assumptions that may not hold true.

That’s why home-buyers must give a lot of thought to their tolerance of risk and the state of their personal finances when they decide on a rate and a term.   Ask yourself, if you choose a variable rate, and rates go up, will you be able to afford the higher monthly payments?

A 2001 study by York University finance professor Moshe Milevsky found that variable-rate mortgages saved borrowers money 89 per cent of the time over fixed rates. An update in 2008 also came down on the side of variable rates.  However, Milevsky said in an interview that his study should be used with caution.

The Bank of Canada, which kept interest rates at historic low levels to support the economy through the recession, is expected to begin raising rates later this year.  The lesson learned here is that its always a wise move to first consult your bank or financial institution to see which strategy is best for you.

Coming soon, Pace Condominium by Great Gulf Homes will be located at the corner of Jarvis and Dundas St. at 155 Dundas St. E.  Pace Condos is a 46 storey tower with a 10 storey podium. The Tower will have 417 suites, 142 parking spots in a 5 storey below grade parking garage, and 213 parking spaces. Short Walk from the Eaton Centre, Yonge Subway Line, Ryerson University, St.Michael’s Hospital, Restaurants and much more.

Prices start at $209,990 studio, $239,990 one bedroom and $299,990 two bedrooms.

Contact me for more details or to get on the VIP list.

Located at 328 Adelaide Street West, Peter Street Condominiums are coming to the Entertainment District.   The current plan will see a new 40 storey mixed use building at the corner of Peter and Adelaide St West. The tower will feature an 11 storey podium and contain 330 residential units and 118 parking spots with 5 levels of below grade parking. Retail will be at street level while commercial and office space are proposed on the second and third floors.

Contact me to get on the VIP list now.

A recent article I read asked the question “Are condo prices set to fall?”  While the condominium market in Canada shows emerging signs of oversupply there is no crash imminent, says a report by the Bank of Nova Scotia.  The supply overhang means that soft pricing conditions for the condo market will characterize 2011, especially if first-time homebuyer demand weakens more than expected.  The severity of any potential correction depends on future building, which would impact supply.

Capital Economics analyst Dave Madani said in a more downbeat report that any correction in the housing market is likely in the second half of 2011.  “A downturn in the housing market later this year will lead to further slowdown in consumption growth and a more severe contraction in residential investment,” said Madani. “A correction in the overheating housing market could derail the domestic recovery.”  Madani had forecast earlier that home prices in Canada were as much as 25 per cent overvalued.

Scotiabank chief economist Warren Jestin said 2011 will bring a softer housing market, but unlike Capital Economics, is not forecasting a major price adjustment.  “We may see some price corrections, but it won’t be a bubble.”  Housing sales overall should come in about 15 per cent below the 2007 peak, but in line with the 10-year average, according to the bank.  Warren says it is likely that prices will go “sideways” for the next four or five years. She is forecasting that home prices overall will increase by 2 per cent by the end of 2011.  “Historically, home prices tend to overshoot, then they undershoot until incomes and growth catches up.” With inflation at about 2 per cent, that is effectively flat pricing, said Warren.

The condominium segment however, remains the most vulnerable to overbuilding, say analysts.  Multi-unit dwellings now account for more than half of all new housing being built in Canada. 

In 1981, about 3 per cent of homeowners were living in condos. In 2006, that number had surged to 11 per cent. In the Toronto market alone, there were 286 projects being marketed at the end of 2010, thought to be the most of any city in North America.

However, Warren says the market can absorb a larger number of condos being built today in part because of favourable demographics. An aging population is moving toward a turnkey lifestyle, and buyers younger than 35 have also increasingly turned to highrise living.

Affordability has also been a major factor, since condos are cheaper than single detached housing, especially in built-up downtown areas.

That could be impacted by increases in interest rates moving forward. The Bank of Canada held firm on their key overnight rate on Tuesday, leaving it at 1 per cent. However, those rates are forecast to go up by 1.5 to 2 percentage points a year from now, said Jestin. That will put a further crimp on the market.

Another issue for Ontario is the high-flying loonie.

The Bank forecasts the Canadian dollar could go as high as 1.08 (U.S.) this year. That would hurt the manufacturing sector and the jobs that go with it.

Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate Services said despite the ups and downs in the economy, the Canadian market remains relatively strong.

“Despite all the doom and gloom we hear coming out of the U.S., attitudes toward home ownership remain buoyant in Canada.”