Last week the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) decided that the stress test that had been proposed for June 1st, which was only to impact those with a down payment of 20% or greater, should be extended to all of those applying for mortgages. …

What percentage of detached homes in Toronto are selling for more than $1.7 million? You’ve seen the headlines. Housing prices are on the rise. Buyers are getting frustrated with the high prices and the bidding wars. Given the low interest rates and the need for more space, we don’t see…

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend the 14th Annual Post City Real Estate Roundtable — “Real Estate 2021: City vs. Suburbs” hosted by University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. The panelists included: Barry Cohen, Principal, Barry Cohen Homes Inc Odeen Eccleston, Co-Host, HGTV Canada’s “Hot Market” Josh Daniel Flagg, Original…

Are the current increases in real estate prices unsustainable? What we are seeing is a tale of the haves and have-nots playing out before our eyes in the economy and in the housing market. …

How many semi-detached houses are selling for more than $1.4 million? — Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed a trend with the prices of semi-detached houses in the core (C01, C02, C03, C04, C08, C09, C10, C11, E01, E02, E03, E06, W01, W02, W03 — see below for map) of Toronto. Pricing trends in the real estate market tend to be…

Last year we noticed a huge shift in Toronto’s condo market. I remember in June 2020, we listed a condo in the King & Sherbourne area, close to the St. Lawrence Market, which had 70 showings. It was listed at $825,000 and sold for $971,000 after multiple offers. Two months…

One of the challenges for first-time buyers is the longer they wait, the harder it is to get in the market, as the housing market seems to increase faster than most people can save. …

So I recently read an old CNBC interview where author David Bach states that “buying a home is an escalator to wealth”. David Bach has written many, many books on becoming a millionaire. I read the Automatic Millionaire many, many years ago and found it extremely helpful. He states, “The…

There’s been lot of discussion lately about Airbnb and its impact on the long-term rental market. Many municipalities across Canada are enacting or planning to enact rules to control or curtail the use of apartments and homes as Airbnb rentals. McGill University’s School of Urban Planning recently came out with…