Toronto Real Estate and Neighbourhoods Blog | Move Smartly

Owners no longer in hot water over outdoor tub

Bob Aaron in Legal

A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal has come down strongly in favour of the rights of individual condominium owners.

The case deals with Wentworth Condominium Corp. 198, a residential project in Waterdown, Ont. Each of its 31 condominium townhouse units has a backyard that forms part of the common elements of the corporation, and each owner has exclusive use of that backyard.

In late 2007, Jim McMahon, one of the unit owners, asked the condominium board for permission to install an above-ground hot tub on his back patio. The board refused.

Eventually, without the board's consent, McMahon installed the hot tub on the patio. The tub itself is 1.8 metres wide, two metres long and a little over one metre high. It is a one-piece unit that weighs about 136 kilograms empty.

It is filled by a garden hose and holds 1,000 litres of water weighing 1,000 kilograms. The tub occupies about 25 per cent of the backyard and its heater is hard-wired to the electrical panel in the McMahon unit.

Media Roundup February 5th 2010

Media Roundup

Real Estate News

How to turn your home into an income property (Globe and Mail)

December sales surprisingly good, but supplies drying up (Globe and Mail) 

Church project gets luxury builder's blessing (Globe and Mail)

Why CIBC sees a double-dip in U.S. real estate prices (Globe and Mail)

Toronto area building permits up in December (Toronto Star)

Condo developers end year on a high (Toronto Star)

Toronto existing home sales skyrocket 87 per cent (Toronto Star)

Building on optimism over condos (Toronto Star) 

Toronto home sales surge 87% over same period last year (National Post)

Mortgages: Fixed or variable? (CBC)

Higher Rates May ‘Wipe Out’ Industry, Clark Says (Bloomberg)

Neighbourhoods and Urban Planning

Time to get to know Uno's Annex (Globe and Mail)

GTA’s Lost Villages: Meadowvale (Spacing)

Hume: Suburbs inevitable, but sprawl isn't (Toronto Star)

Live from the web, it’s the Toronto District School Board show (Toronto Star)

Relief for the Junction (Toronto Star)

Toronto House Prices Up 19%

John Pasalis in Toronto Real Estate News

The Toronto Real Estate Board reported 4,986 transactions through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in January 2010. This result represented a large increase over the 2,670 sales in January 2009 when the home sales were in a recessionary trough. Last month’s sales were slightly higher than the January average in the five years preceding 2009.

The average price for a Toronto home climbed by 19% over last year to $409,058.

“Expect strong annual growth rates for existing home sales and average price through the first quarter as we continue to make comparisons to the weak market conditions at the beginning of 2009,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “The rate of sales and price growth will be lower in the second half of 2010.”

We did see more balance between supply and demand in January as measured by the sales-to-inventory ratio.  41% of homes available for sale actually sold in January compared to 54% in December.

 

John Pasalis is the Broker owner of Realosophy Realty Inc in Toronto. Realosophy Realty focuses on researching Toronto neighbourhoods to help their clients make smarter real estate decisions.

Subscribe to the Move Smartly

Media Roundup January 29th 2010

Media Roundup

Real Estate News

Ready for less heady home pricing? (Toronto Star)

Rising prices make home ownership less affordable (Toronto Star)

Suburbs the big winner for price appreciation (Toronto Star)

Toronto's condo craze to continue in 2010 (Metro)

Mortgages: Ask Rob Carrick (Globe and Mail)

Canada Home Prices Rise for Seventh Straight Month in November (Bloomberg)

Warming trend continues (National Post)

Mortgage demand drives bonds (National Post)

Solid growth predicted for T.O.'s economy in 2010 (CTV)

Trouble brewing on waterfront (Toronto Star)

New life for Shaw St. school as arts studios (Toronto Star)

Toronto and Vancouver – Canada’s Hottest Real Estate Markets

John Pasalis in Toronto Real Estate News

Toronto and Vancouver have Canada’s hottest real estate market according to the Teranet-National Bank House Price figures released this week.

Looking at the appreciation in the Index from each city’s market bottom in 2009, Toronto is leading the way with a 13.6% increase in house values.  Vancouver prices increased 11% followed by Ottawa at 8.7%.  Toronto’s market bottomed in April 2009 versus June 2009 for Vancouver.  This two month head start pushed Toronto’s appreciation ahead of Vancouver’s for November 2009, but prices in Vancouver are appreciating at a faster rate than Toronto.

Make indoor air quality test a standard part of real estate purchases

Bob Aaron in Legal

I've always found it strange that the organized real estate community in Ontario is still highly concerned about urea formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) in houses, years after it was proved that it carries no health risks, and yet radon gas and other environmental contaminants – which exist in many homes and can be fatal – are hardly ever mentioned in residential purchase agreements.

For several decades, the standard Ontario Real Estate Association agreement of purchase and sale has contained a warranty that the seller has not insulated the house with UFFI. This, despite the fact that 15 years ago a Quebec court ruled, after an eight-year trial, that there was no basis for fear of health risks and no justification for removing UFFI from houses.

Radon, on the other hand, has one known health risk – exposure above certain levels increases the risk of developing lung cancer.

A detailed guide on the website of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., CMHC, explains that radon is a radioactive gas that is colourless, odourless and tasteless. It is formed by the breakdown of uranium, a natural radioactive material found in soil, rock and ground water.

When radon escapes from the ground into the outdoor air, it gets diluted and is not a concern.

But when it seeps from the ground into an enclosed, unventilated space like a house, it can sometimes accumulate to high levels and contaminate the inside air.

Media Roundup January 22nd 2009

Media Roundup

Real Estate News

Investors park cash in Canada (Toronto Star)

How to avoid 'easy money' sales pitch (Toronto Star)

GTA resale home prices to fall, analyst says (Toronto Star)

New-home sales soar 24 per cent (Toronto Star)

Real estate industry in Canada try to calm fears of property bubble (Property Wire)

Skyline unlimited (National Post)

New high-rise condo sales shot up 995 per cent in December '09 (680 News)

Two tower job at Maple Leaf Square in Toronto (Daily Commercial News)

Carney warns on growth (National Post)

Toronto House Prices up 19% Mid January

John Pasalis in Toronto Real Estate News

The Toronto Real Estate Board reported 1,749 existing home sales on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) during the first two weeks of January. This result was almost double the 888 sales reported for the same period in 2009, when sales had dipped to a recessionary low.

“We have had a strong start to 2010,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Tom Lebour.
“Widespread sales growth in terms of geography and housing type indicates that many
households remain confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long-term.”

The average price for transactions in the first two weeks of January was $395,307, compared to an average of $332,495 for the same period in 2009.

“Double-digit average annual price growth will continue through the first quarter of 2010 as sales remain high relative to listings and we continue to make comparisons to last year’s winter downturn,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

John Pasalis is the Broker owner of Realosophy Realty Inc in Toronto. Realosophy Realty focuses on researching Toronto neighbourhoods to help their clients make smarter real estate decisions.

Subscribe to the Move Smartly

Media Roundup January 15th, 2010

Media Roundup

Real Estate News

Record month for home sales may spell trouble ahead (Globe and Mail)

Home buyer prep for 2010 (Globe and Mail)

Encouraging mid-rises a tall order (Globe and Mail)

Bank of Canada won't raise interest rates to cool housing (Globe and Mail)

Bank of Canada says sees no housing bubble yet (Reuters)

Bank pooh-poohs debt bomb talk (Toronto Star)

New home prices rise for fifth straight month (National Post)

Toronto housing starts drop in 2009 (Toronto Star)

November new home prices in Toronto up slightly (Toronto Star)

Construction industry building strength (Toronto Star)

Canadians more cautious about debt than Americans (Toronto Star)

Home buyers opt for fixed rates (CBC)

Canadian mortgage borrowers not taking 'undue risks' (CBC)

Real estate market may be too hot to handle (CBC)

Canadian economy will roar 'like a lion,' then fizzle, CIBC says (CBC)

Sooner or later, our economy will have to 'reset' (Globe and Mail)

Avison Young releases 2010 national real estate forecast for Canada, U.S. (PR NewsWire)

Family quotas not the right path (Metro News)

Urban Planning and Neighbourhoods

Hasbro Realeaseing New Monopoly Board Canada (BuzzBuzzHome)

Burlington Boulevard: The next Monopoly spot? (Toronto Star)

Hume: Downsview doomed by frugal mindset (Toronto Star)

For Canadian cities, big isn't always best (Globe and Mail)

Toronto neighbourhood faces crowding and poverty (Canadian Immigrant)

OMB denies developer's condo request (Inside Toronto)

Public and private infrastructure in action (imagined and real) (Spacing)

Debut today of Yonge Street, an online magazine that thinks positively about Toronto (National Post)

And Toronto's New Weekly Is... Named After Yonge Street (Torontoist)

ARB decision on wind power noise sets precedent

Bob Aaron in Legal

In a precedent-setting move, a recently discovered decision of the provincial Assessment Review Board (ARB) has cut a homeowner's assessment in half because the house is located near a noisy hydro substation. The hydro plant serves a nearby wind farm producing "clean" electricity.

The decision of ARB member Ana Cristina Marques was issued following an appeal by Paul Thompson of the assessment on his house.

Thompson's one-storey home is located on the 10th Line in Amaranth Township. It was built in 1989 and sits on a lot with a frontage of 183 feet (55.7 metres) and a depth of 240 feet (73.15 metres).

In 2008, the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. assessed the 1,320-square-foot house at $255,000. Thompson agreed with the assessment except for one thing: The house sits across the road from a Canadian Hydro Developers transformer station. The station converts the output of the nearby Melancthon I wind plant into electricity for the Ontario power grid.

Thompson told me last month that the station emits a "wicked buzz" all day, every day, and that's what prompted him to appeal his assessment.

Evidence presented to the board at Thompson's appeal revealed that in April 2005, the township of Amaranth rezoned a 6.07 hectare (15-acre) parcel across the road from Thompson's home for the purpose of construction of a transformer station.