December 28, 2010

NEW YORK — Home prices are dropping in the nation’s largest cities and are expected to keep falling next year, as fewer people purchase homes and millions of foreclosures come on to the market.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday fell 1.3 per cent in October from September.

All cities recorded monthly price declines. The last time that happened was in Feb. 2009.

Atlanta recorded the largest decline. Prices there fell 2.9 per cent from a month earlier. Home prices in Washington dropped 0.2 per cent in October, the second monthly decline after five straight increases.

Home prices in Dallas, Portland, Ore., Charlotte, N.C., Tampa, Fla. and Denver have fallen for four straight months. Continue reading →

December 23, 2010

http://www.moneyville.ca/article/911543–will-greater-toronto-real-estate-surf-along-or-sink-in-2011#

Mark Weisleder

Anyone who tells you that they know what to expect next year in the real estate market has a chance of being right. Anything can happen — there are so many things beyond anyone’s control.

It’s true that the old adage, “safe as houses,” has been under stress in some of North America, of late.

Yet there are some things happening in the Canadian economy that indicate it should be a good year for the real estate market here in 2011.

Here are five reasons why, in Greater Toronto, a home may still be a good investment. Continue reading →

STEVE LADURANTAYE — REAL ESTATE REPORTER

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/apartment-building-construction-stalls/article1831049/

Vacancy rates in apartment buildings across the country are at near-record lows, but expensive land and high construction costs are keeping developers from building new inventory.

New buildings would likely fill quickly, but developers have opted to put up condos instead because they provide a better short-term return. Further deterring development are interest rates so low that it is cheaper to buy an existing building with CMHC insurance than to arrange financing to build a new one.

“Building an apartment building is a very niche thing,” said Ugo Bizzarri, vice-president of acquisitions at Timbercreek Asset Management Inc. “There’s certainly a need. But until it’s cheaper to build them than to buy them, construction just doesn’t make a lot of sense.” Continue reading →