At least 65 Canadian members of Parliament hold rental or investment real estate assets, according to their filings with the federal conflict of interest commissioner.

However, that number may actually be much higher because 91 MPs either have not yet completed their disclosure process or the conflict of interest commissioner’s office hasn’t yet published their filings.

All of that is legal and all of the MPs disclosing the assets have fulfilled their duties under Canadian conflict of interest laws to report their assets to the federal conflict of interest commissioner.

Read More: https://globalnews.ca/news/8767051/canadian-mp-real-estate-investment-amid-housing-crunch/

Prince Edward County council has rescinded the old by-law concerning short term accommodations and replaced it with a new, more clear by-law.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, council discussed a staff report regarding the lack of clarity on the current STA by-law with regards to how it differentiates whole home, owner occupied and bed & breakfasts.

The issue with the lack of definition between the three led to problems with how they’re regulated differently.

The staff report recommended that council rescind the old by-law, enacted in 2019, and approve the new by-law which has clear definitions of the three types and language changes in the regulations to eliminate any ambiguity in enforcing them.

Read More: https://www.quintenews.com/2021/06/22/prince-edward-county-council-clarifies-short-term-accommodation-by-law/

The price of a new home in Canada rose again in April, but to a lesser extent compared to previous months.

Last month, new home prices “showed some signs of cooling,” as they increased 0.3 per cent month-over-month according to the April New Housing Price Index (NHPI) published by Statistics Canada. This is a slowdown from the average increase of 1.1 per cent that was recorded during the first three months of 2022.

On a yearly basis, new home prices increased 9.4 per cent in April, the smallest growth rate since March 2021.

The NHPI monitors changes in selling prices for new residential homes over time, and is applicable to new single-family homes, semi-detached residences and townhomes in Canada.

Read More: https://www.livabl.com/2022/05/new-home-price-cools-april.html

Read More: https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/home-ownership-rate#:~:text=Home%20Ownership%20Rate%20in%20Canada%20averaged%2065.97%20percent%20from%201997,of%2063.90%20percent%20in%201999

Earlier this week, members of Labourers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 183 rejected contract proposals, and opted to initiate strike action. The union released an official statement on Monday that came with a call to bring the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) back to the bargaining table.

Approximately 15,000 skilled construction workers from six sectors including high-rise forming, self-levelling forming, tile, railing, carpet, and hardwood installers have walked off the job in hopes of a new agreement.

LiUNA is requesting wage increases for its workers, and is arguing that the terms of some contracts – specifically for concrete forming – were written nearly 30 years ago, and that the new agreements need to take into account the rising inflation rates and the increase in the cost of housing that we all – including trades workers – are subject to today.

Read More: https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/05/liuna-strike-shuts-down-residential-construction-sites-across-gta

Finally, the Canadian labour market feels a bit more normal. The 15k jobs created in April were in line with the pre-Covid pace of hiring. The level of employment is more or less where it would have been if Covid hadn’t happened. Ditto for the unemployment rate, the participation rate, and many other labour market variables that only economists get excited about. But, as usual, the headline numbers mask plenty of interesting stuff. Behind the scenes, Covid has triggered a transformation of historic proportions in the composition of the Canadian labour market. 

Read More: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BqRzXAaYtjJChHkJQ4eLDmt81TFrasR6/view?usp=sharing

Greater Toronto Area (GTA) new condominium sales reached their highest Q1 on record with 8,253 units sold, rising 55% year-over-year and exceeding the 10-year average (5,154 sales) by 60%. A record high 94% share of total new condos in development were pre-sold as of Q1-2022, pushing unsold inventory down to an 18-quarter low of 8,726 units.  New condominium demand has been far outweighing supply during the past two quarters, as total sales exceeded the total number of units launched for presale by 4,417 units, resulting in a six-month plunge of 34% for unsold inventory. The 3.1 months of supply on the market in Q1-2022 represented a record low for the GTA new condo market, which coincided with a 16% year-over-year increase in average unsold prices to a new high of $1,381 psf.

Read More: https://www.urbanation.ca/news/344-gta-new-condo-sales-reach-record-high-q1

Just how big is Canada’s real estate bubble? Canadians, especially in the real estate industry, are already warning rate hikes are damaging the economy. While large price drops sound scary, no one had realized how scary large price gains had become. A typical home can drop the equivalent of a median household’s income, and only roll back to last December — wiping out just 3 months of gains.

If Canadian Home Prices Drop $91k, They’ll Only Wipe Out Q1 Gains

Canadian home prices would need to make a nearly six-digit drop to reverse just the gains made this year. The composite benchmark for a home across the country reached $887,100 in March, up $91,600 from December 2021. Not a mistake. That’s the increase over just the first 3-months of the year — an average of $30k/month, according to CREA.

Read More: https://betterdwelling.com/canadas-real-estate-bubble-is-so-big-a-91k-price-drop-only-wipes-out-3-months/

Canadian future building construction intentions tapered as interest rates climbed, shows permit data. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows the value of building permits, a leading indicator, made a small dive in March. Future building plans remain elevated compared to pre-2020. However, residential plans slowed as expected after record building activity.

Canadian Building Permit Values Fell 9% In March

Canadian building permits took a dip in the latest numbers. The value of building permits reached $11.7 billion in March, down 9.3% from a month before. While down, future building intentions remain 5.2% higher than last year — at least in dollar terms. The non-residential sector was behind the monthly drop. Annual growth was slowed by reduced plans for residential building.

Read More: https://betterdwelling.com/canadian-building-permit-values-fell-as-housing-demand-softens-from-peak/