Most condo investors expect to own for more than five years
By Sam R on Apr 05, 2016
CMHC released its 2015 Condominium Owners Survey, saying that condo investors in our two hottest markets (yup, Toronto and Vancouver) display “stable characteristics over time,” meaning not much has changed over their last three reports.
According to the report, most condo investors hold just one secondary unit, which hardly makes them greedy monsters who are driving up house prices. Most expect to own their rent-intended units for more than five years, at 60% versus the 8% who plan to sell them within two.
Survey results were similar in Toronto and Vancouver, although a larger share of respondents in Toronto said they expected the value of their units to go up than in Vancouver, but the gap is closing.
Although similar to other homeowners in Canada, the percentage of condo investors who hold mortgages was slightly below all homeowners at 53% versus 56%. Among those with a mortgage, about 20% had used a down payment of 20% or less; most had a five-year term (53%), 18% had a longer term and 5% reported a term of one year or less.
Their amortization periods were in line with other Canadian homeowners. As evidence, perhaps, of their market savvy, a significantly smaller percentage (45%) than the average (63%) reported holding fixed-rate mortgages.
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The architecture world lost one of its most iconic last week when Dame Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi-born Brit and the first Muslim woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, died on March 31st in Miami.
She also won the Stirling Prize and was awarded a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012. She was the first woman to receive the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Gold Medal in her own right (others had been part of group awards).
Hadid was famous for fluid forms and fragmented geometry in such projects as the Guangzhou Opera House in China, the aquatic centre for the 2012 Olympics in London, the BMW Central Building in Germany and the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre in Azerbaijan.
The outspoken Hadid was considered a pioneer of Parametricism, an avant-garde style that succeeded postmodern and modern architecture; the term was coined by Patrik Schumacher, a partner of hers.
Hadid was being treated in hospital for bronchitis when she suffered a fatal heart attack. This is a great loss for the architecture and design industry, but her work will surely continue to inspire other artists for years to come.
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View from a penthouse unit at Canary Park
The grassroots Campaign Fairness Ontario released a report claiming that developer contributions to the campaigns of municipal election candidates had a direct influence on the outcomes.
The group analysed the financial statements of nearly 300 candidates in 13 municipalities including a few in the GTA. The report, “If It’s Broke, Fix It: a Report on the Money in Municipal Campaign Finances of 2014,” says candidates who take developer contributions are twice as likely to be elected as those who don’t.
York University poli-sci professor Robert MacDermid, who conducted the research, said development funding is still the largest component of corporate funding, and that most of it comes from outside the municipality. Subsequently (although not as a direct result of the report by any means) the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced proposed amendments to the Municipal Elections Act that would introduce a ranked ballot option beginning in 2018.
It also proposed to regulate third-party advertising, introducing spending limits and compelling third party contributors to identify themselves on signs and advertisements. Municipalities would have the option of banning corporate and union donations, and to set clear limits on post-campaign gift and party spending.
The report also found that development industry funding was greatest where the value of building permits is highest, and where more developers have projects in the approvals process that depend on council decisions. Money from the development industry currently makes up more than half of all corporate donations to municipal candidates.
I don’t think the fact that corporate donations affect elections outcomes should come as much of a surprise to anyone, but I’m all for transparency. Granted, I’m (obviously) a supporter of responsible development, but if our local politicians are so readily influenced by campaign support, it’s the politics we need to change.
