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Population and Housing
#76
Housing starts in the region expected to dip this year.

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/656122...-this-year
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#77
The complete local forecast can be downloaded free of charge here:
https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/catalog/pr...fm?lang=en&cat=63&itm=27&fr=1463754423481

Housing starts are indeed expected to be lower than 2015, but the forecast still expects the second-highest-ever number of housing starts for the region.
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#78
Interesting to note that average home price in Cambridge (May, 2016) has more or less caught up to that of K-W:  $378,248 in the Kitchener and Waterloo area and $377,779 in Cambridge ( Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors and Cambridge Association of Realtors).  The market has been pretty strong locally so far this year, it seems.
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#79
Housing starts were up 27% in 2016 compared to 2015. Around half were apartments and ⅓ single detached, which is similar to 2015.

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/705857...loo-region
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#80
(01-11-2017, 06:32 PM)jwilliamson Wrote: Housing starts were up 27% in 2016 compared to 2015.  Around half were apartments and ⅓ single detached, which is similar to 2015.

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/705857...loo-region

Wow.

Single detached homes were 1392 (995 in 2015, 1200 forecast).  Multiple-unit dwellings were 2684 (2217 in 2015, 1950 forecast).

That's surprisingly strong, especially for multiple-unit construction.  In 2017 we should see some large projects break ground (100 Victoria, Arrow Lofts 2, possibly Brick) so I think we should beat the 2900-unit CMHC forecast again.
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#81
Arrow lofts 2? My understanding is their currently building still have units left up for sale that have been on the market since 2012?

I would love to see something built there, just think they missed the mark with their pricing on the current units.
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#82
Four of the 16 original two-level penthouse units are unsold. Everything on the lower floors was sold, and actually tends to sell fairly quickly on the resale market. Just like 1 Victoria (which also has a few penthouses left) they would probably skip the whole penthouse concept if they were to do it over again.
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#83
(01-12-2017, 10:07 AM)tomh009 Wrote: Four of the 16 original two-level penthouse units are unsold.  Everything on the lower floors was sold, and actually tends to sell fairly quickly on the resale market.  Just like 1 Victoria (which also has a few penthouses left) they would probably skip the whole penthouse concept if they were to do it over again.

More likely, they'd build the penthouses on a single level - the Arrow issue is not only the price, but the two storey layout of the units - it's a high end building and boomers overwhelmingly want to live on a single floor.
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#84
Am in a three-floor townhouse here. But it's not open-to-below.

The Seagrams Lofts are the one example around here that I'm aware of with open-to-below.
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#85
And it's a shame. I love open-to-below! There's a building on the QEW/Gardner heading into Toronto and it's nothing but 2-floor units with a huge open to below and a glass wall. love it.
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#86
Not exactly heating bill-friendly though.
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#87
Rental ‘carnage’ feared as Waterloo overflows with student beds
Jeff Outhit | Waterloo Region Record

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/710208...udent-beds-
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#88
What's interesting is how much of this "carnage" is on non-institutional owner hands. More and more of these buildings aren't owned by a corporation that rents them out, they have become condos that you can hire a corporation to manage. So when the market floods and there aren't renters, as a private owner of these student condos, you still have a financial contract to pay for management services, and still have a mortgage to pay, but no renter to pay for it from.
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#89
All the prognostications of doom are a touch annoying.
It all points to how one class of people are more important and valuable than another.

The potential "doom" is for investors who made a misguided choice in a gamble to potentially make 10s of thousands of dollars.
Meanwhile, a housing glut has the real possibility of putting actual downward pressure on rent prices, saving students and other renters money in the longer term.

Investors getting burned on a risky investment: "DOOM!"
Renters getting more affordable housing: "meh who cares."
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#90
(02-06-2017, 11:07 AM)Markster Wrote: Investors getting burned on a risky investment: "DOOM!"
Renters getting more affordable housing: "meh who cares."

Right. Yes, it may be a mini-bubble.  But the long-term outcome should still be OK.

As for management contracts, they can also be terminated so in the worst case the investor will be sitting on a vacant unit: not the end of the world.  And most likely those would still be able to be rented, albeit at more affordable prices.  You could do much worse in the stock market.
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