The Weekly 411

TLDR:

📈 Toronto Housing Market Sees 37% Increase in January 2024 Home Sales

🏠 Market Snapshot: Downtown Toronto Price Changes by Neighborhood in 2024

🎓 Canada is Weeding Out Sketchy Colleges & Universities

💅 Rare Opportunity: Profitable Hotel & Strip Club for Sale

🚫Canadian Government Extends Ban on Foreign Ownership

📈 Toronto Housing Market Sees 37% Increase in January 2024 Home Sales

• Toronto home sales surged by 37% in January 2024 compared to the same period last year.

• In January, there was a 22.9% month-over-month increase in home sales, reaching a total of 4,223 sales.

• Sales growth was observed across all housing categories, with townhouses at 54.5% and semi-detached homes at 42.9%.

• Condominium sales increased by 41%, while detached home sales rose by 27%.

• The average home price in Toronto dropped by 1% from the previous year, amounting to $1,026,703. It also represented a 5.4% decrease from the final month of 2023.

Why This Matters: This scenario benefits real estate investors by creating a tighter market, likely leading to competitive pricing and potential appreciation of property values. Despite a slight drop in average home prices, the high transaction volume and diverse growth across housing types present opportunities for investment in a dynamic market, offering both short-term gains from resale and long-term income from rentals.

🏠 Market Snapshot: Downtown Toronto Price Changes by Neighborhood in 2024

Here's how downtown Toronto's housing market performed by neighborhood from January 2023-2024

Average home sale prices:

• City of Toronto: $959,915

• Greater Toronto Area: $1.03 million

Core East

• Average: $731,595

• Decreased by 1.9% from December 2023

• Decreased by 5.8% from January 2023

Core West:

• Average: $843,778

• Increased by 0.1% from December 2023

• Increased by 0.8% from January 2023

Rosedale and Moore Park Area:

• Average: $1.94 million

• Increased by 24.9% from December 2023

• Decreased by 24.3% from January 2023

The Annex and Yonge-St:

• Average: $1.45 million

• Decreased by 33.2% from December 2023

• Decreased by 13.6% from January 2023

🎓Canada is Weeding Out Sketchy Colleges & Universities

• Canada will identify post-secondary institutions that set a higher standard for international students.

• The goal is to speed up study permit processing for students from “trusted” schools.

• An index of seven indicators, including program completion rates, revenue from international enrolment, and teacher-student ratios, will be used to evaluate institutions.

• Skeptics of the new framework are concerned about the readiness of institutions to provide the necessary data.

Why This Matters: The "recognized institution" framework in Canada could significantly impact real estate investors by potentially increasing demand for housing in areas surrounding trusted post-secondary institutions. As the framework expedites study permit processing for international students at these institutions, it is expected to attract a higher number of international students to designated areas. 

💅 Rare Opportunity: Profitable Hotel and Strip Club for Sale

• A commercial property in Etobicoke is up for sale and includes a boutique hotel, retail stores, and a basement strip club.

• The property, located at Lake Shore and Fourth Street, spans 13,850 square feet with five retail units and an 11-room hotel operation.

• The highlight of the property is the Klub Kave strip club, one of only six licensed adult entertainment clubs remaining in Toronto.

• Strip clubs in Toronto have become increasingly rare, with several iconic locations closing down in recent years.

Why This Matters: The hotel currently earns a significant net operating income, with the potential for increased occupancy and cash flow. The property is an excellent opportunity for cash flow investors, with projected growth in net operating income over the next five years.

🚫 Canada Extends Foreign Home Ownership Ban

• The Foreign Buyer ban was introduced in 2022 to prevent foreign investors from buying residential property in Canada and ensure availability for Canadians.

• The ban, which was set to expire on January 1, 2025, will now be extended to January 1, 2027.

• This extension of the ban is part of the federal government's economic plan to make housing more affordable for Canadian