A weekend topic starting with Toronto Life. "Alexander Evans, a 39-year-old real estate agent, bought an $869,000 one-bedroom-plus den at Richmond and Bathurst in December—and saved more than $60,000 in fees and taxes. 'In August 2020, I helped a client buy a condo in a building at Richmond and Bathurst. A few months later, in December, I called the developer and asked if they any unsold units; as a realtor, I know that some developers of newer buildings hold onto units knowing that they can sell them in the future for a higher price. It turns out they had an unsold one-bed-plus-den available for $889,000.'"

"'The market was exceptionally slow at the end of 2020, and I figured that developers would be eager to sell some of their units. I knew I had room to negotiate. I got $20,000 taken off the purchase price, and I got them to throw in a locker, valued at $7,000, and roller blinds on all the windows. Better yet, they waived their development charges, which usually run around $22,000, and agreed to cover $12,000 worth of extra fees and taxes. That ran a total of about $61,000 saved.'"

"'I’m pretty sure the housing market downtown will return quickly after the pandemic, especially once people start to get back into their offices later this year or early next. I’m already seeing changes in the market. In 2020, no one was buying condos. But now people are lining up to do showings. And most good units receive multiple offers and sell well over asking.'"

The Globe and Mail. "After a year in which buyers shunned tiny condos in favour of roomier houses in smaller cities, new data show that new condo sales are steadily climbing in the large urban centres. These are condos that have either yet to break ground or are under construction, and sales for these projects are often viewed as a bet on the future because buyers wait several years for their units to be built."

"'Fear of missing out is driving a lot of activity today,' said Matthew Boukall, a vice-president at Altus Group, a commercial real estate data firm. Buyers fear missing out on a market that they think will keep rising, he said. As well, buyers 'missed out on single family and they don’t want to miss out on anything.'"

"In downtown Toronto, condos are popular among investors who are increasingly buying on the idea that prices will continue to rise so they can sell the property when the condo is built. With preconstruction condos selling at more than $1,400 a square foot, it’s difficult for investors to have their renters cover the cost of their mortgage payments, insurance and condo fees. But that hasn’t seemed to faze many investors, and developers have been making it easier for buyers to come up with the cash for the 20-per-cent down payment by extending deadlines."

"'Investors are clearly purchasing in downtown condo projects for long-term capital appreciation, otherwise the motives are harder to justify,' said a recent report from industry researcher Urbanation Inc."

From Blog TO. "The condo market in Toronto seems to be as unpredictable as ever in recent months, oscillating between seeing prices and sales volumes fall and rebounding back hard in various parts of the city and the GTA at large. Condos were the only housing type in T.O. that took even somewhat of a hit due to the health crisis — in part due to the flailing rental market as people left the city amid work-from-home trends and new Airbnb regulations came into place — which was good news for those looking to finally get into the home ownership game for slightly less money."

"But new data from May courtesy of condo listing site Strata shows that sales in the region are down again after a flurry of activity from late 2020 into the first few months of the year. Compared to a very hot March 2021, sales numbers were down a whopping 23 per cent. This follows a drop in April, too, as things began cooling off and residents gave up on the idea of condo ownership given the high prices and competition."

"Downtown Toronto in particular saw its greatest fall in a year, with sales down 19 per cent, which Strata's people say 'solidifies the continuation of a downward trend after the market’s long-awaited plateau in April.'"

From CBC News. "NDP MPP Jessica Bell, who represents the University–Rosedale riding in Toronto, introduced a motion in the provincial legislature Thursday to create a speculation and vacant home tax to increase the number of rental properties available. Downtown condo resident Jaco Joubert says his research supports Bell's proposal. He used light detecting camera technology to estimate the vacancy rate in some buildings. His technique suggested a vacancy rate as high as 13 per cent in some cases, and on average 5.6 percent of units sat empty."

"But realtor Linda Pinizzotto, founder of a non-profit group called Condo Owners Association, says vacancies are up and many of her members are desperate to find tenants or planning on selling their units. 'COVID has already created problems in the rental scene in downtown Toronto,' she said. 'This is not the time to put more things out there of this nature. People are already struggling to hopefully get their lives back.'"

"On Dec. 16, 2020 Toronto city council voted 24 to one to introduce a vacancy tax in 2022, but the details are still being worked out. In the meantime, the city says in a statement that 'the number of vacant homes in Toronto is unknown at this time and will not be known until Council has approved the tax and the definitions and criteria that will determine whether a home is subject to the tax.'"

The Toronto Sun. "Toronto’s downtown core condo sales continued to suffer in May. Condo listing site strata.ca reports GTA condo sales dropped for a second straight month in May with the biggest declines in the downtown core, down by 19%. 'All of those people afraid of the mortgage changes coming June 1st … they decided it’s now or never,' broker Robert Van Rhijn told Strata.ca. 'So it really lit a fire under them to get off the sidelines and just buy something, anything, while they still had greater purchasing power.'"

"Van Rhijn also said May’s lower sales also indicate there’s 'burnout' that normally occurs after the traditional spring rush. 'Put those two things together and of course we’re going to see a notable dip in condo sales,' he said. 'Sellers will just have to accept a lower price.'"

The Vancouver Sun. "A Vancouver realtor’s online advice on 'how to avoid the foreign-buyers tax' is a sign of how difficult it is to track foreign ownership. Realtor Andrew Szalontai’s website offers foreign nationals a wide variety of strategies for circumventing B.C.’s 20 per cent foreign-buyers tax on residential dwellings. Some of his suggestions for avoiding 'the frustration' of the tax are straightforward, while others are dubious, according to Ron Usher, general counsel for the Society of Notaries Public of B.C."

"It’s clear a non-Canadian can avoid the foreign-buyers tax on a residence simply by instead buying a commercial property, as Szalontai’s website says. And it’s also well-known anyone can do so by buying a home outside Metro Vancouver, Victoria or other places where the tax applies."

"Things becoming rapidly more complicated, Usher said, with the realtor’s suggestion foreign nationals could also make a 'great investment' in a B.C. home by becoming a permanent resident, which would exempt them from the tax. And Usher shook his head at the realtor’s recommendation about avoiding the tax by setting up a trust, or even forming a complex real estate investment trust. It is not simple, in addition, to follow the guidance of Szalontai, who could not be reached for comment, on handling condo presales, which are often flipped before the final contract, when the foreign-buyers tax finally comes due."

"Regardless of the usefulness of the realtor’s online free advice, his tips and many others like them on the web point to how real-estate industry players have long helped a base of offshore buyers sidestep taxes related to non-resident ownership, including the city of Vancouver’s empty homes tax, Ontario’s foreign-buyers tax and B.C.’s speculation and vacancy tax."

"Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced she’s considering following B.C. and Ontario to introduce a national tax on foreign investors in residential real estate. 'The idea here is that homes are for Canadians to live in. They are not assets for parking offshore money,' she said."

"But even if new taxes are brought in nationally, how effective will they be if there is a world of realtors, tax lawyers, immigration consultants, notaries public and accountants leading clients through the numerous exemptions, loopholes and workarounds? And what if enforcement of false information on declarations continues to be lax?"