Should buyers beware?

By Jason Kirby - Monday, October 25, 2010 at 5:20 PM - 0 Comments

Mary Altaffer/AP/ DARRYL DYCK/CP

In mid-November, Vancouver’s condo king, Bob Rennie, will take a very public mulligan. That’s when he plans to relaunch sales at the troubled Millennium Water development, the site where Olympic athletes bunked during the Winter Games. For all the praise designers and visitors from around the globe have heaped on the project’s cutting-edge, ultra-green features, the $1-billion Millennium Water sorely lacks one crucial component—buyers. Two-thirds of the 740 units in the complex sit empty. Hence Rennie’s plan to jump-start sales by way of discounts, an HST tax holiday, and a break on property taxes and maintenance fees—initiatives that could knock 14 per cent off the initial price tag of some units.

Vancouver taxpayers, who are ultimately on the hook for any losses, aren’t the only ones eager to know if the gambit pays off. In the eyes of prospective buyers in the city, and across the country for that matter, the high-profile project has become a touchstone for whether the real estate market is about to tank. And for first-time buyers sitting on the fence, the prospect of a sharp correction on the horizon is just one of the factors they must consider before taking the plunge.

Continue…

The ideal crime?

By Chris Sorensen - Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 10:20 AM - 0 Comments

John Lund/Getty Images/ Rick Wilking/Reuters

Several years ago, the Bank of Montreal first noticed what it described as “irregularities” in some mortgages sold in Alberta. After conducting an internal investigation, it quietly launched a lawsuit last year that alleged a massive mortgage fraud scheme involving hundreds of people, ranging from lawyers to mortgage brokers and four of the bank’s own employees—even a Calgary MP. It also hired a forensic accounting firm to try to trace the funds. BMO claims it advanced a total of about $70 million in mortgage funds to the scheme’s architects, with its losses estimated at $30 million.

Those who work in Canada’s mortgage lending industry described the case, which only came to light earlier this year, as unusual—not because mortgage fraud is rare in Canada (police say it’s not), but because of the size and sophistication of the operation, which involved as many as 14 different interconnected groups.

BMO’s decision to file a lawsuit (in a bid to recoup its money) is also seen as an oddity, with some suggesting that banks and other lending institutions are reluctant to talk about what is believed to be a relatively easy—and lucrative—crime to commit. “If you’re a bank with 1,200 branches, they would probably say that by talking about it, they’re going to educate people on how to pull off a fraud,” says Gerald Soloway, the chief executive of Home Capital Group, which sells mortgages in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia. “I happen to feel that it is a big problem. And I, for one, would like to see more resources devoted to trying to stamp it out.”

Continue…

Home sales increase for the first time since March

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 1:18 PM - 0 Comments

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported that home sales rose by 4.1 per cent in August, the first monthly sales increase since March. Ontario and British Columbia enjoyed the most activity. However, CREA predicts sales will likely stay slow. Home prices were stagnant in August at an average of $324,928, the same as last year. But though the number of listings rose 1.9 per cent, that’s still down down 16 per cent from last April’s peak.

Vancouver Sun

Squatters go upscale

By Stephanie Findlay - Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 9:40 AM - 0 Comments

Getty Images

Last June, when squatters moved into the West Market neighbourhood of Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle, they claimed a $3.3-million, 8,000-sq.-foot, six-bedroom mansion that had fallen into foreclosure. The squatters’ stay was short-lived. The police arrested the ringleader, Jill Lane, 30, for criminal trespass. However, in recent weeks, Lane has staked claims to 10 other houses in the Seattle area that have gone into foreclosure and have been shuffled from bank to bank. She recently told the Seattle Times that she’s “standing up for people who are being brutalized by banks.”

Continue…

Avoiding the crash

By Jason Kirby - Saturday, September 4, 2010 at 10:20 AM - 0 Comments

PHOTOGRAPH BY SIMON HAYTER

As the housing market stalls, several people who bought pricey Vancouver condos before they were built are suing to get out of the deals. In Toronto, condo sales during the first half of the year fell for the first time since 1994. And at least one homeowner near Halifax just offered to give away his house for free, so long as whomever took it assumed the $395,000 mortgage. Everywhere, tales of real estate woe and miserable sales data have prompted predictions of a crash. James Grant, a prominent U.S. investment newsletter author well known for his bearish outlook on the American economy, has warned house prices here are primed to fall: “The median Canadian house is, in fact, certifiably unaffordable.” Even if prices tumble, though, as happened in 2008—when the economy was also teetering and house prices were at record levels—they could still make another surprising comeback.

No question Canadian prices are outrageously high. As Grant points out, compared to rental rates, home prices in Canada are more than 60 per cent above the historical average. And with home ownership rates and household debt levels higher than they’ve ever been, Scotiabank economist Derek Holt says there’s nowhere for prices to go but down. “This time when we come off the boil, prices are going to stay lower,” he says.

Continue…

Home sales are falling fast, but the problem isn’t with record high prices

By Jason Kirby - Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 3:00 PM - 0 Comments

AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

Across Canada the housing market took a beating in July, but the only thing more prevalent than the “for sale” signs gathering dust everywhere were excuses for why buyers have suddenly vanished.

In Toronto, July sales fell 34 per cent. They were down by 42 per cent in Calgary. And in Vancouver and the lower mainland sales plunged by around 45 per cent. If those watching the housing market thought sky-high prices were to blame, though, realtors were quick to correct them.

Continue…

Home sales level out

By Josh Dehaas - Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 3:00 PM - 0 Comments

Getty Images

Following 16 months of gains, Canada’s housing market is finally showing a hint of weakness. Home sales slipped 8.2 per cent in June. Economists say it was an odd time for the market to run out of steam, considering the rapid job growth of the past six months. But, they add, there’s no reason to panic. Many are calling this a healthy development, a re-levelling and a return to something more sustainable.

While oversupply continues to depress prices in America—banks repossessed a record 270,000 U.S. homes this spring—Canada’s supply and demand are simply getting back to normal, says Adrienne Warren, an economist with Scotiabank. Marc Pinsonneault, senior economist with National Bank, agrees. “You saw sales going down,” notes Pinsonneault. “But you also saw new listings going down.” Pinsonneault says the June numbers are a result of Canadians starting to heed Mark Carney’s debt warnings. In March, the Bank of Canada governor cautioned Canadians that rising mortgage rates could put the squeeze on them, especially considering household debt has reached record levels.

Continue…

China's major golf complex

By Stephanie Findlay - Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 12:20 PM - 0 Comments

Darren Carroll/Getty Images

This October, the Mission Hill golf club on Hainan Island, China, is hosting a pro-am event, the Mission Hills Star Trophy, where celebrities like Matthew McConaughey, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Phelps are expected to attend and professional golfers can win a US$1.28-million top prize.

This is no ordinary golf club, though. The billion-dollar property currently boasts six courses (the plan is to build a total of 10), 525 hotel rooms, an adventure park, a man-made beach, and what has been described as maybe the world’s biggest collection of women aged 18 to 24, with 3,000 young female caddies currently living on-site.

Continue…

No room for the view

By Nancy Macdonald - Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 11:00 AM - 14 Comments

Photograph by Nick Westover

It’s just steps from Granville Island and Kitsilano Beach, and with to-die-for views of English Bay and the snow-tipped North Shore mountains, this 10-acre site at the south end of the Burrard Bridge—among the last open stretches of undeveloped city waterfront—may be the Lower Mainland’s hottest empty lot. Empty except for a totem pole and a thick tangle of blackberry bushes, the site belongs to the Squamish Nation.

And it will soon play host to a massive new real-estate development: a $1-billion, two-tower, mixed-use job that will, according to early drawings, block the city’s carefully preserved ocean and mountain views and dramatically densify sleepy Kitsilano.

Continue…

Neighbourly advice

By Kate Lunau - Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 12:40 PM - 7 Comments

John Churchman / Getty Images

Most Canadians don’t seem overly concerned with our seemingly unstoppable, red-hot housing market. But our American neighbours are increasingly skeptical.

Continue…

Cooling off a hot housing market

By Chris Sorensen - Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 2:00 PM - 14 Comments

Nathan Denette / CP

Canadians still appear eager to jump into the country’s hot housing market even as mortgage rates begin to climb, but they would be wise to consider the possibility they could experience, if not buyer’s remorse, at least a borrower’s reality check down the road.

An estimated 375,000 mortgage holders in Canada are already having trouble making their monthly payments, while another 475,000 say they could be in the same boat if lending rates head to 5.25 per cent, according to a study released this week by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals. That’s about 15 per cent of the country’s 5.5 million mortgage holders. At present, the average five-year rate among Canadian homeowners is 4.02 per cent. Banks have been raising their rates in recent weeks ahead of an expected hike in the prime rate—now at an all-time low of 0.25 percent—by the Bank of Canada next month.

Continue…

Life would be perfect if I lived there

By Anne Kingston - Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 11:40 AM - 0 Comments

Jupiter Images/ Getty Images

In 2004, before the U.S. real estate market turned Chernobyl, Meghan Daum bought her first house—a 900-sq.-foot bungalow in a Los Angeles neighbourhood even real estate agents couldn’t pretend was “up and coming.” The property cost more than she had budgeted, came with an uninsurable garage reminiscent of the ruins of Pompeii, and had an electrical system visitors could smell. But, as she writes in her funny, thoughtful new memoir, Life Would Be Perfect if I Lived in this House, there was good news: “it didn’t make me gag.” Even better, the fixer-upper was under $500,000 and had sat idle 30 days. Like most 21st-century homebuyers, Daum wasn’t buying a dream house; she was buying the dream of owning anything at all. The then-single woman describes the loss of her real estate virginity at age 34: “Like a girl who cares more about being married than who she’s married to, I swallowed my pride and signed the first set of papers.”

The analogy is perfect. Daum’s consummation with a 30-year mortgage on page 219 is as avidly anticipated as a Jane Austen wedding. Indeed, if the novelist was writing today, her heroines would be like Daum: independent women who dream of property, not matrimony; who troll Craigslist for hot real estate prospects, not men; and who think in terms of square footage, not karat size.

Continue…

Spring house hunting

By macleans.ca - Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 3:32 PM - 7 Comments

Though Canada’s housing market has shown remarkable resilience in past years even as other sectors of the economy have tumbled, a trio of factors appears likely to cool things down over the coming months: a record number of homes entered the market during the first quarter of 2010, meaning buyers will likely spend more time shopping around before bidding on a home; the country’s biggest lenders are starting to hike interest rates after a long stretch at record lows; and the federal government is tightening mortgage eligibility rules, which could leave some potential buyers out in the cold. Still, the pace of sales has been brisk of late and homes are still selling for near-record prices across the country, both of which suggest Canadians have yet to lose their appetite for house shopping.

Click below to see what’s available in some of Canada’s largest markets.

Spring house hunting: What $1 million will get you

By macleans.ca - Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 3:32 PM - 4 Comments

Spring house hunting: What $500,000 will get you

By macleans.ca - Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 3:32 PM - 5 Comments

Spring house hunting: What $350,000 will get you

By macleans.ca - Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 3:32 PM - 0 Comments

Reining in China’s real estate boom

By Jason Kirby - Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 11:30 AM - 5 Comments

Photograph by Imaginechina/ Zuma/ Keystone

In the incestuous world of Chinese state-owned enterprises, there’s clearly not much stock put in clever brand marketing. Hence names like China Aerospace Industry Corp. and China Ocean Shipping—monikers that dryly convey what they do. Or used to do. Those government-owned companies and others have plunged into the red hot Chinese real estate development market. Now a bubble of epic proportions seems to be forming, and Beijing is desperately trying to rein it in.

Earlier this month officials ordered 78 state-owned enterprises to get out of the real estate game by April. Beijing has also put new rules in place requiring hefty down payments of 50 per cent for land developers. Last week the central government went so far as to temporarily halt all sales of residential land. The moves come as speculators continue to drive property values up at double digit rates in many big cities, even as tens of thousands of homes and whole apartment buildings sit empty. Houses in Shanghai now cost 90 times more than average incomes.

The $586 billion in stimulus spending Beijing injected into the domestic economy is one reason for the bubble. But the situation has been made worse since local governments, and by extension many state-run companies, now rely heavily on property sales for revenues. In fact, many local politicians are desperate to keep the boom going.

“[Beijing] has tried using standard policies like increasing taxes on land transfers to cool down the real estate markets and it didn’t work,” says Terry Sicular, an economist at the University of Western Ontario who studies China. “Now they’re trying to restrict the amount of development. It may be effective for a short time, but it doesn’t fix the underlying problems.” And that could make an already dangerous bubble even worse. M

Are real estate agents ripping you off?

By By Jason Kirby and Chris Sorensen - Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 11:01 AM - 180 Comments

Photographs by Deddeda

From the moment Robert Peden chose to sell his Victoria home, he was adamant not one penny would go to a full-service real estate agent. Instead, Peden is doing what a small but growing number of Canadian homeowners have opted to do—handle the sale on his own. “I’m not prepared to pay full-service real estate commissions because they’re totally out of whack,” he says. “No realtor is worth that kind of money.”

Tough words. But Peden isn’t just any aggrieved home seller. Thirty years ago he worked as a real estate agent himself. And he’s disturbed by what he’s seen happen over that time. Then, as now, commissions amounted to about five to seven per cent of a home’s sale price. But because the typical 1970s house sold at a fraction of today’s eye-popping levels, real estate commissions were around $2,500. Today, with Peden’s home worth an estimated $460,000, the commissions might easily hit $25,000. Even after factoring in inflation, realtor’s fees have exploded in size, and it’s left him wondering: what exactly do real estate agents do now that they didn’t 30 years ago to warrant such a staggering increase in pay? “The problem with realtors today is they’re more order takers than salesmen,” he says. “Honest to God, I think a used car salesman works harder at selling a car and earns a fifth of what these people make.”

When it comes to Canada’s other favourite pastime, real estate, griping about realtors is right up there with gossiping about house prices at cocktail parties and picking out marble countertops. But in recent weeks, the backlash against real estate commissions has taken on a more urgent tone. The Canadian Competition Bureau has set its sights on the way realtors have, for decades, operated and charged for their services, and in February it filed charges with the Competition Tribunal claiming realtors are engaged in anti-competitive behaviour. The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has fought back, labelling the accusations “fundamentally misconceived.” But however the battle plays out, don’t expect realtors to give up the outdated and expensive system for buying and selling homes without a fight. Critics call it a monopoly, and it’s made many in the industry very well off.

Continue…

Patrick Gordon Forbes Murdoch (1926-2010)

By Jenn Cutts - Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 8:00 AM - 2 Comments

Patrick Gordon Forbes Murdoch was born in Toronto on Dec. 26, 1926, to Arthur and Eleanor Murdoch. The youngest of five (after Jack, Betty, Bill and Jane), Pat was only five years old when Arthur was killed in a house fire. Eleanor, whose grandfather founded Toronto’s Cosgrave Brewery, moved the family to St. Clair Avenue, where Pat learned to skate and ski in nearby parks. Summers were spent at a cabin on the Moon River near Bala, Ont., where one of Pat’s first jobs was delivering blocks of ice. He was a bright boy, graduating early from De La Salle College, but also prone to mischief (harnessing himself on his skis to the backs of streetcars) and “breaking hearts earlier than the rest of us” with his “rugged good looks,” says cousin Burke Seitz.

By 1942, most of Pat’s friends were fighting in Europe, and Pat, at 16, was desperate to join them. After being turned away due to his age by the air force and the navy, he signed with the army and served as part of the liberating forces in Holland and Belgium (where brother Jack was killed in 1944). Returning to Canada, Pat worked as a ski instructor in Banff before he met a man who’d won a travelling carnival in a craps game. Pat signed on.

After months of travelling the U.S., Pat landed in California. He bought a cabin right on Malibu Beach, set up a furniture business, and learned to surf. He married Jackie Wetmore, and had two boys and a girl, Larry, Mike and Toni, adding to Jackie’s two, Christopher and Merrily. The large family of “tanned, tow-haired kids” and several dogs was well-known on the beach. Even Hollywood stars were charmed by Pat—Larry remembers Sammy Davis, Jr. taking the kids into town and joking that they should call him dad.
After six years on the beach, Pat heard about a ski area being built on Mammoth Mountain in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. There was the promise of plentiful work, but Pat’s third wife, Annie, thinks it was “the snow that was really calling him.” Pat moved the family into a cabin at the base of the mountain, and set about teaching his young children to ski. “We like to say we learned at the ski school of ‘You Better Keep Up,’ ” jokes Toni.

Continue…

Econowatch

By Jason Kirby - Friday, December 11, 2009 at 8:30 AM - 7 Comments

Even before Canada’s job market shifted back into high gear with Friday’s encouraging jobs report, it was clear something fundamental had changed. Never mind the recent prognostications by analysts about better days ahead. Sometimes all the cues you need can be found in the lives of the people behind the statistics.

Take the story of an employee we’ll call Janice who works at a small, struggling auto parts supplier outside Toronto. As the economy began to crumble last year, management put everyone on a four-day workweek and slashed pay, even as they rewarded themselves with bonuses. Workers weren’t happy, but what could they do? It was brutal out there.

Then a few days before the new employment data was released, the higher-ups tried to turn the screws again with more pay cuts. Only this time a couple of employees in the sales and accounting departments did something that even two months ago would have been unheard of—they told their boss to shove it. “Quitting felt so good,” Janice said, after giving her notice. And here’s the kicker: she didn’t even have another job lined up yet.

That, folks, is what economists describe as a rebound in confidence. But most people would just call it chutzpah. And it’s something we haven’t seen in the labour market for a very long time.

Make no mistake, the fact the economy added 79,000 new jobs in November doesn’t guarantee a prompt and speedy recovery. There are still vast numbers of Canadians out there fearful for their jobs. Younger workers in particular have felt the brunt of the recession, with an unemployment rate nearly twice the national average. Nor are investors convinced Canada’s economy is back on solid ground. It’s not gotten much attention yet, but Canada’s stock market has been sputtering sideways for months now, with the much-heralded rally actually ending back on Sept. 16, when the TSX closed at 11,555 points—almost exactly where it languishes today.

But put all that aside for a moment. During the recession Canadian employees were repeatedly asked to take one for the team. Yet prior to the downturn, Canada was in the throes of a labour shortage. As skilled workers begin to reassert themselves, the balance of power will shift back to its previous state. It may take some time, but you can bet many disgruntled employees are just plucking up the courage to follow in Janice’s footsteps.

THE GOOD NEWS

Building boom
The Canadian real estate sector continues to drive the country’s economic recovery even as some warn of the possibility of a housing bubble. Statistics Canada said the value of building permits hit a 13-month high of $6.1 billion in October, an increase of 18 per cent. Economists had predicted a one per cent jump.

TARP tamed
The Obama administration is planning to cut its Troubled Asset Relief Program by some $200 billion as Wall Street appears to be on the mend. The U.S. government now plans to spend just $141 billion over the next decade on the financial sector.

’Tis the e-season
U.S. online retailers enjoyed a five per cent jump in sales on the first Monday following American Thanksgiving, now known as Cyber Monday, the day when Americans return from a holiday spent window shopping and place online orders. The US$887 million that was spent equalled the busiest e-commerce day on record.

You’re hired
Restaurants, grocery stores and other retailers are hiring more employees, as confidence in the economic turnaround grows. In November, nearly four per cent of all job applications resulted in hires, the highest level so far this year.

THE BAD NEWS

Cool on cars
Automakers may be seeing a faint light at the end of the tunnel as North American sales of cars, trucks and SUVs gradually pick up—but Canadians don’t seem to be doing much of the buying. Car sales in Canada were down 2.9 per cent in November after driving off a cliff in October. By contrast, vehicle sales in the U.S. market were essentially flat year-over-year, with observers blaming the U.S. government’s Cash for Clunkers program for recent volatility in U.S. sales numbers.

Factory blues
Manufacturing levels in the U.S. did not increase as much as economists had hoped in November. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index fell two points from the month before to 53.6. Nevertheless, the index still shows an increase in output year-over-year, suggesting the economy continues to expand.

Busted
The number of U.S. companies and people being pushed into bankruptcy continues to soar. Bankruptcy petitions were up 26 per cent in November compared to the same time last year, according to data compiled from court filings by Jupiter eSources. The good news is there were slightly fewer bankruptcy petitions in November than October. Still, the first 11 months of this year resulted in 1.3 million U.S. bankruptcy filings, about 21 per cent more than in all of 2008.

Graph of the week

A real recovery • The very modest GDP growth in the third quarter suggested a recovery in Canada won’t be easy. But there are more encouraging signs that the recession is truly over. Both consumer spending and business investment posted the biggest gains since 2007.

Signs of the times

• Don’t stand between a banker and his bonus. The board of the Royal Bank of Scotland threatened to resign en masse after the British government suggested it might veto bonus payments for 20,000 investment bankers. Hundreds of the bankers have already reportedly quit in protest. The bank received a nearly $80-billion bailout last year, and has come under intense scrutiny for its bonus plans.
• Fore! Close! The game of golf has been sent running for cover by the recession. This year, 114 courses have closed in the U.S. as players cut back on green fees. Several others have been forced into bankruptcy as values of some courses have fallen as much as 50 per cent in the real estate crash. The industry has been hit by its own credit crunch, too, as golf course lenders have turned off the taps.
• Alligator farmers in Louisiana, the alligator farming capital of the world, have felt the bite of hard times. Last year, the farmers picked 500,000 wild alligator eggs. This year, they haven’t taken any as demand for luxury alligator skin products, from watch straps to hand bags, has disappeared. Their troubles have been made even worse by an oversupply of alligator skin in recent years.
• Damn the recession, it’s full speed ahead for the cruise ship industry. Royal Caribbean just launched Oasis of the Seas, a US$1.4-billion ship that rises 20 stories above the sea. Norwegian Cruise Line has an equally big ship in the works—the US$1.2-billion Norwegian Epic. Despite the downturn, the companies say they’re taking the long view with ships that will be plying the seas for 30 years.

Latest intelligence

After months of shedding workers, Canadian companies are finally hiring again. Some 79,100 jobs were created in November, including many in the key private sector. That blew by economists’ forecasts and, when combined with similarly positive U.S. jobs data, raised hopes that the economy is recovering faster than expected.

“Job numbers tend to be quite volatile, but there may be something to this.” - Eric Lascelles, chief economics and rates strategist, TD Securities

“November’s net hiring was all the more encouraging in that it included a swing back toward paid employment at the expense of self-employed jobs.” – Avery Shenfeld, chief economist, CIBC World Markets

“The solid November report offsets the prior month’s disappointing drop.” - Benjamin Reitzes, economist, BMO Capital Markets

“Canada’s economy is transitioning from recession to recovery.” - Sal Guatieri, senior economist, BMO Capital Markets

“This was a surprisingly strong report with details matching
the ‘wow’ factor in the headline print.” - Ian Pollick, strategist, TD Securities

“We consider this pace of job growth to be unsustainable.” - Millan Mulraine, economist, TD Securities

“With the unemployment decreasing and the participation rate rising, there is no doubt that the Canadian labour market is improving.” – Yanick Desnoyers, assistant chief economist, National Bank Financial

The Week Ahead

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11: The U.S. Census Bureau will release retail sales figures for November. Sales are expected to rise slightly.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 14: The capacity utilization rate of Canadian industries will be reported by Statistics Canada. The rate hit a record low of 67.4 per cent in the second quarter of this year.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16: Statistics Canada will report manufacturing sales for October. Sales were up 1.4 per cent in September.

Autumn house hunting

By macleans.ca - Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 4:39 PM - 24 Comments

By the end of the summer, it became clear Canada’s housing market is in the best shape it’s been since cratering last winter. In Vancouver, for instance, the number of sales in September was up 124 per cent over the previous year; in Toronto, sales were up 24 per cent. But as economists love to remind us, when demand goes up, so too do prices. Combined with an already short supply of houses on the market, this helped raise the average selling price by 11 per cent from the same quarter last year.

So, how far will your hard-earned cash take you in today’s market? Click below to find out.

Autumn house hunting: What $1 million will get you

By macleans.ca - Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 12:28 PM - 0 Comments

Click below to see what’s available in some of Canada’s largest markets.

Autumn house hunting: What $500,000 will get you

By macleans.ca - Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 12:28 PM - 1 Comment

Click below to see what’s available in some of Canada’s largest markets.

Autumn house hunting: What $350,000 will get you

By macleans.ca - Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 12:28 PM - 1 Comment

Click below to see what’s available in some of Canada’s largest markets.