Re: How Real Estate can Increase the quality of life in a city

Looks like Ryerson students are on the same wavelength

How Real Estate can Increase the quality of life in a city

Watching the video Baby Baby Baby by Make The Girl Dance I amazed at how the quality of life can be improved by creating more pedestrian friendly zones (I blogged about this previously here)



Imagine transforming your typical strip mall into a pedestrian friendly oasis where you can people watch, hang out and shop.

Here are some cool Ideas






Why is this important?

The new node becomes an attractive place to live, it increases the population density in the area..both of which increases real estate prices to the surrounding neighborhoods.

It's also great for the environment because makes places like Scarborough, Edmonton and Calgary more attractive ;-)...oh yea, less reliance on cars too

Most Skilled Immigrants Leaving U.S.

This video is a follow up to a previous blog post on bringing in skilled workers who can't get US visa into our major cities.


Vivek Wadwha in the interview illustrates how great an opportunity it is to poach these folks before the go back home to India and China.

Since many of these skilled workers are entrepreneurs, we could be opening up the red carpet to the next RIM in Canada.

More Skilled Entrepreneurial Immigrants = More RIM's = More Jobs + Higher Incomes + Population Increase = Price Increases for Real Estate and more prosperity for our country.

HST across Canada and Impacts to Alberta

Will Calgary's skyline getting better? Will Calgarians lose all those damn parking lots all over downtown?

It just might: Alberta is the only province without HST and financial services companies are not eligible for any HST tax credits. Think of the iconic buildings in Toronto, they are all home to the financial services industry.



Will we see an explosion of banking, insurance, pension fund management in Calgary and Edmonton because all of these companies in Toronto will see an 8% increase in costs?


We'll have to see how this plays out. Increased costs vs Being in close proximity with the best in your industry and your suppliers.

I can understand Ontario's position, Toronto is the hub of the Canadian financial world but their bread and butter is manufacturing (which will benefit the most from HST)

Recovery Picks Up in China as U.S. Still Ails

Interesting article from the New York Times here

The Chinese central bank said the country’s economy surged at an annualized rate of 14.9 percent in the second quarter. The United States economy shrank at an annual rate of 1 percent in that period.

Those worried that China was completely dependent on US consumers were wrong. Expect Canadian commodities to start recovering...as a result more jobs in resource towns..which in turn increases population density and raises rent and real estate prices. NICE

As an aside..this is a great example of motivations of government. Because of the massive layoffs, workers in factory towns that export goods started to protest and riot. Chinese government definitely doesn't want a revolution on their hands so pumped $1.2 Trillion to businesses and consumers and forced them to spend it..completely propping up the economy with lightning speed.

US is definitely not in revolution territory and the government doesn't control the banks so things do move as quickly.

Countdown Begins for Inside Toronto Real Estate

Check us out on Inside Toronto Real Estate on Rogers TV Wednesday 2p (Encore Friday and Saturday 11p) Starting September 23rd

Differing Views on Commercial Real Estate

Ok here's two views of commercial Real estate


Reprieve for REITs



"More equity and debt issues hit the market, and REITs on both sides of the border started to deleverage their bloated balance sheets. As a result, REIT units quickly raced off their market bottoms, rising 55% through Friday's close, compared with 43% for the broader benchmark here in Canada, and more than 80% in the U.S. versus 51% for the S&P 500. Simon Property, which plunged to US$25.95 in March, closed yesterday at US$64.77."

With increased liquidity, the Canadian REIT sector is now well positioned to address its debt due in the second half of the year and 2010, said Neil Downey, RBC Capital Markets analyst.




and

Price Waterhouse Coopers: Limited Buyers, Scarce money: Commercial Real Estate in Tough Times

PWC sees

- Tight industry-lending conditions

- A dearth in investor appetite for commercial mortgage backed

securities (CMBS)

- Expectations for higher capitalization rates which imply decreased

valuations

- Financial weakness and/or sluggish growth amongst tenants




According to CIBCWM, if you invested in a REIT you have earned 34.3% last year.

So who's right?

Seasoned experts who have been waiting for CAP rates to go up have been waiting a long time...in fact, some believe cap rates might go down further because interest rates are at historic lows. Lenders are giving 5 and 10 year mortgages at rates that would knock your socks off 10 years ago.

Let's see whats going to happen