‘I created millions for carrying out absolutely nothing!’: Vanilla Ice designed a genuine estate empire and is reportedly value $20M now
There is a long list of superstars who created a fortune and lost it all. Burt Reynolds, Mike Tyson and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson have all submitted for personal bankruptcy in the previous. Francis Ford Copolla has submitted for personal bankruptcy thrice!
Lots of believed Robert Van Winkle, much better identified as Vanilla Ice, would discover himself on that checklist after his songs vocation withered away.
Don't pass up
However, the rap star has managed to construct a business empire immediately after he still left the spotlight. Divorce data received by DailyMail.com showed that he was worth $9 million in 2018. In accordance to CelebrityNetWorth.com, his internet value is now at $20 million.
“I made millions for performing absolutely nothing!” Van Winkle advised comic Steve-O on a recent episode of his podcast "Steve-O's Wild Trip!"
Here’s how the 1-strike-wonder constructed a valuable real estate and media empire.
Fascinated with real estate
Van Winkle’s biggest profession split was his strike tune “Ice Ice Baby” introduced in August 1990. The track was an instantaneous strike and went on to develop into the celebration anthem of the 90s. “We ended up promoting a million data a day, simple!” he informed Steve-O.
Sad to say, Van Winkle’s rap vocation nosedived soon after “Ice Ice Baby,” but the keep track of was effective sufficient to enable him accumulate a massive portfolio of genuine estate.
He reported he purchased properties "all more than the region" that he "never ever utilized." When he made a decision to offload his qualities, Van Winkle claims he was astonished by how beneficial the investments had been. “They sold actually speedy and I designed millions for carrying out almost nothing! I failed to even transform the carpet ... and I go holy s— let us go get a bunch more of them.”
When one particular of his residences was wrecked by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, he made the decision to renovate it himself and sold it. This practical experience sparked a lifelong fascination with real estate. Van Winkle suggests he went to style university and worked as a standard contractor for quite a few decades.
As of 2018, he was building $800,000 a calendar year, in accordance to court paperwork launched in the course of his divorce at the time.
All this expertise getting and renovating homes gave him the instruments he essential to craft a long-expression business enterprise system.
Immediately after 30 years of investing in actual estate, Van Winkle says he has developed a video game strategy. He suggests he prefers to obtain attributes that are off-marketplace and not stated on the many listing support (MLS).
Off-current market offers are uncommon. Only 3% of homebuyers surveyed by the Nationwide Association of Realtors in 2023 reported they procured their property straight from the seller or realized the vendor as an alternative of heading by means of brokers or on the net listing solutions.
He also purchases distressed homes and residence tax liens. He suggests he "places out tax dockets on properties" which presents him a prospect to buy the property "for pennies on the dollar."
Renovating these attributes adds price, but Van Winkle also works by using the renovation course of action for written content. His fact Television collection "The Vanilla Ice Challenge" on the Do-it-yourself Network has 180 episodes across 13 seasons, incorporating a further supply of money for the savvy entrepreneur.
This diversified real estate and media empire has assisted the previous rap star expand and maintain his wealth.
What to go through following
This write-up offers information only and ought to not be construed as tips. It is provided with no warranty of any variety.
Queen Creek, a hot spot for new homes, saw a 13% jump in year-to-date new listings and a reasonably steady 83 days on the market, among the highest turnover times among the major Valley cities. The median price grew to $645,000, up 10.7% in year-to-date data compared to 2023.
The number of new listings continued to climb in May in year-to-date comparisons, according to the latest data from Phoenix REALTORS. The first five months in 2024 were up more than 17% compared to the same period of 2023.
Homes have also sold faster so far this year when compared to 2023, and the average days on the market dropped from 74 to 64. The year-to-date median sale price increased 6.4% to $479,000, with home sales closing at around 98% of the asking price, a steady position over the past 12 months.
“Frankly speaking, expectations for this year were that 2024 would be better than 2023,” said Sheryl Bowden, president of Phoenix REALTORS. “Instead, we’ve faced a tight inventory for buyers who were looking. And while sales have not been what was expected so far this year, it’s heartening to see new listings increased in May, opening more ownership opportunities.”
New listings are approaching 37,000 homes on the market, comparing 2024 with the same months last year. Looking at year-over-year data, 7,121 homes were added as new listings this year compared with 6,215 in May 2023, an increase of 17.2%.
“Looking at the Valley as a whole, the data is encouraging,” Bowden said. “Individual cities are showing diverse results.”
In Phoenix, listings for the first five months of 2024 grew 18% over last year, but pending sales dropped almost 15%. The median sales price increased 12.6% to $490,000. The number of days on the market through the end of May fell from 68 to 54, down 20.6%.
Queen Creek, a hot spot for new homes, saw a 13% jump in year-to-date new listings and a reasonably steady 83 days on the market, among the highest turnover times among the major Valley cities. The median price grew to $645,000, up 10.7% in year-to-date data compared to 2023.
In the West Valley, Goodyear saw a nearly 23% increase in listings and a 10% year-to-date decline in pending sales. The median sales price grew modestly, just 2.4%, compared to year-to-date numbers. The number of days on the market dropped to 58 in May 2024 when looking back at 74 in May 2023. The 21.6% decline was one of the most significant improvements in the market.
“The Northwest Valley is seeing a lot of activity generated by the workers looking to live near the new semiconductor manufacturing and support facilities in Deer Valley,” Bowden said. “While Phoenix is seeing increased development in the area of TSMC and its supporting companies, Peoria and Surprise have inventory coming onto the market now.”
A 29% increase in new listings means Peoria had one of the most extensive listing jumps in year-to-date data for 2024 over 2023. While closed sales were down across the Valley in the first five months of 2024, they were down just 2.9% in Peoria. The median home price increased by 7% to $535,000.
“Interest rates continue to drop, encouraging homeowners to list properties for sale,” said Bowden. “While many buyers are just accepting rates, as they come down, more buyers should be able to qualify for mortgages.”

The Canadian Actual Estate Affiliation claims the variety of residences transforming palms in April fell from the preceding thirty day period in spite of an inflow of new listings hitting the market place.

On a month-in excess of-thirty day period foundation, CREA mentioned household gross sales in April were down 1.7 for each cent, when recently detailed qualities available for sale rose 2.8 for every cent to kick off the spring industry.

The common rate of a dwelling sold final thirty day period amounted to $703,446, down 1.8 per cent from April 2023, according to details produced Wednesday by the affiliation.

House revenue rose 10.1 for every cent compared with a 12 months back, but CREA attributed the attain mainly to the early Easter prolonged weekend. Great Friday and Easter landed on March 29 and March 31 this year in comparison with April 7 and 9 very last calendar year.

CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart stated this spring has viewed contrasting situations compared with the identical season past calendar year.

“April 2023 was characterised by a surge of buyers re-moving into a marketplace with new listings at 20-calendar year lows, while this spring so significantly has been the reverse, with a much healthier range of homes to opt for from but fewer enthusiasm on the demand from customers aspect,” he reported in a press release.

Slower every month income amid far more new listings intended there was a 6.5 per cent leap in the general number of houses on the industry — the 2nd premier month-in excess of-month attain on file.

The nationwide housing industry is also observing the best stock concentrations since just right before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 4.2 months of inventory at the close of April, compared with 3.9 months at the finish of March.

The long-phrase normal is about 5 months of inventory.

Jason Ralph, broker of record for Royal LePage Workforce Realty in Ottawa, mentioned that though local stock ranges in his sector are not really as superior as the countrywide figures, somewhat balanced situations are giving prospective buyers more negotiating electric power.

"Balanced markets tend to be a put where buyers can have problems like property inspections, funding situations," he stated in an interview.

"We take into account it a minor little bit a lot more of a good industry exactly where neither consumers or sellers have, let's phone it, an benefit."

He additional now is a excellent time to obtain, even as some remain cautious about when the Lender of Canada will start out chopping its crucial curiosity amount.

"There are some prospective buyers on the sidelines ready for that constructive news release with the interest level drop, but I see far more potential buyers [coming] out of the woodwork," claimed Ralph.

"We've had a quite solid begin to the 12 months when compared to past year ... I consider folks are getting to be a minimal bit much more cozy with the costs that we are heading to be dealing with."

Also on Wednesday, Canada Property finance loan and Housing Corp. released its newest knowledge on housing starts off for April, displaying the once-a-year rate of starts off edged down one for every cent compared with March.

The in general fall came as the yearly pace of starts off in city centres essentially flatlined in April. The nationwide housing company claimed last year's tough borrowing ailments contributed to the downward trend.

 This report by The Canadian Press was very first released Might 15, 2024.
Prospective homebuyers question queries on housing tasks at a authentic estate agency in Beijing in March. [JIANG QIMING/CHINA NEWS SERVICE]
China"s genuine estate marketplace is expected to become completely stabilized in the 2nd 50 percent of 2024, ending a three-12 months adjustment period, if the most current rounds of highly supportive policy actions are very well applied to boost homebuyer assurance and relieve liquidity anxiety among the builders, authorities claimed on Friday.
They also count on restrictions on housing buys and loans will be gradually phased out, even though more coverage measures could be desired to fortify market place anticipations and speed up recovery of the sector.
Chinese authorities on Friday eased home finance loan procedures and vowed to battle the tough struggle of dealing with the chance of unfinished professional housing. They also asked to market presold property deliveries, cut down housing inventories and enhance financing for developers. Share charges of developers on A-share markets subsequently surged.
On Friday, the state removed business house loan fee minimums for very first and second properties nationwide, and lowered bare minimum down payment ratios for to start with and next residences, respectively, to 15 percent and 25 percent.
It also introduced the establishment of a 300 billion yuan ($41.51 billion) relending facility for inexpensive housing to really encourage and information economic institutions to help community State-owned enterprises in buying unsold accomplished industrial housing at suitable costs — to be applied as both sale-oriented or rental-oriented reasonably priced housing — in accordance with sector-oriented and regulation-primarily based concepts.
Beginning from Saturday, it will minimize desire charges for personalized housing provident fund financial loans by .25 percentage points.
In another advancement, at a information convention in Beijing on Friday, it was introduced that new steps will be introduced to aid regional governments to recall or buy back again unused household land parcels held by home developers to assistance minimize their economic tension. Governments in towns with excessive household inventories can arrange local Point out-owned enterprises to get unsold properties at acceptable charges and change them into economical housing, it said.
"Centering on lowering mortgage loan premiums, loosening residence invest in constraints and encouraging community government buys of unsold homes to transform them into inexpensive housing, the latest rounds of coverage steps will supply potent guidance for both of those supply and demand sides in the authentic estate sector," claimed Wang Qing, chief macroeconomic analyst at Golden Credit rating Ranking Worldwide.
"This will advertise presold house shipping and alter the ongoing craze of a considerable calendar year-on-year decrease in accomplished areas of professional houses considering the fact that the start off of the yr. Additionally, it will efficiently lower inventory tension, relieve the financial pressure on builders and greater manage default pitfalls," Wang mentioned.
The desire level for new mortgages prolonged to citizens was 3.69 percent by the end of March, stated the People's Lender of China, the country's central bank. The real mortgage loan price, on an upward pattern given that 2021, was believed to be amongst the optimum in background specified the at this time very low inflation concentrations, which was a key aspect fundamental the downward strain in the property marketplace irrespective of supportive policies in area, Wang mentioned.
"That usually means there is sizeable coverage area for supporting the residence industry, and if these adjustments are designed in a timely method, the sector could stand a very good possibility of stabilizing," he additional.
Yan Yuejin, director of the Shanghai-based mostly E-residence China Study and Growth Institution, mentioned the new progress also signaled that efforts to improve land utilization across various destinations are set to accelerate, which will aid authentic estate builders convert their land inventory into dollars and therefore reduce their liquidity stress.
"In the earlier, insurance policies to make improvements to land use generally focused on minimizing land idleness and squander. This time, having said that, it is very clear that the emphasis has shifted towards principally assuaging the challenges confronted by authentic estate enterprises and lowering their personal debt burdens," Yan reported.
Wang Xingping, senior analyst of corporates at rating company Fitch Bohua, explained the new policy measures were "unprecedently supportive" of the residence sector.
Yet the extended assets market place downturn, in tandem with downward macroeconomic stress, has severely dampened current market confidence, Wang mentioned, adding, "There is continue to a superior chance for much more supportive procedures aimed at stimulating revenue in the short operate, which will help to constrain the drop in property product sales."
Chinese cities described further home rate drops in April equally in year-on-year and month-on-thirty day period phrases, which indicated that the residence market stays in a procedure of adjustment, said Wang Zhonghua, a statistician with the National Bureau of Statistics' city division.
Value declines broadened month-on-thirty day period in all the tier-three towns for both of those new residences and pre-owned attributes, reported Wang of the NBS.
Lu Ting, main China economist at Nomura, said the task of ensuring the delivery of presold residences retains the critical to halting the "downward spiral" facing China's residence marketplace.
Households' unwillingness to invest in attributes has intensified real estate developers' liquidity anxiety, which, in switch, even further impeded home supply and discouraged property getting, Lu explained. "It is for that reason reasonable for the central govt to set up a fund exclusively focused to guaranteeing housing shipping."
Whilst home loan premiums in Canada are beginning to development reduce, there is regrettably little aid on the horizon for possible homebuyers, as affordability circumstances continued to worsen in most cities — which include Toronto — throughout the thirty day period of April.
The most up-to-date affordability examination by Ratehub.ca paints a somber photograph of the country's present-day true estate marketplace, finding that it became tougher to qualify for a home finance loan in 10 out of 13 significant marketplaces in Canada last thirty day period owing to increasing residence costs.
The report analyzed the bare minimum yearly earnings essential to get an average property in major Canadian metropolitan areas primarily based on April 2024 and March 2024 real estate details, although also using into account how mortgage rates and the mortgage anxiety check are impacting the income desired to get a residence.
In accordance to the examine, the regular five-12 months mounted home loan rate decreased a little bit between March and April from 5.62 for every cent to 5.5 per cent.
The common mortgage loan anxiety test — which involves borrowers to prove that they could find the money for to have their mortgage at a fee of two per cent or larger than the one they receive from their lender — also sits at 7.5 for each cent.
"The two critical variables that impact home affordability, residence values and fascination costs, moved in reverse directions," said James Laird, Co-CEO of Ratehub.ca.
"Curiosity premiums are down and residence values are up in 12 out of 13 towns we seemed at. The raise in household values was adequate this sort of that affordability worsened in 10 of 13 cities even with the level drop."
The data collected was dependent on a property finance loan with a 20 for every cent down payment, 25-calendar year amortization, $4,000 once-a-year property taxes and $150 regular heating. Average household costs were sourced from the CREA MLS Home Price tag Index (HPI).
In Toronto precisely, the normal household value in March 2024 was $1,113,600 and $1,128,100 in April 2024, representing a transform of $14,500 —the 2nd-best raise witnessed in Canada moreover Halifax.
How a great deal you need to have to make to be equipped to afford a property in major Canadian towns. Supply: Ratehub.ca.
The research also uncovered that the cash flow expected to acquire an typical property in Toronto in March was $217,500, a figure that increased to a staggering $218,050 in April.
Regardless of the increase, the newest info release from the Canadian Genuine Estate Association (CREA) reveals that an boost in listings has resulted in the most "balanced marketplace conditions we have witnessed at the countrywide level given that before the pandemic" this spring.
"House loan costs are continue to higher, and it continues to be complicated for a whole lot of persons to split into the market," said James Mabey, Chair of CREA's 2024-2025 Board of Administrators.
"For those who can, it is the initially spring marketplace in some time wherever they can store around, get their time and exercise some bargaining energy. Given how substantially desire is out there, it can be really hard to say how extended it will final," Mabey continued.
In accordance to Ratehub.ca, it is really anticipated that homebuyers will return to the authentic estate industry at the time the Bank of Canada starts off chopping its lending amount, which could occur as early as the future announcement on June 5, 2024.
!operate(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
if(f.fbq)returnn=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.implement(n,arguments):n.queue.drive(arguments)
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=nn.force=nn.loaded=!0n.model='2.0'
n.queue=[]t=b.createElement(e)t.async=!
t.src=vs=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window,document,'script',
'https://link.facebook.web/en_US/fbevents.js')
fbq('init', '833832351168298')
fbq('track', 'PageView')
window.freshDaily.facebookPromise = new Guarantee(perform (take care of, reject)
(operate (d, s, id)
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]
if (d.getElementById(id)) return
js = d.createElement(s)
js.id = id
js.src = "https://link.fb.web/en_US/sdk.js"
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs)
(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'))
The CRA identified $957 million in unpaid income taxes over eight years of audits targeting B.C. real estate, more than five times the amount in Ontario, which has three times B.C.'s population
Get the latest from Dan Fumano straight to your inbox
Published May 14, 2024 • Last updated May 15, 2024 • 5 minute read
You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.
After taking a deeper look into B.C.'s real estate sector, Canada's tax regulator has uncovered $1.3 billion in unpaid tax bills.Photo by Francis Georgian /PNG
Article content
After taking a deeper look into B.C.’s real estate sector, Canada’s tax regulator has uncovered $1.3 billion in unpaid tax bills.
The Canada Revenue Agency has dramatically ramped up its auditing of real estate in recent years, scrutinizing both personal transactions and professional activities.
The agency has found “a disproportionate amount of non-compliance” in Canada’s largest metropolitan centres, with Metro Vancouver “identified as an area that requires our unique attention,” said Jason Charron, director general of the CRA’s compliance programs branch, recently. “We’re continuing to focus on the Lower Mainland, where we know there’s non-compliance.”
Advertisement 2
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.
Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.
Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.
Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.
Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.
Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.
Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.
Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.
Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one account.
Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.
Enjoy additional articles per month.
Get email updates from your favourite authors.
Sign In or Create an Account
or
Article content
Since launching a dedicated real estate task force in 2019, the CRA has mostly focused on Ontario and B.C., increasing the number of audits performed, sending out reassessment notices for billions in additional taxes the agency believes should be paid, and levying hundreds of million dollars in penalties.
In Ontario, the agency assessed $1.4 billion in unpaid taxes and penalties in the real estate sector between 2015 and 2023. B.C., which has about a third of Ontario’s population, had almost the same amount of tax non-compliance identified over the same period: $1.3 billion.
These real estate audits looked at a wide range of activities and entities: property-sellers illegitimately claiming the principal residence exemption, unreported capital gains, people who reside outside of Canada and invest in property here, share transfers and corporate structures designed to mask a property’s beneficial owners, and the activities of homebuilders and realtors.
Although the total value of unpaid taxes and penalties found in B.C. and Ontario was similar, the nature of non-compliance was markedly different in the two provinces. In Ontario, most non-compliance identified by the CRA in real estate was related to unpaid GST and HST on new homes or inappropriately claimed rebates on those taxes. In B.C., most of the non-compliance related to income tax.
Sunrise
Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion.
By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
Article content
Advertisement 3
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Data provided by the CRA shows that the agency identified $957 million in income tax-related non-compliance in B.C. real estate between 2015 and 2023, more than five times the amount found in the larger province of Ontario, at $178 million, over the same period.
The CRA says confidentiality laws prevent the release of information about the audits, but sent a written statement that said, in general, the income tax-related non-compliance included:
• Situations where a taxpayer acquired an expensive home without a clear reported source of income
• Profits from the quick flipping of homes that aren’t properly reported as taxable business income
• People, including those who aren’t residents of Canada, failing to report capital gains on sales of real estate
• Unreported income earned outside of Canada
• Non-compliance by realtors and developers.
The CRA declined to say how which categories the $957 million broke into — for example, how much was related to property flippers or developers or non-residents — citing the need to protect taxpayer information and maintain “the integrity of our risk assessment system.”
Advertisement 4
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
The number of income tax-related audits CRA conducted in B.C. real estate increased by almost 10 times between the 114 audit files opened in the 2015 fiscal year and the 1,089 opened last year.
There has been a corresponding boom in what the agency calls “audit assessments,” meaning the combined value of unpaid taxes still owing and penalties levied. Income tax-related audit assessments related to B.C. real estate averaged $6.4 million annually for the two fiscal years between 2015 and 2017, and shot up to an average of $155.1 million annually over the most recent two-year period, a 2,300 per cent increase.
Canada’s 2019 federal budget included $50 million over five years for the CRA to create a real estate task force, with specialized audit teams. Last month, the 2024 budget boosted that funding to $73 million for the next five years.
This work seems to be “paying for itself and then some,” said Tom Davidoff, an associate professor at the University of B.C.’s Sauder School of Business. The findings show there was “obviously” some kind of problem with tax compliance in this sector, he said, “but what we don’t know is how big of a problem it is now … If there was a problem and they solved it, that would be fantastic.”
Advertisement 5
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
For years, many British Columbians were “ringing the bell” about people cheating on their taxes with real estate dealings, said Davidoff, director of UBC’s Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate. This recent crackdown might not make housing in B.C. significantly more affordable, he said, “but it’s real money and it’s certainly useful to get it back where it belongs.”
Davidoff co-authored a 2022 paper published in The Canadian Tax Journal, which examined the top five per cent of Greater Vancouver homes had a median value of $3.7 million, while the median owner paid income taxes of just $15,800. This was the lowest correlation of property values to income tax contributions of any North American city, the authors wrote, concluding that “most luxury homes in Greater Vancouver appear to be purchased with wealth derived from sources other than earnings taxed in Canada.”
Considering these earlier findings, Davidoff said it makes sense that the CRA’s recent audits of B.C. real estate uncovered income tax “chicanery.”
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Canadians for Tax Fairness, a non-profit tax policy advocacy group, said it welcomes the CRA “doing more to ensure that the real estate sector complies with tax laws, and we encourage the government to adequately fund the CRA so they can do their job.”
In an emailed statement, Canadians for Tax Fairness spokeswoman Erica Shiner said: “Tax avoidance continues to be a problem in many sectors, costing Canadians billions in revenue each year.”
Douglas Todd: Luxury homeowners in Metro Vancouver pay low income taxes, says UBC study
Homeowner claims injustice in B.C.’s use of new law to demand source of money to buy house
B.C. uses new law to demand house owners explain where they got the money to buy it
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.
Asian equities were sharply higher this week, led by Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Taiwan, though Mainland China markets were flat.
This week was a busy one for internet earnings as Tencent and JD.com beat estimates handily while Alibaba and Baidu reported mixed results.
Real estate was also in focus this week as news of a government effort to purchase unsold apartments to stabilize prices led to gains in developer stocks.
Inflation reports were further impacting markets this week as China reported higher-than-expected growth in consumer prices, a good sign for its economy, and the US’ softer-than-expected CPI print contributed to a risk-on atmosphere globally.
Key News
Asia ended the week higher as Mainland China and Hong Kong outperformed while South Korea was off.
It was an interesting session overnight. Hong Kong and Mainland China bounced around the room before slipping following April economic releases. This is despite Vice Premier He Lifeng’s comments on real estate policy support. Then, markets went absolutely vertical after the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central bank, announced three policies to support the real estate market.
The PBOC’s real estate three-pronged stimulus package involves: (1) providing RMB 300 billion ($41.5 billion) worth of loans to local governments to buy unsold apartments (really RMB 500 billion, assuming it represents 60% of the loan principal) at an interest rate of 1.75%, (2) lowering the minimum down payment for first-time home buyers’ mortgages to 15% and to 25% for second homes, (3) lowering the mortgage rate for first-time home buyers for loans of 5-years or less by 0.25% to 2.35% and to 2.85% for longer-term loans (2.78% and 3.33% for second-time home buyers).
This is the closest to the policy bazooka we’ve seen in addressing the multiple facets of real estate’s impact on China’s economy. Multiple agencies including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, and the Ministry of Natural Resources released statements around these top-down policy changes. The facets of economic impact are (1) depressed property developers creating a financial crisis (i.e. China’s Lehman moment though no one believes the government would allow a financial crisis to unfold right in front of them), (2) the lack of property development, which means fewer jobs, (3) fewer new apartments, which means less demand for home appliances, furnishings, etc., and (4) lower property prices, which have been weighing on household wealth and thereby domestic consumption (60% of China’s household wealth is tied to housing). This is a real step-up in policy. Yes, it is not a magic bullet that will suddenly solve the above issues, but it will help.
April new home prices declined -0.58% from March and existing home prices fell -0.94% from March.
Did you notice all the “buts” in Western media reporting on this topic? Foreign investor confidence in China, especially amongst US investors, is low, which explains the skepticism. Why bother when the Magnificent 7 goes up every day? That is true, until it doesn’t.
In China they call the PBOC “Big Momma” because you don’t mess with the PBOC. Investors in China and Asia will recognize that when the government pivots, you should too!
Real estate was the top-performing sector in Mainland China, where it gained +7.94%, and Hong Kong, where it gained +5.42%. Developer China Vanke gained +19.37% and Sunac gained +25.85%.
Knowing professional investors are underweight China, it is not surprising that trading desks were busy overnight. Think about all those emerging market funds that own Nvidia and Microsoft
Microsoft
! Hong Kong trading volume was lower than yesterday, though still 178% of the 1-year average led by Tencent, which gained +0.36%, Alibaba, which gained +7.53% after short selling firm Citron re-recommended the stock, Ping An Insurance, which gained +5.7%, Meituan, which fell -0.48%, and China Construction Bank, which fell -0.85%. It is interesting that Tencent’s market capitalization is $476 billion versus Alibaba’s $213 billion, though I suspect that Alibaba will receive some TLC from mainland investors once added to Southbound Stock Connect this fall.
The Hang Seng closed above 19,500 as Mainland China outperformed Hong Kong.
Chart1
KraneShares
In last night’s economic release, industrial production was stronger-than-expected though retail sales surprisingly came in lower. Meanwhile, online retail sales were relatively strong. Property investment was unsurprisingly lower, along with property sales. Remember our trading buddy Dave’s saying – “if market no care, you no care”.
I recommend checking out Charlie Munger’s interview on the Acquired podcast. He had interesting comments on investing in China, including a discussion of Berkshire Hathaway’s
Berkshire Hathaway
BYD investment.
The Hang Seng and Hang Seng Tech indexes gained +0.91% and Wayne Gretzky +0.99%, respectively, on volume that decreased -12.49% from yesterday, which is 178% of the 1-year average. 333 stocks advanced while 150 declined. Main Board short turnover declined -17.92% from yesterday, which is 139% of the 1-year average, as 14% of turnover was short turnover (remember Hong Kong short turnover includes ETF short volume, which is driven by market makers’ hedging). All factors were positive as value and large caps outperformed. The top-performing sectors were Real Estate, which gained +5.41%, Consumer Discretionary, which gained +2.65%, and Financials, which gained +1.24%. Meanwhile, Health Care fell -0.82%, Technology fell -0.38%, and Consumer Staples fell -0.1%. The top-performing subsectors were real estate services, insurance, and retail. Meanwhile household/personal products, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals were among the worst-performing. Southbound Stock Connect volumes were high, almost twice the 1-year average as Mainland investors bought a net $763 million worth of Hong Kong-listed stocks and ETFs, including Bank of China, which was a large net buy, Tencent, and China Construction Bank.
Shanghai, Shenzhen, and the STAR Board gained +1.01%, +1.18%, and +1.06%, respectively, on volume that increased +4.6% from yesterday, which is 104% of the 1-year average. 3,295 stocks advanced while 1,585 stocks declined. All factors were positive as value and large caps outperformed. The top-performing sectors were Real Estate, which gained +7.93%, Financials, which gained +1.48%, and Materials, which gained +1.26%. Meanwhile, Health Care was the only negative sector, falling -0.41%. The top-performing subsectors were real estate, insurance, and chemical fibers, while motorcycles, power generation equipment, and household appliances were among the worst-performing subsectors. Northbound Stock Connect volumes were average as foreign investors sold a net -$875 million worth of Mainland stocks. CNY was flat and the Asia Dollar Index was lower versus the US dollar. Treasury bonds rallied. Copper and steel were both up 1.17%, which I have never seen before.
Upcoming Webinar
Join us on May 29th, 2024 at 9 pm EDT for:
China Rising? Unveiling The Potential Drivers of A Sustained Equity Bull Market
The content in this section is supplied by GlobeNewswire for the purposes of distributing press releases on behalf of its clients. Postmedia has not reviewed the content.
You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.
Article content
Transaction unlikely to receive regulatory approval in a timely manner; Altus Group maintains focus on organic strategy to enhance consistency and transparency of valuations within the CRE industry
TORONTO, May 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Altus Group Limited (“Altus Group” or the “Company”) (TSX: AIF), a leading provider of asset and fund intelligence for commercial real estate (“CRE”), announced today that it has delivered a termination notice with respect to its previously announced acquisition of Situs Group LLC’s (“Situs”) commercial real estate valuation and advisory services (“REVS”) business. Despite extensive engagement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) over the past six months, Altus Group believes that the transaction was unlikely to receive regulatory approval in a timely manner. In connection with the termination of this transaction, Altus Group will pay a US$3 million termination fee to Situs.
Advertisement 2
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, Victoria Wells and others.
Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.
Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.
National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.
Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.
SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, Victoria Wells and others.
Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.
Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.
National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.
Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.
REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one account.
Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.
Enjoy additional articles per month.
Get email updates from your favourite authors.
Sign In or Create an Account
or
Article content
Article content
“We are disappointed that we cannot move forward with a deal we believe would benefit all stakeholders and contribute towards our efforts to bring greater consistency and transparency of valuations across the CRE industry,” said Jim Hannon, Chief Executive Officer. “This opportunity would have led to improved compliance reporting of valuations and provided our clients and their investors with deeper insights on the performance of their CRE assets. Moving forward, Altus Group is strongly positioned to execute on our organic strategy to deliver best-in-class valuation intelligence to our clients.”
Altus Group’s Valuation Management Solutions (“VMS”) business boasts an impressive organic growth track record and Altus Group believes it is well positioned to take advantage of its large addressable market opportunity. While the REVS transaction offered exciting opportunities for all stakeholders, Altus Group can deliver on its organic strategy to expand client value through superior asset and fund-level intelligence and new innovative analytics offerings that help clients manage the performance and risk of their real estate assets. The Company’s 2024 technology roadmap includes new analytics capabilities launching this year, including enhancing Altus Group’s portfolio performance and valuation offers with powerful new analytics tools. The Company will continue investing in its VMS business to further enhance its financial profile.
Top Stories
Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.
By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
Article content
Advertisement 3
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
About Altus Group
Altus Group is a leading provider of asset and fund intelligence for commercial real estate. We deliver intelligence as a service to our global client base through a connected platform of industry-leading technology, advanced analytics, and advisory services. Trusted by the largest CRE leaders, our capabilities help commercial real estate investors, developers, proprietors, lenders, and advisors manage risks and improve performance returns throughout the asset and fund lifecycle. Altus Group is a global company headquartered in Toronto with approximately 3,000 employees across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. For more information about Altus (TSX: AIF) please visit www.altusgroup.com.
Forward-looking Information
Certain information in this Press Release may constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All information contained in this press release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, the discussion of the Company’s business, strategies, investment intent and expectations of future performance. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by use of words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “intend”, “plan”, “would”, “could”, “should”, “continue”, “goal”, “objective”, “remain” and other similar terminology.
Advertisement 4
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Forward-looking information is not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events. Forward-looking information is based on, among other things, opinions, assumptions, estimates and analyses that, while considered reasonable by us at the date the forward-looking information is provided, inherently are subject to significant risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that may not be known and may cause actual results, performance or achievements, industry results or events to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. The material factors or assumptions that we identified and applied in drawing conclusions or making forecasts or projections set out in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: engagement and product pipeline opportunities in Analytics will result in associated definitive agreements; the size of the addressable market opportunity for VMS, continued adoption of cloud subscriptions by the Company’s customers; retention of material clients and bookings; sustaining the Company’s software and subscription renewals; successful execution of the Company’s business strategies; consistent and stable economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets including stable interest rates and credit availability for commercial real estate; consistent and stable legislation in the various countries in which we operate; consistent and stable foreign exchange conditions; no disruptive changes in the technology environment; and the absence of negative financial and other impacts resulting from strategic investments or acquisitions on short term results; successful integration of acquired businesses; and continued availability of qualified professionals.
Advertisement 5
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Inherent in the forward-looking information are known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to differ materially from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Those risks include, but are not limited to those described in the Company’s annual publicly filed documents, including the Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2023 (which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca).
Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information as a prediction of actual results. The forward-looking information reflects management’s current expectations and beliefs regarding future events and operating performance and is based on information currently available to management. Although The Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information contained herein, there are other factors that could cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained herein is current as of the date of this press release and, except as required under applicable law, we do not undertake to update or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Altus Group, the Company’s financial or operating results, or the Company’s securities.
For yrs, True World Assets (RWAs), these types of as authentic estate, have been cornerstones in world wide portfolios. Nevertheless, the extensive-achieving probable of these protected investments has been hindered by the shackles imposed by worldwide financial devices. Investors have had to wrestle with bureaucratic purple tape, regulatory inconsistencies, and the complexities of setting up asset validity and possession, presenting formidable obstructions to investing abroad.
Having said that, chopping-edge progress in Internet3 and blockchain systems are set to disrupt this conventional model. These innovative applications will permit trustless transactions that bypass age-outdated financial middlemen. Extra importantly, these digital transactions lend unshakeable evidence of possession and asset authenticity, addressing debilitating considerations about credibility.
In essence, we’re conversing about the dawn of an economical, protected, and obtainable platform to explore global investment alternatives. Picture an financial investment ecosystem that facilitates global transactions effortlessly, simplifies economical complexity and beckons traders around the world. Serious estate, now an expense staple, is established to surge with newfound vigor.
World-wide-web3 and blockchain technological innovation retains the energy to completely transform actual estate transactions radically. By clever contracts, transactions will be automated, activated as soon as pre-recognized problems are satisfied, correctly reducing conventional middlemen’s dependence. Present intermediaries, like banking companies and attorneys, commonly guarantee agreement compliance. Nonetheless, Website3’s application guarantees this compliance is automatic, clear, and secured through engineering.
This morphed landscape slashes expenditures and transaction moments, but it also surfaces strategic gains. By minimizing conventional intermediaries, World wide web3 permits a broader demographic to dip their toes in serious estate expenditure – an chance previously confined by economical resources or deficiency of authorized and regulatory experience.
One of the trailblazers in this transformation is the MultiBank Team. Recognizing the prospective electricity of Web3, the firm has leveraged these nascent technologies in the authentic estate sector by means of its subsidiary, MultiBank.io. Adhering to world wide money polices though employing an unassailable method, MultiBank.io assures their transactions are correct, responsible, and irrefutable – supplying a crystal-obvious report of ownership.
Yet another sizeable pioneer building strides in actual estate digitalization is Blocksquare. Utilizing their one of a kind computer software-as-a-services (SaaS) system, Blocksquare turns tangible authentic estate belongings into digital tokens. This ingenuity guarantees operations continue being lawful and scalable, earning home financial investment administration purposely flexible and adaptable. Fueled by ‘tokenomics’ – building an economic procedure exactly where tokens maximize in worth, Blocksquare has properly gathered a $94.8 million tokenized asset portfolio nested in 107 buildings across 21 nations and is primed for the neo-brokerage market.
In this speedily modifying real estate investment decision sector, Blocksquare’s devotion to stability, efficiency, and transparency – facilitated by blockchain giants like Ethereum and Uniswap – establishes a sturdy, reliable electronic actual estate room.
The marriage of Web3 and tokenization will not only make investments a lot easier to acquire, but also totally dissolve the have to have for intermediaries to build rely on. By reworking serious estate into transferable digital tokens, the technological innovation invites an totally new era of investors formerly deterred by geographic hurdles, fiscal constraints, or complex governmental polices.
A shining pillar of this innovative motion is blockchain technological innovation. With its inherent stability and transparency, inconceivable stages of corruption and dishonesty can be thwarted, all the whilst accelerating transactions and optimistically slicing down on costs. As ultra-protected, token-centered ownership transfers start off to swap regular home transactions, the actual estate market place opens up like by no means in advance of, inviting fluidity, adaptability, and vibrancy.
Embracing Web3 and tokenization in the planet of actual estate is not just a mere improvement it is a seismic shift that expands obtain, upswings protection, and amplifies industry response.
This change basically redefines the contours of true estate financial investment, widening participation to a world wide viewers even though guarding the integrity of belongings by means of technological innovation. The consequence? An empowered pool of specific buyers and the potent opportunity to impact broader economic trends, fostering unprecedented marketplace enhancement and balance.
It's not everyday that one of the largest real estate brokerages in the country gets sold, so it was big news when Sutton Group announced on December 7, 2023 that it had been acquired.
Who acquired Sutton Group made it even bigger news, as the brokerage had been bought by Ross McCredie, the Founder of Sotheby's International Realty Canada, real estate investment company Dundee 360, and wealth management platform RealWealth.
In between founding and growing those companies, McCredie also spent some time in the US, where he served as Chief Global Strategist for Pacific Union, leading the sale of the company to Compass to create the largest independent brokerage in the US.
After bringing the Sotheby's brand to Canada in 2004, McCredie served as President & CEO as the company expanded across 30 markets and grew to have a roster of over 900 realtors.
Just about two decades later, he's now buying into a brokerage that's already well-established, with over 200 offices across Canada and a roster of more than 6,000 agents.
In an interview with STOREYS in late-April, McCredie discusses how he grew Sotheby's, the rebranding of Sutton Group that was launched this week, and how he wants to change the real estate industry.
I wanted to start off by going back about 20 years, when you founded Sotheby’s International Realty Canada. What was the driving force there? Why was it something you wanted to do?
At the time, I was running Intrawest in Whistler — developing, sales, and marketing — and we were just seeing more and more international buyers, especially in the higher end of the market. I was always looking for different ways, as a developer and developer's rep, to figure out the best way to reach these foreign buyers and international markets.
Sotheby's Auction House had done a licensing agreement with Realogy, which had Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, so I reached out to them in 2004 and said "Hey, I'd love to figure out what you guys are gonna do in Canada because I'm really interested in the Sotheby's brand," and that's how that started.
I wasn't a real estate agent — I've actually never been a real estate agent — so we bought the rights to Canada and I asked my wife to go out and get a real estate license. I just saw a huge opportunity to get an iconic brand like Sotheby's, which has been around since 1744, and owning the rights to Canada seemed like a smart move at the time.
You acquire the Canadian rights and then you set out to grow the company. What was your approach? Looking back at it now, what do you think were some of the key moves? Anything you’d perhaps do differently in hindsight?
We started the first office and we had one agent, which was my wife, and we had no staff. Over the course of 12 years, we opened 40 offices across the country, we recruited all of the people ourselves, we owned and operated each of the offices, and we didn't franchise even though I could've franchised.
I was a bit of a control freak and I really felt like the power of the Sotheby's brand — we really needed to control that. To be honest, it was really hard. I didn't know much about the business. I reached out to a lot of people in the industry and not a lot of people really wanted to help me, so that was a bit interesting.
As we grew, every time we opened a new office I felt like we were making less mistakes. By the time we got to our fifteenth office, we kind of had it dialled. Then the brand really had traction because we won the bid to do the Hotel Georgia here in Vancouver, we launched Revelstoke Mountain Resort, we did the Four Seasons in Toronto, so we really developed, pretty quickly, a strong brand recognition across the country.
And we were really focused on top-level people, but more importantly people that were truly professional and wanted to be in the business and actually wanted to act like fiduciaries. I really felt that the industry had a mix of good, bad, and ugly, and there wasn't a brand out there that stood for what we call "the Navy SEALs of the business." We wanted the best and the brightest, hardest working, and most ethical people, and Sotheby's was a great brand to do that with.
You mentioned that people didn't really want to help you early on. Why do you think that was?
We used to get emails people all the time, forwarded from someone else, saying that "Ross is gonna be broke in six months" or "He doesn't know what he's doing."
We were doing things differently. Our model wasn't to get as many agents as possible. It was literally focused on [sales] volume and people. There's so many real estate agents in North America right now and about half of them last year didn't even do a transaction. It's an industry that sells itself with delusions of grandeur — come in, sell real estate, get rich — and the reality is it's just not true. The vast majority of people that go into the business don't survive three years. In fact, most of them don't survive one year.
So, when we opened our shop, we were just telling people the truth. Usually what I would say is "Go work at RE/MAX for a couple of years and if you make it, come back and talk to us." We stood our ground, whereas every other brokerage was literally just, every week, recruiting more agents.
Fast-forwarding a bit to just before buying Sutton Group, what did you see when you were looking at Sutton Group from the outside looking in?
I had just spent 10 years in California, mainly. I helped Compass reconstruct their business finance and then I saw an opportunity in California to get involved with Pacific Union, which was — at the time — the twelfth largest brokerage in America. I went in as a Partner and Chief Global Strategist and we bought seven more companies and built that business up in California, going from the twelfth to the fifth. At the same time, Compass was growing quite a bit, and was funded by Softbank, so I reached out to [Compass] and I basically got them to merge.
I saw the NAR lawsuit, which has been brewing for seven or eight years now, as a huge opportunity for a company to really move the needle around the conversation. The vast majority of the public doesn't understand why a real estate transaction takes so long and costs so much. In California, I started to become really focused on data. The US consumer has so much more data and when I came back to Canada, I couldn't believe how bad the information Canadians have [is]. Probably the worst of any G7 country in the world. We just don't have access to data and information that we should, so I was looking and had been pretty focused on real estate technology and how we need to reduce time and money, which adds value to the asset itself.
That's been in the background of everything I've done, probably, for the last 15 years. I've continued to seek out ways to do that and really focus on more of a wealth management model than a transactional model. And right now I believe everyone in the real estate industry is focused on the transaction. They're not focused on the homeowner or the asset itself.
What data is available to consumers in the US but not here?
For instance, if you pull up a property address for somewhere in Seattle, you can get almost all of the registry information, you can see who's owned the asset, you can see previous sales, how much it traded for, property tax information. Crazy enough, you can see information like the number of times that police officers have been called to that address. There's a lot of datapoints.
It's one thing to have a lot of data and information, but a lot of the time it's not verified, so it's really about getting verified data and information. In Canada, if you wanted to pull up a property address in Vancouver, it's pretty hard to get information on that asset. You either got to pay or you have to go to somebody in the industry who has access to BC OnLine.
So, my point there is that I think everybody keeps talking about affordability and housing, and the first thing we can probably do to help people is give them really good and accurate information at the time that they're looking to buy or potentially sell an asset. Also [important is] information related to the cost of the asset, because a lot of people get involved in real estate thinking that real estate is always a good investment, and it's not always true, right? So the true cost of ownership of an asset is incredibly important for people to make a decision.
This seems like an ambitious and grand goal. How do you plan on making it happen?
Well, I think it's by asking people for help, but a lot of people in the industry aren't necessarily interested in helping us achieve our goal, cause they're pretty short-sighted. That middle-aged stock broker that existed in 1993 who probably didn't add a lot of value to the transaction? They're gone. They're completely gone. E-Trade came in and people started to realize it doesn't need to take 10 to 15 days to trade an asset and I can get a lot of this information myself online, I can buy the asset myself, so the role of that stock broker had to change to much more of an advisory and fiduciary role.
With real estate, about 40% to 50% of transactions occur through death or divorce. A lot of people don't talk about this, but that's a highly emotional time, usually, and people don't make great decisions, and a lot of bad actors come into play and a lot of financial elder abuse happens. I've experienced it in my own family and I kept asking people, "Why hasn't anybody created a transparent platform that allows digital information to be provided to potential homeowners and fiduciaries so you can prevent financial elder abuse from happening?"
The other thing that happens a lot of times in this world is a lot of Canadians don't have a will, and if you don't have a will, it's a huge problem in the event of a death. I just saw this movie happen when I was at Sotheby's over and over again and I kept thinking, "There's gotta be a better solution here." So we built this first platform inside Sotheby's and it was called 1744 and the goal there was to create portfolios of data and information around an asset, cause we knew that if you did that, the asset itself actually became more valuable.
An example of that is collector cars. If you're buying a collector car and you've got a lot of detailed information on the asset, you'll get a premium of anywhere from 5% to 10% and if you don't have it, the asset gets discounted heavily. When you think about a real estate asset, the majority of information you're getting is from MLS or Realtor.ca, and a lot of the time that data may not be accurate. I just think that it's crazy that people are making one of the most important financial decisions you'll ever make based on data that can fit on a single sheet of paper. That, to me, is just nuts.
With Sotheby's, you founded the company. Now with Sutton Group, you're taking over a company that's already established. Was that part of the appeal for you, that it's a different kind of challenge?
Sutton revolutionized the business 41 years ago. They came in and they completely disrupted the entire industry with desk fees rather than [commission] splits. At the time, back in the early 80s when Block Brothers [Realty] was a big player, the splits between the agents [and brokerage] was 50/50. When Sutton came in, they were the first people to just charge you a desk fee and then the transaction fee, so you went from paying half of your commission to keeping 97% or 98% of your commission, so they grew very, very fast.
But in the past 10 to 15 years, the brand started getting a little tired, the ownership wasn't really investing in the business, and I saw an opportunity to acquire it. We're about to launch, in about two weeks, a new brand and brand identity, we're transitioning the business much more from a transactional business model to a wealth management model. With 200 offices and 6,000 agents, about $40B in transactions, it's a pretty good distribution for launching a digital platform that I think is going to change the way people manage and transact real estate.
The other thing that has been really beneficial to me is — as much as I didn't want to do franchises when I owned Sotheby's, now I see them truly as my partners. I don't have to manage those brokerages; they do. I don't need to know those markets, because they live in and breathe in those markets. They seem to be very excited about the ownership [change] and what we're bringing to bear.
The previous Sutton Group logo (left) and the new logo (right).(Sutton Group)
Is there anything else on your agenda for Sutton Group? Where do you wanna take the company?
Right now, it's to establish ourselves as a brand and truly transition it from transactional to wealth management. I'm not looking at any of the other brands or business models for real estate brokerages in Canada. I'm looking at financial service companies, wealth management companies, private banks.
Our goal this year is to reinvigorate the brand. We're in deep discussions with municipal, provincial, and federal people related to data and information and housing affordability, because everybody talks about affordability when they talk about housing and they never really talk about the role the government plays in terms of the costs. It's a huge part of an asset. People don't really understand, when you buy a house, how much of that dollar is paid out in taxes and permits. I think Canadians need to know that.
If you look at the cost of housing in the US and the cost of housing in Canada, it's dramatically different. Everybody knows that to be true, but nobody really understands why. And what I can tell you is that by providing a digital platform and giving people information, they're gonna start asking their municipal leaders, provincial leaders, and federal leaders why they're paying so much money either to manage or transact real estate.
We're also growing the brand. I've hired a new President and Chief Operating Officer. He's phenomenal. I've hired a new Chief Marketing Officer who's incredible. We're building a new website, we're launching a new app, and Cornerstone — it will be Sutton Group powered by Cornerstone — is the technology partner [for the digital platform.] I'm equally as excited as I was in 2004 when I bought Sotheby's.
Having spent time in the US and now being back in Canada, what do make of the NAR commissions settlement and how it may or may not impact Canada?
I feel like the industry is finally having to change. [As a result of] COVID, a lot of people had to figure out how to do things digitally. We had appraisals being done for properties that nobody actually went into. We had transactions of real estate where buyers and sellers never met. That revolution forced the industry to start behaving differently and in order to do that, a higher degree of trust needed to be provided when it came to data and information.
The lawsuit in the US, and [the one] ongoing in Canada, I think is a really good thing. Consumers need to be asking the industry "Isn't there a better way to manage and transact real estate?" And the answer is "Yes."
We're not in that space. Our agents, it's up to them to negotiate the fee they charge with their homeowners and we had the same mindset when I owned Sotheby's. I really never understood why the industry would set a standard where if you're a real estate agent and you've been in the business for two weeks, you're gonna charge me the same as someone who's been in the business for 20 years? The industry was protecting the business model and commission structure that made no sense.
Things like title insurance. People are starting to ask the question, "Do I even need title insurance?" And the answer is probably "No." That's a cost to the transaction. Appraisals in Canada cost $600 and take 10 days, and they shouldn't. It should be $100 and take 24 hours. All these little things — inspections, appraisals, title insurance, the taxes, commissions — go into the cost of an asset and also the timing of why it takes so long.
The Land Title Office is the one that holds all the information that allows that transaction to occur. With a stock or a bond, you've got six different intermediaries and they figured that out so you and I could've been buying and selling stocks on this phone call right now. And that's a much more complicated transaction than a real estate transaction. I'm 100% focused on figuring out how to do this better. That's what's got me excited.
As interest rates peak and a clearer picture forms on valuation and future financial performance, the emerging green shoots signal a readiness among investors to get back to business.
By most measures, 2023 was a year to forget for real estate investors and dealmakers.
To get a read of what will drive and affect sector activity in the year ahead, White & Case has conducted its second annual survey of industry participants, with more than 260 senior decision-makers sharing their thoughts. Our findings show that after a volatile 24 months, the industry is looking ahead with more optimism as interest rates peak and a clearer picture forms on valuation and future financial performance.
There is growing optimism around the short-term and long-term outlook for the global real estate sector
More than two-thirds (68 percent) of respondents are more optimistic for the short term, with 89 percent optimistic for the long term. In the 2023 survey, only 48 percent and 75 percent were optimistic for the short term and long term respectively
Although survey respondents are more upbeat than a year ago, they remain cautious, with more than a third (37 percent) anticipating that CVAs, restructuring plans or other insolvency events will have a material impact on businesses during the next year—the same level as 2023
Geopolitics and regional conflicts are seen as the primary macro-economic risk facing the sector (31 percent), followed by interest rates (26 percent) and inflation (15 percent)
According to White & Case's M&A Explorer, global real estate deal value fell to the lowest levels since 2007, as year-on-year deal value dropped 52 percent from US$293.97 billion in 2022 to US$139.68 billion in 2023. Real estate fundraising activity, meanwhile, fell to the lowest levels seen since 2012, falling from US$224.63 billion in 2022 to US$138.83 billion in 2023, according to PERE.
The drops in deal value and fundraising reflect the negative impact of high inflation and rising interest rates on real estate markets in the US and Europe, and a liquidity squeeze in the key Chinese real estate sector in Asia-Pacific.
Better days ahead
For all the challenges that real estate markets have faced during the past 12 months, however, this year's survey findings suggest that the market may be starting to turn the corner, with respondents more optimistic about real estate prospects than a year ago.
More than two-thirds (68 percent) of respondents are more optimistic for the short-term, with 89 percent optimistic for the long term. In the 2023 survey, by contrast, only 48 percent and 75 percent were optimistic on the short-term and long-term outlook respectively.
A more stable picture for interest rates is driving renewed optimism. There is growing consensus that interest rates in the US, UK and Europe have peaked, and as long as rates stabilize and a lid is kept on inflation, real estate investment activity should start to rebound, with JLL anticipating that stable rates will narrow the gap between buyers and sellers on valuation, facilitating a smoother runway for deals.
"The market is in the process of resetting. If rates go down or stay flat, it will be a positive. If they rise again, it will be a negative," one survey respondent said.
The long-term fundamentals supporting real estate sub-sectors, such as logistics, are also giving real estate professionals.
"The focus on interest rates and inflation has meant that demand has been overlooked," the head of a European real estate developer and manager says. "If you look at logistics real estate, for example, the long-term structural tailwinds of e-commerce, nearshoring and supply chain resilience will continue to support favorable rent and vacancies dynamics, and opportunity to drive income growth."
Proceeding with caution
The survey findings also show, however, that respondents are not getting carried away. Opportunistic strategies, for example, rank as the most attractive for fundraising in 2024 (36 percent) with core value-add (22 percent) and development strategies (15 percent) some distance behind.
"Even if interest rates track downwards, real estate will still have to navigate a liquidity mismatch in the years ahead, and that will present opportunity for well-capitalized credit and opportunistic real estate dealmakers," the head of European real estate at a global private markets manager said in a post-survey interview.
More than a third (37 percent) also anticipate that CVAs, restructuring plans or other insolvency events will have a material impact on businesses during the coming year—the same level as 2023.
High rates and looming debt maturities are also set to keep pipelines of real estate non-performing loans at elevated levels, with almost three-quarters of respondents (72 percent) expecting an uptick in portfolios of NPLs secured by real estate to come to market in 2024. This is only a little lower than last year (79 percent).
Geopolitical risk is firmly on the radar too, with ongoing conflict in the Ukraine and Middle East, and the risk of proliferation, remaining major concerns. It comes as no surprise, then, that geopolitics and regional conflicts are seen as the primary macro-economic risk now facing the sector (31 percent) —ahead of interest rates (26 percent) and inflation (15 percent), which were identified as the primary macro-economic risks in the 2023 survey.
With the US, UK and India among the major global economies going to the polls in 2024, political instability ranks as the biggest socio-political risk for real estate (39 percent), some way ahead of political sanctions and changing social habits (both 14 percent).
Some investors, however, do believe that geopolitical risk has been oversold in markets like China, where sell-offs and falling valuations have overlooked underlying commercial drivers that continue to offer investors value.
Changing dynamics: Opportunity emerges as usage patterns shift
Key Findings
More than a third of respondents (36 percent) see opportunistic fund strategies as the most attractive going into 2024, with special situations up at 8 percent from 0 percent last year
Digital infrastructure (17 percent); living/residential (17 percent) and healthcare/life sciences (14 percent) are recognized as the real estate sectors most likely to outperform in 2024—in line with 2023 findings
Offices (41 percent); retail (22 percent) and hospitality/leisure (14 percent) have been selected as the sectors that will see the lowest investment demand during the next 12 months
The dislocation in real estate valuations during the past 12 months, coupled with tightening liquidity, a debt maturity wall and distress in Chinese real estate have put opportunistic fund strategies at the top of respondent rankings for 2024.
More than a third of respondents (36 percent) chose opportunistic fund strategies as the most attractive going into 2024, with the adjacent special situations category also gaining momentum, up at 8 percent from 0 percent last year.
The findings indicate that disruption caused by the rising interest rates as well as inflation to present an expanding pool of attractive investment opportunities in the months ahead, as a recalibration of real estate valuation and performance expectations washes through the industry.
A combination of factors are likely to be driven by this sentiment. With liquidity and financing costs still among the highest-ranked risks to real estate in 2024, despite interest rates flattening out, fund strategies that can unlock capital for real estate borrowers are taking center stage.
The largest real estate fund that closed in 2023, for example, was Blackstone Real Estate Partners X, which secured US$30.4 billion of capital commitments and will target opportunistic deals in rental, housing, hospitality and data centers.
Other strategies that fall under the opportunistic umbrella include real estate debt funds and real estate secondaries.
With PIMCO estimating that more than US$1.5 trillion of US real estate debt will mature by 2025, with US$650 billion and US$177 billion falling due in the same year in Europe and the Asia-Pacific respectively, real estate debt funds will be ideally placed to inject liquidity into companies with limited headroom in their capital structures.
Other strategies offering real estate companies and investors with liquidity have also gathered momentum, with Ares Management and Blackstone both closing real estate secondaries funds in December 2023, pushing real estate secondaries' share of overall real estate fundraising to 6 percent in 2023 from 0 percent in 2022, according to PERE figures.
"With the focus on inflation and interest rates, the liquidity challenges in the banking sector have been underappreciated," a real estate investment head said in a post-survey interview. "Remember that 2023 saw the second, third and fourth-biggest bank failures in history, and that by 2028, US$28 trillion of real estate debt will mature. Banks are also under regulatory pressure to down-weight real estate debt exposure, which has more than doubled from 2016/2017 levels. Refinancing is going to become more and more challenging.
A Europe-based logistics expert adds: "Debt maturities will drive significant market bifurcation in real estate. A strong player in a resilient sub-sector should not face any difficulties when refinancing. Lender support is still there for quality credits. Weak, highly leveraged players in underperforming subsectors will find it very difficult as maturities come into view."
Opportunistic funds could also take advantage of the secular shifts in real estate usage, where there have been big shifts in the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns.
Offices underperform, but digital infrastructure red hot
Lockdowns have had a significant impact on offices in particular, with employees continuing to work remotely even after restrictions were lifted, reducing demand for office space.
The survey findings rank offices as the sector that will see the lowest demand in 2024, with 41 percent of respondents bearish on offices—up from 28 percent in 2023. Retail ranked as the next sector to see the lowest investment demand (22 percent), with the long-term shift to online shopping continuing to eat into retail rents and valuations. Hospitality and leisure ranked third at 14 percent.
Respondents do, however, see potential for valuation outperformance in the digital infrastructure (17 percent), living/residential (17 percent) and healthcare/life sciences areas. In our previous survey, these sectors also ranked as the three most attractive areas for investment.
Demand for digital infrastructure continues to surge, as businesses and consumers require ever-larger amounts of data for work, shopping and entertainment. The rapid growth in Generative AI and data analytics is forecast to increase data demand even further (research consultancy Tirias Research estimates that Generative AI growth could see digital workloads increase by up to 50x by 2028).
The solid, long-term growth drivers underlying digital infrastructure and data centers have investors and dealmakers maintaining investment levels into the space despite wider market dislocation, with Mergermarket figures showing data center M&A holding steady in 2023 even as overall M&A markets saw double-digit declines in activity levels.
The residential/living sector has also held up well, despite rising interest rates and mortgage costs. Urbanization and the rising costs of home ownership are long-term drivers that will support residential asset valuations, according to Pimco, while in the student housing space, record numbers of students enrolled in tertiary education are pushing up demand for purpose-built student accommodations, according to the CBRE.
The optimism reflected in the survey around healthcare/life sciences is underpinned by strong underlying growth in life sciences and biotech, and an expansion in lab availability through the course of 2024, according to JLL research.
Demand for lab space is particularly strong in so-called "Tier 1" locations, where new commercial lab space is expanding and rental rates are showing resilient growth.
Opportunities, however, are emerging for investors with the risk appetite to take contrarian positions. European office space is one area that some investors see as oversold. European office vacancy rates are still tight, and more restrictive planning rules in Europe have prevented office overbuild.
Balancing act: Liquidity, tech-enablement and ESG place myriad demands on operators
Key Findings
Availability and cost of financing (23 percent) ranks as the main operational risk for 2024, followed by construction costs (19 percent) and liquidity (17 percent)
Political instability is the main socio-political risk (39 percent), with fall-out from political sanctions (14 percent) also prominent
As the focus on political instability intensifies, environmental issues have ranked lower than in the previous survey (13 percent in 2024 vs 22 percent in 2023), but there has been progress when it comes to meeting investor-driven ESG requirements
AI is emerging as an increasingly important technology for real estate operations, rising from 11 percent in 2023 to 26 percent in 2024
The survey findings highlight the multiple demands facing real estate operators, who are having to juggle ongoing liquidity and financing challenges with ESG implementation, digitalization programs and socio-political uncertainty.
Respondents cited availability and cost of financing (23 percent) ranks as the main operational risk facing the industry in 2024, while construction costs (19 percent) and liquidity (17 percent) are seen as the other operational pressure points.
The focus on financing and liquidity underscores that even if interest rates flatten out in 2024, financing costs will remain materially above the ultra-low rates available to borrowers in 2021.
This is a significant operational challenge for real estate groups, as there is an estimated US$2 trillion of commercial real estate debt maturing by 2027 that will have to be refinanced at significantly higher costs, according to Capital Economics.
The lingering effects of inflation, meanwhile, remain on the minds of operators, with construction costs and resource availability the second-most pressing operational risk, chosen by 19 percent of respondents. This is, however, lower than the 30 prrcent figure recorded in last year's survey, suggesting that inflationary pressures and supply chains are stabilizing.
On the socio-political front, political instability ranks as the main socio-political risk, chosen by 39 percent of respondents. This is way ahead of the sanction regimes—the next biggest socio-political risk at 14 percent—and ahead of the 30 percent figure recorded in last year's survey.
With the US, UK and India among the major global economies going to the polls in 2024, real estate stakeholders are particularly attuned to political risk and changes in administrations and policy.
Interestingly, environmental issues have slipped down the risk agenda, from 22 percent of respondents last year to 13 percent in 2024, even though there appears to be more progress on meeting investor-driven ESG requirements. Last year, 70 percent of respondents said market players were still finding their way in this area, with 15 percent saying the industry was poorly prepared, and 15 percent saying it was well positioned.
This year, by contrast, a quarter of respondents said market players were well positioned to meet investor-driven ESG requirements, with 63 percent saying market players were still finding their way, and only 12 percent saying the market was not well prepared.
The immediate risks of liquidity shortages and political uncertainty may have pushed environmental risk down the agenda for the short term, but the fact that respondents point to ongoing progress on ESG compliance does suggest that ESG is now firmly embedded into real estate operations.
In a similar vein, digital integration has also become an integral part of real estate operations. Some 93 percent of respondents said technology and digital integration had become important or very important in future-proofing real estate operations, up from 86 percent last year.
There has, however, been a shift in what technologies real estate business are looking to implement.
The findings have registered a big uptick in the focus on artificial intelligence tools. In 2023, only 11 percent chose AI as the main technology that companies were considering for implementation into operations. This has more than doubled to 26 percent in 2024, with only data analytics (29 percent) chosen by more respondents.
The practical implementation of AI tools in real estate may still be nascent, but the potential to drive value for real estate is clear. According to McKinsey, Generative AI could unlock between US$110 billion and US$180 billion for the real estate industry. The potential applications of AI in real estate are vast, ranging from processing leasing documentation, managing tenant inquiries and handling maintenance requests to facilitating virtual site tours or developing pipelines for real estate investors.
Pragmatic optimism
The disruptive impact of AI on the real estate industry will be one of the myriad complexities that real estate professionals have to continue navigating in 2024, with geopolitical risk, refinancing walls and ESG transition just some of the other major themes that will test investors and operators in the months ahead.
For all these ongoing challenges, however, there is a sense of cautious optimism building across real estate as interest rates peak, consensus forms on valuations and visibility on future performance improves.
Real estate professionals are not getting carried away, but after a period of stasis, M&A and fundraising are finally back on the agenda.
White & Case means the international legal practice comprising White & Case LLP, a New York State registered limited liability partnership, White & Case LLP, a limited liability partnership incorporated under English law and all other affiliated partnerships, companies and entities.
This article is prepared for the general information of interested persons. It is not, and does not attempt to be, comprehensive in nature. Due to the general nature of its content, it should not be regarded as legal advice.
Brazil’s public prosecutor (AGU) begun a community consultation on imposing serious estate tax IPTU on services linked to concessions, including in the infrastructure segment.
Typically, home owners shell out the municipal IPTU tax every year, which finances community authorities. In idea, the tax amounts to 1% of assets worth, but in actuality it is generally .5% owing to exemptions.
In particular airport concessionaires have opposed the tax, as municipalities experimented with to charge it.
"The general public session is dependent on a demand received by the AGU's chamber for the promotion of authorized certainty in the enterprise environment (Sejan) produced by the Nationwide Transportation Confederation, but which impacts several sectors. Sejan operates to discover circumstances of lawful uncertainty and propose methods to really encourage investment in the nation," AGU claimed in a statement.
"The most important issue of the discussion is no matter whether the tax ought to be paid by the organization that offers the general public services, even when there is no provision for this form of payment in the bidding studies or in the companies' enterprise system, or whether the reciprocal tax immunity provided for in the structure handles houses that are part of general public provider concessions and permissions," the assertion said.
The consultation will stay open up by means of Could 22. Feedback will be been given from folks and authorized entities, these kinds of as afflicted agents and associations symbolizing municipalities, states and infrastructure concessionaires.
After the general public consultation, AGU will announce an formal stance on the concern.
"A official opinion from the AGU, being a federal authorities human body, has the electric power to provide as a important legal basis for neighborhood court docket conclusions, in the situation of metropolis halls deciding to go to court to charge IPTU, which is a municipal tax," Paulo Dantas, an infrastructure and project financing expert at regulation agency Castro Barros Advogados, told BNamericas.
"In any situation, this dialogue raises important lawful risks for businesses, considering the fact that if there is area for city halls to cost residence tax on airport terminals, for example, in addition to other services from providers that function with concessions, this will stand for an improve in the value of current contracts. Not to point out that foreseeable future concession contracts will also have to include this further charge with IPTU in their economic products, which was previously not consideredan situation," mentioned Dantas.
“Local administrations normally want to collect far more taxes. If the selection of IPTU in concession contracts is approved, also impacting existing contracts, we will see a whole lot of contract re-balancing, given that when the contracts were being offered, there was no provision for IPTU collection,” Alberto Sogayar, an infrastructure attorney at Sogayar e Alcântara Advogados, explained to BNamericas.
"If an IPTU charge is preferred, the very best detail would be to impose a rule that this would only be for new contracts, so investors and operators would incorporate it in their economic versions ahead of bidding."
A Winnipeg man's registration as a authentic estate salesman has been cancelled after a family vacated their household on a tight deadline for a sale that hardly ever went via, then changed brokerages and, months later on, acquired $60,000 considerably less for their property than what they anticipated when they moved out.
A Manitoba Securities Fee panel identified Reginald Wayne Kehler engaged in professional misconduct and carry out unbecoming a registrant when he signed a document on behalf of sellers with out their know-how, minimized the listing value of a home without the need of their approval, and did not inform them for virtually a month that a opportunity consumer hadn't compensated a promised $100,000 deposit.
Kehler's failure to convey to the sellers in a well timed way that the deposit hadn't been paid was misleading working, which satisfies the Genuine Estate Services Regulation definition of a "fraudulent act," the panel's selection suggests.
The sellers, discovered as D.R. and P.R. in the panel determination released Wednesday, were awarded $10,394 from the true estate reimbursement fund. Kehler was requested to pay $12,075 to cover costs of the investigation and listening to.
The sellers ended up a army household who had to shift in 2020 right after the husband was posted to Ottawa.
They selected Kehler as their listing agent, because he had aided them discover the household when they moved to Winnipeg in 2018, and they had a fantastic partnership with him, the panel's selection states.
They listed their house in Might and on June 15, 2020, recognized an present of $570,000 with possession on July 15. A deposit of $100,000 was to be paid out inside 72 hrs of acceptance of the provide.
Kehler was the salesperson for each the consumer and the sellers — but the sellers say he under no circumstances informed them that.
A sort that indicated the sellers knew he was also symbolizing the consumer, dated June 15, 2020, was filed.
Even though it appeared to be signed with the sellers' names, they explained they did not see it till March 2021. One of the two wasn't even in Winnipeg on June 15.
"Kehler, in his job interview with commission staff, acknowledges that the sellers hardly ever signed this doc — we observe that the purported signatures on the sort look practically nothing like the actual signatures of the sellers on other files," the determination says.
Kehler told commission employees he'd been authorized to indication on the sellers' behalf, which they denied. The panel identified them extra plausible.
When the offer was manufactured, the sellers, believing they experienced just a thirty day period in advance of the consumer would take possession of their dwelling, immediately packed up and prepared to go with their two younger small children.
Buyer under no circumstances made deposit
Meanwhile, the consumer hadn't built the $100,000 deposit right before the deadline — but Kehler failed to explain to the sellers.
Kehler instructed fee employees that was because he considered the deposit was nevertheless coming, and he didn't want to bring about a lot more pressure for the sellers.
On July 10, just five times just before the customer was to acquire possession and the working day ahead of the relatives was leaving Winnipeg, the sellers spoke to Kehler — but he nevertheless failed to convey to them the deposit hadn't been paid out.
Kehler "mentioned everything was wonderful," according to the selection.
It wasn't till the evening of July 13, when the loved ones arrived in Toronto on their way to Ottawa and just 36 several hours right before the scheduled closing, that Kehler advised them he'd never received the deposit.
At some point, they been given $4,000 of the deposit, but the sale of the dwelling in no way shut. The sellers scrambled to increase the insurance policy on their old household and make guaranteed they continued to shell out the utility payments, the final decision says.
Dwelling relisted
Kehler then encouraged they relist the dwelling, and it went back on the market at $574,900.
On Aug. 10, 2020, Kehler encouraged the cost be reduced to $569,900. Alternatively, the vendor claimed he need to cut down the price to $567,900.
But when the vendor seemed at the on the internet listing on Aug. 22, it was shown at $564,900.
The sellers also requested Kehler about maintaining the property, considering the fact that they have been no for a longer time in Winnipeg. He agreed he would, but buddies ended up heading and mowing the lawn, the conclusion states.
The sellers asked Kehler and his brokerage about what could be completed to "make points correct," the selection suggests, but they never ever acquired any responses.
On Sept. 5, they hired a new brokerage to promote the dwelling. Under the new serious estate salesman, they acknowledged an offer on Dec. 13, and shut the offer Jan. 2, 2021, obtaining $507,500 for the dwelling.
Kehler's actions had been "opposite to the finest pursuits of the community" and undermined "public self-confidence in the serious estate business," the selection suggests.
Acquiring your aspiration dwelling can be tough in the Canadian marketplace. As selling prices and interest costs carry on to increase, the aspiration of when possessing a residence with your associate can generally come to feel like it’s slipping absent.
Nevertheless, Wahi has a new and cost-free dwelling hunting application for couples that is in this article to aid. With the Wahi application, partners can ultimately purchase a home with confidence and get closer to landing their fantastic abode. With Wahi’s collaboration feature, couples can effortlessly peruse via household listings jointly in an enjoyable, new way.
Partners are ready to preserve observe of each individual other’s listings and even receive suggestions as co-customers. Wahi would make residence searching handy and streamlines the communication procedure in between companions to make discovering a residence a breeze.
On the application, partners can routine house tours together, retain a history of showings, chat with each other and their Realtor and finally, get alerts about houses every other likes or when a demonstrating is booked.
Wahi could not have occur at a better time as a lot more Canadian partners are predicted to soar into the housing sector this summer. In actuality, 77 for every cent of Canadian homeowners purchased a property with a romantic associate, in accordance to a Wahi study.
Browse Additional: 7 GTA towns rank in the top rated 10 for greatest rents throughout Canada – even studio flats are not getting off simple
As couples enter the housing current market, they will facial area steep charges that are expected to go on climbing. The national common property value is set to climb just about 5 for every cent to $710,468 by the stop of 2024, according to the Canadian Actual Estate Association (CREA). And right here in Toronto, $985,000 is the median price for a home in the Better Toronto Location (GTA) as of March, dependent on Wahi data.
To assistance to start with-time prospective buyers get into the sector, the federal authorities not too long ago announced 30-yr amortization intervals on insured home loans, but inspite of this, Canadians go on to really feel strapped for income. Not to point out the residence taxes and closing expenditures that buyers have to look at when paying for assets.
Go through More: Canadians are skeptical 30-yr home finance loan amortization time period will make it simpler to purchase a new dwelling
That is why Wahi is making it easier for Toronto partners to catch a split and get some cash back when getting a home with its Wahi MyBuy income-back again plan.
Courtesy: Wahi Realty Inc., Brokerage
The initiative gives prospects with Realtors who give top-notch virtual support, and they can get up to one particular for each cent of the sale price back again in hard cash right after closing.
Torontonians, especially, really should get advantage of this remarkable offer. For illustration, if another person bought a $1-million residence, they would get $10,000 dollars back in their pockets.
Canadian couples looking to purchase a house can down load the Wahi application right here and find out far more about Wahi’s MyBuy cashback program below.
A pioneer of Queen Avenue West’s early 2000s revival, Callum MacLachlan is between the most various actual estate veterans you could meet in Toronto currently.
Now, the proven industry insider is trying to find to provide his creative imagination — paired with his strong perception of business link — even even further than he has right before, with the purpose to disrupt actual estate brokerage and enhancement.
Satisfy MacLachlan: In which He’s Been
MacLachlan’s storied occupation has seen him spearhead Queen Avenue West’s early 2000s revival, The Beaconsfield, and 64 Ways Contemporary Artwork gallery, and create homes in Summerhill, acquire Gemini (now Canadian Monitor) Awards for environmental style, develop Aguamiel & ALIDA tequila, vogue some of Canada’s most noteworthy models, and near activity-altering actual estate offers.
If you have not however achieved MacLachlan, you have possible heard of him — or, even a lot more most likely, found his work.
Exactly where Is He Now?
These days, MacLachlan now holds several experienced titles. He’s the founder and controlling director at development firm Slateford a senior associate at Marcus & Millichap true estate financial investment company, a founder & CEO at design and style create and communications company artform* and the cofounder of Aguamiel & ALIDA tequila. A lengthy-time fixture in the North American artwork entire world, MacLachlan is also a notable curator and painter. (Fun fact: he also appeared in The Tragically Hip’s music online video for “Ahead by a Century”).
His vibrant track record and varied skill set, put together with an outgoing and warm demeanour, have contributed to MacLachlan’s status as a extended-time qualified connector. But he also has a organic knack for serious estate, complete with a disruptive, comprehensive-assistance strategy. This all-in-a person design includes almost everything from acquiring options and web-sites by to financing them. In short, MacLachlan is involved in each degree of the true estate expense paradigm.
Household inside via Slateford
His celebrated operate sees MacLachlan collaborate with buyers, speculators, and large-conclude builders throughout North The usa. He provides fresh new thinking to the table, from finance and structure, through to advertising and marketing and improvement partnerships.
“The common denominator is bringing creativeness to it all,” MacLachlan suggests.
Callum MacLachlan
Where He’s Heading: Performing Development And Bringing It To Brokerage
The improvement realm is just one where MacLachlan’s name is growing. With his remarkable portfolio laying a basis — recall all those Queen Road West and Summerhill endeavours — Slateford is now searching to make investments, receive, and assemble, all throughout southern Ontario.
The expenditure and growth company currently has assignments in the pipeline, and is inviting conversations about additional collaborations.
As for brokerage? This is another sphere wherever, backed by his extensive spectrum of experience, MacLachlan is building waves. By using his Senior Associate role at Marcus & Millichap, MacLachlan is setting up himself as a various and disruptive contemporist/professional. His organic inclination in the direction of conversation and collaboration sees him functioning with the pretty ideal, in purchase to present total-order services to purchasers and sellers all across Canada.
Contemporary, Innovative, And Linked
In summary, when it comes to real estate, MacLachlan does items his have way.
“Mine is a diverse method I’ve been an entrepreneur considering the fact that I began,” he suggests. “There is no guidebook telling you how or what you are meant to do. You make it up as you go, and you grind.”
Connections, and the capacity to link persons to 1 a different, are entrance and centre for MacLachlan. “I appreciate having the capability to introduce people today to just about every other who may have under no circumstances met in any other case,” he says of his entrepreneurial journey in interconnected industries.
Now, MacLachlan says that his qualified brand name is identified for its interactions with builders — and men and women with money and money. “From a professional standpoint, we can elevate money for some of the city’s most remarkable jobs,” he claims. “We can carry them to persons and converse to them and really make new possibilities for folks out there.”
For MacLachlan, the objective is for these relationships to carry on to develop and develop. He’s excited about the conversations he’s obtaining with field leaders currently.
And as for the discussions not now in progress? Which is just because they have not achieved but.
Hockey Night time in Canada design and style-develop by using Callum MacLachlan
This capability to choose people today and manufacturers to the up coming amount is just one of his occupation highlights, states MacLachlan. Just one of numerous job highlights, that is. When he just can't identify just a single, he fondly mentions a design-created job for Hockey Night time in Canada. For this, artform* was tasked with the vastly crucial (and extremely Canadian) occupation of creating an atmosphere from which Rogers Media, Sportsnet and Hockey Evening in Canada could be moved in-household. The task provided huge online video installations, AV and AR, and environmental, tech, and integrated lighting.
To toast his successes, MacLachlan can change to his 2018-introduced tequila brand, ALIDA — and he’s normally searching ahead.
ALIDA Tequila via Callum MacLachlan
As for MacLachlan’s information for the upcoming generation of up-and-coming connectors?
“Be courageous and loyal, and keep your stick on the ice.”
If you are intrigued in connecting with Callum MacLachlan to go over your most recent real estate enterprise, he invites you to get hold of him. Click on here to learn a lot more.
A landmark settlement with the Nationwide Association of Realtors rattled the genuine estate field very last month. If accredited by a federal court docket, it could alter how properties are acquired and bought in a person of the most unaffordable housing markets in many years.
Will the NAR settlement noticeably impact consumers’ pocketbooks? Though the final decision has been greatly touted as a sport-changer for household charges, it’s sparked far more confusion than clarity.
“It’s far too early to tell how this might have an impact on the housing sector in the very long expression, but we don’t anticipate any quick effects on residence charges,” said a spokesperson for Zillow.
In the settlement, NAR will fork out $418 million to resolve a course-motion lawsuit accusing the serious estate large of inflating sales commissions and expenses. New guidelines could alter a longstanding business product in which the dwelling vendor pays a commission to their agent as well as the buyer’s agent.
The superior gross sales fee customarily paid out to agents -- normally 5% to 6%-- isn’t what drives high-priced property charges nowadays. Market forces like minimal inventory and steep mortgage loan prices carry on to be the greatest road blocks for prospective homebuyers, and individuals will not magically vanish right away.
Nevertheless, authorities say the agreement need to improve rate competition and glow a gentle on the deficiency of transparency in the serious estate industry.
“Hopefully, it will deliver shoppers more bargaining electricity in perhaps the major economic transaction of their lives,” mentioned Shang Saavedra, founder of Help save My Cents and a personalized finance pro on CNET’s evaluate board.
If you are arranging on providing or obtaining a house in 2024, here’s what you want to know.
What is the NAR settlement actually about?
Litigation by groups of homeowners accused the NAR of forcing them to pay out inflated real estate agent commissions when offering their houses. The lawsuit alleged that brokers ended up incentivized to steer customers absent from household listings providing lower commissions.
Below the proposed settlement, a seller’s agent would no for a longer time be permitted to advertise fee service fees when listing houses on NAR-affiliated A number of Listing Products and services. The MLS portal contains private databases of for-sale assets listings exactly where brokers share information and facts.
Whilst the NAR settlement prevents the practice of brokers pushing customers toward listings that give bigger commissions, it does not ban commissions totally.
The NAR insists that commissions ended up usually negotiable and under no circumstances set in stone. Nevertheless, critics say the 6% commission (about 3% to the seller’s agent and 3% to the buyer’s agent) grew to become fairly customary around the a long time.
Deficiency of competitors is what held commissions large, said Saavedra.
A 7 days just after the settlement was introduced, the NAR resolved what it known as pervasive media misinformation about the specifics of the agreement, noting that “many headlines are not separating actuality from fiction.”
Will the NAR choice carry down household prices?
Stress to provide down housing costs and alleviate the economical load on individuals is significant. The NAR settlement, scheduled to go into influence in July, could result in sellers spending much less expensive commissions, which could compel a lot more homeowners to listing their households.
It will take time for the market to adapt to new norms, and absolutely nothing in the housing market place exists in a vacuum, so really don't assume an quick downward tension on house costs.
“Changes will be affected by broader industry ailments, which include offer and demand from customers, alternatively than the lawsuit’s outcomes by yourself,” reported Jeb Smith, realtor and CNET Money Pro Overview Board member.
Moreover, homebuyers probable won’t be saving funds if they have to put together to spend upfront fees to their agents.
“Even if home rates were being to slide in the long term, buyers’ expenses are most likely to increase by a equivalent sum if they are having to compensate agents directly,” mentioned Danielle Hale, main economist at Realtor.com.
“It continues to be to be viewed what the affect may possibly be,” Hale explained.
How will the NAR settlement effects homebuyers?
“Buyers will now have a clearer knowledge of their agent’s payment and may well will need to negotiate or instantly pay back for their illustration,” said Smith.
Even though this could make the system additional costly for customers, it also empowers them to choose an agent centered on advantage rather than on hidden fee buildings, according to Smith.
Additionally, potential buyers may well have extra choices to forgo genuine estate brokers fully.
“New company models, mortgage financing alternatives and much more could give household customers extra choices in the potential,” stated Hale.
How will the NAR settlement impact household sellers?
Tens of millions of property sellers may well qualify for a piece of the $418 million course-motion payout, an volume that the NAR is established to pay back out over the upcoming 4 many years.
If the conclusion goes into outcome this summer time, sellers who beforehand experienced to shell out hundreds of dollars in commissions to each their agent and the buyer’s agent will now have extra flexibility to negotiate people service fees. Sellers will still will need to adapt their techniques centered on unique sector circumstances, reported Smith.
“In aggressive marketplaces or buyer’s markets, featuring to address customer agent commissions could grow to be a strategic shift to make their listings much more desirable,” Smith said.
How will the NAR settlement have an impact on the housing market place overall?
The NAR settlement could decrease the roughly $100 billion in real estate income commissions compensated out just about every year, probably sparking higher reforms in the US actual estate sector.
Realistically, we will not see how this performs out for months, and it is not possible to immediately reverse the regular improve in home price ranges over the previous numerous years. Furthermore, there could be pushback.
“All the lobbyists for the authentic estate sector are likely to be preventing this verdict tooth and nail,” Saavedra mentioned.
The Europe Household True Estate Marketplace size is believed at USD 1.95 trillion in 2024, and is expected to arrive at USD 2.43 trillion by 2029, developing at a CAGR of 4.5% in the course of the forecast period of time (2024-2029).
Need for affordable household actual estate is rising as a result driving the current market. Moreover, there is a sizeable price increase in the industry hence buyers are displaying desire in investing in the current market.
Essential Highlights
Like other serious estate assets, the European household marketplace has steadily shifted thanks to the wellbeing crisis. The two primary traits impacting true estate above the past various yrs are the desire for area, which has led to larger sized homes and flats, and the return to character, which has resulted in a move from the city to the countryside. The multifamily real estate model, which is currently booming in the Italian marketplace, is a new pattern that is also commencing to emerge.
From a pricing stage of watch, household marketplaces are experiencing slight advancement in most circumstances in spite of the basic uncertainty bordering the overall economy. Many countries have described unparalleled demand from customers for new housing shortly right after the strictest lockdowns. Moreover, this pattern is envisioned to continue on throughout 2022, which could assist even more rate advancement.
Following a 5% once-a-year development in Q1 2022, the amount of superb household home loans grew by 4.2% in Q2 2022 when in comparison to the similar period of the prior 12 months. The most new info on gross dwelling lending according to information, the overall worth has dropped by -1% each year (when compared to Q2 2021), ending a 5-quarter streak of constant 12 months-around-year improvement. Gross lending as a full attained about EUR 395 billion (approx USD 423.56 billion), the best amount considering that Q2 2021.
The new geopolitical developments in Europe impacted the exercise, which resumed right after becoming disrupted by the epidemic for a number of several years, and the inflation rate attained its best level in various decades (+5.3% more than the last year). The household true estate market place is also appreciably impacted. In Q4 2021, house loan premiums in the Eurozone remained continual at 1.31%, historically very low. In 12 nations, the transactions number is escalating by an common of 17%, though household rental values have elevated by 1.8% in the past 12 months.
Growth in transaction price ranges of new dwellings supporting the industry
Residence costs have elevated by 18.2% in Q2 2022 in contrast to the exact same quarter the earlier year. As a result, the Netherlands continues to be among the prime five EU nations with the most important progress in housing price ranges. New facts from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the Netherlands Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Kadaster), and Eurostat assist this. The transaction selling prices for both new and used operator-occupied residences are present in the house selling price index. In Q2 2022, the average raise in home costs throughout the EU was shut to 10%. Just after Estonia (+27%), Czechia (+23%), Hungary (+23%), and Lithuania (+22%), the Netherlands expert the most substantial raise in property price ranges.
The common transaction price for a recently manufactured house increased by 16.9% in Q2 2022 compared to the exact quarter yr just before. Additionally, it was the initially time that the median providing price for newly manufactured properties went beyond EUR 500,000 (USD 531,500). Present proprietor-occupied houses typically cost 18.4% extra than new types. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2022, when it reached a document 20.3%, this expansion was fewer substantial.
A lot more than 47,000 operator-occupied residences were being offered in Q2 2022. It represents a 10.2% decrease from the very same quarter final 12 months but a 7.9% maximize from Q1 2022. The amount of new-establish residences marketed lessened by 13.8% yearly to about 8,000 transactions.
Rental section exhibiting significant expansion in the market
Rental costs are mounting owing to a blend of elements, like a lack of accessible area, substantial land, and creating fees, and the wish of very compensated workers to dwell centrally in appealing spots.
A variety of businesses mentioned in this report consists of, but is not constrained to:
About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's main resource for global sector investigate stories and current market details. We give you with the most up-to-date facts on intercontinental and regional markets, essential industries, the prime corporations, new merchandise and the most recent trends.
Proptech agency aims to serve a lot more multi-spouse and children rental housing suppliers south of the border.

Toronto-centered RealSage, which sells synthetic intelligence (AI)-powered facts intelligence software program to help multi-family rental housing asset supervisors run additional effectively, has secured $5.5 million CAD ($4 million USD) in seed funding.
The proptech startup intends to use this funding to fuel its continued United States (US) expansion and item enhancement attempts. In an interview with BetaKit, RealSage co-founder and CEO Arunabh Dastidar claimed the startup has viewed potent early indicators of product or service-current market fit and that the timing is optimal for RealSage to spend in development south of the border.
“Everyone is wanting at data in a quite, really distinct way.”
Arunabh Dastidar, RealSage
A 12 months ago, RealSage experienced just closed $2.1 million CAD in pre-seed funding, and the company’s emphasis was on educating the actual estate business about the need for info-pushed choice-generating platforms like the 1 it had created. These days, as market place situations have remained hard, Dastidar claimed that RealSage’s system has turn out to be an a lot easier provide.
“It’s not 2017 any longer, exactly where real estate corporations are throwing cash out of the window and even now producing a lot of dollars,” explained Dastidar. “Now, there’s this [high] curiosity price ecosystem with stricter coverage recommendations, restrictions, [and] motion in direction of sustainability. Everybody is wanting at information in a really, quite diverse way.”
Founded in 2019 by Dastidar, Gaurav Madani, and Zain Nathoo and previously acknowledged as SoulRooms, RealSage is led by individuals with expertise in serious estate, banking, and tech. The organization has focused on multi-family rental housing vendors to date, but in excess of time, it intends to extend into other segments of the real estate current market.
With the enable of AI and predictive analytics, RealSage promises its software can enable customers review industry trends, strengthen tenant collection, enhance device pricing, predict occupancy charges, and minimize vacancies, amid other matters.
RealSage’s all-fairness, all-key seed round closed previous month and was financed principally by American investors. The financing was led by York IE with support from Karman Ventures (which is backed by early Uber personnel), proptech-focused Stellifi VC, Golden Part, previous Facebook workers, and actual estate family members places of work in New York and Toronto.
Relevant: RealSage secures $2.1 million CAD to assist multi-household rental administrators make greater decisions with AI
The spherical, which also observed participation from present backers, which include Second Century Ventures, the strategic expenditure arm of the US National Affiliation of Realtors, provides RealSage’s total funding to $7.6 million. Dastidar declined to disclose the firm’s valuation.
“RealSage’s technique to transforming authentic estate as a result of AI and info analytics is exactly what the marketplace needs to progress,” York IE vice president of investments and system Marshall Everson claimed in a statement. “We are fired up to back again a staff that brings the required mix of marketplace and AI expertise to pave the way for a new era of info-pushed and predictive serious estate final decision-building.”
As the genuine estate field has turn into additional aligned with the worth proposition of players like RealSage, Dastidar pointed out that some rivals have emerged, but he thinks that RealSage’s group and the maturity of its item differentiate the business from other upstarts.
At present, 70 percent of RealSage’s customers are centered in Canada, and 30 % are found in the US. Dastidar hopes to flip that breakdown in excess of the next year by incorporating new US consumers and growing with its existing shoppers, which include things like Drewlo Holdings, Oxford Homes, Harrington Housing, and Dastidar’s former employer, Zahra Properties. To do this, RealSage programs to grow its team and make investments some of the round’s proceeds into gross sales and advertising.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
![The house at 435 Stewart Rd. on Salt Spring Island as seen through trees from Steward Road. Credit: Google Streetview [PNG Merlin Archive]](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/vancouversun/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/435-stewart-rd-copy.jpg?h=96&strip=all&quality=80&sig=joul5741MKhAK4Kr0ZcsvA)
The previous Sutton Group logo (left) and the new logo (right).(Sutton Group)
Household inside via Slateford
Callum MacLachlan
Hockey Night time in Canada design and style-develop by using Callum MacLachlan
ALIDA Tequila via Callum MacLachlan
