Court authorizes investigation into real estate firm run by former child actor: Canadian real estate news for February 24

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Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week and one home worth a look.

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Should homebuyers wait for bigger rate drops or jump back into the market now?

Home sales in December and January bounced back from the lows of the latter part of 2023, but with the volume of sales still well below the 10-year average, prices continue to decline in many markets, writes Erica Alini. Would-be buyers are largely waiting for borrowing costs to drop lower, as several financial analysts forecast the Bank of Canada’s interest rate won’t be cut until later this summer. But some economists believe prices and competition will quickly heat up by then as borrowing becomes less expensive. For those who could afford to purchase a home at current rates, the dilemma is whether to prioritize prices or rates.

Decoder: It looks like renters are ditching Ontario

Starting in 2020, Ontario began to see an exodus of people moving to other parts of Canada. That trend picked up speed in 2023, but a look below the surface shows one demographic in particular is heading for the exits: twentysomethings, a group overwhelmingly made up of renters, writes Jason Kirby. For young people who changed provinces last year, the most popular destination was Alberta, with net-interprovincial migration of 15,500, dwarfing every other province. Even as young people leave Ontario, immigration is filling the gap and then some. Last year, more than 40,000 immigrants in their 20s moved to the province.

Court boosts monitor’s powers to investigate insolvent rental firm run by former child actor

A Superior Court judge has authorized an investigation into the use of $144-million in borrowed money by the companies and individuals at the centre of a sprawling and now insolvent real estate investment enterprise that owns 405 rental properties in Northern Ontario, writes Shane Dingman. The enterprise – referred to collectively in court documents as Balboa et al and run in part by former child actor Robby Clark – currently has more than 30 civil claims filed against them. The court has also enhanced the oversight powers of appointed monitor KSV Consulting Inc. to include investigations and consent on the spending of interim financing obtained for the continuing operations of the rental properties spread across the region.

Opinion: Some B.C. tenants see threat in push for density

B.C.’s moves to boost density around transit hubs and throughout so-called single-family zoned areas of the province must be introduced in tandem with better tenant protections, heard a panel at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) last week. Those protections are just not there, writes Kerry Gold, and with all the redevelopment under way in the next couple of decades, displacement will increasingly become a fact of life for many Lower Mainland renters, in particular.

Home of the Week: Annex duplex is a garden of delights

199 Albany Ave., Toronto

The first thing you notice as you walk up to this home in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood is the smell of flowers – the current owner is an expert gardener and former Globe and Mail columnist. The entrance is covered in shrubs that flower from spring until fall. When you walk in, you notice an unusual feature in the sale: the home is actually a duplex with a door to a second-floor apartment just inside. The former owners used it as one living space, but it would be available to split up and rent separately. The home was built in 1904 but has been extensively renovated, including a dining room extension built in 2007, with a wall of windowed doors that create a seamless transition with the back garden.