The announcement was made by John Cummins, Member of Parliament for Delta-Richmond, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

“Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, our government is taking concrete action to help ensure our economic recovery and create the conditions for long-term growth,” said MP John Cummins. “Funding renovation and retrofit projects like this one will not only improve the quality of life of its residents by keeping their homes safe and affordable for years to come, but also help stimulate the local economy and create jobs.”

Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Government of Canada announced $1 billion for social housing renovation and retrofit. Of the $1 billion, $850 million is being delivered by provinces and territories on a cost-matched basis for existing federally assisted social housing projects which they administer on behalf of the partnership. The remaining $150 million is being delivered by CMHC for existing federally assisted off-reserve housing which it directly administers. Eligible repairs include general improvements, energy-efficiency upgrades or conversions, and modifications in support of persons with disabilities.

As of February 1, 2010, CMHC is accepting applications from eligible project sponsors for the remaining $75 million funding for year two. Sponsor groups can apply online or through the mail. Eligible repairs include general improvements, energy-efficiency upgrades or conversions, and modifications in support of persons with disabilities.

The housing co-operatives that will receive contributions from the Government of Canada being announced today are:

“We are very excited that the Mariner Cove has been granted federal funding through Canada’s Economic Action Plan,” said Bob Christofoli on behalf of the Mariner Cove. ”The planned renovations will not only make our complex more energy efficient, but will also provide an adequate environment for the future of our complex.”

More information on this and other measures in Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government’s plan to stimulate the economy and protect those hit hardest by the global recession, can be found at: www.actionplan.gc.ca.

Posted by Moishe Alexander.

Federal funding for this initiative was made available through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government’s plan to stimulate the economy and create jobs during the global recession and was matched by British Columbia through the Province’s capital infrastructure program. Overall, the Economic Action Plan includes more than $2 billion for new and existing social housing, plus up to $2 billion in loans to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure. Across Canada, the federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to the investment of $850 million for the renovation and retrofit of exiting social housing to help house seniors, single parent families, recent immigrants and Aboriginal households, under the amended Affordable Housing Program Agreements.

The majority of the Housing Renovation Partnership funding, approximately $164 million, will be directed toward repairs at 81 social housing developments. The remainder of the funding, approximately $13 million is being allocated to renovations that are underway at provincially-owned Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels.

The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, on behalf of The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and Premier Gordon Campbell made the announcement today at Steeves Manor, a 196-unit housing development in Vancouver, the first of the 81 social housing developments to have renovations funded under this initiative.

“These renovation and retrofit projects will improve the quality of life for residents by keeping their homes safe and affordable,” said Minister Day. “It is also a good way to get the local economy moving because it puts construction workers and trades people to work quickly.

“Working in partnership with the Government of Canada, we are revitalizing social housing sites in need of repair and renovation in communities throughout the province, extending the life of these homes for British Columbians for years to come,” said Premier Campbell. “The Housing Renovation Partnership will also build on additional investments the province has announced to-date to stimulate the B.C. economy, which in total will create over 27,000 jobs in communities across the province.”

In B.C., this Housing Renovation Partnership is part of an overall $14 billion capital infrastructure program supported by the Province that will create up to 88,000 jobs and help build vital public infrastructure in every region of the province.

Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on the Government of Canada’s commitment in 2008 of more than $1.9 billion over the next five years to improve and build new affordable housing and help the homeless.

As a result of a sizzling month of sales in June, Canada’s two largest real estate markets — Toronto and Vancouver — came close to breaking their all-time sales records.

In Toronto, the nearly 11,000 properties sold last month marked a 27 per cent sales increase over the previous June. And in Vancouver, where 4,259 units changed hands last month, sales were up 75.6 per cent from 12 months ago.

Major year-over-year gains were also seen in Calgary (28 per cent), Regina (24 per cent), Edmonton (15.8 per cent) and Ottawa (12.5 per cent). Sales were also up 5.2 per cent in the Halifax-Dartmouth area over the previous June and had inched up 0.8 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador.

According to RE/MAX, most of Canada’s major real estate markets had begun to recover from the recession as early as March, with sales picking further up in April and May, leading to the high levels of sales seen in June.

Michael Polzler, the executive vice-president of RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada, says the boom in sales is the result of affordable prices and mortgages, as well as pent-up demand among homebuyers.

It’s a trend that could also help the wider economy, he said, because it will spur homeowners to spend on home improvements.

“When people start buying houses, they have to buy all the things that go along with those houses,” Polzler told CTV’s Canada AM on Monday morning. “Often it means a new fridge, a new carpet, painting, fixing up this, fixing up that. Even when you buy a new house, there’s a lot of things to buy. So, it helps everybody connected.”

Looking forward to the rest of the year, RE/MAX is expecting to see a more stable real estate market, though sales may not continue at the current pace.

Polzler believes that many Canadians favour real estate as a form of investment, as opposed to putting their money in private business opportunities.

“Most Canadians are very uncomfortable and unsure about the stock market,” he said. “And when you see that through these difficult times, prices in real estate have come down a little bit in most places — and in many cases are back up — they feel a lot more control than they do in the stock market.”

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090713/real_estate_090713/20090713?hub=TopStories

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A new forecast from a major Canadian real estate company predicts that the national housing market is stabilizing, after seeing a “remarkable turnaround” in the second quarter of 2009.

Royal LePage predicts that the selling price of the average house will drop by only two per cent this year — an improvement over the real estate company’s prior forecast from six months ago that predicted a three per cent drop.

The real estate company also predicts that the number of unit sales will drop about one per cent in 2009 to an estimated 430,000 sales.

Phil Soper, the president and CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate Services, said that the forecast adjustment is the result of the improved real estate sales numbers seen in the second quarter of this year.

“We’ve got the most important quarter in the real estate calendar behind us — the second quarter — and it really was a remarkable turnaround,” Soper said during an interview on CTV’s Canada AM on Tuesday morning.

“As steep as the decline was, the bounce-back was just as dramatic,” he added.

While the year’s second quarter saw housing prices beginning to appreciate, the average national housing prices still remain below their values from 12 months ago.

According to the Royal LePage figures:

* The average price of a detached bungalow declined to $327,964, about 3.5 per cent below what it was the year before
* The average price of a two-storey home was down 3.7 per cent to $392,378
* The average price of a condominium dropped four per cent to $236,612

Soper said a combination of lower mortgage prices and a housing supply shortage in parts of Canada helped push the market upward during the second quarter.

But he cautioned that the market still has a long way to go, when it comes to recovering the value lost during the recent setback.

“It’s going to look better for the second half of this year,” he said. “It’s not going to be a startlingly good year like earlier in the decade, but I think just the bounce-back, the comeback from where we were, is going to make a lot of Canadians feel a lot more comfortable about the homes they live in.”

In many Western Canadian cities, including Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, housing prices are still between 10 and 15 per cent below what they were a year ago, Soper said. But they are “gaining back ground,” he said.

In Ontario, Royal LePage said Ottawa would likely see stable prices throughout 2009, with Toronto’s market stabilizing towards the end of the year.

Montreal is expected to remain a strong real estate market this year, helped by low interest and unemployment rates.

In Atlantic Canada, housing prices were much more stable than in cities further west in Canada throughout the recession, meaning that their pricing fluctuations have been less volatile overall, Soper said.

And according to the Royal LePage figures, demand for housing has so far been strong in 2009, due to strong local economies coupled with moderate housing prices.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090707/real_estate_090707/20090707?hub=CanadaAM

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VANCOUVER, February 13, 2009 — A team consisting of Vancouver’s Habitat Design + Consulting Ltd., a local design and consulting firm, and Insightful Healthy Homes Ltd. has been chosen to design and construct one of three new CMHC EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative homes, the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced today.

In total, three builder and developer teams, including Vancouver’s Habitat Design + Consulting Ltd. “Harmony House” team, have been chosen to build eco-friendly homes as part of the second phase of CMHC’s EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative — a national project leading to the construction of the next generation of sustainable homes in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada.

“The Government of Canada is proud to work with Habitat Design + Consulting Ltd. and Insightful Healthy Homes Ltd. to extend the EQuilibrium™ initiative to B.C.,“ said Senator Yonah Martin on behalf of Minister Finley. “As a champion of sustainable housing, the Vancouver design / build team, and the other teams participating in the EQuilibrium™ initiative, are putting their expertise to work for the benefit of Canadians and providing a blueprint for the next generation of sustainable housing in Canada.”

“Harmony House” will use a mixture of proven and leading-edge technologies to build a highly marketable, resource efficient, healthy, net-zero energy home.

“We’re extremely excited to be a part of the initiative.” says Chris Mattock of Habitat Design + Consulting Ltd. “The Harmony House will provide a healthy indoor environment for the occupants, have low environmental impact and will be less expensive to operate and maintain than a conventional home.”

In addition to ”Harmony House,” the other two winning projects are:

The Green Dream Home (Kamloops, B.C.): a partnership between the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) Central Interior Chapter and Thompson Rivers University (TRU); and,

The Moncton VISION Home (Moncton, N.B.): a project by AlternaHome Solutions Inc. in partnership with Vision Land Development Ltd.

The EQuilibrium™ housing vision brings together, under one roof, the principles of occupant health and comfort, energy efficiency (including renewable energy production), resource conservation, reduced environmental impact and affordability. CMHC originally launched the EQuilibrium™ initiative in May 2006 by inviting Canadian builders and developers to submit their visions for EQuilibrium™ demonstration homes. Six projects have since been completed and opened to the public for viewing. For more information on the EQuilibrium™ initiative and projects, visit www.cmhc.ca.

CMHC has worked closely with many stakeholders to develop and launch EQuilibrium™. In particular, CMHC has collaborated closely with Natural Resources Canada which has contributed substantial research and development expertise and resources to advancing the initiative.

As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable, and affordable homes — homes that will continue to create vibrant and healthy communities and cities across the country.

For more info: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/nero/nere/2009/2009-02-13-1430c.cfm