Ofra Harnoy Violoncello by Hans Thijs Ofra Harnoy was born on January 31, in 1965, in the Israeli city of Hadera, and came with her family to Toronto in 1971. By the time she became a naturalized Canadian […]

Toronto Town House by MsAnthea According to a Greater Toronto REALTORS®'s market report on November, the real estate market in Toronto continued its successful fall results. The total number of transactions more than exceeded seven thousand, and saw […]

Parking by Andrew Currie For anyone who drives in and around Toronto, you know very well that it's not an easy task. All the one-way streets, restricted turns, busy intersections with endless pedestrians, and aggressive drivers make downtown driving an […]

Classical Guitar by Oteo Norbert Kraft was born in Austria on August 21st, 1950, in the city of Linz, but became a Canadian citizen (eventually settling in Toronto) as a very young boy. In his early years, Kraft […]

Maureen Forrester by Wikimedia Commons Maureen Forrester was born in Montreal, Quebec, on the 25th of July, 1930. As a child, her first major musical involvement was with church choirs and vocal lessons, which she started at the […]

Annex Victorian Houses by Jay Woodworth 7,642 home sales were reported by Greater Toronto REALTORS® through the TorontoMLS® in October 2011, which means we have been witnesses to an increase of 17.5 per cent compared to the 6,504 […]

Glenn Gould Statue in Toronto by Stefan Powell One of Canada's foremost classical musicians, Glenn Gould was born into a musically inclined family (his mother was a cousin of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg) on September 25th, 1932, in […]

Legal recognition "Of course, it's a huge and a bit terrifying step – but I guess that's what all newlyweds go through," said Jane, a 36 year-old doctor just minutes before she said yes to her long-term partner, Julie. So […]

Toronto Houses by Thierry Gregorius Last month rounded out a strong third quarter, as 7,658 transactions through the TorontoMLS® system were reported this September, representing a 25 per cent increase year-over-year. The total number of sales during the […]

Complete Data Chart for Toronto According to a newly released The Royal LePage House Price Survey, the average price of a house in Canada rose between 5.7 and 7.8 per cent in the third quarter of this year, […]

Jane Jacobs Born in Pennsylvania in 1916, Jane Jacobs gained recognition in both the United States and, later, Canada, as a writer and activist, focusing primarily on urban development and planning policies. Although she was never formally trained in […]

Victoria College by B Sutherland One of Canada's foremost literary theorists and critics, Herman Northrop Frye was born on July 1912, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, to Catherine Maud Howard and Herman Edward Frye. In 1929, he entered Victoria College […]

Fresh Restaurant These days, it can seem challenging to go out with friends and enjoy yourself while still eating well. But Fresh makes eating healthy, delicious food easy and enjoyable. They offer a wide array of options for all […]

Woo Buffet Feeling hungry for a wide variety of Asian food in downtown Toronto? Then give Woo Buffet, Restaurant & Lounge a try. Unlike many Chinese buffets that are tucked near the outskirts of the city, its prime location […]

KINNEAR'S KOMMENTS Vol. 19, Issue 5,   September 2011 "Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the nextday. It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already taken."  […]

Nosey by Claire Thompson Did you know that in the UK, one in ten homeowners move due to problematic neighbours? This unfortunate reason for moving turned out to be an even more frequent motivator for relocating than getting closer […]

A Glorious Summer Day in Toronto by Benson Kua Toronto Realtors reported 7,542 sales in August 2011 — an increase of 24 per cent compared to the same month of the previous year. The market shows steady growth, […]

A Frame From the "Old Spice" Realtor Commercial by LandmarkRealty Real estate is NOT a dull business. On the contrary, it is often rather fun, especially because it involves people. And people are fun. Unless they are […]

Dinner Party by Anders P So, you've taken the plunge and gotten yourself a new place. You've spent hours moving in and days unpacking. And on top of that, there are the countless sleepless nights spent debating which colour […]

Old House by Lee Cannon While some buyers prefer investing in brand new houses, others love enjoying the charm and spirit that older buildings exude. Additionally, many people (especially our grandparents!) believe that modern construction standards cannot compete with […]

House by Vince DeStefano Beauty is highly regarded. Everyone likes to hang out with pretty people, everyone likes to drive a pretty car, everyone likes to own pretty things, and everyone wants to live in a pretty home. Realtors® […]

Colours of Health by Alex Proimos There are few sights more symbolic of the growing 'slow food' movement than that of a farmers' market set up in the midst of a sprawling city. In a world dominated by […]

Birthday Cake by D. Sharon Pruitt Birthdays are wonderful things because they're a time to spend with friends and family. They are also excellent because of the gifts and treats you're rewarded with for your year of hard […]

The Roastery by Ian Muttoo Liberty Village is a vibrant, up-and-coming neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. It has been booming since 2004 and has seen the rise of numerous condominium buildings, audacious office buildings, and a plethora of shops, malls, […]

Study by MC Quinn According to the latest news, tuition fees in Canada have been on a steep rise for over 20 years. True, the increase has somewhat slowed in the last decade, but the growth of tuition fees […]

SOMA chocolatemaker King St. West is known for its rows of fabulous bars and lounges, but recently, I discovered a different kind of bar—a chocolate bar. Yes, SOMA Chocolatemaker has finally graced the west end with a new location […]

180 Panorama Panorama boasts having "Toronto's Best View," and frankly, I can't really argue with that. However, my sky-high expectations (no pun intended) were not entirely met by this cozy little locale up in the air.

Watermark Pub It can be rather difficult to get out to Toronto Island in the middle of the week, but that doesn't mean that you have to stay deprived of its natural beauty and sailboats in the middle of […]

The Bata Shoe Museum by Patrick Stahl If you're looking to soak up some history and have fun at the same time, you have to make a trip to the Bata Shoe Museum on the South-West corner of […]

La Société If you're in the mood for fine French cuisine, I've found a lovely new restaurant for you. It's called La Société and it's conveniently located at 131 Bloor St. This elegant bistro is newly renovated, and it […]

Photo by Ajay Karat According to Greater Toronto REALTORS®, last month's home sales went up by 21 per cent in year-to-year comparison, as 10,230 homes were sold last June in GTA. It represents the third best June result on […]

QR Code Marketing on Hilton Head Island by haroc A good salesman is always looking for new and more effective ways to reach his potential customers. The recent trend for most of marketers is to reach their customers as […]

Open Door by Ken Bosma Open house showings have become a standard part of home buying. Almost everybody wishes to get to know their potential future home and actually touch and tour it. I don't think I've […]

Kensington Market Sign by Antenne Springborn Kensington is a place for reflection. One of the most popular spots in Toronto's downtown, Kensington Market is a place where you can go to help you understand what's going on in […]

Storm by Slawek Puklo Although strong summer storms aren't unusual, people often get caught by surprise by their devastating effects. Recent storms (which left many Ontario residents in the dark a few days ago), were yet more proof of […]

Photo by kenpower Our southern neighbour is still far from housing market recovery, says State of the Nation's Housing, a recent report from Harvard University. The statistics are chilling and show little sign of improvement.

Photo by NCM3 Over the last year, market conditions tightened markedly. The increasing competition between sellers and buyers has led mostly to higher price gains. This May, both sales and prices recorded substantial gains. According to the […]

A Perfect Gift by Bill Rhodes Canada's reputation has suffered again. We have been placed by OECD among countries with little or no enforcement of the Anti-Bribery Convention, in the worst position among G7 countries. As you can see […]

If you've ever been to an open house, you were surely asked to sign a guest book or a sign-in sheet. This is common practice throughout North America, and beyond. You may have wondered, however, what these sheets are for […]

Realtors® are professionals who work on your behalf as sellers' agents and try to attract the best buyer for your property. Sometimes, though, people have misconceptions about real estate agents' work. Learn how Realtors® operate to bring you the best […]

Sometimes the smallest mistakes can cost dearly. This is particularly true, financially speaking, of your home-sale listing. There are many houses on the market, and if you want to sell yours quickly, you had better stand out. Assuming you have […]

Sales Activity History and Forecast by CREA The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has revised its forecast for housing activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of the Canadian Real Estate Boards and Associations for 2011 and 2012. According […]

"So, it has 2 floors, 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a big garden… and, oh! It's a little bit haunted." This probably isn't a description you would like to hear from your realtor when being introduced to your potential home. Nevertheless, […]

Home Alone House You don't have to be an actor to become a film star and this famous house, located just 30km north of Chicago, is the indubitable proof. The primary filming location for the first Home Alone film, […]

  Central Toronto by JDB The Central Toronto Real Estate Market's activity is still gaining momentum during the spring months. Increased market activity is nothing unusual for this time of the year; however, this year's market situation is unique […]

Photo by adamknits According to a recent poll conducted by ING Direct, the sixth largest mortgage lender in Canada, Canadians tend to behave surprisingly conservatively when it comes to handling mortgages. The results of the survey show that […]

Photo by thinkpanama Are they heading up, are they bound to fall, or will they remain stable? Those are the million-dollar questions, and of course, we're talking about housing prices. It seems like nobody can really be sure what's […]

For Sale Sign by Diana Parkhouse The latest GTA Realtors mid-month resale housing figures release reported a 3 per cent decrease in listings activity year-over-year. According to the report, 4,444 sales were done during the first two […]

Photo by Grant MacDonald According to the current Royal LePage House Price Survey, the average price of a Canadian home went up by between 3.5 and 4.3 per cent, respectively, in the first three months of 2011, compared […]

Nathan Wilson is the winner of this year's Koloring Kontest! Good job Nathan!! We love all the pics we get! They are displayed in our office for weeks and they make everyone stop and smile! Happy Easter to all our […]

Photo by Taku The seasonally adjusted rate of housing starts was 188,800 units last March, up from 183,700 units in February 2011. The information was provided by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). All starts in this […]

Photo by Kevin Dooley The ability to understand the market is the key to financial success. Nobody can predict the exact movement of a market trend (unless she or he is a gifted prophet), but the right combination […]

Excavator Buckets by visualdensity The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released a report showing positive housing starts numbers in the Greater Toronto Area. According to the report, new home construction remained strong in February. Housing starts reached 2,986, […]

Photo by Milos Milosevic Last week, home price indexes (HPI) for January were released for both the U.S. (Case-Shiller) and Canada (Teranet). Both home price indexes were set at 100 in January 2000. Between 2000 and 2006, U.S. home […]

Photo by Benson Kua Foreign buyers from Europe and China have been driving the Canadian resale market up recently, as their relentlessly fought multimillion bidding wars push prices higher, despite the slowdown of more ordinary home sales.

Photo by Steve Hoang The Canadian real estate market continued its slowdown in February as home sales dropped 1.6 per cent from the previous month and 5.9 per cent from the previous year. According to the CREA (Canadian […]

Photo by Eric Skiff The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) has published market data for the first two weeks of March 2011. 4,138 home sales were reported during the first half of the month, which is a 5 […]

Photo by Mike Gericke Ontario has recorded three months of consecutive growth, as housing starts grew by 29% in February, hitting 62,000 units, which represents a remarkable increase from 48,400 units in January. While multi-family construction (condos, row houses and […]

Rexall Centre by Amin Tabrizi The BlackCreek Summer Music Festival will launch its inaugural season at the Rexall Centre, the main tennis court for the Canada Masters tournament at York University.

Photo by Ken Lund TREB (Toronto Real Estate Board) published its regular market report for the last month. So how did the market do in February? In total, 6,266 transactions were reported through the TorontoMLS® system, which is 14 […]

Photo by Dennis Jarvis According to RBC's February report, owning a home in Canada became slightly more affordable at the end of 2010. In the fourth quarter, RBC Housing Affordability Measures fell between 0.4 and 0.8 percentage points (depending […]

Growing by Lohb Canadian commercial real estate investment bounced back in 2010 at 11.1 per cent, which is the market's best performance in the last few years. According to the report, the annual total return is underpinned by a […]

  The Bank of Canada leads the G7 group when it comes to hiking the interest rate. After raising the rate up to 1% from last June's record low level of 0.25%, it is expected to raise the rate […]

Three Canadian cities ranked in the top 10 of the "Most Livable Cities in the World" survey prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Vancouver ranked first as the most livable city in the world for the fifth consecutive year, while […]

  Photo by Denis Jacquerye January resale numbers in Canada were highest in the last nine months, CREA reports. Toronto recorded the second highest activity, with Vancouver claiming the first place and Victoria earning the bronze.   The increase […]

Photo by Horia Varlan Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported 170,400 new housing units in January 2011. This is a slight increase when compared to 169,000 units in December 2010. However, new housing activity in 2011 is […]

Photo by Quinn Dombrowski GTA residential housing market is up for a good start in 2011. Although not being as good as the record numbers reported in January 2010, the residential resale housing market maintained a steady pace with […]

Two days ago, the online retail giant Amazon.ca presented a list of the 20 most romantic Canadian cities. And guess what – Toronto didn't make it to the list!

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released a new report discussing the rate of housing starts and resales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in 2010.

Toronto is known as the condo capital of North America. The year 2010 underlined this position - number of large condominium projects was finished and condos take still bigger portion of monthly real estate sales. Toronto Dowtown by Fabian […]

How do you imagine your dream home? Several bedrooms, big yard, high quality material used, a fireplace, maybe a pool... Some people have different visions of comfortable living. Very different!

Photo by Stuart Caie Dispose of Hazardous Waste safely! Cleaning supplies, bleach, paint, batteries, old medication, flourescent light bulbs, motor oil, propane tanks/cylinders, etc. Safe Disposal:  - take them to a Drop-off Depot i.e. Home Depot.  - take them to […]

Office Buildings by Andrew Rivett New home construction starts in December 2010 were at the level of 171,500 units, going down by 13.5% from 198,200 units measured in November 2010. These are the statistics released by the […]

picture by melodramababs 4,395 existing home sales for December were reported by Greater Toronto realtors. That concludes this year's sales and makes the total for 2010 – 86,170, which is down by one per cent compared to 2009. This […]

Picture by akhenaton06 The new home market in the Greater Toronto Area jumped in November as 4,605 new home constructions began, according to the data recently released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This number represents a […]