Housing market

[block43]

Originally Posted by bornagainbiking

About time to demolish houses in some of the older areas of Hamilton and build new like the North end. Build or refurbish new schools on old sites like we are seeing at Walnut and Charlton and next to Ivor Wynne.

I don't understand your logic? I specifically chose to live in an old house in a downtown neighbourhood for the character of the house, not some plain jane new build. Destroying swaths of older housing stock would destroy the character and charm of the neighbourhood.

[FairHamilton]

People who avoid buying in the lower city, don't avoid it because the housing stock is old. They avoid buying in the lower city because they want to have a suburban lot with plenty of grass, a backyard, parking for multiple cars, etc.

Tearing down old houses and rebuilding them won't provide that for those wanting it.

[highwater]

Not to mention the grotesque waste. 1/3 of our landfills already consist of building material. Imagine trying to find landfill space for all the older homes in the lower city. And then imagine all the energy (and trees) required to produce the new homes to take their place, new homes that won't have nearly the same lifespan as the perfectly sound homes they're replacing, and will therefore need to be replaced again much sooner.

The end of the era of cheap energy, and the end of ever-expanding landfills, makes this scenario pretty ludicrous. As a society, we have to put an end to our throwaway mentality. What better place to start than our buildings?

[ryan_mcgreal]

Originally Posted by FairHamilton

People who avoid buying in the lower city, don't avoid it because the housing stock is old.

That's funny. One of the reasons I avoided buying in the suburbs is because the housing stock is new.

[oldcoote]

One (of the 413) reasons I left Toronto was the trend of razing older homes in order to build a new monster home in its place. Some people call it progress.

That being said, there are some houses that are beyond help, mostly due to years of neglect.

[BrianE]

Agreed.

There are a lot of houses that look bad in the north end right now. Painted over brick, loose mortar, shitty vinyl siding. Notice that I said LOOK bad because underneath the ultra cheap and poorly maintained cladding are houses that are still solid and better constructed than most houses built in the last 50 years.

Don't get me wrong there is still a vast sea of homes in Hamilton that are unsalvagable. Each house should be addressed on it's own merits and not with some blanket policy of tear it down and build anew.

[MsMe]

As Mike Holmes always says.... I hate new houses.

[Duckyboy]

I left Vancouver to live here in Hamilton BECAUSE of the (affordable) older homes.

Destroying them is enviromentally wasteful, perpetuates our "disposable society" mentality and erodes the city's character.

Worst idea ever. Sorry, IMHO.

I've only been here for 1.5 years, and already bought 3 houses: sold one after renovating it, bought another for income purposes and the third is my long-term project which I live in.

I'm saying this because I've also noticed other people doing the same.

You'll soon see others doing the same...

[omro]

Originally Posted by Duckyboy

I left Vancouver to live here in Hamilton BECAUSE of the (affordable) older homes.

Same reason my brother moved to Hamilton from Vancouver.

[mic67]

Here are a few houses with those 8x11 papers in the windows which usually is a legal notice or an indication of a foreclosure,etc..

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ertyId=7812276

This does not show any of the cards in the window but I have seen this house, it has been empty for quite some time, and currently has the cards in the windows. A few houses away there was another house that was also foreclosed and sold within days for $48,000.

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ertyId=7874901

Havent seen this one, but check out the location of this one by Van Wagners beach rd.

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ertyId=7812268

Here is another one with cards in the window, havent seen this one.

There are more in the $125,000 and less range. And I see plenty of them in my daily travels many without any reality sign but with cards in the windows and usually empty. It has been said that many dont have reality signs....for reasons....

There havent really been any bargins, yet or maybe they have just been available to a few?? The house on John St for $79,000, now sold?? was about the best value/location I have seen yet.
mic67

[SteelTown]

Hamilton appears to be weathering real estate storm very well, thank you

January 27, 2009
Lisa Grace Marr
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/502479

The tail end of 2008 was a low point in the Canadian real estate market, but Hamilton's is intact, if a bit bruised.

That's according to a new real estate forecast report by Royal LePage released yesterday.

"We still have good value," said Joe Ferrante, broker of record for Royal LePage in Hamilton and president-elect of the Realtors Association of Hamilton/Burlington. "We are well positioned geographically."

That has insulated Hamilton from some of the dramatic drops in housing prices and sales experienced by other areas, such as Toronto and some pockets of the GTA, he said.

For example, while the price of a detached bungalow in metro Toronto fell by anywhere from 7.6 to 18 per cent, in Hamilton the price drop was negligible, ranging from less than 1 to about 3.4 per cent.

The most dramatic drop in prices in Hamilton in the fourth quarter -- 7.5 per cent -- was on the Mountain.

Royal LePage's overall forecast, however, points to steady growth for all regions in the country.

Ferrante said there are already signs the market is picking up.

"Last Friday, the phones were ringing and I took a number of calls Saturday and Sunday about listings. That's a good thing. We do anticipate good things to come this year."

A recent poll commissioned by Royal LePage found that almost half (49 per cent) of Canadians surveyed agree the economic stimulus measures anticipated as part of today's federal budget announcement will have a positive impact on the country's real estate market.

The poll also found 82 per cent of Canadians agree Barack Obama's inauguration will have a positive impact on consumer confidence.

[240glt]

Interesting discussion about the quality of older vs. newer houses.

The single family homes built in Edmonton and Calgary from around 2000 to 2007 could possibly the poorest quality houses in the country.

Due to runaway demand and tight labor, many of these homes were framed by day laborers, and the overall finished quality of the many new suburban homes I've been in is exceptionally shoddy.

I'd take my current 1946 bungalow over a new mass built spec home any day.

[bornagainbiking]

So sorry, let me qualifiy my original statement. I am all for reno vs new homes. I agree that many neighbourhoods have so much potential for revitilizattion. I only suggest that some of the areas of neglect or semi-brownfields could have housing instead of moving our into more sprawl. To renovate a house is so much more responsible to our environment.
just get rid of the shacks or decay.
i lived in some older homes when i was a kid and they had such unique ideas that are coming back. One room where the bath and sink are one area and the toilet and sink are another, so someone can shower or bath without blocking off the bath room almost like having two bathrooms.
So glad to hear from the many who are into raising from the ashes.
Thanks for the effort. Best of luck.

[adam]

Wow, who woulda thunk that urban sprawl had to slow down one day? Maybe we can start building sustainable developments now. There has never been a better time.

[bornagainbiking]

I was surprised at the amount of building in downtown Toronto along Bay from Union to Wellesley. Mostly hi-rise Condos and $$$$$$$$. So urban sprawl and the drive may be losing fans.
I saw one of those mini Sobeys. That is what we need downtown Hamilton.
Maybe there will be a return to the urban or townlike setting, i hope.

[highwater]

Besides money, there's something else that Toronto has that Hamilton doesn't: political will. Sprawlsville is still winning in Hamilton because so much of our leadership is out of touch.

[Millstone]

Originally Posted by highwater

Besides money, there's something else that Toronto has that Hamilton doesn't: political will. Sprawlsville is still winning in Hamilton because so much of our leadership is out of touch.

Yeah. Back home, even though the people protesting the newfound sprawl were raging treehugging lunatics, they still managed to keep the developers at bay, one way or another.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by Millstone

Yeah. Back home, even though the people protesting the newfound sprawl were raging treehugging lunatics, they still managed to keep the developers at bay, one way or another.

How do you know they were treehuggers? Anyone who's been paying attention knows that sprawl is a net economic drain. Maybe they were accountants.

[adam]

Originally Posted by Millstone

Yeah. Back home, even though the people protesting the newfound sprawl were raging treehugging lunatics, they still managed to keep the developers at bay, one way or another.

Since when were the sprawl developers kept at bay? Its only recently that development on the Mountain has started to slow down. The developers have overextended themselves and prices are falling fast in these subdivisions/surveys. As a contrast, house prices in the city are maintaining value.

[BrianE]

Yeah, it's hard to tell what they're selling for but the listing prices are around the same level... maybe a tad lower. This is just for down the mountain, I havn't looked around the burbs on the mountain. During a recent drive to Limeridge I noticed a lot of for sale signs tho.

There are a bunch of houses that I've noticed have been around since last summer... but they're dumps IMHO.