His signature project was Meadowvale, in Mississauga, an early planned community (Source: Globe and Mail) Peter Langer embodied a rare mix of militaristic discipline and Mitteleuropean courtliness. Both traits came in handy in a storied five-decade-long career as one of Canada’s most prolific real estate developers. Mr. Langer rode the crest of Ontario’s real estate boom from the 1940s through to the 80s, developing millions of square feet of residential, commercial and industrial properties, and serving on a slew of … Read More

BuzzBuzzHomeAugust 31, 2009 After months of hearing about new residential projects not moving forward or on hiatus (only a few), it is a pleasure posting about new projects that will shortly be launching! Check out the new development coming this fall by Streetcar Developments, called “2 Gladstone“. Click here to see 2 Gladstone and all the surrounding developments currently for sale on the BuzzBuzzHome map. Interested in seeing what else Streetcar Developments is up to? Check out their other selling … Read More

BuzzBuzzHomeAugust 31, 2009 Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy (Gaddafi? Khadafy? Qadhafi?) is planning to visit the US in September, where he will be addressing the United National General Assembly (September 23), but is looking for some luxury real-estate to rent, and do some entertaining. Where else would the Libyan leader want to stay, other than in Joan Rivers’ house (oh yeah, he was planning on camping in a tent on the Libyan compound in Englewood, NJ)! As per the New York … Read More

(Source: Canadian Press) Canada’s economy grew in June according to official data released Monday morning, the first monthly increase since July 2008. The 0.1 per cent increase in inflation-adjusted GDP for June reported by Statistics Canada was below private-sector expectations of an 0.2 per cent increase in real gross domestic product. Economists have been looking for evidence to support the Bank of Canada’s assertion that this country’s economy has begun to recover from the worst recession in decades and will … Read More

BuzzBuzzHome August 31, 2009 Normally new-development eBlast’s come with some amazing deal, which tries to hook you into purchasing. This month’s eBlast from U Condominiums mentions a free-parking space if you purchase the “Suite of the Month”, but not much else in the way of a hook. According to the eBlast: Until the end of September, purchase the 896 sq. ft. (+ 277 sq. ft. balcony min.), two-bedroom King design available on floors 4 through 33, priced from $559,900, and … Read More

(Reuters, August 31 2009) House prices in England and Wales fell at their slowest annual rate in almost a year in August, as prices rose for the first time in more than two years on the month, property data company Hometrack said on Monday. House prices rose 0.1 percent from July, the first monthly rise since July 2007, leaving the annual rate of decline at 6.7 percent, the slowest since last September. However, prices were buoyed by a lack of … Read More

(Source: North County Times) As Southern California’s homebuilders stumble through the wreckage of the worst bust in their industry’s history, investors are collecting the pieces in anticipation of the next boom. Buyers are snapping up empty expanses as large as 100 acres from developers and builders in San Diego and Riverside counties who were caught wrong-footed when housing demand began to slow in 2005. The prices are typically half or less of what was initially loaned on the properties in … Read More

(Source: Gotham Gazette) It’s been some 40 years since the federal Fair Housing Act was passed allowing the Department of Justice to prosecute “patterns or practices” of housing discrimination” and 20 years since that act was amended to permit the department to act against municipalities that violate fair housing standards. Yet housing discrimination persists in New York, according to the Fair Housing Justice Center, a city-based non-profit fair housing organization. The city’s acute shortage of affordable housing combined with the … Read More

(Source: Wall Street Journal) Federal Reserve and Treasury officials are scrambling to prevent the commercial-real-estate sector from delivering a roundhouse punch to the U.S. economy just as it struggles to get up off the mat. Their efforts could be undermined by a surge in foreclosures of commercial property carrying mortgages that were packaged and sold by Wall Street as bonds. Similar mortgage-backed securities created out of home loans played a big role in undoing that sector and triggering the global … Read More

The International Commerce Center under construction last fall in Hong Kong. The 118 stories of the I.C.C. give it the rank of the world’s fourth-tallest building. BuzzBuzzHomeAugust 30, 2009 Hong Kong is known for its skyscrapers, but even by Hong Kong standards the new International Commerce Center is massive! And, even with the economic downturn, the building is almost fully tenanted. Is this a testament to the world’s hottest property market, or is it a simple case of low levels … Read More