Clusterfuck Nation by Jim Kunstler : Peak Suburbia. a friendly reminder of how screwed we are. Kunstler also has a ted talk about the disaster that is suburbia.

The City of Toronto is doubling land-transfer taxes on homes. Toronto already has the highest tax rate in Canada for land transfers. A 400K house will incur a 9K land transfer tax. ouch.

Low-rate ride is finished, so lock in your mortgage. i’ve been seeing more and more comments on canadian financial blogs arguing for fixed rate mortgages right now.

TheStar.com - 20% down to buy home has just gotten cheaper. the feds lowered the minimum down payment without CHMC insurance to 20%

TheStar.com - Downtown Digs. a sampling of student housing in downtown toronto.

Robert Shiller: Mr. Worst-case scenario “In fact, I’m inclined to think there’s a good chance that the return on real estate will be negative, substantially negative, over the next 10 years”. damn.

Is It Better to Buy or Rent? - New York Times. what a great tool. via ram.

»The Cost of Buying a Home Over 30 Years - Consumerism Commentary. summarizes a WSJ article about the costs of home ownership.

TheStar.com - What you get for $204,900. it’s the cheapest home in central toronto. it’s supposedly “lovely and quirky” though.

Crisis Looms in Market for Mortgages - New York Times. seems that the chickens have come home to roost in the world of high risk mortgage securities.

The Psychology of Pricing - New York Times. the craziness of pricing a house for sale. via paul.

Canadian Capitalist » Real Estate Returns. it’s funny that the people at Remax just got the numbers completely wrong.

Home buyers get a break on mortgage insurance - Globe&Mail. seems canadian home buyers should be getting some breaks on mortgage insurance (though not on home prices).

Canadian Capitalist » Mortgage Rates: Fixed or Floating. points out an interesting article about how floating rate mortages have historically saved Canadians a pile of money.

Hidden Rooms are all the rage - New York Times. A friend of mine had a hidden room back in montreal. it was pimp.

GOOD MAGAZINE | Bright Orange. a group of artists started painting abandoned homes in Detroit bright orange to point out the problem.

2 percent off center » Things I learn (and wish I knew) getting a NYC coop. Kavin’s “things to know” when buying property in NYC. my advice, don’t.

Spacing Wire » condo BOOM!
an exhibit that aims to explore “the marketing, production, and development of condominiums, and their impacts on neighbourhoods.”

Real Estate Vs. Stocks - Forbes.com. turns out the S&P500 absolutely stomped housing in the last 25 years.

When will the tsunami of foreclosures hit? - BusinessWeek. I had no idea how ARM mortgages work. Though I did have an idea of how over-extended Americans are.