All eyes on Toronto real estate sales in wake of Vancouver foreign buyer tax + MORE Sep 7th

TORONTO – A new poll suggests that about half of working Canadians would be hard-pressed to meet their financial obligations if their paycheque was delayed for a week.
The survey released Wednesday by the Canadian Payroll Association found that 48 per cent of respondents said they rely on each payday to cover their bills, with 40 per cent admitting they spend an amount equal to all or more of their net pay each week.
A quarter of those polled also said they wouldn’t be able to scrounge up $2,000 if an emergency situation happened within the next month.
The CPA said the survey highlights the growing number of Canadians who are living paycheque to paycheque, and unable to put away savings due to mounting debt and a weak economy.
Half of those polled said they are able to save five per cent or less from their earnings, with 39 per cent saying they’re “overwhelmed” by their debt.
The most common type of debt cited by respondents was a mortgage (26 per cent), followed by credit-card debt (18 per cent), car loans (17 per cent) and a line of credit (16 per cent)…

TORONTO – The latest batch of home sales figures from Canada’s largest city could reveal whether or not Vancouver’s newly implemented tax on foreign buyers is sending investors flocking to Toronto.
The Toronto Real Estate Board is expected to release sales data today for the month of August.
Some industry observers have voiced concerns that Vancouver’s new 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers could send investors to Toronto, driving up prices in a market that is already scorching hot.
Sales in Vancouver dropped 26 per cent in August compared to a year ago, following the introduction of the tax on Aug. 2.
Prices, however, continued to rise, with the benchmark price for all residential properties climbing 31.4 per cent from a year ago to $933,100.
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VANCOUVER – The plunge in real estate sales and deceleration in price increases in the Vancouver area last month were exactly what the government was trying to manoeuvre, and Premier Christy Clark says there will be no changes to the foreign-buyers tax.
Clark told reporters Tuesday that her government will not reconsider the 15-per-cent tax that is intended to calm what she called a “distorted market.”
“The prices were going up way too fast and if we helped slow that down, that’s good,” she said.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver announced last Friday that August sales were down by 26 per cent compared with last year, signalling a return to more typical levels.
The largest drop in property sales last month was among detached homes, with a decrease of 44.5 per cent.
Along with the slowdown in sales, the board said prices that were once skyrocketing may be tapering off.
The average price of a detached home fell to $1.47 million last month, a 16.7 per cent drop from the month before…

OCAD University. CLAUDIA HUNG
Best place for a nap:
Empty critique rooms; top floors of the AGO
Best cheap lunch:
$1 lunch provided by the Student Union on Thursdays. Always vegan, always a must.
Best hangover breakfast:
Karine’s in the Village by the Grange food court
Favourite campus food:
Anywhere in the Village by the Grange food court, across the street from the main building. A huge diversity of cheap eats.
Favourite watering hole:
Gallery openings often have free drinks—another incentive to get out into the community
Perks:
The facilities to make anything you want
Where to live:
North (between Bloor and Dundas) and west (around College and Dufferin) can be inexpensive
Best place to study:
Second- or third-floor halls, next to the windows overlooking Grange Park—lots of good afternoon light
Worst place to study:
Sixth floor, chock full of stressed-out design students
Coolest electives:
Courses in professional practice or production: skills for the real world after graduation
Most notorious transit route:
Any route during rush hour, especially if you’re carrying a large canvas
Best campus events:
Gallery openings at the Student Gallery and Xpace Cultural Centre
Official school motto:
‘Imagination is everything’
Best live music venue:
Student Union open-mic nights on the last Thursday of each month
University Insider Report: Jonathan Carroll, 25, Integrated Media
OCAD University is steps from the financial district and bordered by vibrant Queen Street West to the south and Chinatown to the north, right in the middle of downtown Toronto…