New short-term rental rules in B.C, the Home of the Week: Canadian real estate news for December 9

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Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

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Real estate developer Westbank faces onslaught of litigation for Canadian, U.S. projects due to unpaid bills

More than two dozen construction and trade businesses in Toronto and Seattle have been fighting with Westbank – a prominent Canadian developer known for its ambitious architecture – over millions in unpaid bills, writes Shane Dingman, Rachelle Younglai, Frances Bula, and Mike Hager. The allegations have not been proven in court, and the developer said delays caused by constructing through a global pandemic are far from unique to their projects. A review by The Globe and Mail of legal action facing 10 other prominent Canadian real estate developers in Ontario shows no similar flurry of claims from unpaid creditors.

Ontario gives home sellers option to share bid details with other buyers

Even with new rules on blind bidding in Ontario’s real estate market that will allow realtors to share details of buyer bids with other buyers, industry experts don’t believe an era of open auctions is upon us, writes Shane Dingman. There’s little public data on how often bidding wars happen, and some say open bidding will primarily help sellers, who now have more tools to maximize sale price. Reform of blind bidding was sometimes pitched as an affordability measure – though because of a lack of data collection around secret bids, it’s never been clear how much the practice might have increased prices.

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