Author

Bailey Amber

Self Care

Cerebral Admits That it Wrongly Shared Data of 3.1M Users

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

Close Up of Illuminated Glowing Keys on a Black Keyboard Spelling Data Breach 3d illustration

After months of criticism about its data privacy practices, Cerebral admitted that it wrongfully shared the private health information of 3.1 million of its users. This admission comes in the form of a March 9 letter to users and March 1 government filing.

Cerebral is a mental health platform specializing in the virtual treatment of mental health conditions, mainly ADHD, anxiety and depression. In its letter, the startup said it had used pixel technologies, which are third-party analytics tools made by companies like Meta, Google and TikTok.  

These tools are usually free and can give companies insight into the way consumers use their platforms, but the tech companies who provide this software can also use patient data to profile users as they browse. People usually aren’t aware that they are opting in to having their activity tracked because they are simply checking a box when reviewing an app or website’s terms of use and privacy policies, which few people take the time to read.

Cerebral said it has used tracking technologies since it began operations in October 2019. After reviewing its use of these tools, the company found out on January 3 that it had disclosed its patients’ protected health information to third parties without having obtained the necessary assurances required by HIPAA.

The startup assured users that it had “promptly disabled, reconfigured, and/or removed” its tracking technologies. It also said that it discontinued data sharing with any third parties that are unable to meet all HIPAA requirements, as well as enhanced its information security practices and technology vetting processes.

The following types of information were disclosed in the breach: clinical data about patients’ visits and treatments, mental health self-assessment responses, appointment dates, health insurance/ pharmacy benefit information, insurance co-pay amounts, name, phone number, email address, date of birth, IP address, Cerebral client ID number and demographic data.

The type of information disclosed varied depending on how extensively each patient used the platform. Cerebral said that no patients had their Social Security number, credit card information or bank account information leaked, no matter how they used its services. The company also told its patients that it is not aware of any misuse of their data.

This HIPAA violation is not Cerebral’s only recent legal woe. Last year, one of the company’s former executives sued the startup, claiming that it had fired him for calling out the company’s prescribing practices. Matthew Truebe, Cerebral’s ex-vice president of product and engineering, had criticized the company for being too hasty when prescribing young people addictive stimulant drugs like Adderall. His lawsuit came shortly after some Cerebral employees told media outlets that the startup was taking advantage of pandemic-era prescribing regulations that allowed providers to prescribe addictive drugs without requiring an in-person examination.

But Cerebral is far from the only company to suffer negative consequences after using pixel technology. 

A week ago, the Federal Trade Commission reached a $7.8 million settlement with virtual mental healthcare provider BetterHelp for sharing its patients’ sensitive health data with advertisers like Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest. In a statement, BetterHelp — which was acquired by Teladoc in 2015 — said its settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. 

The FTC also recently accused consumer-focused digital healthcare platform GoodRx of failing to notify users that it sold their personal health information to Google, Facebook and other tech companies. To settle the case, GoodRx agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty for failing to report its leakage of user data to third parties, but did not admit to wrongdoing. 

Additionally, the Northern District of California filed a class action lawsuit this past summer against Meta, the UCSF Medical Center and the Dignity Health Medical Foundation, claiming that they have been illegally collecting patients’ health data for targeted advertising.

Photo: Paul Campbell, Getty Images

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Business

Funding roundup March 2 – March 9: Till Payments, Sumday, Humane  and more

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

This weekly feature from Dynamic Business runs down the week’s top funding rounds from Australia and the US. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

SimConverse raises $1.5 million seed round

SimConverse, a healthcare startup that aims to improve communication between medical professionals and patients by simulating real-life patient conversations, has secured $1.5 million in Seed funding. 

The round was led by Folklore Ventures, with participation from Artesian. The company was founded by Aiden Roberts and Will Pamment, who met while studying medicine at university.

Till Payments banks $70 million 

Earlier this year, Till Payments, a fintech company that specializes in business payments, laid off 40% of its workforce before securing $70 million in a Series D funding round. The company cut 120 employees in order to raise capital for its planned listing on the US NASDAQ later this year, which took them about five months to find.

Sumday announces $2 million seed round

Tasmanian startup Sumday, which specialises in carbon accounting, has raised $2 million in a Seed funding round. Sumday has secured investment from venture capital giant Blackbird Ventures, with software company billionaire Cameron Adams also participating in the funding round.

Sumday’s innovative technology helps businesses track and manage their carbon footprint, aiding their sustainability efforts.

Envisics raises over $50m in series c funding; reaches $500m post-money valuation

Envisics raised over $50M in Series C funding at a $500M post-money valuation. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the pace of product development and delivery. General Motors will be the first company to deploy the Envisic 2nd Generation AR-HUD technology, debuting in the 2024 Cadillac LYRIQ.

Humane raises $100M in series C funding

Humane raised $100M in Series C funding. Funded by Kindred Ventures, with participation from SK Networks, Microsoft, LG Technology Ventures, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Top Tier Capital, Hudson Bay Capital, and Socium Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and business reach.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Real Estate

Real estate inventory levels ‘shockingly low’: Re/Max Canada

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

  • Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account
  • Get exclusive access to the National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on
  • Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists
  • Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists
  • Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword

SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

  • Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account
  • Get exclusive access to the National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on
  • Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists
  • Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists
  • Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword

REGISTER TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

  • Access articles from across Canada with one account
  • Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments
  • Enjoy additional articles per month
  • Get email updates from your favourite authors
0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Real Estate

Canada’s rental housing market lags the U.S. and that’s causing a lot of problems

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

Apartment rents have fallen in most U.S. cities, while spiking across Canada

Apartments for rent in Ottawa.
Apartments for rent in Ottawa. Photo by TONY CALDWELL/Postmedia files

The rental markets in the United States and Canada cannot be more dissimilar, especially when it comes to apartment rents, which have fallen in most U.S. cities, while spiking across Canada.

Story continues below

U.S. renters “with new leases in January paid a median rent that was 3.5 per cent lower than they would have paid last August,” the Wall Street Journal, using data from Apartment List, reported. Rents have fallen every month over a six-month period for the first time in five years.

By comparison, rents in Canada have been rising quickly. Year-over-year rent increases for one-bedroom apartments were 24.2 per cent in Vancouver and 20.8 per cent in Toronto, according to Rentals.ca data. Even in less populous cities such as Kitchener and London in Ontario, rents for one-bedroom apartments were up by more than 25 per cent.

The average annual increase across major rental markets tracked by Rentals.ca was about 15 per cent for one-bedroom apartments and 14.4 per cent for two-bedroom apartments.

Story continues below

The worsening rental situation in Canada prompted the federal government to offer low-income renters a one-time $500 rental benefit. By late February, more than 500,000 renters had applied for the benefit, and it is estimated that an additional 1.2 million renters will also apply.

Despite similar demographics and economic structures, the drastically different rental markets in the U.S. and Canada may be explained by the differences in their respective rental housing supplies. Whereas rental housing supplies have been on the rise in the U.S., large housing markets in Canada, with a few exceptions, have not had any meaningful increase in rental housing construction.

The result of this supply-and-demand mismatch has become quite apparent in Canada. Higher mortgage rates and falling housing prices have caused sales to decline since early 2022. A slowdown in the resale market meant that many first-time homebuyers extended their rental tenures for longer than they would have had the markets facilitated their transition to ownership. This resulted in lower rental vacancy rates, which have inadvertently pushed up rents in most housing markets.

Story continues below

However, the problem is not necessarily the higher demand for rental units; it’s Canada’s inadequate rental housing supply.

In the U.S., the Wall Street Journal cited CoStar Group Inc. data that forecasts “the biggest delivery of new supply since 1986” and that “half-a-million new apartments are coming on line” in 2023. “The crush of new apartments will give renters more choices, making it more difficult for landlords to raise rents at rates seen early in 2022.”

The recent decline in rents in the U.S. could be partly because markets reached their upper limit in rent tolerance last year, so a decline in lease renewals followed, putting downward pressure on rents.

In Canada, however, the construction of purpose-built rental housing took a nosedive in the early 1970s and has not recovered to levels commensurate with demand. Back then, 25,000 purpose-built rental units were annually completed in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), according to a recent report by Building Industry and Land Development Association, an industry group representing the development industry in the GTA, but less than 5,000 rental apartments came on line in 2022.

Story continues below

The decline in rental construction is even more dramatic when you note that the earlier higher supply of rental housing was for a much smaller population base in the GTA, whose population has significantly increased since the early 1970s.

  1. Condo buildings in Liberty Village neighbourhood in Toronto.

    Housing needs mean more condos, benefiting renters and investors alike

  2. Housing market surveys consistently show that cities in Quebec have some of the lowest rents in Canada. This has led some to advise those struggling with higher rents to relocate to places with cheaper rents.

    Quebec may have cheaper rents but that’s because incomes are lower

  3. A for lease sign is displayed in the window of a vacant office building in Saskatoon.

    Aging labour force, hybrid work among challenges facing office real estate

Of course, housing affordability is a more significant concern for low-income renter households than homeowners or those aspiring for homeownership.

For example, renters in the GTA were two to three times as likely to be in core housing need (a metric for housing affordability) than homeowners, according to a recent report by the Centre for Urban Research and Land Development.

Story continues below

The federal and Ontario governments have recognized housing supply as the prime culprit behind worsening affordability. The governments have since identified the need to build millions more homes than what would have been built under business as usual.

It would be wise to target subsidies and incentives to produce affordable rental housing first, so that the shelter needs of those most vulnerable can be met sooner.

Murtaza Haider is a professor of real estate management and director of the Urban Analytics Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University. Stephen Moranis is a real estate industry veteran. They can be reached at the Haider-Moranis Bulletin website, www.hmbulletin.com.

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

Join the Conversation

Related Stories

  3. Story continues below

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Business

How B2B partnerships will transform small business in 2023

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

This year hasn’t started off kind to small business owners. With rising interest rates, increased cost of living, and businesses still struggling with workforce shortages, the companies that can hang on throughout this year will come out the other end stronger.

Despite these challenges, it isn’t to say that we won’t see growth in the small business sector. Alternatively, we can expect businesses to band together and begin relying on B2B partnerships to expand their businesses despite a looming recession. 

While B2B partnerships aren’t a new tactic, we can expect to see many more partnerships and collaborations pop up throughout this year. B2B partnerships have the potential to transform small businesses by providing new opportunities for growth and innovation. 

Accessing and tapping into new markets

By utilizing and partnering with complementary businesses, it can help them access new markets that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to tap into. By partnering with a business that already has an established presence in a new market, small businesses can quickly and efficiently expand their customer base.

Expanding products and services to become a more comprehensive business

By collaborating with other businesses it can help smaller businesses expand their services by allowing them to offer something they wouldn’t have been able to previously. It ends up acting like an extension of your service and simultaneously allows small businesses to tap into different types of customer basis and increase loyalty. 

Costing-saving advantageous 

Partnerships or collaborations often come with the assumption that it comes with a heavy price tab, but that’s not necessarily true. With B2B partnerships it can actually help with cost saving.

Businesses have the opportunity to save money by pooling their resources and sharing the brunt of the costs. For example, small businesses could partner to share specific tools or machinery, which helps ease pressure of upfront costs for all parties. 

Increase in a competitive edge and increase in market share

Through these types of partnerships, small businesses can expect an increase in market share and have a better competitive advantage. By partnering with complementary businesses, small businesses have a better leg up on the competition because they now have a more comprehensive service offering, a wider customer base and demographic, and have entered into new markets. 

Small businesses that don’t leverage B2B partnerships this year will be left behind as they will be missing out on profits, new customer acquisition and will lack a competitive edge. B2B partnerships offer small businesses a chance to innovate in the most cost-effective and efficient way. 

This year will bring innovative B2B partnerships that will lead the way for how future small businesses will interact with the market, leverage their technology, their services but most of all how they will change the landscape of how traditional small businesses have been operating. 

Overall, B2B partnerships have the potential to be a game-changer for small businesses in 2023. By leveraging these partnerships, small businesses can gain access to new markets, products, and services, save money, become more competitive, and drive innovation.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Business

Survey shows the majority of employees value productivity amidst financial pressures

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

Employment Hero, a platform for managing people, has recently published its Talent Insights Report 2023. 

The report highlights that a significant majority of Australian workers, approximately 57 per cent, feel that their wages need to be keeping up with the increasing cost of living. 

However, despite this concern, a considerable number of employees, around 68 per cent, have rated their productivity levels as high over the last six months, indicating their determination to persevere.

The report also highlights that salaries in Australia have been fluctuating while inflation rates have continued to surge. Furthermore, around 54 per cent of the survey respondents reported that they had not received any salary increments in the past 12 months. 

Despite the recent influx of international workers into the Australian job market, job vacancies still remain high. It is noteworthy that in the face of global job uncertainties, the employment market in Australia still seems to favour job seekers, making it an employee market.

Based on a survey of more than 1,000 employees across Australia conducted in the initial weeks of January 2023, the Talent Insights Report revealed that over half of Australian workers, 54 per cent, did not receive a salary increase last year, potentially leading to the perception that their wages are not keeping up with inflation. 

For those who did receive an increment, it was, on average, seven per cent, which is similar to the inflation rate, with younger generations benefiting more. Approximately 52 per cent of employees aged 18-34 saw an increase in their salary, while 67 per cent of those aged 55 and above reported no salary increase. Additionally, employees between the ages of 25 and 34 were more likely to receive a cash bonus.

Despite a challenging global economic outlook in 2023, Australian workers remain optimistic about their professional futures. According to a recent survey, 71 per cent of Australians believe that their jobs are secure, and 44 per cent are confident that their companies will continue to grow this year.

While talk about the Great Resignation may have subsided, many Australians are still seeking career advancement and are actively looking for new opportunities. In fact, 63 per cent of employees who plan to switch roles are looking to make a move within the next six months. Additionally, 44 per cent of workers are eager to pursue career growth by seeking their next role in a different organisation.

One of the key drivers for this job-seeking behaviour is a desire for continuous learning and upskilling. Australian workers are seeking opportunities for personal and professional growth, with 36 per cent expressing a desire for their next role to be a promotion or lateral move within their current organisation – a significant increase of 29 percentage points from 2021.

Ben Thompson, Co-founder and CEO of Employment Hero, said: “The past two years have challenged managers and leaders to lead their teams in a fast-paced environment. Businesses must continue to keep up with the evolving working future or risk being left behind. The employee experience is now more important than ever – instilling a more holistic approach that acknowledges the full range of job seekers’ expectations needs to be implemented in the work culture.”

Mr Thompson continued: “With the worker shortage crisis looking to continue, small business owners need to overcome hiring challenges by shifting the lens of recruitment and retention of employees. To attract job seekers in the midst of a shortage of talent and a looming recession, companies need to adjust to an increased schedule of work flexibility, increased wages, and opportunities for professional growth and wellbeing.” 

“Despite the challenges, small businesses can be well placed to win the war for talent if they have a clear plan in place to strengthen their EVP. Actions can send a strong message to potential employees about the workplace culture, and it is important that they recognise the genuine intention to respect and protect staff through flexible working conditions.”

“Companies cannot afford to ignore the values of flexible working and the impact it has on productivity rates. Job seekers are feeling more empowered with their growing options, and employers need to take the initiative to be compatible with changing expectations,” he said.

The report will be available to download here https://employmenthero.com/talent-insights/

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Real Estate

Canada’s housing market just had the worst January since 2009

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

Canadian home sales declined by three per cent on a month-over-month basis to start the year to post their worst January since 2009, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association. 

CREA’s monthly housing statistics report, released Feb. 15, found actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly sales in January were down 37.1 per cent from the year before.  

Prices, meanwhile, also declined in January, with the MLS Home Price Index down by 1.9 per cent from December and 12.6 per cent from the year before.  

“Early 2023 feels a lot like 2019, where after a year in which it became much harder to qualify for a mortgage, everyone was wondering if the market would pick up in the spring,” Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s senior economist said in a release. 

“In 2019 the market started off slow, as there wasn’t much to buy. It took off once spring listings started to come out. With the Bank of Canada increasingly signalling that rates are now at the top, it’s possible the spring market this year could also surprise, particularly in areas where prices have been stable or are now stabilizing.” 

While January isn’t typically a busy month for home sales due to cooler weather, the weaker figures were in line with those of recent months. 

“No real big change from the last six months. We’ve been hovering around that kind of level,” Cathcart said in an interview.  

Cathcart said that thought home sales are at the lowest level since the Financial Crisis, the market does not compare to 2009 at all. 

“It’s just the lowest since then. So, it’s technically the lowest but it’s a lot closer to average than it is to 14 years ago.” 

Not only were sales down overall in January but new home listings remained historically low despite a 3.3 per cent uptick from January, CREA said in the report.

“You can’t buy what isn’t for sale,” Cathcart said of the lack of listings. 


  1. Pace of housing starts drops to lowest since 2020 despite supply shortage

  2. A real estate sign outside a home in Toronto.

    Toronto home sales forecast to fall to level not seen in two decades

“Let’s wait until March or April when people start to actually list their homes in the spring to see how buyers react,” the economist said. “It’s very difficult to gauge demand right now by counting the sales numbers because there’s not a lot out there for buyers, even if they wanted to.” 

In a note to Bank of Montreal clients, senior economist Sal Guatieri, said the Bank of Canada’s move to signal a pause in interest rate hikes may have arrived too late in the month to have a significant impact on January’s CREA results, but it may serve to stabilize the market moving forward. 

“Heading into the important spring season, we’ll see who is more eager to make a deal, sellers or buyers; our betting is on the former given still-poor affordability.”

• Email: shcampbell@postmedia.com

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Self Care

3 Ways Digital Health Can Curb Opioid Use

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

Not too long ago, in the 1990s and 2000s, the health care system’s best solution for chronic pain was an opioid prescription. Today, of course, we know that opioids are highly addictive and deadly, only to be used as pain relief in moderation with careful oversight.

Still, even after more than a decade of trying to curb opioid use, overdose deaths continue to ravage the country, with each year’s death count higher than the last. In a single 12-month period ending in April 2021, more than 75,000 people were estimated to have died from opioid overdoses – nearly 20,000 more deaths than the previous year.

Clearly, the nation’s strategies to lessen opioid-related deaths are not working. Even though opioids are off the table in many instances, people still experience pain. So how do we address pain management effectively with little or no opioids?

One solution is digital health, an effective – though underutilized – tool for pain management. In my role as a chief clinical officer of a virtual physical therapy platform, I get to see firsthand how solutions like these can help reduce opioid reliance and regain mobility.

Recently a patient with a significant amount of pain and reliance on opioids began virtual physical therapy. Through the program, she began the process of learning how to safely move without injuring herself. With this practice, she was able to overcome her fear of movement, which is a typical reaction for those living in pain. The patient regained her independence in activities she used to enjoy, simple things like going out to dinner with friends or putting away the dishes, and her reliance on opioid medication was reduced.

She explained how she could do things she couldn’t do before, such as lift some heavier things, and how her mobility increased. Most importantly, she was no longer in pain all the time and had significantly reduced the use of medication.

As we see in this example, virtual physical therapy can help individuals overcome barriers that they thought could only be solved by medication. When leveraged correctly, digital health offers three advantages over in-person care and can reduce the need for opioids and improve pain management.

Get upstream on pain management

Digital health allows us to get upstream of chronic pain problems by connecting with patients early and before it feels unmanageable. Many health plans now offer members access to various digital programs, which they can sign up for without needing a referral from a provider or having any existing health conditions. By lowering the barrier to access, digital health providers and their partners can begin building relationships with members even before they enter the medical system.

For example, once a member is onboard, digital health programs have the ability to identify people in pain or at risk of pain and offer to begin working with them before their pain becomes chronic. Dealing with chronic pain is both physically and emotionally stressful. It can cause depression and greatly reduce a person’s quality of life. The development of chronic pain is even associated with structural and functional changes in the brain.

Building a solid foundation to manage pain early on will allow patients to better cope. And, better pain management strategies are thought to also undo or prevent the changes in the brain that can propagate pain and lead to emotional disorders.

As Benjamin Franklin famously said: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Accessibility, when pain is calling

Access to brick-and-mortar clinics is restricted to certain hours and days of the week. Conversely, digital health can fit into the palm of someone’s hand, with programs that are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Access is vital because chronic pain doesn’t mind a schedule. A pain crisis can occur at any time. Having unlimited access to digital health programs – such as virtual physical therapy or mindful meditation – during a crisis can help reduce suffering and promote patient empowerment.

For patients, digital health tools are something tangible, something real they can use in the moment to lower and manage their pain. That in itself can make a world of difference for the person suffering, helping them turn away from the need to use opioids for pain relief.

Providers gain increased insights

In collaboration with digital health, health care providers gain access to robust data that they wouldn’t normally get through in-office visits.

Digital health programs that track members’ progress and monitor outcomes are able to present providers with regular updates and insights into their patients, such as physical activity level, medication intake monitoring, pain level, function level and engagement. That level of granularity is not possible through regular medical or wellness check-ins with a primary care doctor.

It isn’t uncommon for one doctor to tell a patient the pain isn’t a big deal, while another prescribes pain pills. Digital health can act as the connective tissue among solutions, patients, providers and clinics, improving communication among a patient’s care team and keeping them up-to-date in real-time. With all the providers on the same page, it is easier to maintain consistent messaging around pain, avoiding those mixed messages.

The power of digital health in helping people manage pain is clear, yet it remains untapped potential. All the players, from digital health vendors to payers and providers, need to work together to make it a scalable reality.

More than 200 hundred people are dying a day from an opioid-related overdose. Having access to alternative opioid options for pain management is essential in lowering this outrageous death toll.

Photo: sorbetto, Getty Images

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Real Estate

Toronto home sales forecast to fall to level not seen in two decades

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

TRREB also predicts prices will rise this year, but will still be lower than in 2022

A real estate sign outside a home in Toronto.
A real estate sign outside a home in Toronto. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) will decline to their lowest level since 2001 this year despite a rebound in the second half, according to annual forecast from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB).

Story continues below

The group’s market outlook, released on Feb. 10, said home sales will decrease to a total of 70,000 sales in 2023, down from 75,140 in 2022 and 121,712 in 2021. The total would be the lowest tracked on the TRREB MLS system since 2001, when 67,612 sales were recorded, according to historical data available on the group’s website.

The outlook also predicts the average selling price will reach $1,140,000 for all home types combined, up from current levels, but four per cent lower than the average price of $1,189,912 in 2022.

While TREBB’s chief market analyst, Jason Mercer, said the first half of the year will feel similar to the fall of 2022 due to the lingering effects of higher borrowing costs and related economic uncertainty, the second half will see an increase in demand for ownership, thanks to lower fixed mortgage rates, a relatively resilient labour market and record immigration.

Story continues below

“It will be a year of two halves in 2023,” Mercer said in a press release accompanying the report, adding that the flat-lining of sales and average selling prices suggests “we’ve reached a bit of a bottom in the market.”

Mercer also said that the expectation that borrowing costs will remain the same, or even trend lower, compared to the previous year, will help with affordability, especially for homebuyers who have been sitting on the sidelines.

TREBB’s report cites an Ipsos study showing a slight increase of two per cent in overall buying intentions compared to last year. Ipsos said 28 per cent of respondents indicated they will consider purchasing a home in 2023. As for first-time homebuyers, its polling said almost half of the respondents said they would likely buy a home, up seven per cent from its previous survey.

Story continues below

Those likely to list their townhomes this year were also up compared to last year, while listing intentions for condominium apartments and semi-detached houses were similar to 2022, it said. Detached home listings, on the other hand, appear to be trending lower.

  1. A pedestrian walks past real estate listings in Toronto.

    Housing inventory to recover later this year after drop in new listings

  2. At least 20 per cent of residential real estate was owned by investors at the beginning of 2020 in each of the five provinces tracked.

    Investors own a big chunk of Canada’s housing market. Should we be worried?

  3. Office buildings in downtown Toronto.

    Toronto’s office sublet inventory hits record high as businesses look to shed space

As for supply, the annual review said there were 152,873 new listings in 2022, down 8.2 per cent from the prior year.

New home sales, meanwhile, which began in 2022 at a near record pace, are expected to conclude the year with one of the lowest yearly totals on record, it said.

Story continues below

Total new homes sales shrank by 44 per cent for the first 11 months of 2022 compared to a year earlier, dampened by cumulative interest rate increases and elevated inflation.

Single-family new home sales were at unprecedented lows of July through September 2022, with annual sales at their second lowest level ever. Citing a study by Altus Group, TREBB’s report said single-family sales were a drag on total sales with a 67 per cent decline due to supply shortages and affordability issues, which it expects to remain factors in 2023.

Last year, Toronto topped the home sales in the GTA with 27,769 sales, while Peel Region followed with 14,167 sales.

• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com | Twitter:

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Business

Funding roundup February 5 – February 10:  Skipperi, Fable Food Co and more

by Bailey Amber
written by Bailey Amber

This weekly feature from Dynamic Business runs down the week’s top funding rounds from Australia and the US. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

Fabrum raises $23M in Series A funding

Christchurch, New Zealand-based developer of zero-emission transition technologies raised $23M in Series A funding. AP Ventures led the round with participation from Fortescue Future Industries, Obayashi Corporation and K1W1. The company intends to use the funds to expand its global presence and scale up its manufacturing capacity.

Fable Food Co raises US$8.5M in Series A funding

Fable Food Co, a Sunshine Coast, Australia-based meat alternative company, raised US$8.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by K3 Ventures, ByteDance and Grab, with participation from Blackbird, AgFunder, Aera VC, Osher Günsberg, Greg Creed, Professor Peter Singer, Frantz Braha and Adrien Desbaillets.

Skipperi raises €7M in Series A funding

Skipperi, a Helsinki-based shared-use boating subscription service and peer-to-peer boat rental platform, raised €7M in series A funding. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its international expansion to Brisbane, Australia, and several locations around the US while strengthening its platform and tech team.

Riot raises $12M in Series A funding

Riot is a French startup building a cybersecurity awareness platform. The company recently passed $2M in annual recurring revenue. It protects a company by preparing employees to deal with cyberattacks. Riot’s main interface is a chatbot called Albert, which is available on Slack, Microsoft Teams and the web.

Canoe Intelligence raises $25M Series B funding

Canoe Intelligence, a New York-based financial technology company, raised $25M in Series B funding. The round was led by F-Prime Capital with participation from Eight Roads Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate expansion into European markets, grow the team in key functional areas, enhance enterprise product offerings, and develop new data products.

Avicenna.AI raises Series A funding; $10M in total

Avicenna.AI raises $10M in Series A funding round. Uses deep learning to identify, detect and quantify life-threatening pathologies from CT medical images. It will use the funds to scale up the deployment of its solutions across the world and diversify its offering into new areas of medicine.

ALSO READ: 623 deals drive Australia’s venture capital investment to a new record in 2022

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts