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Welcome to the April Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market Update. I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day with your mom. By most metrics, April was a weaker month for real estate compared to March. The only figure that showed improvement was sales—still 28.2% below the 10-year average, but slightly better than March’s 36.8% below average. While this is hardly a “bright” spot, it was the only metric to show any improvement. Beyond that, conditions worsened. New listings rose to 19.5% above the 10-year average, bringing the total number of active listings to 47.6% above the norm. This is clearly a buyer’s market. As shown in the table below, the sales-to-active listings ratio declined across all property categories. This ratio is a key indicator of

Did you know that if you’re buying a newly built property to flip, there are steps you must take to avoid paying GST twice? Here’s the issue: When you buy a new home with the intention to flip it — and not to live in it or rent it out — the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) considers that a commercial activity.That means when you go to resell it, the sale is subject to GST. If you don’t collect the GST from your buyer at the time of resale, the CRA can come after you for it. Since you already paid GST when you first bought the property from the builder, you could end up out of pocket for GST twice.What’s the fix? You need to

A recent article in Business in Vancouver mentioned that there is now less stigma associated with alternative mortgage solutions, but it also raised concerns about potential risks “such as opaque compensation, high fees, conflicts of interest and predatory lending practices.” Since I’ve been offering alternative mortgage solutions for over a decade, I feel I should weigh in and clear the air. If your alternative mortgage broker seems opaque or shady, you should run. There are proper procedures in place that should mitigate all of these “risks.” Of course, in an industry where the barrier to entry is low and a lot of money changes hands, there will always be some bad actors. Here’s what you should know about how a proper alternative lending transaction works:

Welcome to the March Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market Update. Sales numbers continue to be weak. In March, sales were 36.8% below the 10-year seasonal average—worse than last month’s 28.9% shortfall. Meanwhile, sellers kept coming into the market. The total number of listings in March was a staggering 44.9% above the 10-year seasonal average. With such a setup, you would expect relatively low demand compared to supply, and the sales-to-active listings ratio reflects this. From the table below, you can see the ratio is 10.3% for detached homes, 21.5% for attached homes, and 16.2% for apartments. Typically, anything between 12% and 20% is considered balanced, while below 12% indicates weak demand. However, as shown in the table, all categories of housing saw month-over-month price increases.

Welcome to the February Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market Update. New listings continue to pour in, though at a slower pace than last month. Sales have been keeping up, so the sales-to-active listings ratio for all three categories remains relatively unchanged. The sales-to-active listings ratio is a key measure of supply and demand. Typically, a reading between 12% and 20% is considered balanced. The higher the ratio, the greater the demand and the stronger the upward pressure on prices. While the current sales-to-active listings ratio suggests a balanced market, the 10-year average numbers indicate a weaker price environment. Sales are 28.9% below the 10-year average, while new listings have increased to 11.6% above the 10-year average. As a result, total inventory is growing—it is now

Currently, several real estate developers in the Lower Mainland are facing financial trouble. Many are being forced to sell their projects before defaulting, while others who cannot find buyers are being pushed into receivership or foreclosure. Let’s examine one such project and see what insights we can gain. The Shawn Oaks Townhouse ComplexShawn Oaks Townhouse Complex is located on Oak Street, near the former Oakridge Transit Centre. Landmark Premiere Properties acquired the site in phases between 2016 and 2021. The developer proposed a project consisting of a 31-storey strata tower, a 33-storey strata tower, and a six-storey social housing building, totaling over 600 residential units, along with a one-storey childcare facility with 37 spaces. However, this proposal has not yet been approved, and no rezoning

Welcome to the January Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market Update. January saw a surge in sellers entering the market. New listings were 46% higher than last January, representing a 31.1% increase above the 10-year seasonal average.Sales also picked up slightly, coming in at 11.3% below the 10-year seasonal average, an improvement from the previous month when sales were 14.9% below the average. The influx of new listings reduced the sales-to-active listings ratio across all property types. This ratio is a measure of supply and demand in the market. As shown in the table, there has been a four-month downward trend, indicating a weakening market. In general, prices have been declining. However, in January, detached homes saw a slight price increase of 0.4% compared to December

Mortgage – is a loan that is secured by real estate. For a bank to lend money to the owner/purchase of real estate, it will register a charge on the title of the property to indicate that they have an interest in that property up to the value registered.Amortization – refers to the length of time it would take to pay off a mortgage if the interest rate remained constant throughout the loan term. It is used to determine the appropriate monthly payments. The higher the amortization period, the longer it will take to pay off the mortgage, but the lower the monthly payments. Typically, amortization periods are 25 or 30 years. Some more expensive lenders can accommodate amortization periods of up to 40 years

With the recent changes introduced by the Broadway Plan and British Columbia’s transit-oriented development legislation, which focuses on building higher-density housing near transit hubs like SkyTrain stations, property values in these areas could see a significant increase. This is great news if you plan to sell, but if you’re not selling, you might just suffer higher property taxes as a result. In some cases, properties are assessed based on their potential use rather than their current use. This means your property might be taxed as though it’s a prime redevelopment site, even if you’ve lived there for years and have no way to take advantage of it. Crazy, right? But how much of a difference can this make? Consider a real example near the Oakridge/41st