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This April the sales number has slowed down but it is still good. It is 1.5% above the 10-year April sales average. The inventory has dropped by 14.1% compared to 2021 but has increased 15.3% when compared to March. This is reflected in the significantly lower sales-to-active listings ratios and the lower month-over-month benchmark price increases. Extended periods where the ratio is above 20% will have upward pricing pressure. The sales-to-active listings for April for the detached homes, townhomes and apartments are respectively, 25.3%, 47.1% and 45.0%. The lower ratios correlate with the smaller price increase which has dropped to about 1%. There will be headwinds for the real estate market this year as rate increases are happening faster than expected. The Bank of Canada and

The Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) issued a report late March based on recently released Census data. The title of the first half of the report could have been called “Rising House Prices? It is Not Our Fault!”.  While there is a strong focus on spreading the blame, I agree with a lot of the points and conclusions. One surprising fact from the report is that the supply of housing HAS been keeping up with population growth. So laying most of the blame on the slow approval process at the municipal government level may be unfair; though, anecdotally there are many horror stories. I am sure there is some streamlining that can be done which the report acknowledges. A BMO senior economist also looked at

One of the biggest tax-free investment you can get in Canada is your own home. The principal residence exemption (PRE) allows you to shelter your capital gains from the sale of your home from tax. Without this exemption, 50% of it will be taxable. And as you will see below, sometimes 100% of it can be taxable! Because of tax law changes, everyone now has to report the sale of their real properties regardless of whether it is your principal residence or not. It should be filed in the tax year that it was sold. That is, if you sold it in 2021, then it should be reported on your 2021 tax return. If you forget, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will accept a late designation

Last March was the highest selling month in history, so comparison against it will be deceiving. The sales number for this March is 23.9% lower than last March, but are actually 25.5% above the 10-year March average. So this is still a very strong market. If you look at the chart below, you can see several obvious trends. Sales-to-active listings ratio is a measure of supply and demand. A ratio of 50% would mean that in a given month, 50% of the active listings are sold. Ratios that are over 20% on a continual basis point towards increased pricing pressure. From the table below you can see that demand has not let up. In fact, it has increased from last month. This translated to strong

Seems like the world has gone mad. And Vancouver is part of it. If you find real estate in the real world too expensive, you can now buy real estate in the Metaverse through a company in Vancouver. TerraZero has provided one of the first metaverse mortgages to a client financing their virtual real estate purchase within the Metaverse.The property is in Etherium-based Metaverse platform Decentraland. You can’t drive by to take a look because it is virtual real estate. However, once you buy this property, you can “build” on it. Do you need to hire contractors for the foundation or get the “city” to hook up the water and electricity? I don’t know. Also what is not known is the identity of the buyer

The madness continues. And one might argue that it is getting worse. Inventory continues to be extremely low. The total number of homes currently listed for sale in Metro Vancouver is 6,742. That is a 19.3% decrease from February of last year.But last February’s inventory was already 21.2% below the 10-year February average. At the same time, sales are 26.9% above the 10-year February average. This combination has pushed the sales-to-listings ratios for various property types up by more than 10% from last month and this has resulted in a jump in prices. For detached homes the ratio is 34.9% and this corresponds to a monthly increase to the benchmark price of 4.7%, a total increase of 25% in the last 12 months. For apartments

The BC government have raised the threshold for the homeowner grant. Now property under 1.975 million will continue to get the home owner grant. This means 92% of residential properties are covered. Click the image link below to apply. Those who own and live in their homes in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Capital Regional districts are eligible for the $570 basic grant, or up to $845 for those with a disability or who are 65 and older. The basic grant for those in northern and rural areas is $770, or $1,045 for those who are disabled or over 65.

There were a few articles that made their rounds last month regarding housing affordability. The one that caught the most attention was the news about an idea that a West Coast think tank came up with: Tax homeowners on any value of their property over 1 million dollars. That would affect everyone with a house in Vancouver. Not to worry yet. Even though this think tank was hired by the government, there is no indication that they are seriously considering this idea. Perplexing that taxing seems to be the go-to solution for everything. But are people sitting on one million dollar homes driving up the price of real estate? In the same month, Better Dwelling delved into Statistics Canada data in regards to foreign ownership

Though sales activity in Metro Vancouver has slowed in January compared to December, the volume is still 25.3% above the 10-year average. Inventory continues to be extremely low which is why prices continue to increase. The total number of listed homes is 31.8% lower than last January and an 8.2% increase compared to December 2021. Though the sales-to-active listings ratio has dropped in January, prices continue to go up. Typically ratios above 20% over several months will have an upward pressure on price. For detached homes, the ratio is 28% and the monthly price increase is 2.2%. Annually it is up 22.7%. For apartments the ratio is 49.7% and the monthly price increase is 1.8%. Up 14% from January 2021. For attached homes, the ratio