The Blog

Welcome to the July Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market Update. I hope you had a great BC Day! It seems sales activity picked up a bit in July. Instead of being 25% to 35% below the 10-year average, sales volume was only 13.9% below the 10-year average. However, a steady stream of new listings continues to keep total inventory more than 40% above the 10-year average—still a historically high level. As you can see from the table below, the sales-to-active listings (STAL) ratio for detached homes and apartments rose slightly. The STAL ratio measures supply and demand in the real estate market: an increasing ratio means sales are growing faster than total inventory. While this is a positive sign, it’s starting from a very low

Over the past month, much has been written about the real estate slump in Vancouver—particularly in the condo market. The industry is understandably concerned. When sales are over 25% below the 10-year average, everyone—from agents to developers—is taking a pay cut. While a perfect storm of factors has led to this downturn, much of it is by design. In an effort to improve housing affordability, several policies were introduced: the foreign buyers ban, stricter short-term rental regulations, and reduced immigration levels. It’s basic Economics 101. Foreign buyers and investors represent purchasing groups that often outbid local workers. Removing one and significantly restricting the other has effectively reduced a large portion of demand. Immigration cuts have had a twofold effect. Fewer permanent residents mean fewer homebuyers.

Welcome to the June Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market Update. Some have reported that there are “emerging signs of a recovery”. I don’t see it. The total sales number is around 25.8% below the 10-year June average while new listings are coming into the market at 12.7% above the 10-year June average. Like in recent months, listings are continuing to accumulate—now sitting 43.7% above the 10-year average. I don’t see any improvements. The sales-to-active listing ratios are all lower. They are a measure of supply and demand. A lower ratio means a lower demand. In theory, ratios below 12% over extended periods put downward pressure on prices. In practice, however, even short-term drops in the ratio can trigger price declines. That’s what we’re seeing now,

One of the best steps you can take when preparing to buy a home is to complete your mortgage application early. This means filling out the application, submitting all the required documents, and having your credit report pulled—before you even start writing offers. Why is this so important? Because there are often unforeseen issues that can delay, complicate, or even derail your ability to secure financing. If these issues surface after you’ve already written a purchase offer, the added time pressure can turn an exciting process into a stressful one—or, in the worst-case scenario, prevent you from buying the home altogether. Here are just a few of the issues that often come up during the application process: By completing your mortgage application early—before you fall in love with

On May 27, 2025, the federal government introduced a new GST rebate program for first-time home buyers (FTHBs). Under this program: Who Qualifies as a First-Time Home Buyer?To be considered a first-time home buyer for the purposes of this rebate, you must: If two people are purchasing the property together, only one of them needs to qualify as a first-time home buyer, as long as the qualifying individual intends to use the home as their primary residence and is the first person to occupy it.Additional Key Points For more details, click the image below.

Welcome to the May Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market Update. The market continues to show signs of cooling, and last month’s slew of negative news—alongside the latest real estate statistics—supports this trend. Sales are currently 30.5% below the 10-year average, while new listings are 9.3% above that same benchmark. This means the inventory is piling up. In fact it is 45.9% above the 10-year average, the highest level in a decade. As shown in the table below, the sales-to-active listings ratio remains relatively stable across all three housing categories. This ratio measures supply and demand—lower ratios indicate weaker demand and greater downward pressure on prices. The trend across the board suggests prices are declining in all categories. The negative headlines suggest the market is unlikely to rebound anytime soon. Just

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: