The Blog

In recent years, I have heard that grey divorces, divorces among older adults, have been on the rise. But when I look at the stats, I do not find this to be the case. In fact, in Canada the divorce rate has been going down. Yay! And if you look at the divorce rate for 65 years and over, it has been steady for 3 decades. Interestingly, the phenomenon of increasing grey divorces is more characteristic of the United States, where, from 1990 to 2010, the divorce rate among those aged 65 and older actually doubled! This situation shows how easy it is to assume that trends in the U.S. apply to Canada as well. I wonder if this is why in a recent presentation,

Welcome to our March update on the Metro Vancouver housing market. The home sales are not catching up with new listings, but there is enough momentum to keep the prices in the upward direction for the month of March. In terms of number of sales, it was 31.2% below the 10-year seasonal average while total properties listed, it is 6.3% above the 10-year average. The Sales-to-active listings ratios are a measure of supply and demand. Generally anything above 20% is considered an indication for price appreciation. The ratios have not changed much from last month and the properties continue their price gains. Currently the market is anticipating the Bank of Canada to lower their rate by 0.25% in their June meeting. This means for people

There are 3 recent changes to incentive programs that aims to make housing accessible to more people. The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) program which was introduced in 2019 has been quietly discontinued. The last submission will be March 21st of this year.The program was meant to help first time home buyers who are looking to reduce their monthly payment by having the government chip in for 5% to 10% of the purchase price. The problem is that the government will then share in the appreciation of your property, Another problem is that under this program you qualify for a smaller mortgage. So you are left with a very small and specific group that this program will make sense for. Few are going to miss

The Empty Home Tax (EHT) is a tax that applies to residential properties within the City of Vancouver. It is not the same as the Province’s Speculation and Vacancy Tax. As if this is not confusing enough, some call the EHT, the Vacancy Tax as well. Argh!!!The purpose of the EHT was to incentivize people to offer their empty properties as long-term rentals. So to be exempt from the tax you either need to live in it or rent it out for at least 6 months out of the year. Additionally, if it is rented out, it must be in blocks of 30 days or more. There are specific situations that will allow for an exemption to this, but for most people, the reason they

The real estate market trends in February continue to reflect those observed in January. It shows a remarkable year-over-year sales growth of 31%. However, this growth appears less significant when compared to the 10-year average, with this February’s sales being 23.3% below that benchmark. However, this is an improvement from last February, which was 33% below the 10-year average. As I wrote last month, the tide does seem to be turning. The inventory numbers are returning to normal levels. The number of newly listed properties for February is 0.2% below the 10-year average while the total number of listings are 3% above the 10-year average. From the chart below, you can see the trend in the sales-to-active listings ratio reverse. Sales-to-active listings ratio is a

In Vancouver’s real estate market, the January sales seem to have picked up significantly. It was 38.5% more than January of last year. That sounds bullish but last year was a terrible year. It was 42.9% below the 10-year average. This January the sales were 20.2% below the 10-year seasonal average. Not great historically but the trend does seem to be turning. The sales-to-active listings ratio have stopped falling after 7 months of declines. This ratio is a key market indicator, where falling values typically signal decreasing demand, and rising figures suggest the opposite. As you can see from the tables below that while demand has increased a little bit, the price direction is still generally down. But it is likely that the price trend

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great holiday season. The property assessments for British Columbia have been issued, and their updated values are now available on the official website. These figures represent the government’s valuation as of July 1st of the previous year. According to BC Assessment, in the Lower Mainland, the average home values have varied from the previous assessment by -5% to +5%. According to the MLS Home Price Index, the composite price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver has seen a 5% increase over the past 12 months. This increase is somewhat unexpected given the market’s weakness in the latter part of the year. The sales volume for 2023 was 23.4% lower than the 10-year average. The number of

Real estate sales in Vancouver in November were 33% below the 10-year average for November. The rate of new listings has slowed from last month, but total inventory is still increasing due to slow sales. Total inventory is now 3.7% above the 10-year average, compared to just 0.6% above last month. The sales-to-active listings ratio has fallen across all categories. This ratio is a measure of supply and demand. A value between 12 and 20 is considered a balanced market, while below 12 is considered weak. Moreover, the trend of the ratio is a good indicator of price direction. When it drops, price momentum also falls. As evident from the table below, in the last six months, the sales-to-active listings ratio has been trending downward.

When you’re on the cusp of securing a mortgage, lenders may tempt you with a last-ditch offer: a chance to safeguard your family’s future with mortgage “life insurance.” It’s prudent to protect your loved ones, certainly – yet there’s a more cost-effective and comprehensive strategy than the insurance option from your bank. This product that banks promote is technically creditor’s insurance. Rather than a safety net for your family, it’s actually designed to repay the bank should you meet an untimely end. It’s a stark contrast to the peace of mind that comes with knowing your family will directly benefit from the policy. Furthermore, creditor’s insurance is evaluated at the time of claim, which means the certainty of coverage remains unknown until a claim is