Real eState

Has Metro Vancouver's red-hot real estate market finally started to cool? – Vancouver Sun

Published

3 years ago

April 26, 2022

“There is definitely a slowdown now. I can sense it. I can feel it,” said one local real estate agent, as buyers take longer to make decisions.

Realtor Mayur Arora in Surrey. Photo by Ric Ernst /PNG

Homebuyers are showing less urgency and shifting their approach to making purchases as one economist forecasts that a rapid rise in interest rates will see prices in expensive markets such as B.C. drop.

“There is definitely a slowdown now. I can sense it. I can feel it,” said One Flat Fee real estate agent Mayur Arora, who has clients in both Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. “Markets are driven by sentiment, and now the sentiment is toward a slowdown.”

He said there is generally less optimism among would-be buyers, leading to hesitation over whether prices may be lowered if there are fewer or no bids.

“Before, people would ask, ‘What do I have to do to get this property?’ And now it is, “Let’s wait for a few days for a price drop and then we can move forward.’

“A few weeks ago, it used to be open house on the weekend and then offers on the Monday or Tuesday, with a guaranteed sale. Now, it is private showings and hugely reduced open house traffic, with no guarantee of an offer.”

Arora said the market is mainly responding to the Bank of Canada’s mid-April decision to raise its key interest rate a half-point to one per cent. He said the bank intends to make more hikes as it works to lower the inflation rate to a target of two per cent from 6.7 per cent in March.

On Monday, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the key interest rate could go up another half percentage point in June to keep inflation in check.

The shift has some economists such as Robert Hogue at RBC Economics predicting that downward price pressure will be more acute in Vancouver and other expensive markets.

In his latest housing outlook, Hogue forecast B.C.’s aggregate home price will dip 3.8 per cent in 2023 to about $1.02 million. It’s the biggest drop he is forecasting for provinces across the country, with Ontario at a 2.3-per-cent decrease.

The bank rate increase in the next few months could be to two per cent, or slightly above pre-pandemic levels of 1.75 per cent, making it the largest jump in such a short period since a tightening cycle going back to 2005-06, according to Hogue.

Stretched-out buyers will have to exit, and even ones who qualify will see the size of mortgages they can get shrink, he wrote. For households earning the median income, the rise in fixed mortgage rates will decrease many buyers’ maximum purchase budget by about 15 per cent, which will more than erase the increase in 2020 and early 2021 when dropping interest rates gave buyers more money to work with.

Arora said today’s market is definitely fixated on interest rates, but he said, “I bet if tomorrow, the focus was on how many immigrants are coming to the Lower Mainland and how huge the shortage of housing is an actual crisis, the market would actually start getting busy again.”

jlee-young@postmedia.com

— with file from Canadian Press

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Real eState

Greater Toronto home sales jump in October after Bank of Canada rate cuts: board

Published

1 week ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.

The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.

“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.

New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.

In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.

The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.

“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.

“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”

He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.

“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.

“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”

All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.

Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.

“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

Published

3 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

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Real eState

Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

Published

4 weeks ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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