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Grave crisis: Metro cemeteries running out of real estate – Business in Vancouver

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The City of Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery. Some urban cemeteries are closing the roads within their grounds to free up potential burial space as available land for burials in urban areas becomes increasingly scarce | Photo: Rob Kruyt

Fallout from B.C.’s housing supply and demand crunch is spilling over into the Lower Mainland cemetery business. 

As the region’s population continues to grow and available land becomes increasingly scarce, cemeteries are grappling with a looming burial space crisis that is being exacerbated by land-use restrictions and property price increases. 

“It’s certainly a situation where we’ve got shrinking supply and, for better or worse, increasing demand,” said Brant How, senior adviser with Cemetery BC. “As our population is aging, more and more people are dealing with end-of-life decisions, and so there is growing demand for cemetery space.” 

According to How, 85 per cent of British Columbians opt for cremation. 

That preference has helped stave off the crisis for space, said Erik Lees, owner of Lees + Associates, a leading cemetery planning firm with an office in Vancouver. 

“Politicians still do not want to talk about or even think about cemetery space. Planners are not taught about the importance of cemetery space, and it doesn’t really enter into their realm of planning nearly as much as it should,” Lees said. 

“The growing population and the changing demographics of our population is exacerbating the issue. Because we are so much more of a diverse society, we now have Canadian communities that do not allow cremation.” 

He pointed out that Muslim, Jewish and Indigenous communities will often opt for traditional burial practices. 

As B.C. looks to accommodate more communities, considerations need to be made for how that will affect the available land in cemeteries. 

In a statement to BIV, the City of Vancouver said it is not looking to expand the land available in Vancouver’s only cemetery. 

It noted that the 100-year master plan for the city’s Mountain View Cemetery recognizes that “casket burial space is limited and will likely cease to exist within the next two decades under current provincial legislation. The master plan does project capacity for interment of cremated remains for the remainder of this century.” 

Lees said land costs and land-use restrictions are major stumbling blocks to cemetery expansion. 

“It usually crosses over into B.C. Agricultural Land Reserve areas. And although there are a variety of uses of agricultural land reserves that are not technically agricultural, like golf courses, it’s a real limitation to the kind of land that is available for cemetery purposes.” 

When it comes to buying and selling burial plots, How said there are primary and secondary markets. 

The primary market refers to publicly and privately owned cemeteries selling plots directly to buyers. Prices will vary based on plot location and cemetery rates. The secondary market comes into play when an owner at a privately owned cemetery wants to resell a plot to a third party. 

How acts as a real estate agent of sorts by connecting prospective buyers with available burial plots in their preferred area. 

He said that over the last 25 years, prices have increased by as much as 30 times, though there are variations based on location. 

A quick scroll through Craigslist or Kijiji shows a wealth of options for plots in cemeteries across the Lower Mainland. How said that the two sites are the primary online venue for burial plot listings and are usually offered at a discounted price. 

“Ocean View in Burnaby, as an example, is probably the most expensive cemetery in Canada,” How said. “The starting price for a burial plot there is now more than $70,000. That’s the extreme example because it is the premium price in the marketplace, but it’s for roughly 30 square feet of land. On a square footage basis, it’s some of the most expensive real estate in the country.” 

Current initiatives to offset the loss of burial space include closing roads within cemeteries to create more burial plots. 

On Sept. 28, Aldergrove opened what is the Lower Mainland’s first large cemetery in more than 60 years. It will serve the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver regions. 

“The cemetery land use i s relegated to the bottom of a pile when it comes to potential development,” said Lees. “Of course, we have to make room for roads and parks and houses and other land use, but we are very quickly running out of space to inter our friends and family.” ■

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

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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

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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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Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

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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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