Real eState
Metro Vancouver’s high cost of housing has consequences
Letters: “With our demographics, we need our young people to achieve their full potential.”
A few years ago, families who followed the prevailing financial wisdom to go with a variable rate to afford multi-hundred-thousand-dollar mortgages now struggle to keep their financial heads above water.
With our demographics, we need our young people to achieve their full potential. However, the average 18-year-old must view the game as rigged. Saving for a down payment is impossible if they pay Vancouver rents, assuming they can afford to pay them. Where is the pay-off from working hard and investing in an education? Can they ever afford to retire?
Even if a young person studies, works hard, gets promoted to management, it makes no difference. If two medical doctors, as a couple, would struggle to buy a townhouse in Vancouver with their combined incomes, why bother going to graduate school, finishing a professional designation, or putting in extra hours at work to get promoted?
Provincial proposal limits work occupation therapists can do
In the process of amalgamating many professions under one professional college (psychologists, occupational therapists, optometrists, opticians, physiotherapists, dieticians, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncturists), the B.C. Ministry of Health has proposed amendments to occupational therapy regulation.
On Jan. 23, the B.C. Ministry of Health proposed a new definition and scope of practice for occupational therapy, excluding occupational therapists to provide psychological care. Other provinces have made significant advances to define the role of occupational therapy in mental health over time.
Should the amendment pass, it appears that occupational therapists will be limited to providing physical and cognitive treatment in our province.
Today, occupational therapy is an integral part of mental health care in British Columbia. Occupational therapists work in a range of mental health settings, including hospitals, primary care clinics, corrections, community mental health centres, ICBC, and schools.
Dr. Skye Barbic is a registered occupational therapists and an associate professor at the University of British Columbia in the department of occupational science and occupational therapy
Essential for public to see transit contract details
Re: Metro Vancouver transit strike: Should buses, SkyTrain be an essential service?
Thank you Lori Culbert for a very informative report.
It would be helpful to those of us who want to decide if the union or the employer has a case, if there was a comparison to the overall contract terms for the supervisors, with the terms for the other union, with which the supervisors want parity.
I am wondering if this is a classic see-saw strategy. One union cherry picks a term that they use to say that all they want is equity, whereas they do not want equity in a total sense as both union contracts have terms that are very different.
If the supervisors want equity, would they accept dropping their current contract to then accept all of the terms of the contract they are using as comparison?
An article that sets out the terms of both contracts would be very helpful to the public in deciding if the dispute is really an example of see-sawing: a classic negotiation strategy.
Tarry Grieve, Port Moody
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.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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