<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="World markets got slammed on Monday, with investors unnerved by rising coronavirus concerns. An unexpected surge in confirmed infections within Italy and South Korea — which now has the largest cluster of cases outside of China — raised the possibility that the mystery virus could be mutating into a pandemic.” data-reactid=”15″>World markets got slammed on Monday, with investors unnerved by rising coronavirus concerns. An unexpected surge in confirmed infections within Italy and South Korea — which now has the largest cluster of cases outside of China — raised the possibility that the mystery virus could be mutating into a pandemic.
FILE – In this April 15, 2015, file photo, a man walks out of a Shake Shack in front of the New York-New York hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Shake Shack reports financial results Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Shake Shack’s fourth quarter earnings report is leaving investors hungry for more. The burger chain lost 6 cents per share and reported big jumps in quarterly revenue on relatively light sales, but its stock tumbled sharply in post-market trading after it gave guidance below Wall Street estimates.” data-reactid=”38″>Shake Shack’s fourth quarter earnings report is leaving investors hungry for more. The burger chain lost 6 cents per share and reported big jumps in quarterly revenue on relatively light sales, but its stock tumbled sharply in post-market trading after it gave guidance below Wall Street estimates.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Shake Shack’s (SHAK) stock plunged by nearly 11% from Monday’s close at $73.57, but have rallied 24% since 2020 began.” data-reactid=”39″>Shake Shack’s (SHAK) stock plunged by nearly 11% from Monday’s close at $73.57, but have rallied 24% since 2020 began.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Wall Street suffered its worst losses in 2 years on Monday, as fears of a global coronavirus pandemic forced investors out of stocks and into safe-havens like the dollar, gold and Treasuries. All of the Dow’s (^DJI) gains for 2020 have evaporated amid the volatility, which is unlikely to abate after an eruption of new infections outside of China.” data-reactid=”46″>Wall Street suffered its worst losses in 2 years on Monday, as fears of a global coronavirus pandemic forced investors out of stocks and into safe-havens like the dollar, gold and Treasuries. All of the Dow’s (^DJI) gains for 2020 have evaporated amid the volatility, which is unlikely to abate after an eruption of new infections outside of China.
Here’s where markets settled at the close:
S&P 500 (^GSPC): -3.35%, or -111.86 points to 3,225.89
Dow (^DJI): -3.56%, or -1,031.40 points to 27,961.01
Nasdaq (^IXIC): -3.71%, or -355.31 points to 9,221.28
<h2 class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="3:23 p.m. ET: Key pharma stocks hit by opioid fears” data-reactid=”54″>3:23 p.m. ET: Key pharma stocks hit by opioid fears
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Monday has been a bad day for pharma giants ensnared in opioid legal action. Mallinckrodt (MNK) crumbled by a whopping 40% at its lows, after a Wall Street Journal report that the company may be preparing for the bankruptcy of its U.S. generics unit, which is in the crosshairs of opioid lawsuits. Separately, Teva (TEVA) — another opioid maker — dropped by over 4%, in part because of a “sell” recommendation by Edward Jones.” data-reactid=”55″>Monday has been a bad day for pharma giants ensnared in opioid legal action. Mallinckrodt (MNK) crumbled by a whopping 40% at its lows, after a Wall Street Journal report that the company may be preparing for the bankruptcy of its U.S. generics unit, which is in the crosshairs of opioid lawsuits. Separately, Teva (TEVA) — another opioid maker — dropped by over 4%, in part because of a “sell” recommendation by Edward Jones.
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<h2 class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="1:15 p.m. ET: Pandemic jitters send Europe to its worst day in 3 years” data-reactid=”57″>1:15 p.m. ET: Pandemic jitters send Europe to its worst day in 3 years
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="European stocks suffered their worst day since 2016 on Monday as coronavirus infections climbed in Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest economy.” data-reactid=”58″>European stocks suffered their worst day since 2016 on Monday as coronavirus infections climbed in Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest economy.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="The pan-European STOXX 600 index (^STOXX) closed down by almost 3.8%, with stocks on Italy’s FTSE MIB Index (FTSEMIB.MI) sinking by more than 5.4%. The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) declined by more than 3.3% in London. Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) was down by 4%, while France’s CAC 40 (^FCHI) was down by more than 3.9%.” data-reactid=”59″>The pan-European STOXX 600 index (^STOXX) closed down by almost 3.8%, with stocks on Italy’s FTSE MIB Index (FTSEMIB.MI) sinking by more than 5.4%. The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) declined by more than 3.3% in London. Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) was down by 4%, while France’s CAC 40 (^FCHI) was down by more than 3.9%.
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<h2 class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Noon ET: Stocks take new leg lower; travel and leisure lead the rout” data-reactid=”61″>Noon ET: Stocks take new leg lower; travel and leisure lead the rout
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United Airlnes and American Airlnes planes are shown on the tarmac from an outdoor terrace and observation deck at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="All of Wall Street’s major benchmarks are hunkered near session lows on coronavirus selling, with airlines and other leisure stocks bearing the brunt of selling. Some of the sector’s prominent names, like American Air (AAL), Norwegian Cruise (NCLH), Delta (DAL), Carnival (CCL), Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Booking.com, are off by at least 7% on the day. Travel and leisure has long been seen as most vulnerable to the pathogen (the Diamond Princess fiasco a prime illustration of why).” data-reactid=”82″>All of Wall Street’s major benchmarks are hunkered near session lows on coronavirus selling, with airlines and other leisure stocks bearing the brunt of selling. Some of the sector’s prominent names, like American Air (AAL), Norwegian Cruise (NCLH), Delta (DAL), Carnival (CCL), Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Booking.com, are off by at least 7% on the day. Travel and leisure has long been seen as most vulnerable to the pathogen (the Diamond Princess fiasco a prime illustration of why).
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="For Apple (AAPL) and several other tech bellwethers, the heavy reliance on China (both from a demand and supply perspective) are an albatross as coronavirus fears crimp the global supply chain.” data-reactid=”84″>For Apple (AAPL) and several other tech bellwethers, the heavy reliance on China (both from a demand and supply perspective) are an albatross as coronavirus fears crimp the global supply chain.
In a note to clients on Monday, D.A. Davidson cited the iPhone maker as the biggest loser in the current environment. Analyst Tom Forte told Yahoo Finance in an interview that Grubhub and Netflix could benefit, as homebound citizens order in and binge on television.
The firm also listed the following as having “significant risk”:
In late morning trading, Apple dived by 4% to trade around $300 per share, while Facebook slumped by nearly 5%.
<h2 class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="11:00 a.m. ET: Stocks pull off troughs, still sharply lower” data-reactid=”100″>11:00 a.m. ET: Stocks pull off troughs, still sharply lower
Wall Street has clawed off session lows, but indexes remain well underwater as traders aggressively price in a worsening of the coronavirus outbreak. Here’s where major benchmarks are currently:
S&P 500 (^GSPC): -2.69% or -89.92 points to 3,247.83
Dow (^DJI): -2.79%, or -808.98 points to 28,183.43
Nasdaq (^IXIC): -3.31% or -316.59 points to 9,260.00
<h2 class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="10:50 a.m. ET: Italy, already reeling, takes new blow from virus outbreak” data-reactid=”109″>10:50 a.m. ET: Italy, already reeling, takes new blow from virus outbreak
Via Reuters, Italy — a G7 economy that’s seen sluggish (if nonexistent) growth for much of the last decade, is all but certain to take another hit from the coronavirus’ appearance there. Over 220 people have been infected since Friday with six dead.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="From the story:” data-reactid=”111″>From the story:
The euro zone’s third-largest economy has been the most sluggish in the 19-nation bloc since the start of monetary union. It shrank by 9% in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis and has recovered only about half of that since then.
Italian GDP fell by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of last year from the previous three months, yielding full-year growth of just 0.2%. Economists expected it to fare little better this year — and that was before the coronavirus hit.
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<h2 class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="10:15 a.m. ET: WHO on coronavirus pandemic: ‘Not yet’” data-reactid=”119″>10:15 a.m. ET: WHO on coronavirus pandemic: ‘Not yet’
In its daily update, the World Health Organization’s director general made a distinction between the coronavirus being a contagious epidemic and a full-fledged pandemic:
“Our decision about whether to use the word “pandemic” to describe an epidemic is based on an ongoing assessment of the geographical spread of the virus, the severity of disease it causes and the impact it has on the whole of society.
“For the moment, we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread of this #coronavirus, and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or death. Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely. Are we there yet? From our assessment not yet.”
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Meanwhile, The White House may seek up to $1 billion to prevent the virus from worsening in the United States.” data-reactid=”123″>Meanwhile, The White House may seek up to $1 billion to prevent the virus from worsening in the United States.
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<h2 class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="10:14 a.m. ET: How the coronavirus will affect the global economy” data-reactid=”125″>10:14 a.m. ET: How the coronavirus will affect the global economy
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Suppliers are already seeing delivery times soar because of the epidemic that’s crippled China.
Goldman Sachs took a knife to its U.S. estimates, shaving 0.2 percentage points off estimated Q1 GDP given the widening coronavirus outbreak. The bank warns that “risks are clearly skewed to the downside” in light of supply chain troubles, and will be felt in the following four ways:
The impact of the coronavirus on US growth is likely to come from four main channels, namely 1) reduced US goods exports to China, 2) reduced spending in the US by Chinese tourists and students, 3) a decline in US retailers’ services value added through lower US consumption of imported goods, and 4) a decline in US production due to supply chain production disruptions. The first two channels reduce output through lowering demand, while the latter two channels reduce output through a reduction in supply.
In a separate note, Goldman cited evidence that suggested the virus’s spread “is likely having a somewhat gradual but still sizeable impact on macro data.”
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<h2 class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="9:50 a.m. ET: Expect cheaper energy prices until 2025: BofA” data-reactid=”151″>9:50 a.m. ET: Expect cheaper energy prices until 2025: BofA
The upside of the coronavirus crisis will be sharply lower energy prices, with the hit to global demand expected to keep crude depressed, according to Bank of America. In a research note to clients on Monday, analysts said they expect Brent to range-trade between $50 and $70 until 2025:
As prices become more anchored around $60, we believe volatility implied in oil options could trend lower in the medium term. In contrast to last year, we see more support to our price outlook on increased capital discipline across the US shale industry, despite coronavirus risks. Our projections assume OPEC+ is prepared to continue to lose share in the global oil market, particularly if pandemic risks rise again.
More broadly, we expect oil as a share of the global energy pie to will drop as well as the petroleum consumption mix keeps rotating away from gasoline and heavy ends into distillates and NGLs (natural gas liquids).
The bank also expects the oil market to need additional production cuts this year amid “modest” demand that will keep Brent averaging $62 per barrel in 2020.
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<h2 class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="9:30 a.m. ET: Wall Street plunges at the opening bell” data-reactid=”157″>9:30 a.m. ET: Wall Street plunges at the opening bell
The escalating coronavirus crisis is taking a huge toll on financial markets. The bloodletting that started on Sunday with stock futures and continued through Asia and European session has now hit U.S. blue-chip and tech stocks. Some of the day’s biggest losers include bellwether names like Apple, Google and Tesla — all of which fell by around 5% on the day.
Here’s where the markets began Monday’s trading session, which is shaping up to be an ugly one:
Analysts, however, don’t think the current drop will last. Invesco’s Brian Levitt told Yahoo Finance on Monday that the current scare is little more than a blip in a longer secular bull that won’t trigger a recession. “We will be back sometime later in this year talking about stabilizing economic activity.”
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7:30 a.m. ET: Stock futures slump in early trading
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="U.S. stock futures appeared poised to extend last week’s losses, with each of the three major indices indicating a lower open as Wall Street grappled with the widening coronavirus crisis.” data-reactid=”174″>U.S. stock futures appeared poised to extend last week’s losses, with each of the three major indices indicating a lower open as Wall Street grappled with the widening coronavirus crisis.
Here’s were the main moves during the pre-market session, as of 7:30 a.m. ET:
S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,265.00, down 74.25 points or 2.22%
Dow futures (YM=F): 28,293, down 688.00 points or 2.37%
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 9,222.25, down 235.75 points or 2.49%
Crude oil (CL=F): $51.39 per barrel, down $1.99 or 3.73%
Gold (GC=F): $1,682.50 per ounce, up $33.70 or 2.04%
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="An unexpected surge in confirmed infections within South Korea and Italy — which now has the largest cluster of cases outside of China — raised the possibility that the mystery virus could be mutating into a pandemic. Last week, the Hubei province at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak revised its method of counting cases for the third time this month, further undermining confidence in the country’s official counts.” data-reactid=”182″>An unexpected surge in confirmed infections within South Korea and Italy — which now has the largest cluster of cases outside of China — raised the possibility that the mystery virus could be mutating into a pandemic. Last week, the Hubei province at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak revised its method of counting cases for the third time this month, further undermining confidence in the country’s official counts.
It raises the stakes for the entire global economy rather than just China, where the overwhelming majority of the world’s nearly 80,000 cases are located. According to Marc Chandler at Bannockburn Global Forex:
The [coronavirus] has not only crippled the Chinese economy, but its sheer size and magnitude of its integration in the global supply chains have far-reaching knock-on effects. Asia-Pacific economies that were increasingly reliant on Chinese input and demand are the most vulnerable. Estimates suggest that the world’s second-largest economy is operating well less than 50% of capacity.
Indeed, the extension of the stoppages and disruptions increase the likelihood that the Chinese economy contracts in Q1 [and] The supply chain disruptions are adversely impacting Japanese and Korean automakers. German automakers derived a substantial share of their profits from China, and car sales continue to weaken.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="The virus is sending ripples across the global supply chain, with names like Volkswagen, Burberry, Starbucks and Apple among the growing list of multinationals whose operations are being adversely impacted by the outbreak.” data-reactid=”186″>The virus is sending ripples across the global supply chain, with names like Volkswagen, Burberry, Starbucks and Apple among the growing list of multinationals whose operations are being adversely impacted by the outbreak.
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Numbers showing the state of the Dow Jones Industrial Average are displayed above the floor after the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., February 21, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Netflix (NFLX) stock slid as much as 9.6% Friday after the company gave a second quarter revenue forecast that missed estimates and announced it would stop reporting quarterly subscriber metrics closely watched by Wall Street.
On Thursday, Netflix guided to second quarter revenue of $9.49 billion, a miss compared to consensus estimates of $9.51 billion.
The company said it will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers starting next year, along with average revenue per member, or ARM.
“As we’ve evolved our pricing and plans from a single to multiple tiers with different price points depending on the country, each incremental paid membership has a very different business impact,” the company said.
Netflix reported first quarter earnings that beat across the board on Thursday, with another 9 million-plus subscribers added in the quarter.
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Subscriber additions of 9.3 million beat expectations of 4.8 million and followed the 13 million net additions the streamer added in the fourth quarter. The company added 1.7 million paying users in Q1 2023.
Revenue beat Bloomberg consensus estimates of $9.27 billion to hit $9.37 billion in the quarter, an increase of 14.8% compared to the same period last year as the streamer leaned on revenue initiatives like its crackdown on password-sharing and ad-supported tier, in addition to the recent price hikes on certain subscription plans.
Netflix’s stock has been on a tear in recent months, with shares currently trading near the high end of its 52-week range. Wall Street analysts had warned that high expectations heading into the print could serve as an inherent risk to the stock price.
Earnings per share (EPS) beat estimates in the quarter, with the company reporting EPS of $5.28, well above consensus expectations of $4.52 and nearly double the $2.88 EPS figure it reported in the year-ago period. Netflix guided to second quarter EPS of $4.68, ahead of consensus calls for $4.54.
Profitability metrics also came in strong, with operating margins sitting at 28.1% for the first quarter compared to 21% in the same period last year.
The company previously guided to full-year 2024 operating margins of 24% after the metric grew to 21% from 18% in 2023. Netflix expects margins to tick down slightly in Q2 to 26.6%.
Free cash flow came in at $2.14 billion in the quarter, above consensus calls of $1.9 billion.
Meanwhile, ARM ticked up 1% year over year — matching the fourth quarter results. Wall Street analysts expect ARM to pick up later this year as both the ad-tier impact and price hike effects take hold.
On the ads front, ad-tier memberships increased 65% quarter over quarter after rising nearly 70% sequentially in Q3 2023 and Q4 2023. The ads plan now accounts for over 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in the markets it’s offered in.
Netflix reported first quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo (REUTERS / Reuters)
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
Oil prices initially spiked on Friday due to unconfirmed reports of an Israeli missile strike on Iran.
Prices briefly reached above $90 per barrel before falling back as Iran denied the attack.
Iranian media reported activating their air defense systems, not an Israeli strike.
Oil prices gave up nearly all of early Friday’s gains after an Iranian official told Reuters that there hadn’t been a missile attack against Iran.
Oil surged by as much as $3 per barrel in Asian trade early on Friday after a U.S. official told ABC News today that Israel launched missile strikes against Iran in the early morning hours today. After briefly spiking to above $90 per barrel early on Friday in Asian trade, Brent fell back to $87.10 per barrel in the morning in Europe.
The news was later confirmed by Iranian media, which said the country’s air defense system took down three drones over the city of Isfahan, according to Al Jazeera. Flights to three cities including Tehran and Isfahan were suspended, Iranian media also reported.
Israel’s retaliation for Iran’s missile strikes last week was seen by most as a guarantee of escalation of the Middle East conflict since Iran had warned Tel Aviv that if it retaliates, so will Tehran in its turn and that retaliation would be on a greater scale than the missile strikes from last week. These developments were naturally seen as strongly bullish for oil prices.
However, hours after unconfirmed reports of an Israeli attack first emerged, Reuters quoted an Iranian official as saying that there was no missile strike carried out against Iran. The explosions that were heard in the large Iranian city of Isfahan were the result of the activation of the air defense systems of Iran, the official told Reuters.
Overall, Iran appears to downplay the event, with most official comments and news reports not mentioning Israel, Reuters notes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that “there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites,” confirming Iranian reports on the matter.
The Isfahan province is home to Iran’s nuclear site for uranium enrichment.
“Brent briefly soared back above $90 before reversing lower after Iranian media downplayed a retaliatory strike by Israel,” Saxo Bank said in a Friday note.
The $5 a barrel trading range in oil prices over the past week has been driven by traders attempting to “quantify the level of risk premium needed to reflect heightened tensions but with no impact on supply,” the bank said, adding “Expect prices to bid ahead of the weekend.”
At the time of writing Brent was trading at $87.34 and WTI at $83.14.
Premier David Eby is warning real estate investors and speculators that his government is tilting the rules toward families seeking homes as it tightens the rules on short-term rentals.
Eby said Thursday that the rule changes on May 1 will limit short-term rental units to within the principal home of a host, but the move isn’t a ban on platforms such as Airbnb if they aren’t used to create de facto hotels from B.C.’s housing stock.
“If there’s a major event [such as a] Taylor Swift concert, a FIFA-like event and somebody wants to rent out their primary residence and go away for the weekend to avoid the crush of the crowds, they can still do that,” Eby said.
The changes were announced by the government last spring, giving those who own short-term rentals a year to conform.
Eby said the changes will allow both the province and local governments to crack down on speculators.
“If you’re flipping homes, if you’re buying places to do short-term rental, if you’re buying a home to leave it vacant, we have consistently, publicly, repeatedly sent the message: Do not compete with families and individuals that are looking for a place to live with your investment dollars.”
Eby made his comments as the province announced new figures gathered in March that showed more than 19,000 entire homes being listed as short-term rentals.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the new rules also require short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb to share listed property data with the province and local governments.
He said they expect a significant amount of the homes listed on short-term sites to be back in the long-term rental pool.
“Our view is even if half of those units were to come back onto the market, that is substantial,” Kahlon said. “The cost that it takes to build new housing, when you can get even half of the 19,000 back on the market, that’ll make a substantial difference in our communities.”
He said previous efforts to limit short-term rentals are increasing housing supply in some places.
“We’re seeing, already, in many communities that action happening,” Kahlon said. “We have heard many stories of people finding rentals now because of opportunities when it comes to short-term rentals coming onto the market.”
The new principal residence requirement for short-term rentals will allow local governments to request that a platform remove listings that don’t display a valid business licence.
Valid short-term rental hosts will also be required to display a business licence number on their listings if a licence is required by local government.
The new rules will apply to more than 60 B.C. communities, and Kahlon said a compliance enforcement unit will be phased in to help municipalities deal with rule violations.
Much of the monitoring and enforcement, however, will be conducted online through a new rental data portal that will allow local governments to track and request removal of listings from platforms.
“With this new digital portal, local governments will be able to upload, within moments, listings that they believe are operating illegally within their community,” Kahlon said.
The platform will have five days to remove listings that aren’t following the rules, and if they don’t, they will be fined, he said, noting there’s an up-to-$10,000-a-day-per-listing fine for platforms that don’t co-operate.
“We believe that’s enough of a deterrent for the platforms to co-operate with local governments,” said Kahlon
A website launched Thursday for hosts will allow them to get information about their requirements from the province and their municipality, and their responsibility to notify anyone that’s booked.
“Hosts and platforms have a responsibility to notify anyone that’s booking of all the changes that have been coming,” said Kahlon. “They’ve been notified about this since September or October when the legislation has come in, and they’ve had plenty of time to set up their policies to do that.”
The rules do include some exceptions, including some strata hotels and motels operating before last December being exempt if certain criteria are met.
Eby said the overall message to property investors looking for short-term gains is clear: Build homes that people need and government will do all it can to help expedite the process.
“But if you are standing neck and neck with a family that’s looking for a place to live, and you’re trying to do a speculative investment, [while] they’re looking for a place to live, we are going to tilt the deck every single time towards that family,” Eby said. “And we’re gonna keep doing it.”
Eby also said a positive side-effect of short-term rental regulation has been the re-emergence of hotel construction, with 1,400 rooms “in the development pipeline” in Vancouver.
“Those investors in those hotel rooms weren’t able to make the decision to proceed,” Eby said, citing the previous competition from short-term rentals. “Very clearly, with these regulations in place, there will be visitors to stay in hotel rooms, there will be a market for hotel rooms and they’re making the decision to proceed. This is very good news.”
Victoria-based Property Rights B.C. has filed a lawsuit against the province and city of Victoria to fight the new regulatory system.
It maintains the province overstepped its authority and its lawsuit is focused on preserving the rights to own and operate short-term vacation rentals. The organization is also seeking a delay in enforcement.
Asked about the lawsuit, Eby said he can’t comment on a matter that’s before the courts, “but what I can say is we’re very confident in the legal authority of the province to regulate the housing sector in this way and we’ll make the arguments that are needed in court to address that.”
More communities initially exempt from the province’s new regulations have opted in, including Gabriola Island, Mill Bay/Malahat, Cobble Hill, Cowichan Station/Sahtlam/Glenora, Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls, Saltair/Gulf Islands and North Oyster/Diamond. Tofino previously announced it would opt in.
Municipalities with fewer than 10,000 people, resort communities and regional districts are exempt from a requirement restricting short-term rentals to principal residences and either a secondary suite or laneway home/garden suite.
