Unexpected and unpredictable – that’s the sentiment coming from newly-released 2020 real estate numbers for Metro Vancouver.
With its busiest-ever December, Metro Vancouver’s 2020 real estate numbers were buoyed by a total housing sale increase of 22 per cent – rising from 25,351 in 2019 to 30,944 in 2020, according to Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
Board chair Colette Gerber said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the real estate market took a heavy hit in March. “We knew, however, that shelter needs don’t go away in times of crisis, they intensify.”
After adapting to the new normal of pandemic protocols, and managing expectations of what the future would hold, home buyer demand and seller supply returned strongly in the fall, with the added boost of low-interest rates, fueling interest.
With a benchmark price of $676,500 for an apartment, and $1.55-million for a detached house, December’s sales were almost 58 per cent higher than the average December over the last 10 years.
“Robust December sales outpaced long-term averages in what’s traditionally the quietest month of the year in real estate. This was part of an unusual seasonal pattern the market followed last year, which can be attributed in large part to the pandemic,” Gerber said.
Adil Dinani, Royal LePage real estate advisor, suggested that due to the pandemic “the definition of what a ‘home’ is for people has become crystal clear,” and that is what is driving record-breaking growth.
“If you’re a buyer, maybe you need more space. If you’re a seller, maybe you’re realizing you need less space. I think you have priorities that have come to the forefront of the market,” Dinani said.
Seeing a shift away from the condo market in the first half of 2020, Dinani suggested that the migration of homeowners to the eastern parts of Metro Vancouver will continue in 2021, and the freeing up of entry-level homes, in response.
With interest rates at record breaking lows, first home buyers could finally get their foot in the door. “First time buyers that were renting before are now saying, ‘Wow, now, I can almost own for a similar monthly expenses as renting,’” Dinani said.
However, with a 23-per-cent reduction in available listings comparatively to this time last year, the market is still in a favorable position for those seeking to sell.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
