Burnaby council advances SFU gondola despite concerns.

Councillors want Forest Grove residents consulted before TransLink approves route.

Burnaby city council has given TransLink the go-ahead to keep planning for a gondola to Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby Mountain campus. The city’s mayor and councillors voted unaminously Monday to support, in principle, TransLink’s plan to link the school with a SkyTrain station. 

TransLink carries 25,000 people to SFU’s Burnaby Mountain campus every day, making it the biggest transit destination in the city without a SkyTrain...

Curious about the Real Estate market in Vancouver? Want to learn more about the basics of how to "get in the market"? Find out the potential investment returns real estate can offer for free! Join us for a casual evening of drinks, appetizers & door prizes, on us! June 25th at Twin Sails Brewing Port Moody BC. Meet like minded peers and industry professionals that can answer your questions.

Secure your ticket here:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/real-estate-on-tap-tickets-61711360340?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=esfb&utm-source=fb&u...

It's difficult to tell what part of the $89 billion in real estate market equity losses in Metro Vancouver are due to government policies rather than changing market forces.

The downturn in the Metro Vancouver real estate market has resulted in an estimated paper loss of $89.2 billion for property owners in the past year, according to a new analysis.

The study used assessed values reported in January to estimate the total value of residential properties after the decline in median home prices for all housing types in Metro Vancouver between April 2018 and April 2019.

From this, it estimated the...

Statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show national home sales climbed in April 2019.

Highlights:

• National home sales improved by 3.6% month-over-month (m-o-m) in April.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 4.2% year-over-year (y-o-y).
• The number of newly listed homes climbed 2.7% m-o-m.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) eased by 0.3% y-o-y in April.
• The national average sale price edged up 0.3% y-o-y.

Home sales recorded via Canadian MLS® Systems rose by 3.6% m-o-m in April 2019. After having dropped in February to the lowest level...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 6,652 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April, a decline of 18.9 per cent from the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $685,304, a decline of 6.2 per cent from April 2018. Total sales dollar volume was $4.6 billion, a 23.9 per cent decline from the same month last year.

“BC home sales were essentially unchanged from March on a seasonally adjusted basis,” said BCREA Chief Economist Cameron Muir. “Prospective...

An independent report has found that $5 billion was laundered through British Columbia's real estate market last year and increased the cost of buying a home by five per cent.

The report by former B.C. deputy attorney general Maureen Maloney estimated that $7.4 billion overall was laundered in B.C. in 2018, a figure she says is conservative and added the total amount across Canada was about $47 billion.

Attorney General David Eby told a news conference on Thursday that money laundering is a ``malignant cancer'' on society and a ``national-level crisis.''

The provincial government commissioned two...

The BC government released reports today on the findings of two examinations into potential money laundering activities in the real estate market.

Real Estate of Board of Greater Vancouver President Ashley Smith issued the following statement on the findings of these investigations.

Our position on the money laundering concerns raised in recent years has remained consistent. The real estate profession is here to do everything we can to assist law enforcement in combating money laundering, or any other criminal activity, in our communities. Where there’s evidence of an individual violating...

Huge 1 Bed & Den

243sqft Fully Covered Patio

Open: May 4 from 1 to 3

Price at $499,000

click here for more...

Looking for a home with more space? Your search is over! Welcome to this exceptionally large 1 bed & den (easily 2 bed), 1 bath, 829sqft home. Located in Altaire, a concrete building at UniverCity; Vancouver's premier lifestyle neighborhood. Features: spacious open layout, dining & living rooms to accommodate full size furniture, a kitchen with plenty of counter & cupboard space, SS apps, cozy F/P, extra storage plus a 243sqft fully covered patio. The well sized master has...

Decreased demand continues to allow the supply of homes for sale to accumulate across the Metro Vancouver* housing market.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 1,829 in April 2019, a 29.1 per cent decrease from the 2,579 sales recorded in April 2018, and a 5.9 per cent increase from the 1,727 homes sold in March 2019.

Last month’s sales were 43.1 per cent below the 10-year April sales average.

“Government policy continues to hinder home sale activity. The federal government’s mortgage stress test has reduced...

Gorgeous Loft Style Home

3bed, 2 bath 1815sqft

Open: April 6 from 1 to 3

Price at $1,098,800

Click here for more...

The Bank of Canada is keeping its key interest rate unchanged as it releases a downgraded 2019 growth forecast that includes a prediction the economy nearly came to a halt at the start of the year.

The central bank also appears to be in no hurry to move the interest rate any time soon because, unlike recent statements, the announcement today removed all mentions of a need for future increases.

The decision leaves the trend-setting rate at 1.75% for a fourth-straight announcement -- a pause that followed governor Stephen Poloz's stretch of five hikes between mid-2017 and last fall.

The bank says...

Huge 1 Bed & Den

243sqft Fully Covered Patio

Open: April 27 from 1 to 3

Price at $524,800

Click here for more...

Looking for a home with more space? Your search is over! Welcome to this exceptionally large 1 bed & den (easily 2 bed), 1 bath, 829sqft home. Located in Altaire, a concrete building at UniverCity; Vancouver's premier lifestyle neighborhood. Features: spacious open layout, dining & living rooms to accommodate full size furniture, a kitchen with plenty of counter & cupboard space, SS apps, cozy F/P, extra storage plus a 243sqft fully covered patio. The well sized master...

Statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show national home sales edged higher in March 2019 after having declined sharply the previous month.

Highlights:

• National home sales edged up 0.9% month-over-month (m-o-m) in March.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was down 4.6% year-over-year (y-o-y).
• The number of newly listed homes rose 2.1% m-o-m.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) eased by 0.5% y-o-y in March.
• The national average sale price fell 1.8% y-o-y.

Home sales via Canadian MLS® Systems edged up 0.9% in March 2019 following a sharp drop...

Jens von Bergmann (data analyst and mathematician); Nathanael Lauster (sociologist); and Douglas Harris (law professor) have been working since 2018 on a study of how condominiums are used and occupied across Canada. The goal is to use the results to better inform public and academic debate.

They recently presented some of their early findings at the National Housing Conference in Ottawa and have since made that information public. It is still a work in progress, but already there are some interesting takeaways. To start, here is a chart showing occupied housing units in Canada and in...

Gorgeous Loft Style Home

3bed, 2 bath 1815sqft

Open: April 6 from 1 to 3

Price at $1,098,800

Click here for more....

Love at first sight! Featured in Western Living & Dwell on Design this elegant Eco-friendly 3bed/2bath/1815sqft loft home will leave you breathless. Origin by Port Development, designed by GBL Architect, is located in the heart of UniverCity; stones throw to all amenities. Features: 25'+ soaring ceilings, full height windows, an abundance of Southern light, wood & tile flooring, a gourmet kitchen w/12' island & hi-end SS apps & eating area, 2 balconies, 2 bedrms, 4...

The 2019 federal budget includes a tantalizing pitch for prospective first-time home buyers — one that could see Canada's housing agency contribute up to 10 per cent of the purchase price of a home and bring down the mortgage load for borrowers.

The budget offers the program, known as the First Time Home Buyer Incentive, as a way to help with housing affordability. The government is earmarking $1.25 billion over three years for something it's calling a "shared equity mortgage."

Functionally, it's more like an almost interest-free loan — one where the repayment plan doesn't...

On the eve of a federal election this fall, the Liberal government is looking to help more Canadians buy their first homes by picking up a portion of their mortgage costs and increasing the amount they can borrow from their retirement savings for a down payment.

Helping people enter the housing market has been a growing preoccupation for the Liberals ever since they were elected in 2015, with soaring real-estate prices in some of Canada's largest cities putting home ownership beyond the reach of many.

An estimated 1.6 million Canadian households are considered in ``core housing need,'' meaning people...