Despite an easing in prices, the Canadian housing market remains “highly vulnerable,” according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Home sales and prices are coming down in Vancouver, but it is still an overheated market, according to a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s latest look at stability in real estate markets across the country.

“Metro Vancouver’s housing market remains highly vulnerable despite softening prices in the resale market,” said Eric Bond, CMHC’s Vancouver-based analyst.

“There are imbalances even though prices...

The Bank of Canada today increased its target for the overnight rate to 1 ¾ per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 2 per cent and the deposit rate is 1 ½ per cent. 

The global economic outlook remains solid. The US economy is especially robust and is expected to moderate over the projection horizon, as forecast in the Bank’s July Monetary Policy Report (MPR). The new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will reduce trade policy uncertainty in North America, which has been an important curb on business confidence and investment. However, trade conflict, particularly between...

Luxury home sales in two of Canada’s most expensive markets are down from a year, as the high-end real estate market feels the effect of foreign buyers taxes. 

TORONTO — Sales of luxury homes in two of Canada’s most expensive cities fell this year, as the high-end real estate market continued to feel the impact of foreign buyers taxes.

Realty brokerage Re/Max says sales of single-detached homes priced from $1 million to $2 million fell 35 per cent from a year ago in both Toronto and Vancouver.

According to the annual report, released Tuesday, sales of single-detached homes...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association welcomes the Government of British Columbia’s inclusion of exemptions from the speculation and vacancy tax proposed as Bill 45 today, Tuesday, October 16, 2018. Some of the exemptions directly address concerns BCREA brought to the Province’s attention through its advocacy work. 

The Bill allows for exemptions for British Columbians going through traumatic life events such as illness and divorces or separations. It also allows for exemptions for owners of properties that are being developed or undergoing renovations. 

It also exempts...

Canada and the U.S. have announced a tentative new trilateral trade deal with Mexico that includes some key concessions on issues of import to both countries — and also a reworked name: the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

 "​USMCA will give our workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region," Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a joint statement released late Sunday.

 "It...

The B.C. government is capping rent increases in the province at the rate of inflation, a move that will drastically cut the maximum annual rent hikes that had been allowed under the old formula.

The province dropped the automatic two per cent increase in annual rental costs for renters around the province, starting next year.

The increase will now be limited to the annual rate of inflation, which now stands at 2.5 per cent.

This comes on the heels of recommendations from the Rental Housing Task Force to limit rental increases to the inflation rate alone.

The maximum rent increase that was allowed...

Vancouver councillors have ended two days of public hearings by voting to allow duplexes in most city neighbourhoods currently restricted to single-family homes.

Mayor Gregor Robertson says the decision is another step toward adding homes in the city for the so-called ``missing middle,'' which includes young families pushed out of Vancouver by soaring property prices.

A news release from the mayor's office says the policy change means duplexes are now permitted on approximately 67,000 single family lots, offering an option that is more affordable than a detached home.

The 7-4 vote was split along...

Mortgage Rate Outlook
The Canadian mortgage market is undergoing significant tightening with the availability of credit falling and interest rates rising. The mortgage stress test introduced in January negatively impacted home sales nationwide as prospective homebuyers with more than 20 per cent down payments were denied access to loans they would have qualified for under the old regulatory regime. As a result, mortgage credit growth in Canada has slowed dramatically. On the pricing side, monetary policy continues to be the primary driver of higher mortgage rates in 2018 as the Bank of Canada...

An Angus Reid survey has found the majority of people in Metro Vancouver want to see housing prices come down. 

A majority of Metro Vancouver residents would welcome a drop in real estate prices in the region, according to a new poll.

The Angus Reid survey, released Monday, found that 62 per cent of those polled wanted to see prices fall. Of that group, 26 per cent wanted prices to fall by about 10 per cent, while 36 per cent wanted a price drop of 30 per cent or more.

According to the survey’s overview, “perhaps the most counter-intuitive finding for outsiders” was the s...

New listings were down in more than half of all local markets, led by Calgary, Edmonton and Greater Vancouver

Actual sales (not seasonally adjusted) on Canadian MLS Systems were down 1.3 percent in July 2018 from July last year, says the monthly report from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

This reflects fewer sales in major urban centres in British Columbia and an offsetting improvement in activity in the GTA.

“This year’s new stress test on mortgage applicants continues to weigh on home sales, but its effect may be starting to fade slightly in Toronto and nearby markets,...