The province has expanded its exemptions to the foreign-buyer tax on real estate to include workers coming into B.C. under the provincial nominee program, Premier Christy Clark announced Friday.

She also said the government will rebate the tax to foreign nationals who become permanent residents of Canada within a year of purchasing a principal residence, so long as they lived in the home for a full year.

Because the 15-per-cent tax has helped cool Metro Vancouver’s property markets, Finance Minister Mike de Jong said the province “is now in a position to provide targeted relief...

Starting today, premiums on mortgage insurance from Canada Mortgage Housing Corp. go up across the country.

CMHC says its average client will pay about $5 more per month.

The price of mortgage insurance, required for homebuyers making a down payment of less than 20 per cent, varies across Canada, as calculations by mortgage-comparison website Ratehub.ca show.

For example, a homebuyer in Halifax, where the average home price is $279,362, would pay $4.71 more per month under CMHC's new premiums.​ That's an increase of $1,413 over the life of a 25-year mortgage.

In Vancouver, however, where...

One big bank is arguing the debt-to-income ratio is the most “useless economic indicator out there.”

167.3%.

You’ll read a lot about these two numbers in the coming days. That’s the debt to income ratio for all Canadians and it just hit a new high in Q4 of last year.

It’ll be whipped out when arguing against mortgage debt and for policies aimed at safeguarding Canadians from taking on even more debt.

But it isn’t that simple, according to Benjamin Tal, chief economist with CIBC. And the ratio isn’t even that useful.

“The attractiveness of the ratio is...

Mortgage Rate Outlook

After an initial upward adjustment in global interest rates following the US presidential election, bond markets have since adopted a wait and see approach to US economic policy. As a result, the yield on the benchmark five-year bond has stayed constant through the first quarter of the year. Consequently, Canadian mortgage rates have also remained relatively unchanged. However, we could see some upward movement in interest rates over the second half of 2017, due to a stronger Canadian economy and a large degree of policy incoherence in the United States. Indeed, for the first...

According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales were up on a month-over-month basis in February 2017.

Highlights:

• National home sales rose 5.2% from January to February.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity in February was down 2.6% from a year earlier.
• The number of newly listed homes was up 4.8% from January to February.
• The MLS^® Home Price Index (HPI) in February was up 16% year-over-year (y-o-y).
• The national average sale price edged up 3.5% y-o-y in February.

Home sales over Canadian MLS^® Systems rose by 5.2%...

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has updated its forecast for home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations in 2017 and 2018.

Canadian housing market trends continue to display considerable regional divergence. In British Columbia, activity in the Lower Mainland has cooled markedly from all-time highs recorded early last year; however, sales and price pressures elsewhere in the province remain historically strong.

In the resource-intensive provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador,...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 6,580 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in February, down 31.7 per cent from the same period last year. Total sales dollar volume was $4.53 billion, down 39.7 per cent from February 2016. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $688,117, an 11.7 per cent decrease from the same period last year.

“Consumer demand has returned to a more typical level over the first two months of the year,” says Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “While...

Potential Chinese property buyers dramatically shifted their inquiries from Vancouver to other major Canadian cities after a foreign-buyer tax was introduced in Vancouver this past summer, according to data from Chinese foreign-property portal Juwai.com.

Inquiries for Vancouver properties on Juwai – China’s largest international-property website – fell 81 per cent in July compared to the same month a year earlier, and 78 per cent in August, and continued lower through the remaining months in 2016.

At the same time, inquiries spiked in other Canadian cities, with Toronto climbing...

The group that represents mortgage brokers across Canada was in Ottawa on Tuesday to urge parliamentarians to tinker with their recent rule changes, and hit the brakes on any new ones.

Mortgage Professionals Canada, who represents more than 11,000 mortgage brokers, urged lawmakers to rethink rule changes introduced last October aimed at reining in consumers who may be taking on too much debt to buy a home. Among the major changes was the implementation of a "stress test" whereby borrowers would be judged on their ability to pay their mortgage assuming that rates were much higher than they are right...

Mountain Views

Spacious 1 Bed & Den

Priced at $339,800

Open: March 4 from 1 to 3

University, a city within a city. Enjoy the peace & tranquility this area has to offer. This 1 bed & den 669 sqft unit will not disappoint. Features: open layout, granite counters throughout, stainless steel appliances, laminate floors, front load washer & dryer, large covered balcony, & excellent sized den. Located in Novo II, this building offers recreation facilities & allows for rentals & pets. Close to: transit, shopping, indoor/outdoor recreation & a host of perks available only...

What a view! Perfect for the students, singles or investors alike. This bright 376sqft studio is in excellent condition & shows well. Features: over height ceilings, granite counters, updated appliances, in-suite laundry, 1 parking & beautiful City and open Sky views. Located in Novo I a concrete building with exercise room and pet and rental friendly. Move-in or generate excellent cash flow from high rental demand. Close to: transit, shopping, indoor/outdoor recreation & a host of perks available only to UniverCity residences. Do not miss your chance to enjoy living in this great lifestyle...

The Bank of Canada announced on March 1^st, 2017 it was keeping its trend-setting target overnight lending rate at 0.5 percent.

It said recent data confirm that the Canadian economy is on track for better growth, as predicted in its January Monetary Policy Report (MPR).

The Canadian economy is forecast to grow by 2.1% in 2017 and 2018, helped along in 2017 by Government spending. The Bank also anticipates, as it has for some time, that exports and business investment will gain better traction in 2018.

However, that outlook would be severely downgraded should U.S. trade policy become more...

Home sales across Metro Vancouver were down dramatically last month compared with last year's record-breaking pace, while prices across the region remained more stable.

The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board says a limited supply of listings and an unusually snowy start to the year affected the market.

It says residential sales totalled 2,425 in February, an almost 42-per-cent plunge from February 2016.

But sales in February were up about 59 per cent from January.

The board says the number of properties that changed hands was 7.7 per cent below the 10-year sales average for February.

The board says...

Reluctance amongst Metro Vancouver* home sellers is impacting sale and price activity throughout the region’s housing market.

Residential home sales in the region totalled 2,425 in February 2017. This is a 41.9 per cent decrease from the record 4,172 homes sold in February 2016 and an increase of 59.2 per cent compared to January 2017 when 1,523 homes sold.

Last month’s sales were 7.7 per cent below the 10-year February sales average.

“February home sales were well below the record-breaking activity from one year ago and in line with our long-term historical average for the month,...

The BCREA Commercial Leading Indicator (CLI) increased for the fourth consecutive quarter, rising 1.5 index points from the third to fourth quarter. The index now sits at 123.9, a 5 per cent increase from a year ago, and about a 1.2 per cent gain on a quarterly basis. 

“The CLI was propelled higher by strong fourth quarter growth in the BC economy,” says BCREA Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “The strength of the underlying BC economy, particularly relative to the rest of Canada, makes BC a very attractive destination for commercial investment.” 

Five straight quarters...

What a view! Perfect for the students, singles or investors alike. This bright 376sqft studio is in excellent condition & shows well. Features: over height ceilings, granite counters, updated appliances, in-suite laundry, 1 parking & beautiful City and open Sky views. Located in Novo I a concrete building with exercise room and pet and rental friendly. Move-in or generate excellent cash flow from high rental demand. Close to: transit, shopping, indoor/outdoor recreation & a host of perks available only to UniverCity residences. Do not miss your chance to enjoy living in this...

Mountain Views

Spacious 1 Bed & Den

Priced at $339,800

University, a city within a city. Enjoy the peace & tranquility this area has to offer. This 1 bed & den 669 sqft unit will not disappoint. Features: open layout, granite counters throughout, stainless steel appliances, laminate floors, front load washer & dryer, large covered balcony, & excellent sized den. Located in Novo II, this building offers recreation facilities & allows for rentals & pets. Close to: transit, shopping, indoor/outdoor recreation & a host of perks available only to UniverCity residences....

On the heels of multiple government announcements in 2016 and early 2017, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) welcomes the latest: an increase in the Property Transfer Tax exemption threshold for first-time buyers, announced in Budget 2017. The increase, to $500,000 from $475,000, takes effect today.

BCREA appreciates this government’s attention to the needs of first-time homebuyers. To keep pace with the dynamic real estate market and ensure that homebuyers aren’t left behind, the Association strongly believes that this threshold—and all others related to the...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2017 First Quarter Housing Forecast Update today. 

Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province are forecast to decline 14.1 per cent to 96,345 units this year, after reaching a record 112,209 units in 2016. A moderation trend that began early in 2016, combined with tougher federal government mortgage qualification rules and the foreign buyer tax in Vancouver, is expected to limit consumer demand over the next two years. However, housing demand is expected to remain well above the tenyear average...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 4,487 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in January, down 23 per cent from the same period last year. Total sales dollar volume was $2.79 billion, down 36.5 per cent from January 2016. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $621,093, a 17.5 per cent decrease from the same period last year. 

“Housing demand across the province returned to long-term average levels last month,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “However, regional...