The 21st annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive kicks off on November 16. The program is the Lower Mainland’s largest and longest-running blanket drive.

Each year, the REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive provides warm clothing and blankets to more than 19,000 Lower Mainland residents in need.

From November 16 to 23, volunteer Realtors across the region will work with their clients to coordinate donations of blankets and warm winter clothing for those most in need. The donations are then sorted and delivered to charities in the same community in which they were collected.

“Every community...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2015 Fourth Quarter Housing Forecast Update today.

Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province are projected to surpass 100,000 units this year. This level ofhome sales will be the third strongest on record and mark the first year since 2007 that BC home sales exceed the ten year
average.

After climbing 15 per cent in 2014 and nearly 20 per cent this year, BC MLS® residential sales are forecast to decline 7 per cent to 93,700 units in 2016. “Less latent pent-up demand...

The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 206,089 units in October compared to 202,793 in September, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

“New condominium and rental starts continued to push the trend higher in October,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist. “Rental starts across urban centres are poised to reach their highest level since 1992 due to low vacancy rates in recent years.”

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement...

Home buyers remain active across Metro Vancouver despite a reduced supply of homes for sale. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in *Metro Vancouver reached 3,646 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in October 2015.

This represents a 19.3 per cent increase compared to the 3,057 sales recorded in October 2014, and a 9 per cent increase compared to the 3,345 sales in September 2015. Last month’s sales were 36.2 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month.

“Home sales are more than one-third...

Canada’s 35 larger centres saw the average vacancy rate in privately initiated purpose-built rental apartments increase to 3.3 per cent in October 2015, from 2.8 per cent in October 2014, according to preliminary data from the fall Rental Market Survey released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

“The rise in the national vacancy rate was due to lower net migration in regions most affected by low oil prices as well as an increase in the supply of purpose-built rental apartment units,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC.

Overall, the average rent for t...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its Housing Market Assessment (HMA) report formerly known as the House Price Analysis and Assessment (HPAA) that evaluates the extent to which there is evidence of problematic housing market conditions in 15 Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs).

The HMA points to strong overall evidence of problematic conditions in Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Regina. In Toronto, strong evidence of problematic conditions reflects a combination of price acceleration and overvaluation. Strong evidence of problematic conditions in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and...

Bright & Spacious
2 Level, 2 Bed Town home
Priced at $424,800
Open: Sat Sep 19 from 1 to 3

Detached style living with strata convenience! Welcome to UniverCity at SFU, Vancouver’s premier lifestyle neighborhood. This bright 2lvl/2bed/2bath/1094sqft home is in great condition & shows very well. Features: open layout, excellent room separation, large kitchen w/eating area & SS apps. Enjoy outdoor living on your extended patio. Top floor: master with 3pc ensuite, tons of closet space, 4pc bath, a large 2nd bedroom & conveniently located...

CMHC’s fourth quarter 2015 Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition, expects housing markets to moderate in 2016 and 2017.

“In 2015, increased housing market activity in provinces like Ontario and British Columbia – provinces that have benefitted from declining energy prices, a lower Canadian dollar and continued low mortgage rates – offset slowdowns in oil-producing provinces like Alberta,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC Chief Economist. “We expect, however, that this counterbalancing effect will decrease over time. As such, housing...

Garden Level Patio

Prestigious One University

Open House Oct 31 from 2:00 to 4:00

Priced at $408,800

Looking for outdoor space as an extension of your indoor living? Look no further! Calling all outdoor, garden and pet lovers. Enjoy the 371sqft ground level patio of this 2bed/2bath/973sqft home in the luxurious concrete tower of OneUniversity located in UniverCity; Vancouver's premier lifestyle neighborhood. Features: espresso color floor, 9’ ceilings, shaker style cabinets, quartz counters, SS apps, excellent room separation, cozy fireplace & more. The large master has his/her walk-through...

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1/2 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 3/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/4 per cent.

Inflation has evolved in line with the outlook in the Bank’s July Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Total CPI inflation remains near the bottom of the Bank’s target range, owing to declines in consumer energy prices. Core inflation is close to 2 per cent as the transitory effects of the past depreciation of the Canadian dollar are roughly offsetting disinflationary pressures from economic slack, which...

House prices across Metro Vancouver jumped yet again this quarter, bringing up the aggregate home price to just under a million bucks, according to a Royal LePage report released Wednesday.

The aggregate price for condos, bungalows and two-storey houses across the region rose by 12.9 per cent to $928,532 in the third quarter of 2015. Richmond and Burnaby posted the highest increase across housing types, with aggregate prices rising to $868,105 and $832.411 respectively, according to the report.

But Vancouver, where insane real estate prices prompted the #donthave1million campaign drawing attention...

According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales activity eased in September 2015 from the month before.

Highlights:

• National home sales declined by 2.1% from August to September.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity edged up 0.7% compared to September 2014.
• The number of newly listed homes retreated 2.1% from August to September.
• The Canadian housing market remains balanced overall.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 6.9% year-over-year in September.
• The national average sale price rose 6.1% on a year-over-year basis in September;...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,553 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in September, up 12 per cent from the same month last year. Total sales dollar volume was $5.2 billion, up 18 per cent compared to the previous year. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose to $605,258, up 5.3 per cent from September 2014.

“Strong consumer demand has pulled down the inventory of homes for sale to its lowest level in eight years,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA...

The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 202,506 units in September compared to 195,804 in August, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

“The trend in housing starts is at its highest point since January 2013, as a result of the launch of some major rental housing projects as well as continued strength in condominium construction,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist. “As a result, trend activity is now above the projected annual...

Conditions continue to favour home sellers across *Metro Vancouver’s housing market.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Metro Vancouver reached 3,345 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in September 2015. This represents a 14.5 per cent increase compared to the 2,922 sales recorded in September 2014, and a 0.5 per cent decrease compared to the 3,362 sales in August 2015.

Last month’s sales were 32.9 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month. “Residential home sales have...

The Canadian economy is able to deal with the challenges posed by large movements in resource prices, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen S. Poloz said today.

In a speech at Calgary Economic Development’s 2016 Economic Outlook event, Governor Poloz said that it’s far better for Canada to have natural resources than not, even if swings in their prices can complicate the management of companies and economic policy.

“Even when prices are falling, as they have been recently, our endowment represents a store of value and a source of future riches,” the Governor noted.

The fundamental...

A record number of office and retail sales kept the Lower Mainland’s commercial real estate market trending above long-term averages in the second quarter of 2015, according to data from Commercial Edge, a commercial real estate system operated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

The total dollar value of commercial sales in the region was $1.9 billion in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015, a 41.2 per cent increase from Q2 2014.

There were 591 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in Q2 2015, according to Commercial Edge. This is a 16.1...

Bright & Spacious
2 Level, 2 Bed Town home
Priced at $424,800
Open: Sat Sep 19 from 1 to 3

Detached style living with strata convenience! Welcome to UniverCity at SFU, Vancouver’s premier lifestyle neighborhood. This bright 2lvl/2bed/2bath/1094sqft home is in great condition & shows very well. Features: open layout, excellent room separation, large kitchen w/eating area & SS apps. Enjoy outdoor living on your extended patio. Top floor: master with 3pc ensuite, tons of closet space, 4pc bath, a large 2nd bedroom & conveniently located...

According to statistics1 released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales activity posted a small month-over-month increase in August 2015.

Highlights:
• National home sales edged up by 0.3% from July to August.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 4.0% above August 2014 levels.
• The number of newly listed homes rose 0.5% from July to August.
• The Canadian housing market remains balanced overall.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 6.43% year-over-year in August.
• The national average sale price rose...

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1/2 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 3/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/4 per cent.

Inflation has evolved in line with the outlook in the Bank’s July Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Total CPI inflation remains near the bottom of the target range, reflecting year-over-year price declines for consumer energy products. Core inflation has been close to 2 per cent, with disinflationary pressures from economic slack being offset by transitory effects of the past depreciation of the Canadian...