Home sales in the Metro Vancouver* housing market continue to outpace long-term averages for this time of year.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 3,057 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in October 2014. This represents a 14.9 per cent increase compared to the 2,661 sales in October 2013, and a 4.6 per cent increase over the 2,922 sales in September 2014.

Last month’s sales were 16.6 per cent above the 10-year sales average for October.

“We’ve seen strong and consistent demand from...

Buying a home is among the biggest financial commitments most Canadians will make in their lives. The home buying process is often complex and confusing.

Just in time for Financial Literacy Month, The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has collaborated with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) to develop a series of short videos that define key terms and concepts, such as amortization period and mortgage prepayment.

New videos will be released every Tuesday and Thursday throughout November on CREA’s YouTube Channel. The first video was posted earlier today.

These videos complement...

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the largest and longest running blanket drive in the Lower Mainland. Over two decades, the REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive has helped bring warmth to more than 250,000 residents across the Lower Mainland.

From November 17 to 24, REALTORS® across the region will work with their clients to coordinate donations of blankets, sleeping bags, warm winter clothing, and new socks and underwear for those most in need. The donations are then sorted and delivered to charities and organizations in the same area in which they were collected.

We’re asking anyone...

According to CMHC’s fourth quarter 2014 Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition¹, housing starts in 2015 will remain similar to levels observed in 2014 and in line with economic and demographic trends. By 2016, some moderation is expected.

“The trend for housing starts has been up in recent months, particularly in multi-unit structures. This has been broadly supported by key factors such as employment, disposable income and net migration, which are expected to continue to be supportive of the Canadian housing market over the 2014-2016 forecast horizon,” said Bob Dugan,...

The Bank of Canada announced on October 22nd, 2014 that it was holding its trend-setting overnight lending rate at 1 per cent.

Its most recent rate announcement and Monetary Policy Report suggest a number of reasons why interest rates aren’t going up anytime soon:

1) Recovery in exports not ready to stand on own legs. Recent growth in the U.S. has led to a weaker Canada–U.S. currency exchange rate. That is good news for Canadian exports to the U.S. , our largest trading partner. The Bank still expects that the engine for Canadian economic growth will switch from...

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

Inflation in Canada is close to the 2 per cent target. Core inflation rose more rapidly than was expected in the Bank’s July Monetary Policy Report (MPR), mainly reflecting unexpected sector-specific factors. Total CPI inflation is evolving broadly as expected, as the pickup in core inflation was largely offset by lower energy prices. Underlying inflationary pressures are muted, given the persistent...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,636 residential sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in September, up 17.5 per cent from September 2013. Total sales dollar volume was $4.4 billion, an increase of 25.8 per cent compared to a year ago. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose to $574,641, up 7.1 per cent from the same month last year.

“Consumer demand remains robust in most BC regions,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “More homes...

Home buyers were active in Metro Vancouver last month, with home sales well exceeding the 10-year average for September

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,922 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in September 2014. This represents a 17.7 per cent increase compared to the 2,483 sales in September 2013, and a 5.4 per cent increase over the 2,771 sales in August 2014.

Last month’s sales were 16.1 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month and rank as the third...

According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales activity rose nearly two per cent from July to August 2014.

The number of home sales processed through the MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate

Boards and Associations rose 1.8 per cent on a month-over-month basis in August 2014, marking the seventh consecutive monthly increase, and the highest level for sales since January 2010.

Although activity rose in fewer than half of all local housing markets in August, the national tally was fuelled by monthly sales increases in Greater Vancouver,...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,341 residential sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in August, up 7 per cent from August 2013. Total sales dollar volume was $4.1 billion, an increase of 12.4 per cent compared to a year ago. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose to $560,318, up 5 per cent from the same month last year.

“Consumer demand remained relatively robust in August,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “The Okanagan and Chilliwack board...

The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 189,837 units in August compared to 189,596 in July, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)1 of housing starts.

“The currently elevated level of inventory of newly completed and unoccupied condominiums, and units under construction, supports CMHC’s view that condominium starts will likely see a declining trend over the coming months as developers and builders seek to limit risks of...

The Bank of Canada announced on September 3^rd, 2014 that it was holding its trend-setting overnight lending rate at 1 per cent.

The overnight rate has not moved in four years. It’s likely that it will remain where it is for some time yet.  Why?

1. Inflation is on target -- Inflation recently increased and is tracking close to the Bank’s 2 per cent target. However, the Bank believes the increase reflects temporary factors and cited evidence in support of this in its policy rate announcement. As a result, it does not see interest rate hikes as being necessary to rein it in. Instead,...

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

Inflation is close to the 2 per cent target and is evolving as the Bank anticipated in its July Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Recent data reinforce the Bank’s view that the earlier pickup in inflation was attributable to the temporary effects of higher energy prices, exchange rate pass-through, and other sector-specific factors rather than to any change in domestic economic fundamentals.

The global economy...

The Metro Vancouver housing market experienced steady home sale, listing, and pricing trends for the month of August.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property
sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,771 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in
August 2014. This represents a 10.2 per cent increase compared to the 2,514 sales
recorded in August 2013, and a 9.5 per cent decline compared to the 3,061 sales in July 2014.

“Activity this summer has been strong but not unusual for our region,” Ray Harris, REBGV president said. “The...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported today that net income for the six month period ended June 30, 2014 was $841 million, up 2.1% ($17 million) from the same period last year. The increase is mainly attributable to higher earnings from investments and lower insurance claims losses, both a result of improved economic conditions.

At the end of the second quarter of 2014, our total insurance-in-force was down $6 billion from December 31, 2013, standing at $551 billion. We expect insurance-in-force to decline to approximately $545 billion by year-end as mortgage...

Beginning on October 23rd, a new .REALTOR top-level-domain (TLD) will be made available to members of The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) in Canada, and members of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) in the U.S.
The majority of homebuyers begin their searches online, and a .REALTOR TLD will allow
members of CREA to stand out from other real estate professionals. It will also ensure
consumers know they are dealing with licenced real estate professionals who adhere to
CREA’s Code of Ethics. “We are excited to offer this new and unique branding opportunity...

According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales activity edged up almost one per cent in July 2014 from the previous month.
Highlights:

• National home sales rose 0.8% from June to July.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was 7.2% higher than July 2013 levels.
• The number of newly listed homes edged up 0.4% from June to July.
• The Canadian housing market remains in balanced territory.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 5.3% year-over-year in July.
• The national average sale price rose 5.0% on a year-over-year basis in July....

According to CMHC’s third quarter 2014 Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition1, housing activity will continue to be supported by economic and demographic fundamentalsfor the rest of 2014 and into 2015.

“Recent trends have shown an increase in housing starts, which is broadly supported by demographic fundamentals. However, our latest forecast calls for starts to edge lower as builders are expected to reduce inventories instead of focussing on new construction,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist for CMHC.

On an annual basis, housing starts are expected...

The trend measure of housing starts in Canada reached 189,784 units in July compared to 185,952 in June, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)1 of housing starts.

“The trend in construction has increased modestly in recent months due to in large part to multiple starts, which have strong variability from month-to-month,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist. “Nevertheless, CMHC continues to expect a soft landing for...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released the results of its 2013 Condominium Owners Survey today showing that 82.9% of the condominium owning households surveyed reside in their unit and 17.1% are condominium investors.

“As information on condominium investment is rather limited at this time, CMHC has gathered new data on a segment of domestic condominium investment activity in Toronto and Vancouver. While the results are not representative of other markets or all types of
investors, the survey helps to shed some light on the profile and&nb...