The Greater Vancouver housing market continues to see slightly elevated demand from home buyers, steady levels of supply from home sellers and incremental gains in home values depending on the area and property type.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 3,061 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in July 2014. This represents a 3.9 per cent increase compared to the 2,946 sales recorded in July 2013, and a 10.1 per cent decline compared to the 3,406 sales in June 2014.

“This...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,989 residential sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in June, up 24.9 per cent from June 2013. Total sales dollar volume was $5 billion, an increase of 30.5 per cent compared to a year ago. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose
to $556,977, up 4.5 per cent from the same month last year.

“Home sales finished the second quarter on an upward trend,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “The increase in provincial housing...

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.

Total CPI inflation has moved up to around the 2 per cent target in recent months, sooner than expected. Core inflation has also increased but remains below 2 per cent. Recent higher inflation is attributable to the temporary effects of higher energy prices, exchange rate pass-through and other sector-specific shocks, rather than to any change in domestic economic fundamentals. Over the next two years, inflation...

The Bank of Canada announced on July 16^th, 2014 that it was keeping its trend-setting overnight lending rate at 1 per cent.

The overnight rate has not moved in almost four years, and the Bank’s July announcement and accompanying Monetary Policy Report (MPR) suggest the most likely scenario right now is that the overnight rate will remain parked where it is for at least another year and a half.

That said, the Bank made clear that it was “neutral” with respect to not only the timing but also the direction of any future change to the policy rate. The Bank is taking a wait and see...

The Greater Vancouver housing market enters the summer season with home buyer activity on the rise.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 3,406 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in June 2014. This represents a 28.9 per cent increase compared to the 2,642 sales recorded in June 2013, and a 3.7 per cent increase compared to the 3,286 sales in May 2014.

Last month’s sales were 0.6 per cent above the 10-year sales average for June of 3,386.

“Competition amongst home buyers...

An upswing in vacant land transactions helped the commercial real market maintain a steady pace in line with historical activity in the Lower Mainland, 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 $1.4 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2014, a 45.5 per cent increase from Q1 2013. This is the second highest Q1 dollar value total in the last five years.

There were 441 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in Q1 2014, according...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), one of Canada’s most trusted sources of housing information and analysis, today launched its Housing Market Information Portal (the Portal). A new, dynamic, web-basedtool, the Portal lets users meet their information needs by accessing CMHC’s wealth of housing market data in one, easy location. Unrivalled in scope and flexibility, the Portal provides housing market information to address a wide range of strategic business needs — at no cost to users.

“As Canada’s housing authority, CMHC...

According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales activity posted a sizeable month-over-month increase in May 2014.

Highlights:
National home sales rose 5.9% from April to May.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 4.8% above May 2013 levels.
The number of newly listed homes climbed 3.8% from April to May.
The Canadian housing market remains in balanced territory.
The national average sale price rose 7.1% on a year-over-year basis in May.
The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 5.0% year-over-year in May.

The number of home...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,729 residential sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in May, up 13.9 per cent from May 2013. Total sales dollar volume was $4.9 billion, an increase of 20.6 per cent compared to a year ago. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose to $565,233, up 5.8 per cent from the same month last year.

“Consumer demand was noticeably stronger last month, with unit sales posting their highest level for the month of May since 2007,” said...

The Bank of Canada today unveiled an enhanced framework to gauge the evolving risks to financial stability in its semi-annual Financial System Review (FSR), finding that the Canadian financial system is robust but still faces significant vulnerabilities.

“After weighing the risks to financial stability through our improved framework, our level of comfort as policy makers remains roughly what it was six months ago,” said Governor Stephen S. Poloz. “Our analysis shows that household imbalances remain the most important vulnerability and could amplify the impact of external shocks....

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.

Total CPI inflation has moved up to around the 2 per cent target, sooner than anticipated in the Bank’s April Monetary Policy Report (MPR), largely due to the temporary effects of higher energy prices and exchange rate pass-through. Core inflation remains significantly below 2 per cent although it has drifted up slightly, partly owing to past exchange rate movements.

Global economic growth in the first...

Housing starts in Canada were trending at 184,438 units in May compared to 183,872 in April, 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.

“In May, the trend in housing starts was virtually unchanged for the third consecutive month. This is in line with CMHC’s analysis indicating that the new home construction market in Canada is headed for a soft landing in 2014,” said Bruno Duhamel, Manager, Housing and Economic...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced today two additional changes as it has completed the review of its homeowner and multi-unit mortgage loan insurance business. These are:

• CMHC mortgage loan insurance for the financing of multi-unit condominium construction will be discontinued effective immediately. CMHC’s mortgage loan insurance for the homebuyers wishing to purchase a condominium is unaffected by this change; and
• CMHC will align its low-ratio transactional mortgage loan insurance product with its high-ratio product by establishing maximum house prices, amortization...

An increase in home buyer demand put Greater Vancouver in the upper reaches of a balanced real estate market in May.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 3,286 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in May 2014. This represents a 14 per cent increase compared to the 2,882 sales recorded in May 2013, and a 7.7 per cent increase compared to the 3,050 sales in April 2014.

Last month’s sales were 6.5 per cent below the 10-year sales average for May of 3,514.

The sales-to-active-listings...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released today its results for the first quarter of 2014. Net income for the quarter was $406 million, up 7% year-over year. Insurance-in-force at quarter-end was $555 billion, a reduction of $2 billion from the 4^th quarter of 2013. The increase in net income is mainly attributable to higher earnings from investments and lower insurance claims expenses, both a result of improved economic conditions.

Total insured volumes ($) for the three months ended 31 March 2014 increased by 14 per cent compared to the same period...

According to CMHC’s second quarter 2014 Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition¹, economic and demographic fundamentals continue to be supportive of new building activity. However, builders are expected to continue to adjust activity, particularly with respect to multi-units, in order to manage inventory levels.

“Builders are expected to continue to manage their starts activity in order to ensure that demand from buyers seeking new condominium units is first channeled toward unsold completed units or unsold units that are currently under construction,” said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy...

According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales activity was up on a month-over-month basis in April 2014.

Highlights:

• National home sales rose 2.7% from March to April.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 0.3% below April 2013 levels.
• The number of newly listed homes climbed 2.9% from March to April.
• The Canadian housing market remains in balanced territory.
• The national average sale price rose 7.6% on a year-over-year basis in April.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 5.0% year-over-year in April.

The number of home sales...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2014 Second Quarter Housing Forecast today.

BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to increase 5.2 per cent to 76,700 units this year, before increasing a further 6.7 per cent to 81,800 units in 2015. The five-year average is 75,400 unit sales, while the ten-year average is 84,800 unit sales. A record 106,300 MLS® residential sales were recorded in 2005.

“BC Home sales are expected to trend higher this year and in 2015, as stronger economic conditions...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,730 residential sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April, up 12 per cent from April 2013. Total sales dollar volume was $4.3 billion, an increase of 19 per cent compared to a year ago. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose to $561,613, up 6.3 per cent from the same month last year.

“BC home sales trended higher in April as the typically robust spring market unfolds,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Rising...