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...

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...