Sharon Mason's blog

The project is expected to cost $500 million less than anticipated

British Columbia's transportation minister says the business plan and funding for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain project have been officially approved.

Rob Fleming says the project is expected to be completed by 2028, two years earlier than originally planned, and will cost $500 million less than was anticipated by building the line to Langley "all at once.''

The pandemic real estate surge is over as interest rates rise to tame inflation.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) says higher interest rates are dampening demand for residential properties, resulting in fewer sales and some regions in the province flipping from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market

The plan also includes doubling bus service and adding 450 kilometres of new traffic-separated cycling paths.

A new gondola to Simon Fraser University, doubling the bus service, and hundreds of kilometres of new cycling paths are some of the transit plans approved by regional authorities on Thursday.
Metro Vancouver’s 10-year transportation plan was approved by the Mayors’ Council and TransLink’s board of directors and outlines a list of priorities.

The federal government has launched its promised Greener Homes Loan, which provides funding to have energy assessments done and up to $40,000 in interest-free loans.

The federal budget earmarked  $4.4 billion for energy retrofits of existing homes intended to reduce energy use and costs, including $458.5 million for the Canada Greener Homes Loan program

The first phase of the program starts now. Homeowners can apply to have home energy assessments done. 

Analysis: A 'fear of missing out' has given way to 'a fear of getting screwed,' says one mortgage broker.

It’s hard to keep up with all the things that have flipped since Canada’s COVID-crazed housing run up.

The pandemic-induced exodus to spacious homes in the suburbs has collapsed. Mortgage rates are jacking up dramatically to counter the excessive stimulus governments pumped into the economy. A recession is possible.

Rising mortgage rates are dampening home sales in British Columbia, a just-published real estate report suggests.

The trend of declining sales, noted in several of these monthly reports, continued into May in the province.

According to the B.C. Real Estate Association, there was a 35 per cent drop in sales last month compared to May 2021. 

An 11,900-square-foot waterfront house in the Uplands has sold for $13.195 million, setting a new record for a sale through the Multiple Listing Service in the region.

The 3155 Beach Dr. house, built in 2016, has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms and is set on 1.67 acres. Features include a glass wine cellar, two butler’s pantries, double islands in the kitchen and parking for six vehicles.

A Canadian buyer purchased the property but the name was not immediately available.

VANCOUVER -  

The regulator for British Columbia's real estate sector has recommended that the province adopt a so-called “cooling-off” period of three business days to protect people buying a home, through legislation tabled this spring.

A report by the B.C. Financial Services Authority suggests buyers should not be allowed to waive the period in which they may back out of a purchase agreement, with some exceptions such as court-ordered sales or auctions.

"It looks like the party is indeed over." States the Georgis Straight newspaper.

The Canadian Real Estate Association reports that home sales in April 2022 dropped by 12.6 percent compared to March.

More importantly, CREA noted that the “decline placed monthly activity at the lowest level since the summer of 2020”.

Prices are also trending down.

The home price index for all types of homes fell 0.6 percent month-over-month in April.

Buyers ponder abandoning purchase commitments in the face of higher interest rates

Vancouver’s real estate sector is in a downturn that could steepen regardless of whether the province falls into recession.

How painful the hit to the housing market will be for homeowners is an open question. 

High immigration, and migration from the rest of Canada, may stimulate sufficient demand for housing to prop up the provincial economy and soften any recessionary blow.