Real estate news and issues Province and national factors

Stuck between a rock and your mom’s basement

Multiple generations living under one roof isn't a new concept, but it is on the rise in North America, especially with millennials. This housing shift comes as a result of many factors, including work challenges and the rising cost of rent in most parts of the country. In fact, millennials are starting their adult lives after the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. This change has been the subject of much speculation and comparison to earlier generations, so personal finance expert Rubina Ahmed-Haq stopped by to help shine some light on why Generation Y is staying put for now.

Gen Y – commonly referred to as millennials – are people born approximately between the 1980s and the mid-1990s. Increasingly

Latest government numbers show B.C. HOME Partnership program was missing targets

For the current provincial government, it was never HOME sweet HOME.

The province announced today that it will cancel HOME — formally the B.C. Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership program — a government loan program that aimed to help first-time home buyers get into the B.C. housing market. HOME provides loans of up to $37,500 or five per cent of the home's purchase price (up to a maximum of $750,000) to first-time home buyers for a down payment.  .

In announcing the cancellation, the government said the program had failed to meet expectations. When it was announced in late 2016, it was expected that 42,000 British Columbians would use the program over three

A new B.C. “dual agency” rule banning real estate agents from working with both the buyer and seller of a property are so complex and onerous it will result in frustrated consumers and a blizzard of useless paperwork when it comes into force March 15, according to real estate agents.

The Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate announced B.C.’s new real estate consumer protection rules last November, but real estate agents say there has not been enough time to understand the shifting regulations or how they will be interpreted.

“We will not even have the forms until March,” said Damian Stathonikos, director of communications and public affairs at the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA). About five per cent of residential real estate

Are you looking to buy your first home? Are you short on the down payment needed to qualify for a mortgage? That money you’ve been locking away into your RRSP could make the difference. The Canadian government offers borrowers The Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP), which lets you borrow funds from an RRSP to make a down payment for your first home purchase.

How does it work?

• The home has to be your principal residence.
• You can borrow as much as $25,000 from your RRSP to go toward a home purchase.
• You have to live in Canada.
• If you buy with another first time buyer you can both add to make $50,000
• You can’t take contributions to an RRSP out unless those contributions have been in your account for a minimum of 90 days.
• You pay no interest

As Vancouver becomes Canada’s first major city to regulate short-term home rentals, many prospective hosts have questions about how it could work for them.

Thousands of hosts in Vancouver have been renting out rooms and entire homes, operating in a legal grey area through online platforms, the largest of which is Airbnb. But starting in April, Vancouver homeowners will have to become a part of the city’s new regulatory regime for short-term home rentals, approved by council last week.

Becoming part of the city’s licensing system will cost a $49 annual licence and a $54 one-time activation fee. But some prospective hosts had questions about whether there could be other costs or implications to consider.

The typical Vancouver Airbnb host earns

Guidelines requiring financial test for uninsured buyers go into effect Jan 1, 2018

New guidelines that will soon place restrictions on uninsured borrowers looking to secure a mortgage have — as one Ottawa realtor puts it — kicked the pursuit of a home into "overdrive."

Earlier this month, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) released guidelines for the mortgage industry that will take effect on Jan. 1, 2018.One of the major new rules is a requirement to subject uninsured borrowers to a "stress test." At the moment, anyone who puts down more than 20 per cent of the value of a home doesn't have to pay for mortgage insurance, and is considered an uninsured borrower.Only insured borrowers — those who put down less than

Buying to rent: tips from a seasoned real estate investor

Buying to rent is a way to ride out the ups and downs of the real estate market and the economy, said Ann Kaplan, president and CEO of national consumer finance company iFinance Canada. (Kaplan also appeared on The Real Housewives of Toronto, a show run by Slice, one of the brands owned by Corus Entertainment, which also owns Global Television and Global News.) Kaplan, who gradually built a portfolio of  seven residential and commercial properties in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto, has some advice for those buying investment properties as a means to enter the market:

Decide what price you want to pay and be prepared to walk away if you don’t get it. When you’re buying investment property,

On May 9, British Columbians cast their votes for the next provincial government.

It took a couple of weeks to get the final results, and now the elected parties—the Liberals, the NDP and the Greens—must work together to govern this diverse province.

A topic that all three elected parties agree on is the importance of housing affordability. Housing was a key election issue throughout the campaign period, and all three parties made numerous policy promises about it in their election platforms.

The parties took differing positions on some aspects of housing affordability. The Liberals highlighted financial incentives for home buyers and homeowners that they introduced in the last legislative session, proposing a gradual approach to expand these

Vancouver, BC – June 13, 2017. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 12,402 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in May, down 7.9 per cent from the same period last year. Total sales dollar volume was $9.33 billion, down 4.0 per cent from May 2017. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $752,536, a 4.2 per cent increase from the same period last year.

"Market conditions have tightened considerably this spring as an upturn in consumer demand has not been accompanied by a rise in homes listed for sale," said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. "The supply of homes for sale in the province has fallen 50 per cent over the past five years."

"The entire

In our changing mortgage market where traditional lenders shy away from risk, some buyers may have to consider the alternative

For those not familiar with mortgage lenders, alternative lending agencies – including B-lenders – have previously been thought of as the car salesmen of the lending world. They were the last resort; the place you went only when there was nowhere else to go. Today, however, they might also be the only lender willing to do business with you.

Recent changes to Canada’s mortgage regulations, coupled with the fury of Vancouver’s real estate market, has made B-lenders highly sought after, and, quite frankly, for some the only option. But are B-lenders the last hope for many BC home buyers?

The reality of today’s market is that