Sharp drop in B.C. home sales should be followed by steady recovery: BCREA

Ban on open houses foreshadows short- to mid-term trouble for property sales, as COVID-19 infects all aspects of the market

As COVID-19 makes its way around the globe, it is also bulldozing its way through the economy.  While airlines and event venues were the first to be infected, many are anxious about how the virus will affect other parts of the economy, including the real estate market – which made up 17.4 per cent of B.C.’s GDP in 2018.

Earlier this month, B.C. real estate brokers cancelled all open houses. When houses aren’t shown they become more difficult to sell, and when houses aren’t selling the broader market suffers. While the outlook doesn’t look good, it is

For the first time in modern history, living with parents has overtaken other living arrangements for 18-34-year-olds, according to a Pew Research Center report released Tuesday.

In 2014, 32.1 percent of young adults lived in their parents’ homes, edging out all other living arrangements, including marriage or cohabitation, living alone, or living as single parents or with roommates.

The change is fueled by a steep decline in the portion of young Americans settling down romantically over the past 50 years.

Since 1880, when the Census Bureau started keeping track, the most common arrangement for young people was to live with a spouse or significant other. That peaked in 1960, when 62 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds did so. Now, that number has

Fixed or floating?

For those taking on a mortgage or renewing one, it’s a question that can be complicated.

On one hand, interest rates are at historic lows. The Bank of Canada’s benchmark overnight lending rate is at 0.5 per cent. To some borrowers, this might suggest it’s a good time to lock in at a low rate for a long time.

On the other hand, to the surprise of almost no one, the bank suggested that it anticipates no changes. “The near-term outlook remains broadly the same as it did in January,” it said in its most recent rate-setting statement, on March 9. That suggests a floating rate might make sense. The issue becomes more complicated, though, because borrowers likely won’t find much advantage.Compared with times when interest rates were