Segev Homenick
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Many couples choose not to marry and instead become a common law couple.  They may believe that by not getting married, their property, finances, and belongings will be kept separate and apart in case the relationship breaks down.  What many British Columbians do not realize is that your property rights in a common law relationship are the same as a legally married couple.  Therefore, if the relationship breaks down, the common law couple will be treated as if they were married.  So what does this mean anyway?  A couple is considered to be in a legal common law relationship after living together for two years.  At that point, each partner has a valid legal interest in one another’s property, regardless of how much each partner has been contributing to the property.  It does not matter whose name the property is registered in.

In most cases, real estate is a couples’ greatest asset.  Therefore, when buying a home, it is important to protect yourself and your property from the get go.  One effective way of doing this is to enter into a cohabitation agreement with your partner.  There are four situations in particular where a cohabitation would be a good idea:

1)      You have been living in your home, and your partner is planning to move in; 

2)      You and your partner are planning to purchase a home together and would like to ensure that if the relationship breaks down, you have a plan of action for the future;

3)      You and your partner are already living together and have decided that you would like to enter into an agreement;

4)      You and your partner are legally married and wish to opt out of the Family Law Act and create an agreement of your own.

A cohabitation agreement is a written agreement between the parties where couples, common law or married, can outline their own intentions and decisions as to how they would like things to unfold in case they break up.  For example, couples can create terms outlining how they will share in the equity of the home, whether or not the home will be sold, who, if anyone, will remain living in the home etc.  Dealing with these kinds of details before hand can significantly reduce the headache and hassle which usually accompanies separation.  In addition, cohabitation agreements can set out terms during the relationship.  For example, couples can agree on items such as who will pay for what, responsibilities to the family home, responsibilities to children and even pets, etc.  Couples wanting some great degree of certainty and structure in their relationship may often use the cohabitation agreement as a tool for setting out such terms.

If you or your partner are planning to or have already started living together, you should consider signing a cohabitation agreement.  For more details, please feel free to contact Nida Skrijelj of Segev Homenick LLP at [email protected] or at 604-629-5400.  For more information about Segev Homenick LLP, please visit us at www.Segev.ca .

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The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,648 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in October, up 14.6 per cent from October 2013. Total sales dollar volume was $4.4 billion, an increase of 22 per cent compared to a year ago. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose to $575,504, up 7.1 per cent from the same month last year. – See more at: http://www.bcrea.bc.ca/news-and-publications/news-room/news-releases/2014-10-statistical-release#sthash.OuPYH9Dz.dpuf

“Consumer demand for housing continues at an elevated level,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “There were more homes purchased during the first ten months of the year than during all of 2013”. To the end of October, 73,001 homes have traded hands in the province compared to 72,936 for all of last year.

“Strong year-over-year increases in housing demand were experienced in Chilliwack (up 31 per cent), Victoria (up 21.9 per cent) and the Kootenay (up 19.4 per cent) market areas. Vancouver, Vancouver Island, the Fraser Valley and Okanagan Mainline also posted a marked increase in sales activity last month.”

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was up 23 per cent to $41.4 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales were up 15.8 per cent to 73,001 units, while the average MLS® residential price was up 6.2 per cent at $566,687.

Copyright ©2014 BCREA

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General shortage of liquid assets means any future recession or wave of job losses could result in flood of homes on the market and drive down prices, CMHC chief economist warns Housing Outlook Conference

Joannah Connolly
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Canadians need not fear the currently high debt-to-income ratios as their average net worth is also high – but the fact that most people’s assets are tied up in real estate creates a “vulnerability” to external and global economic forces, the CMHC’s chief economist warned November 4.

Speaking to a packed audience at the CMHC’s fall Housing Outlook Conference in Vancouver, Bob Dugan said that, in the event of a future recession and wave of job losses, Canadians lacking liquid assets such as cash and stocks to draw on would be likely to be forced to sell their homes, resulting in a flood of homes on the market that could cause a price crash.

Such a crash would damage the total net worth of even those Canadians who did not need to sell their homes in a recession, he added.

Global economic risks he identified were:

• a possible slowdown in the Chinese market;
• the potential for monetary deflation in the Eurozone;
• renewed geopolitical tension in the Middle East;
• weaker-than-forecast economic growth in the US; and
• rising interest and mortgage rates in Canada.

Dugan said he believed that the impact of such events in Canada could be “amplified” because of the vulnerability of Canadian household wealth.

However, his forecast for the Canadian housing market was largely positive, as he predicted interest rates to remain level until late 2015, average incomes to rise modestly and net migration to remain strong.

Dugan added that although the debt-to-income ratio is growing in Canada, the rate of growth is slowing in all areas other than personal loans, which only accounts for a small proportion of household debt.

© 2014 Real Estate Weekly

Jamie Henry
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A new quarterly report from Desjardins says that Vancouver is Canada’s least affordable market currently, due to house prices relative to income. Overall the ability of Canadians to afford property has dipped slightly the poll reveals, but there are a number of different stories. In Quebec for example, prices have stagnated but income has grown, making it more affordable than previously. Ontario has some affordable areas but Toronto isn’t one of them and of course in Alberta there are some areas that are far more affordable than Calgary.

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Brent Jang
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Vancouver’s hot real estate market won’t be cooling off any time soon, says Canada’s national housing agency.

Housing prices in the Vancouver region are headed for a record high this year, and signs point to a continuing upward trend in Canada’s most expensive property market, fuelled by steady population growth and economic stability.

The price for detached houses, condos and townhouses sold in Greater Vancouver is on track to average $811,000 this year, up 5.6 per cent from $767,765 in 2013, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

CMHC predicts that average prices for resale properties will rise 1.2 per cent to $821,000 in 2015 and climb another 1.7 per cent to $835,000 in 2016.

Sales on the Multiple Listing Service will jump 13.2 per cent to 32,800 this year, before slipping to 32,250 units in 2015 and 31,600 in 2016, the agency said in its market outlook for Greater Vancouver. The forecasts are above the 15-year average of nearly 31,300 sales annually.

“Looking ahead, existing home sales are projected to ride the 2014 momentum into much of 2015 before anticipated higher interest rates take some steam away towards the latter part of 2015,” CMHC said, adding that population growth in Greater Vancouver is largely driven by migration from overseas.

Net migration is forecast to grow 11 per cent to 26,500 arrivals in the Vancouver area this year, followed by a 7.5-per-cent gain to another 28,500 people in 2015.

“A strengthening economy should help full-time employment gain more traction for all age groups,” CMHC said. “Employment and population changes are two of the key drivers behind housing demand.”

The average price for a detached house in the Vancouver region is forecast by CMHC to climb 4.8 per cent to $1.51-million next year. A May story in the New Yorker magazine on Vancouver’s pricey houses asserted that the B.C. city has become part of a global market in real estate, even though it “doesn’t have the cultural cachet of Paris or Milan.”

An October report titled Emerging Trends in Real Estate echoed the magazine’s assessment. The study by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute noted that while Vancouver has a lower global profile than those two major European cities, real estate on Canada’s West Coast is seen as a hedge against political risk during turbulent times in other parts of the world. Vancouver “does offer comfort and stability – and a place for the world’s super-rich to park sizable funds in local real estate as a hedge against risk,” said the report.

As for new home construction, housing starts in the Vancouver region are on pace to rise 1.1 per cent to 18,900 units this year, slip to 18,700 next year and then increase to 19,250 in 2016, according to the CMHC forecast. The overall trend is stable, said Robyn Adamache, the agency’s senior market analyst for Vancouver.

CMHC’s outlook covers Vancouver suburbs such as Richmond and Burnaby. The agency’s other research includes tracking Fraser Valley communities, from sprawling Surrey to Abbotsford.

Average prices for existing Fraser Valley properties are expected to increase 4 per cent this year to $510,000, then rise 0.5 per cent to $512,500 next year and gain another 2.2 per cent to $524,000 in 2016.

CMHC is calling for 14,500 resale houses changing hands this year in the Fraser Valley, up 12.4 per cent from 2013. That will be followed by 13,500 sales in 2015 and 13,750 in 2016, the agency said.

The forecasts would be thrown off if interest rates were to soar, resulting in a housing slump nationally, but industry experts aren’t expecting sharp rate increases.

© Copyright 2014 The Globe and Mail Inc.