Data from online listings show rent rates mirrored the steep increase seen in housing prices in 2016

Jen St. Denis
Metro

Vancouver rents are on track to rise a whopping 20 per cent this year, according to an economist at the University of British Columbia who has been tracking online rental listings.

“On an annualized basis, I’m finding rents are going up since March… (and) if it kept this pace it would be 20 per cent for the year,” said Tom Davidoff, who started collecting rental listings data from Craigslist this March. Between April and August, rents for both one and two bedrooms increased 15 per cent, according to the data Davidoff collected.

That increase is far above the 4.3 per cent increase reported by Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation between 2014 and 2015, and it mirrors the steep 32 per cent increase seen in housing prices between July 2016 and July 2015. (CMHC gathers its data through telephone surveys.)

It’s also the smaller, less expensive suites that have been increasing in price the most, Davidoff said.

The data backs up stories reported by Metro and other media: younger renters and lower income people are having an incredibly difficult time finding a place to live in the city.

Chris Bell, a 33-year old cook, told Metro his story of being evicted by his landlord, who planned to renovate every suite in the Mount Pleasant apartment building. Bell said he was offered the chance to move into a renovated unit, but his rent for a two bedroom would have risen from $1,525 to $2,000 — a 31 per cent increase.

Rental advocates say the increasing use of fixed-term rental agreements — which allow landlords to renegotiate an entirely new lease when the term is up — have resulted in increases between 10 and 30 per cent. That’s far above B.C.’s current rent increase cap of 2.9 per cent a year for a month-to-month rental agreement.

Even when they can pay the higher rates, would-be renters report losing out to others in the intense competition for sparse apartments.

“When you hear the sad stories about (young) people who are having a really hard time finding a rental and getting priced out, (the data is) consistent with those stories,” Davidoff said.

While CMHC publishes rental rate and vacancy statistics every October, month-by-month information is not available. CMHC’s October 2015 survey showed the average for a two-bedroom in Vancouver was $1,643, a 4.9 per cent increase from the October 2014 average of $1,571.

CMHC also tracks rental rates for condos being rented, which tend to be more expensive than purpose-built apartment buildings: in October 2015 the average for a two bedroom was $2,000.

CMHC analysts are expecting to see an increase in rental rates across Metro Vancouver when this year’s survey is completed, said market analyst Richard Sam. A very low 0.6 per cent vacancy rate, strong job growth and more people moving to Metro Vancouver are all putting pressure on rents.

© Copyright Free Daily News Group Inc. 2001-2016

Delinquency rates by Millenials in on the rise

Justin da Rosa
REP

Delinquency rates for one of Canada’s largest home buying cohorts is on the rise.

Delinquency rates among Millenials is on the rise, Equifax reported Thursday.   

“While debt among seniors has increased, they are also the only age group that saw its delinquency rate decrease over the past 12 months. They currently share the lowest delinquency rate, 0.9 per cent, with the 55-64 age group,” said Regina Malina, Senior Director of Decision Insights at Equifax Canada. “For the most part, older Canadians have always demonstrated an ability to handle their spending and what they owe. Young people, and really everyone, should be reminded to practice good budget and money management habits.”

Among 18-25 year-olds, delinquency rates increased 11.7% year-over-year in Q2 2016 for a total of 1.8%, according to the credit rating firm. The average debt among those individuals also increased by 2.1% and now sits at $8,203.

Those in the 26-35 year-old bracket now have a delinquency rate of 1.6% — up 9.7%. The average debt also increased by 2.8% to $16,841.

“Total consumer total debt (excluding mortgages) also remains on the rise. As of Q2 2016, Canadian consumers owe $1.666 Trillion, compared to $1.618 Trillion in Q1 2016 and $1.568 Trillion a year earlier, an increase of 3 per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively,” Equifax said in a release.

Equifax also reported various regions are experiencing differing credit trends.

“Regional differences in debt and delinquencies are playing out as anyone would expect given the price of oil,”

added Malina. “Both lenders and borrowers are having to adjust to current conditions in their local economies.”

Copyright © 2016 Key Media Pty Ltd

Cheryl Chan
The Province

19877-46A Ave.

FOR SALE

This tidy, green and brick rancher in Langley City has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, over 1,395 square feet, with a spacious backyard that offers a distant glimpse of the North Shore mountains. It’s on a quiet street near a soccer field, parks and walking trails. The house has been on the market for 10 days. Its listing ad describes it as a ”great investment opportunity” and ”perfect for a young family or couple.”

_____________________________________________________________________

4

NUMBER OF TIMES THE HOUSE HAS BEEN ON THE MARKET OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS

Since 2010, the one-storey house was owned by a couple, one of whom worked as a paramedic and the other a nurse, according to land-title records. Starting in February, the house changed hands three times in quick succession. It was first bought by a sidings company in Langley, which then sold it in April to a construction firm in Surrey. In June, the company sold the house to a single buyer, who, according to listing agent Michael Shi of New Coast Realty, had planned to live in the house with his family. The plans, however, fell through and his client now needs to sell.

_____________________________________________________________________

33 per cent

INCREASE IN THE PROPERTY’S VALUE

The house was purchased in February for $517,000, in April for $632,500 and in June for $686,000. The dramatic increase mirrored the upward spiral of property prices in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley in recent years. In February, the benchmark price for a detached home in Langley was $722,800; five months later, the benchmark price was $873,300 — a 21-per-cent spike.

_____________________________________________________________________

0

OCCUPANTS

Neighbours say the house has sat empty for about a half-year. There has been little activity on site: No visible renovations, a few reported sightings of people going in and out of the house, then another dreaded “for-sale” sign heralded yet another round of open houses. The house flipping has fuelled chatter among neighbours. Others say they just want the house occupied. Said one man on Facebook: “Can someone buy my neighbour’s house that actually wants to live in it and cut the grass?”

__________________________________________________________________

$698,000

CURRENT LISTING PRICE

The B.C. government’s new 15-percent foreign homebuyers tax has sent a chill through the previously red-hot real estate market. On the ground, Shi says the new tax has meant “the market is slow, slow, slow.” The house is currently listed for $12,000 more than its last purchase price in June — a relatively modest 1.7-per-cent hike if it sells at the asking price. “(The client is) not making money on this one,” said Shi.

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.

How can a foreigner trust Canada if they feel that Canada wants to punish them

Ephraim Vecina
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

Instead of moderating the overheated Vancouver market, the B.C. government’s implementation of a 15 per cent property transfer tax on foreign home buyers earlier this month has led to a chorus of condemnation from various observers and segments—most notably Chinese agents and buyers, who many quarters have alleged as the main drivers of housing price growth.
 
Licensed real estate agent Jack Li has helped multiple Chinese investors purchase around 40 condos over the past two years, but he has recently voiced dissatisfaction over the hastily applied tax.
 
“It’s a tragedy,” Li told The Globe and Mail.
 
“It’s going to have an impact on me, my family and my business, even though I made a lot of contributions to the B.C. economy. I put money there. I have brought people to B.C. And I told people Canada is a good place.”
 
Li, who has worked and lived in Canada for a year and a half prior to working as an agent in B.C., said that a significant proportion of buyers who might have been interested in getting a home in Vancouver would be scared off instead.
 
“If the government had said 5 per cent or even 8 per cent, that’s reasonable. But 15 per cent, that’s a lot. That’s a very heavy tax,” Li said.
 
“This is not about the real estate market,” overseas sales agent Xie Xingyu agreed. “From my point of view, it’s political. It’s for votes. It’s not for home prices.”
 
Liu Fei, the Chinese consul-general in Vancouver, echoed the thoughts of various analysts who have encouraged the Canadian government to focus on supply-side solutions instead of choking off demand.
 
“If government has no plan, any policy can be the start of a disaster,” she told Chinese media last week.
 
Even Canadian agents outside Vancouver have mirrored these fears, saying that high-demand properties—especially those in the luxury segment—would become increasingly out of reach of domestic buyers as a result.
 
“Where are those foreign investors going to go? They’re not going to want to pay that 15 per cent, so they’re going to now dump it into the Toronto real estate market, which is already hot,” Toronto-based real estate agent Derek Ladouceur said.

Copyright © 2016 Key Media Pty Ltd

In transition state homes are in status quo mode

REP

Cardboard moving boxes are piled about the living room of an otherwise half-packed house nestled on a tree-lined residential street in a quiet Vancouver-area suburb _ a scene frozen in time that the home’s owners blame on British Columbia’s controversial new tax on foreign buyers.

The in-transition state of the home in Coquitlam has been the status quo ever since its owners learned the house’s sale, which they understood was a done deal, was thrown into question by the tax.

The couple is at risk of losing an $80,000 deposit they made to purchase a smaller duplex further east in the city, and reneging on the real estate contract would also open them up to being sued.

“We feel like we’ve been let down,” Heather Nyberg told reporters Tuesday in the family’s small backyard as the couple’s two young children, aged one and three, played together in the grass.

“I just feel really disappointed that our family and many, many others like ours are being affected by a poorly planned tax that’s unfair because it’s retroactive.”

The B.C. government has said the 15-per-cent tax is aimed at addressing skyrocketing real estate prices in Metro Vancouver, the province’s most densely populated region. The levy came into effect Aug. 2, days after it was announced, sparking a frenzy of last-minute activity as buyers and sellers rushed to close deals.

The couple sold their home earlier this year, but the deal isn’t slated to close until Sept. 15.

Nyberg said the people who agreed to buy their property had originally provided a local address, but that shortly after the tax was announced she and her husband discovered they were based in China.

She said the buyers’ real estate agent won’t reveal whether the clients are foreign but has floated the idea of the couple helping to pay part of the 15-per-cent tax. The confusion has created additional uncertainty around the deal, Nyberg said.

Housing Minister Rich Coleman said in an email that the initial adjustment period may be difficult, but the tax will eventually reduce demand from foreign investors until supply catches up to local needs.

“This transition period is expected to be short-lived, and over the long term the additional property-transfer tax will help to ensure British Columbians can continue to raise their families in Metro Vancouver communities,” he said.

Nyberg’s husband Dan Zimmermann said the new law has put the couple under a lot of strain and uncertainty, which defeats the purpose of selling it in the first place.

“All we wanted to do was reduce the stress and reduce the size of our mortgage, and all of that’s been thrown up in the air now,” he said, adding that the change was also designed to allow them to spend more time with their children.

“We made the best decision with all the information we had at the time and that’s all we can do.”

Nyberg said if the sale of the home they bought three years ago falls through, they would likely have to back out of buying the new property because they can’t afford two mortgages.

“I’ve stopped packing. I don’t want to move into a duplex then move back three days later. Until we get more information we can’t really make a plan,” Nyberg said. “We are just really stressed out.

“We’d been doing these weekly drive-bys of our new place so my son can get used to it. We’re really excited to join a new community where there are more families. We had been setting up our lives to move and now we don’t know what’s going on.”

Jodie Wickens, an Opposition NDP politician who represents the area in the legislature, said she receives dozens of calls and emails every day from people affected by the tax.

“I think that families that entered into a contract with an understanding shouldn’t be unfairly penalized,” she said.

“To be impacted by this bill in such a negative way is unfair and unnecessary. It’s not putting British Columbians first at all. It’s a reactionary way to deal with bad headlines.”

Copyright © 2016 Key Media Pty Ltd

Vancouver?s housing ?crisis? births plan to develop city-owned lots

KELLY SINOSKI
The Vancouver Sun

The City of Vancouver plans to build 400 new affordable homes — from SROS to three-bedroom family units — in four city-owned lots, in a bid to help stem the housing “crisis” gripping the city.

Mayor Gregor Robertson said the sites, worth $50 million, are the first four of 20 offered to senior levels of government to construct affordable homes.

“Finding quality, affordable rental homes in Vancouver — especially for people on low and average incomes — remains a significant challenge as the vacancy rate hovers near zero,” Robertson said. “At city hall, we’ll keep doing everything we can to tackle our housing affordability crisis head on, and pursue all options and tools available to build more rental housing.”

Robertson said the city is moving ahead with the projects after securing development partners, but requires funding contributions from the provincial and federal governments to keep prices affordable.

The final number of homes on each site is subject to approval through the development and rezoning process.

The sites include:

177 West Pender St. Earmarked for 100 homes for people on low to moderate incomes. Rents would range from $375 to $850 per month.

3510 Fraser St. About 60 homes for seniors with the potential for a seniors centre on the ground floor. Rents slated at between $750 and $1,400 per month.

2221 Main St. About 130 rental homes for working families and singles. Rents set at $850 to $2,000 per month.

55-79 and 87-115 Southwest

Marine Dr. About 130 rentals for working families and singles. Rents from $1,000 to $2,000 per month.

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.

Vancouver Leads Third Straight Fall in Canada Home Sales

Greg Quinn
other

Canadian existing home sales declined for the third straight month in July, led by a Vancouver market that is showing signs of slowing down amid worries about affordability.

The number of transactions nationwide declined 1.3 percent from the previous month to 44,854 in July, with prices down 0.6 percent nationwide, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday from Ottawa. Vancouver sales fell 6.7 percent, with the nearby Fraser Valley region down by 14 percent.

The data suggest Vancouver’s home market, the nation’s most expensive, may have been slowing even before the provincial government set a foreign buyers’ tax for the city, which took effect earlier this month. The realtor group cited lack of affordability for falling sales in a Vancouver market where prices are up 16 percent from year ago.

Today’s report suggests that Vancouver “sales are being reined in by a lack of inventory and a further deterioration in affordability,” Gregory Klump, the group’s chief economist, said in the report. “It will take some time before the effect of the new tax on sales and prices can be observed.”

Nationally, the average price fell 0.6 percent in July. From a year earlier, the average sales price — at C$480,743 ($371,833) in July — was up 9.9 percent.

From a year earlier, transactions fell 2.9 percent.

Toronto, Canada’s most populous city, saw resales rise by

0.5 percent on the month, and Montreal posted a 3.6 percent increase. The average sales price in Canada’s biggest city was up 0.1 percent in July and 16.5 percent from a year ago.

The average price of a home sold in Vancouver was up 0.2 percent in July, with gains of 16.3 percent from a year ago.

©2016 Bloomberg L.P

Westhills community in Langford expands its offerings

MICHAEL BERNARD
The Vancouver Sun

Project: Lakepoint One 

Project location: Langford

Project size: A total of 46 condominiums in a master-planned community on Langford Lake about 20 minutes northwest of Victoria. Studios from 558 square feet; one-bedrooms from 675 to 921 square feet and two-bedrooms from 1,130 to 1,182 square feet

Price: From $199,900 to $469,900

Developer: Westhills Land Corp.

Architect: de Hoog & Kierulf Architects

Interior designer: In house

Sales centre: 115 — 957 Langford Parkway

Hours: noon — 4 p.m., weekdays

Telephone: (250) 474-5899

Website: livinglakepoint.com

Occupancy: Late 2017

When Jim Grant and his wife decided to retire, the last thing they wanted was to end up in a retirement community where everyone was in the same age group. At the same time, they were looking to become a bigger part of their grandchildren’s lives.

When they discovered that Westhills Land Corp. was developing a “multi-generational community” on about 500 acres in Langford, about 30 minutes drive northwest of Victoria, they thought they had hit the jackpot. So they decided to create their very own family enclave.

“There are three generations of our family in this subdivision,” Grant said. “My daughter and her partner are across the street and she is expecting, and my son and his wife, with our grandchild, is around the corner.”

“We’re just overjoyed with the grandchildren coming along. We don’t have to drive anywhere,” he said, adding he ‘’can have an extra glass of wine” and not get into trouble.

“We’re looking to getting involved looking after the grandchildren,” said Grant, who moved from Toronto 18 months ago after selling his electronics manufacturing business there.

“We have the time to give our kids, who have their own professional careers, a break. It also gives us an opportunity to have more exposure to our grandchildren. I see so many people with grandchildren that for geographical reasons, they can only visit once or twice a year.”

Developing such mixed neighbourhoods, where retired people can live alongside young growing families, was exactly what Westhills had in mind when it began building its master-planned development in 2007, says Westhills’ real estate sales and marketing manager Dale Sproule. Plans call for a build-out of up to 5,000 homes.

The developer has already built a mix of housing types, including some 500 single-family houses and townhomes and condos, which Sproule says sell as quickly as they are built. And now, Westhills is adding 46 apartment homes in a six-storey building overlooking Langford Lake. If the market cooperates, he said, they could be followed by a 15-storey residential tower, which would be the tallest structure in the region outside of Victoria.

That may happen sooner than later, if Canada’s last census is any indicator. It found that this community of 30,000 is the fastest growing in B.C. and fifth fastest in Western Canada.

“We are expecting a mix of buyers from people in their late twenties to young families and lots of people who want to stay out here to downsize and retire,” Sproule said.

The condominium building of concrete, metal and wood-frame construction will feature two floors of commercial office space— including Westhills’ own corporate office — with four floors of apartments overhead, ranging from studios to two-bedroom homes. On top of those will be a roof-top landscaped terrace, with a barbecue kitchen, lounging and seating areas — and a view of Langford Lake.

The apartments are designed with open-concept interior floor plans with oversized low-E double-glazed windows overlooking the lake and nearby mountains. Floors are finished in wide-plank laminate in the living areas.

Kitchens come equipped with solid quartz countertops, soft-close cabinet drawers in either contemporary high-gloss or natural grained two-toned finish, and a full-height ceramic backsplash. The kitchen appliances, rated Energy Star, are stainless steel with an electric ceramic range, counter-depth refrigerator, over-the-range microwave, and dishwasher. Homes also have stacking washers and dryers, and some units have built-in pantries or high-profile storage cabinets.

Bathrooms feature ceramic floors, walk-in frameless showers, undermount sinks in quartz counters, and soaker tubs in some plans.

With Langford Lake just steps away, it’s not surprising that Lakepoint One provides homeowners with facilities to store kayaks and paddleboards, plus a bike rack for each unit in a secure section of the building’s underground parking. Also included are an electric car charging facility and a pet-washing station.

Across the street is a new YMCA-YWCA building built by Westhills and jointly operated by the Y and the city of Langford. Sproule noted that having the Y next door, with a wave pool and fitness facilities, negates the need for Lakepoint to duplicate such amenities.

Other amenities, such as shopping, are also within easy walking distance, including 80 boutique-style stores, restaurants, coffee shops, banks and other services.

Lakepoint One’s sales centre opened this past week for buyers to look over the offerings and to ask questions about the development, Sproule said. Homes will then be available for purchase on a “Sales Day,” tentatively planned for mid-September.

Meanwhile Grant and his family have wasted little time in taking advantage of natural environment next door to their homes, venturing on a 90-minute hike up a 350-metre high mountain located in a 123-hectare wilderness park.

“Last Sunday, we walked to the top of Mount Wells,” Grant said proudly. “And that was not even breaking a sweat for an old guy like me.”

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.