Home sales still weak for June in Metro Vancouver

Steve Randall
Mortgage Broker News

Home sales remain weaker than usual in the Metro Vancouver with June posting its lowest total since 2000.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says that sales in the month lagged the 10-year average by 34.7% with 2,077 total sales. That’s 14.4% below June 2018 and 21.3% below the total sales in May 2019.

“We’re continuing to see an expectation gap between home buyers and sellers in Metro Vancouver. Sellers are often trying to get yesterday’s values for their homes while buyers are taking a cautious, wait-and-see approach,” said Ashley Smith, REBGV president.

As buyers hold back, inventory is rising with 4,751 listed in June, down 10% year-over-year and down 18.8% month-over-month. That has taken total homes for sale on the MLS to 14,968, up 25.3% year-over-year and up 1.9% month-over-month.

“Home buyers haven’t had this much selection to choose from in five years,” Smith said

Prices under pressure

The slow sales environment in the region continues to put downward pressure on prices.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $998,700, the first time in 2 years that this has been below $1 million.

The benchmark price was down 9.6% from June 2018 and down 0.8% from May 2019.

Property type stats

Sales of detached homes in June 2019 reached 746, a 2.6% decrease from the 766 detached sales recorded in June 2018. The benchmark price for detached properties is $1,423,500. This represents a 10.9% decrease from June 2018 and a 0.1% increase compared to May 2019.

Sales of apartment homes reached 941 in June 2019, a 24.1% decrease compared to the 1,240 sales in June 2018. The benchmark price of an apartment property is $654,700. This represents an 8.9% decrease from June 2018 and a 1.4% decrease compared to May 2019.

Attached home sales in June 2019 totalled 390, a 6.9% decrease compared to the 419 sales in June 2018. The benchmark price of an attached unit is $774,700. This represents an 8.6% decrease from June 2018 and a 0.6% decrease compared to May 2019.

Copyright © 2019 Key Media

Developer unveils 15-hectare master mix of single-family homes, townhomes in Tsawwassen

Barbara Gunn
The Province

With Tsawwassen Shores, Aquilini Development has had a long-established residential presence in the South Delta community. And in the months ahead, it will be doubling that presence courtesy of Boardwalk, a 38-acre master-planned community comprising a broad mix of homes.

The 42-acre Tsawwassen Shores includes some 550 single-family residences, townhomes and condos, while Boardwalk — to face the ocean and across to the Gulf Islands — will have a greater number of homes and also include duplexes, reports Christine Steffensen, Aquilini’s sales and marketing manager.

On offer in the first phase Boardwalk are 19 townhomes and 23 single-family homes. Like Tsawwassen Shores, Boardwalk represents a partnership between the developer and Tsawwassen First Nation landowners, and like Tsawwassen Shores, it is attracting the attention of both locals and those outside the area.

“Our buyers, for the townhomes, will definitely see a lot of young families, a lot of people who are coming from Delta, Richmond, Vancouver,” Steffensen says. “And for the single-family homes, we’ve seen a lot of downsizers and young families, as well, because it’s a more affordable option to get into a single-family home.”

Townhomes will be fitted with three bedrooms, two-car garages and balconies. There are three plans on offer, and Steffensen says they replicate those at Tsawwassen Shores.

“They were really popular, so we kept the interiors really similar, but made the exteriors a little more modern. The single-family homes are very different.”

Detached-home buyers will be able to choose from three exterior designs: the traditional Craftsman-style Prairie House, the modern flat-roof West Coast House, and the pitched roof Maritime House, which Steffensen says “is straight out of an architectural design magazine.”

Standard features in both townhomes and detached homes — included in what the developer calls the Classic Series — feature laminate wood flooring on main living levels, window roller shades, ensuites with semi-floating vanities, and kitchens with gas ranges, stainless steel appliances and vertical tile backsplashes.

Should buyers so choose, they may upgrade to the Architect Series, which includes such enhancements as kitchen cabinets with Shaker detailing, hardwood flooring in the main living areas and ensuites with heated floors.

Residents of Boardwalk will be but a 15-minute walk to the Tsawwassen Mills and Tsawwassen Commons malls and their myriad shops, restaurants and big-box stores.

At home, however, residents may prefer to kick back in Boardwalk’s huge Beach House, a central area with indoor and outdoor amenities that include a games room, party rooms, playground, fitness centre, yoga and dance studio, work lab, hot tub and swimming pool.

Steffensen doesn’t have to pause for thought when asked what distinguishes Tsawwassen from other communities in Metro Vancouver.

“There’s a lot of sun,” she says. “I come from North Van and just driving out here, it’s so different,” she says. “It’s always sunny and beautiful

Boardwalk

What: First phase comprises 19 three-bedroom townhomes and 23 three- and four-bedroom single-family homes

Where: 4294 Wolf Way, Tsawwassen (for townhomes); most single-family homes will be located on Cormorant Way, Tsawwassen

Developer: Aquilini/TFSI Development Ltd.

Residence size and prices: townhomes 1,294 — 1,427 square feet; single-family homes 1,882 — 2,286 square feet; townhomes from $599,900 including GST; single-family homes from $899,900 including GST (less $50,000 on select homes with early-buyer incentive)

Presentation centre: 1306 — 4949 Canoe Pass Way, Tsawwassen (beside Starbucks in Tsawwassen Commons)

Hours: noon — 5 p.m., Sat — Thursday

Telephone: 604-306-2226

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc.

Average price for Greater Vancouver homes drops

Joanne Lee-Young
The Province

A benchmark price for homes across Metro Vancouver has fallen below the $1-million mark for the first time in two years.

And the number of sales across the region dropped to the fewest since 2000, outstripping the lows seen in 2008 after the subprime mortgage crisis, and in 2012, after the real estate crash, which ended up being a six-month blip.

“This time, I can’t quite get a sense of whether it’s that we are in a valley or if we are at the precipice at the end of a plateau,” said Vancouver real estate agent Keith Roy, after the release of the latest monthly report by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

“It’s not as obvious.”

He described it as a “tale of multiple markets” with little rhyme or rhythm. He has several offers on “an old Vancouver Special in Marpole” but also a “three-bedroom condo in New Westminster with one of the lowest prices in the Lower Mainland” where interest has been “quieter than anticipated.”

Another thing that could be different about this slump is that a wider market is involved.

“It’s more painful. Everybody is affected. With the last two (downturns), it was just (the market of people who owned and were trying to sell) houses,” said Roy, explaining that between 2008 to 2015, condo sales were flat before sales took off and prices rose in double-digit percentage gains until 2018.

The Multiple Listing Service home price index’s composite benchmark price, which is loosely defined as being that of a typical home, was $998,700 in June, which is a 9.6-per-cent drop from a year ago and a 0.8-per-cent drop from the previous month. The benchmark price hasn’t been below $1 million since May 2017.

“I’m usually good for a grand prediction. I pride myself on giving good advice,” said Roy. “But I’m struggling to tell some people what their property is worth because there are so few buyers. We just don’t know. There are some properties where if we cut the price in half, I’m not sure we would get more buyers at a showing.”

For several year, researcher Andy Yan has mapped the location of homes that were assessed over $1 million, creating, at first, a tidy line that divided west side and east side properties. But by 2018, his $1-million map showed a fanning across the region, with 73 per cent of single-family homes in Metro Vancouver being assessed at over $1 million.

Of the fall in the benchmark price, Yan echoed Roy’s thoughts, describing the market as “very pockmarked” rather than easy to read or predict. He said that as sales and prices fall below $1 million, there won’t necessarily “be a receding tide, but an uneven marsh.”

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc.

REBGV July 2019 Stats Report

REBGV

With home buyer demand below long-term historical averages in June, the supply of homes for sale continued to accumulate in Metro Vancouver.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 2,077 in June 2019, a 14.4 per cent decrease from the 2,425 sales recorded in June 2018 and a 21.3 per cent decrease from the 2,638 homes sold in May 2019.

Last month’s sales were 34.7 per cent below the 10-year June sales average. This is the lowest total for the month since 2000.

“We’re continuing to see an expectation gap between home buyers and sellers in Metro Vancouver,” said Ashley Smith, REBGV president. “Sellers are often trying to get yesterday’s values for their homes while buyers are taking a cautious, wait-and-see approach.”

On the supply side, there were 4,751 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in June 2019. This represents a 10 per cent decrease compared to the 5,279 homes listed in June 2018 and an 18.9 per cent decrease compared to May 2019 when 5,861 homes were listed.

The total number of homes currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 14,968, a 25.3 per cent increase compared to June 2018 (11,947) and a 1.9 per cent increase compared to May 2019 (14,685).

“Home buyers haven’t had this much selection to choose from in five years,” Smith said. “For sellers to be successful in today’s market, it’s important to work with your local REALTOR® to make sure you’re pricing your home for these conditions.”

For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for June 2019 is 13.9 per cent. By property type, the ratio is 11.4 per cent for detached homes, 15.8 per cent for townhomes, and 15.7 per cent for apartments.

Generally, analysts say that downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $998,700. This represents a 9.6 per cent decrease over June 2018 and a 0.8 per cent decrease compared to May 2019.

This is the first time the composite benchmark has been below $1 million since May 2017.

Sales of detached homes in June 2019 reached 746, a 2.6 per cent decrease from the 766 detached sales recorded in June 2018. The benchmark price for detached properties is $1,423,500. This represents a 10.9 per cent decrease from June 2018 and a 0.1 per cent increase compared to May 2019.

Sales of apartment homes reached 941 in June 2019, a 24.1 per cent decrease compared to the 1,240 sales in June 2018. The benchmark price of an apartment property is $654,700. This represents an 8.9 per cent decrease from June 2018 and a 1.4 per cent decrease compared to May 2019.

Attached home sales in June 2019 totalled 390, a 6.9 per cent decrease compared to the 419 sales in June 2018. The benchmark price of an attached unit is $774,700. This represents an 8.6 per cent decrease from June 2018 and a 0.6 per cent decrease compared to May 2019

Seven steps to up your marketing

Mike Blaney
REW

Your day is already packed with buyers, sellers, training, showings, contracts and everything in between, but how much of your day is invested in marketing?

If you could just add these seven steps to your day, over time you will start to make them a habit and in very little time, start seeing the results.

Habit 1: Start tomorrow today

At the end of each day review your phone calls, emails and personal contacts and make a list of tomorrow’s marketing activities. Get a piece of paper and add four headings or more:

• Phone calls to make.
• Emails to respond to.
• Emails to write.
• People to visit.

Is tomorrow the birthday of a client or the anniversary of when they moved into their home?

Is it time for a three-, six-, or nine-month check-n with a buyer?

Is there a new listing that a client might be interested in?

Did something happen in the market today you should update your buyers and sellers on?

Habit 2: Return your phone calls and emails immediately

Your phone is like an ATM. It is what makes you money. When buyers and sellers are looking for a Real Estate Agent, your response time is a benchmark for how the rest of the relationship is going to progress. The faster you can respond, the less chance a prospect will contact a competitor.

If you are in a meeting, change your voice mail and let the caller know when they can expect a return call. They will wait.

Answer emails as soon as they arrive. This impresses the prospect and reduces the backlog of emails at the end of the day. Email response times do not seem as critical as phone responses and the expectations seem lower, but reply as soon as possible.

Habit 3: Check your social account engagement

Social media can be distracting, so get it out of the way early in the day or late in the evening. Review your accounts and determine if there is any action you need to take.

• Check if there are people on Facebook who liked or commented.
• View your wall for posts you can share or look for suitable tweets on Twitter and retweet with new hashtags.
• Were there retweets of your tweets on Twitter or did anyone share your post on Facebook?
• Post new content, like posts and engage with your followers on Instagram. 
• Scan through your social media accounts and see if there is anything of value.

A great way to take control is to use a tool like Hootsuite where you can have all of your accounts in a dashboard and scan them in minutes.

Habit 4: Plan social posts for the day

• Do you have an upcoming open house?
• Do you have a new listing to share?
• Is there a new listing you want to showcase to your followers?
• Do you want to post a market update on a regular basis?

Tweeting and posting can consume more time than is necessary if you are reacting throughout the day. In the morning, when you are sharing content on social media or if you read something in the newspaper or online, schedule posts or tweets for different times of the day so it looks like you are active all the time.

To do this use a social media management tool like Hootsuite or Sprout Social.

Habit 5: Check your website stats

Are you using Google Analytics on your website? If not then you should set up Google Analytics and log in each day to see how your website is doing. You can see visits to listings, the number of visitors and how long they stayed on your website. You can even see if visitors are reading your blog posts.

What else can you see in Google Analytics?

• Visitors and unique visitors (who is coming to your site and how often).
• Bounce rate (how many come to one page and then leave).
• Average time on site (how long do they stay).
• Traffic source (where are they coming from).
• Behaviour (what are the most popular pages).

Use this information to gauge how well your marketing is working and if your listings are getting visits.

Habit 6: Write and upload a blog post

According to some studies, blogging gets 67 per cent more leads on a company website than a site without a blog. That is a good enough incentive to make blogging one of your habits.

I am not referring to 1,000-word posts about the state of the market in in your area. On a daily basis you should take five minutes and write about a real estate-related topic using keywords.

For example, log in to your MLS® and see if there are any new listings. Write a blog post titled “[Community Name] New Listings For Houses For Sale” and a couple of lines of content  below.

Here is the perfect blog post you need to be in the habit of writing.

[Community Name] New Listings For Houses For Sale

There are two new listings for homes for sale in the [community name] area of [your area].

1234 Main Street              4 bedrooms                        2,300 sq ft           $1,123,456          

5677 Walnut Street          3 bedrooms                        3,300 sq ft           $999,999

To view these or any other listings in this area please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Habit 7: Never be “too busy” for marketing activities

As a company specializing in Real Estate Agent marketing, we work with dozens of Real Estate Agents developing marketing plans and strategies from note cards, to letter writing and newsletters to blogging – and the number one reason we hear why they cannot execute their marketing is they are “too busy.”

There is no successful business, service or Real Estate Agent that can be too busy to implement the marketing activities that are vital to their business. Even if you outsource the actual work take the time to measure, monitor and follow up on the outcome of your marketing.

If you are looking for a fresh start in the New Year, incorporate as many of these habits as you can. If you are set in your ways, just add the habits that you feel are sustainable and will fit in with your current systems and work style.

© 2019 REW. A Division of Glacier Media

TREB noted sales were out pacing listings again

Penelope Graham
other

The Greater Toronto Area real estate market fell back into a familiar pattern of supply and demand imbalances in June, with surging sales well outpacing new listings levels despite market-cooling policies put into place over the last two years.

The latest numbers released by the Toronto Real Estate Board reported a total of 8,860 transactions last month, marking a strong 10.4% year-over-year increase. New listings, however, remained flat with 15,816 homes brought to market, a dip of -0.3%.

As a result prices continue to climb, with Greater Toronto MLS listings fetching an average of $832,703, an increase of 3% from last year. The MLS Home Price Index, which measures the value of homes sold, also rose by 3.6%. Much of the price growth was driven by higher-density market segments such as condos, townhomes, and semi-detached houses.

Boom Times in the 905 Markets

A good chunk of the region’s growth occurred outside of the City of Toronto, as sales boomed by 14.3% in the 905 markets with 5,659 transactions. A small -2.2% contraction in new listings also helped boost prices by 2.1%, to an average of $785,879, and steepened overall buying conditions to a sales-to-new-listings ratio (SNLR) of 54% – tighter than last year’s 46%, but still indicative of a well-balanced market.

Growth was more moderate within the 416, where sales rose a steady 4.1% with 3,201 transactions, new listings rose by 3.4%, and the average home price ticked up by 5.1% to $915,481. Overall, market conditions remain roughly the same as they were last year with an SNLR of 59%, from 58% in 2018 – just on the precipice of a sellers’ market.

Overall, the total TREB area remains on the tighter end of balanced with a ratio of 56%, up from 50% in 2018, indicating that buyers are increasingly returning after weathering the policy-induced slowdown that resulted from the Ontario Fair Housing Plan and federal mortgage stress test. 

Lack of Missing Middle Supply Constrains Market, Says TREB Analysts

TREB’s market analysts say the board remains concerned about the sustained lack of new listings, especially in the region’s “missing middle” – medium-density home types that typically fill the void between starter condos and single-detached homes.

“Buyers started moving off the sidelines in the spring, as evidenced by strong year-over-year price growth throughout the second quarter,” stated Jason Mercer, TREB’s chief market analyst. “However, because we saw virtually no change in the number of new listings, market conditions tightened and price growth picked up, especially for more higher-density home types, which, on average, are less expensive than traditional detached houses and therefore provide more affordable housing options under the new stress test regime.”

TREB’s CEO John DiMichele adds that as buyers overcome the affordability challenges presented by the mortgage stress test, it will continue to front load the already tight condo market especially as they remain priced out from more expensive home types. This will further reduce the number of affordable entry points into the GTA market and limit mobility, even after homeowners have the chance to build some equity.

“While some home buyers may have adjusted to the OSFI stress test by looking to more affordable housing options, this could present an issue over the longer term because we aren’t adding a meaningful amount of new mid-density housing supply to bridge the gap between condominium apartments and detached homes,” he stated. 

“Finding ways to add more mid-density housing types to existing neighbourhoods and new developments needs to be a key component of municipal, provincial, and federal housing plans and policies moving forward.”

GTA June Sales and Price Trends

Check out the infographics below to see how sales and price trends have changed year over year in both the City of Toronto and total TREB area in June:

© 2015-2017 Zoocasa Realty Inc.,

Supply in Vancouver’s housing market is piling up

Josh Sherman
Livabl

Supply in Vancouver’s housing market is still piling up, and it looks like stubborn home sellers are partly to blame.

“We’re continuing to see an expectation gap between home buyers and sellers in Metro Vancouver. Sellers are often trying to get yesterday’s values for their homes while buyers are taking a cautious, wait-and-see approach,” says Ashley Smith, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

Smith’s comments are included in REBGV’s Monthly Market Report for June.

In June, there were a total of 14,968 existing homes available for purchase throughout Metro Vancouver. That’s up 25.3 percent from the same month a year ago and an increase of 1.9 percent compared to May.

“Home buyers haven’t had this much selection to choose from in five years,” Smith added.

While some may be taking advantage of all that choice, sales activity continues to trend below previous years. In all, 2,077 homes changed hands last month in Metro Vancouver, declining 14.1 percent from June 2018 and 21.3 percent off the previous month’s total.

Despite the unwillingness of some to budge on list prices for Metro Vancouver homes, the selling prices are falling.

The benchmark price of a Metro Vancouver home sunk 9.6 percent annually to $998,700. It was down 0.8 percent from the previous month as well.

For condo apartments, the benchmark price was $654,700, an annual decline of 8.9 percent and a month-over-month decrease of 1.4 percent.

However, the benchmark price for detached homes was $1,423,500, which although down 10.9 percent on a year-over-year basis is up 0.1 percent over May.

“Buyers remain very cautious, and low-ball offers have become commonplace,” writes local realtor Steve Saretsky in separate commentary about the detached market.

“Similar to our message last month, entry level houses, particularly with mortgage helpers are not seeing nearly as much downwards pressure,” he continues.

© 2019 BuzzBuzzHome Corp

Owners to build mansion after rental townhome plan rejected

Joanne Lee-Young
The Vancouver Sun

The owners of a residential lot on Granville Street in Vancouver’s Shaughnessy neighbourhood will not be submitting a new proposal to construct 21 rental townhomes, and are instead proceeding with plans to build a single mansion.

The decision comes after their rezoning application for the rental project was rejected by council last week.

The decision brought praise from supporters of an end-of-life hospice next door, who thought the project would be too tall, dense and disruptive for its patients.

However, it drew ire from developers and others who argued it flew in the face of existing policies that aim for more rental options, even relatively expensive ones in a city where home ownership is increasingly challenging.

“The clients have given instruction for me to proceed with a design for a maximum, RS-5, single-family home on the property that is in compliance with what’s allowed,” said Neil Robertson, a partner with Stuart Howard Architects, who designed the three-and-a-half storey townhome project that council rejected in a 7-4 vote.

That description means the owners are now looking at building a 12,000-sq.-ft. home.

Robertson said he had been talking to city staff to see if there might be “a path forward” or a “compromise” whereby he could then try to convince his clients to reconsider submitting a new plan with the tweaks that some councillors suggested.

Green Party Vancouver city councillor Pete Fry said he and Coun. Michael Wiebe “both reflected that we weren’t really against this project,” but “one big thing was the size of the underground parking, which would have meant a huge excavation, from property line to property line.”

The two councillors met with city staff on Friday to discuss potential options.

But in the end, their understanding is if there are “substantive changes” that need to be made to a project, there isn’t a mechanism or procedure to use once it is voted down by council, except to go through the whole process again.

“I know (the two Green party councillors) had hoped there could be a few changes and it would come back,” said Coun. Christine Boyle, who had voted in favour of the rezoning. “I’m not sure it’s that easy.”

Fry said this rejection shouldn’t be taken by the development industry as a symbol of council’s attitude toward building rental housing because the “site context” of it being so close to the hospice meant “it’s an exceptional case.”

But former NPA councillor Gordon Price, who blasted council’s rejection of the rezoning, said it has “mis-underestimated the message that this sends to developers and others who are supportive of building rental options in areas like Shaughnessy.

“When you say ‘No’ to a project like this … then it’s a ‘No’ that prevails until there is a ‘Yes.’”

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc.

Mortgage stress test has reduced homeownership in Vancouver

Neil Sharma
REP

Thanks to the mortgage stress test, only 7.69% of Vancouver families can afford homeownership.

“Only one in eight families earns the income necessary to manage ownership costs in the Vancouver area, and one in five families in the Toronto area and Victoria. And this isn’t taking into account the mortgage stress test,” said RBC’s report on Housing Trends and Affordability. “Clearing a higher qualifying rate would drop even more families out of contention (to one in 13 in Vancouver, and one in seven in Toronto).”

Families shopping in the condominium market should fare better, though.

“Buying a more affordable condo apartment opens the field to two-thirds of families in most markets,” continued the report. “But still just one-quarter of them would be able to cover condo-ownership costs in Vancouver and only one-third in Toronto. Severe affordability issues remain a major obstacle for all but the wealthiest in Vancouver, Toronto and Victoria.”

Although nominal, the RBC report noted housing affordability improved in Canada for a consecutive quarter, dropping 0.3% to 51.4% in Q1-2019—an historical high. Due to price declines in Western and Atlantic Canada in tandem with increasing household income, housing is more affordable than it was during the third quarter of 2018.

However, that won’t mean much to buyers in Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria.

RBC also predicts lower ownership costs because of interest rates that aren’t likely to be hiked, which will be particularly advantageous for buyers in Western Canada where prices are beginning to fall.

“A majority, or near majority, of families would be able to cover the cost of owning an average home in nine of the 14 markets we track,” said the report. “The proportion of ownership-capable families is highest in Canada’s most affordable markets—S. John, St. John’s, Regina, Quebec City and Halifax. It’s a very different story for a trip of least-affordable markets. Only one in eight families earns the income necessary to manage ownership costs in the Vancouver areas, and one in five families in the Toronto area and Victoria. And this isn’t taking into account the mortgage stress test.”

Copyright © 2019 Key Media Pty Ltd