Vancouver approves 28-storey rental building in tightest of votes

Dan Fumano
The Province

Opinion: The question, basically, was whether it’s a worthwhile trade-off for the city to an increase from 17 to 28 storeys, despite strong neighbourhood resistance, for an extra 50 market rental units and about 50 below-market homes.

Vancouver city council narrowly approved Tuesday a 28-storey rental tower for West Broadway.

It was one of the most controversial and closely watched decisions of this council and could have gone the other way if not for an unusual turn of events last week.

The tower, proposed for the former Denny’s site at West Broadway and Birch streets, will provide 258 rental homes, 58 of which will be at below-market rents. The project had attracted neighbourhood opposition since late 2018, right around the same time this mayor and council were sworn in. It had long been flagged by detractors, supporters and senior city staff alike as a particularly important decision.

Mayor Kennedy Stewart, who voted in support of the proposal, told council Tuesday that the decision would be a watershed moment at the mid-point of their term. Many councillors said it wasn’t a decision they reached lightly. Nor was it one they reached quickly.

Tuesday’s decision came after council received almost 1,000 written comments and spent more than 15 hours during four days spread over four weeks, debating, asking questions of staff, and hearing from opponents and supporters.

A decision on the Birch proposal had been expected last week. But NPA Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung indicated she hadn’t caught up on the portions of the public hearing she had missed, which would have meant she wouldn’t be allowed to vote. So council decided at that meeting — against Kirby-Yung’s wishes — to delay the decision until this week, when all 11 members could vote.

In the end, every vote counted and Kirby-Yung’s participation proved crucial.

Before casting their vote, each councillor had a chance to explain why they opposed or supported the project. Kirby-Yung happened to speak last, before the final vote came down to six votes in favour and five opposed.

Kirby-Yung said she was “conflicted,” but after weighing many factors, voted in favour.

If the vote had gone ahead last week without Kirby-Yung, it might have been a tie, which means the rezoning would have failed.

Before this week, this council had approved all eight proposals that had reached them under the city’s moderate-income rental housing program. But none was as big as the Birch one in building height or profile. A senior Vancouver planner had described the Birch project as “the big one,” and “the test case” for the city’s rental housing pilot.

A rendering showing a 28-storey rental tower proposed for the corner of West Broadway and Birch Street in Vancouver. PNG

Under the program, the city considers granting developers extra density and height on projects in exchange for keeping 20 per cent of residential floor space affordable for households earning between $30,000 and $80,000. The policy was approved in 2017 by Vancouver’s previous Vision-majority council, but decisions on projects then fell to the city’s current mixed council.

Seven of the first eight projects under the rental program were east of Main Street — a fact noted by many people who wrote the city calling for more rentals, including below-market homes, on the west side. The only project previously approved for the west side was a five-storey building OK’d last year in Kitsilano, the most controversial proposal under the program before the Birch tower.

Stewart, who campaigned in 2018 on a platform of boosting rental construction, told council before voting in favour: “I was elected because the status quo wasn’t working.”

The Birch proposal was also supported by NPA councillors Melissa De Genova and Lisa Dominato, Green Coun. Michael Wiebe and OneCity Coun. Christine Boyle.

Opposed were COPE Coun. Jean Swanson, NPA Coun. Colleen Hardwick, independent Coun. Rebecca Bligh, and Green councillors Adriane Carr and Pete Fry.

The developer behind the project, Jameson Development, had indicated that if the 28-storey tower was rejected, it would proceed with a 17-storey project on that site, already approved in 2018 by the previous council. The 17-storey building, which many neighbours supported, would have provided about 153 homes, all at market rents.

The question Tuesday was whether the tradeoff was worthwhile — to allow 11 extra storeys on the site despite strong neighbourhood resistance, for an extra 50 or so market rental units plus about 58 below-market homes, built by the private sector with no direct funding from government.

That math added up for six council members. But the final result came down to that single vote.

© 2020 Postmedia Network Inc.

Despite recent sales activity, fresh Teranet-National Bank data points to decline in home prices

David Kitai
Mortgage Broker News

Despite prices swelling in a number of Canadian markets, the most recent Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index, released yesterday, claims Canada’s housing market has hit a slowdown.

The Index says that nationwide, house prices in June were up 0.7% from May – half the average increase posted in June for the past decade. The report’s correction for seasonal pressures turns that 0.7% rise into a 0.1% drop. Halifax (2.7%), Winnipeg (1.8%), Hamilton (1.7%), and Ottawa-Gatineau (1.5%) led the price increases. Calgary and Edmonton both saw drops in real numbers, at minus-0.1% and minus-0.7% respectively. Montreal was up 1.4% and Toronto was up 0.8%, while Vancouver prices only grew by 0.2% in June.

“Last month’s advance in the Composite index was the lowest for a month of June since 2004,” wrote Teranet in a press release accompanying the data. “This adds to other signs already witnessed in May of a slowing of activity on the housing market due to COVID-19,” including two consecutive months of decline in the seasonally adjusted raw Composite index, which fell in June in six of the 11 metropolitan areas studied.

Conflicting views

John Lusink, president of Right at Home Realty, told MBN that the Teranet-National Bank report runs counter to some more positive reports he’s seen from the Canadian Real Estate Association and Toronto Real Estate Board. While he doesn’t dispute the numbers in the Teranet-National Bank report, he says that a nationwide sampling, and even a single-market summary of Canada’s largest urban real estate markets, makes Canada’s housing market appear more languid than it is. As well, he says the unprecedented circumstances of 2020 make comparisons less meaningful.

“I think part of the challenge is that too many of these organizations are still also comparing year-over-year, and I don’t think you can do that,” Lusink says. “I think you have to compare today compared with yesterday compared with last week compared with last month. Looking at internal numbers, if I were to compare incoming and closed numbers with last year, we’re down 33% and 38% respectively. But if I compare week-over-week, we’re up 10% on incoming deals and we’re up on closed deals by 56%. It’s about how you balance the information.”

Lusink says the pause that was hit on virtually all market activity through March and April has augmented the typical yearly real estate cycle: Late summer would usually be a time for closings, but many markets are still in the showings/offers stage of the process. He says that represents an ongoing pent up demand, especially in the GTA and Ottawa, where he’s seen strong growth. While numbers pointing to a drop are inevitable, he says, there remains a base resilience in Canada’s key housing markets.

Teranet addressed the optimism shown in other reporting data. The organization remained cautious, however, about the state of Canada’s housing market.

“According to CREA, overall Canadian home sales returned to a more normal level, and this should be soon reflected in land registries,” the release reads. “But question marks still lie ahead. We expect the Canadian unemployment rate to remain elevated for a while. In this context, demand for housing may decrease due to a reduction in immigration and would-be first-time homebuyers not being able to qualify for a mortgage loan.”

Regional and sub-regional numbers are key in understanding the state of Canada’s markets, Lusink says. He points to his own internal numbers, which show strong performance in Ottawa and parts of the GTA. Those markets, he says, along with Montreal and Metro Vancouver, are the “engines” of Canada’s real estate market. While the Teranet National Bank report does display numbers for those metro areas, Lusink notes that they don’t give a picture of market subsets which can pose issues.

“I think the challenge with reports that come out from the likes of CMHC and Teranet is, while they’re good information, they need to treat certain markets separately, so that people don’t get a misguided view of what’s going on,” he says.

Opportunity for brokers to prove their value

While Lusink says that things remain busy and active for Right at Home realty, transactions come with a host of challenges that did not exist before the COVID-19 pandemic. Reports like these and broad indices of stagnating or downward-trending prices can raise red flags for buyers and cause new issues as realtors try to close deals. He says that in the wake of this report, mortgage brokers can prove their value as they shepherd clients through closing deals.

“In the wake of this report, brokers should know they are absolutely an invaluable resource,” Lusink says. “They can help realtors and their clients manoeuvre through what is a much more challenging qualification process. They should know, too, that there very much is an active market, but it’s that much harder. It takes that much more effort to get the deal closed. Brokers really are a resource that people should be leaning on even more so now.”

Copyright © 2020 Key Media

Mass timber gains momentum with construction sector as province starts on promotion

Derrick Penner
The Vancouver Sun

A building named Crest is rising six stories above Lonsdale Ave. in North Vancouver to add 179 units of housing to the neighbourhood, but it is also something of a billboard for British Columbia’s ambitions for construction in mass timber.

It is the second mass-timber project for developer Adera, which is undergoing somewhat of a conversion to building more with engineered wood products, rather than more traditional, two-by-four wood-frame construction.

“We’re just around 500 homes that are under construction or have been built in the last, call it two years maximum, (using) mass timber technology,” said Adera senior vice-president marketing and sales Eric Andreasen.

Mass-timber methods call for designs to be drawn using sophisticated 3-D computer models. Components are then manufactured to precise specifications, with windows, doors and openings needed to install pipes, wiring and mechanical systems pre-cut into the panels and beams.

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Construction becomes more like assembly as parts are delivered to a site, which requires less clearing, smaller foundations because the material is lighter, and fewer deliveries because the components arrive already whole.

The components might cost more, and manufacturing needs to be planned ahead of time, but Andreasen said framing up a mass-timber structure takes 30 to 40 per cent less time than conventional framing.

Adera has even trademarked a building and soundproofing technique: SmartWood.

“We really are embracing it, we believe it’s the future,” Andreasen said.

Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon likes the sound of that, as the recently appointed parliamentary secretary tasked with promoting the minority government’s agenda to retool B.C.’s forestry sector into higher-value engineered wood products.

“I toured (Crest), it’s a fantastic operation,” Kahlon said, which he characterized as “inspiring.”

The province has long championed the products of its own forest industry.

The previous government had a “wood first” mandate for public projects, which Premier John Horgan promised to build upon by using infrastructure spending in particular to boost the market for engineered wood products such as cross-laminated timber panelling or glue-laminated beams.

Kahlon was appointed to his position on June 16, leading government efforts along with an assistant deputy minister in the civil service, Jeff Vassey, whose sole job will be to smooth over issues related to building codes or industry training across ministries as they contemplate capital projects.

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A year ago, Horgan promised delegates at the Council of Forest Industries’ annual convention in Vancouver that the province would use mass timber in the $1.9 billion redevelopment of a new St. Paul’s Hospital and renovation of the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria.

Now, that effort has been consolidated in a mass-timber-implementation office, which has been placed in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to, as Kahlon puts it, promote the use of mass timber in schools, in long-term-care homes, or social housing.

In the meantime, developers, including Adera, are forging ahead with mass timber.

“They’re moving the construction industry with that project and now we’re starting to see other companies jump in,” Kahlon said.

Andreasen said they’ve worked through an “acceptance stage,” of architects, engineers, builders and public officials becoming more familiar with mass-timber techniques.

Adera’s first mass timber project was Virtuoso, a 104-home development at the University of B.C., completed in 2017.

Before that, Adera had used engineered-timber panels and beams as design components within wood-frame buildings for the look and warm feel of wood, and at first designed the Virtuoso project in a similar fashion.

At the last minute, however, the company decided to re-engineer it as a mass-timber building, and haven’t looked back.

“The first time around, we had to work through some growing pains with trades that hadn’t really done it, but were willing to make the effort,” Andreasen said.

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“Now, as people are learning how it works, it’s becoming much less tedious and much, much simpler and quicker to do.”

Faster construction was a big factor in rival developer Cape Group’s decision to pursue two rental apartment building projects — one nine storeys and the other six storeys — near the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver’s False Creek Flats.

“We’ve actually had mass timber on our radar, I’m going to say for the last six years,” said Zack Ross, Cape Group’s chief operating officer.

An engineer, Ross said he is drawn to technical matters related to the environmental aspects of carbon sequestration in mass-timber components, and their recyclability in a life-cycle analysis of buildings.

However, Cape is proposing the apartments under an affordability program, “so it meets part of the affordability goal, directly and indirectly, through the construction process.

“It has got all these interesting things layered into it,” Ross said.

Cape is at the point of interviewing potential suppliers for the engineered-timber components they will need, and Ross is encouraged that new manufacturers have emerged, giving them a couple of options.

“(Product availability) might have been more of a concern five years ago with respect to supply, but we just went and toured some factories this week,” Ross said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has played havoc with short-term construction timelines, said Hardy Wentzel, CEO of Structurlam Mass Timber Corp., B.C.’s leader in engineered timbers, but the outlook is positive.

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“Our construction business held on pretty good,” Wentzel said, despite some project timelines experiencing what the industry has nicknamed “COVID drift.”

Structurlam employs 280 people at their operations in B.C., which isn’t quite running at full capacity, though momentum for mass timber is building, according to Wentzel

The company has put more marketing emphasis on physically distanced online webinars, which they’ve delivered to 650 people, he said.

“So there are a lot of people wanting to look at mass-timber designs in their future building plans.”

© 2020 Vancouver Sun

What is Regulation A+ and how Does it Apply to Real Estate Crowdfunding?

Brad Cartier
other

Real estate equity crowdfunding is on the rise. According to Ian Formigle, Chief Investment Officer at real estate crowdfunding site CrowdStreet, since mid-March 2020, deal volume has declined 70% due to the pandemic; however, investor demand for those deals increased 50%. There are an estimated 330,000 investors on the various crowdfunding platforms, and that number will only increase into the future.

Many of these real estate crowdfunding sites rely on a 2016 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act regulation titled Regulation A (or Reg A+), which democratizes access to these types of deals for smaller retail investors and non-accredited investors. Where before most of these larger commercial real estate deals were available only to private equity funds and family offices, now they’re offered on these equity crowdfunding portals to people like you and me.

Here’s an overview of Regulation A+ from the JOBS Act, the pros and cons of this crowdfunding legislation, and whether real estate investors should try to get in on the action.

What is Regulation A (Reg A+)?

“Regulation A is a crowdfunding exemption from registration for public offerings. Regulation A has two offering tiers: Tier 1, for offerings of up to $20 million in a 12-month period; and Tier 2, for offerings of up to $50 million in a 12-month period. For offerings of up to $20 million, companies can elect to proceed under the requirements for either Tier 1 or Tier 2.”

—The Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC)

In short, Regulation A+ is an evolution of the 2012 JOBS Act. In 2015, Title IV was initiated, also referred to as Regulation A+, which provides an exemption for companies to sell shares to accredited and non-accredited investors. Whereas before you needed to be an accredited investor to participate in these types of offerings, it’s now available to all. This is why many term Regulation A+ a “mini IPO.”

Going through an IPO and issuing an equity security as a public company requires dealing with a myriad of filing and regulatory hurdles. Due to this investment limitation, a Regulation A+ offering is something companies are using more.

Generally speaking, if you need to raise over $20 million and want to market the opportunity across the U.S., a Tier 2 offering is the best option. Whereas, if you have a strong state presence and only anticipate needing to raise locally, then Tier 1 is best as it carries with it fewer burdensome reporting requirements.

Here are some Regulation A+ statistics directly from the SEC’s 2020 report, titled Regulation A Lookback Study and Offering Limit Review Analysis:

Closed and Ongoing Offerings:

• As of December 2019, $2.446 billion was reported raised by 183 issuers.
• Average of $13.4 million per offering.
• This includes $230 million in Tier 1 and $2.216 billion in Tier 2 offerings.

Sought Offerings, Not Closed:

• $9.095 billion sought across 382 qualified offerings.
• Average of $23.8 million per offering.
• This includes $759 million sought across 105 qualified Tier 1 offerings and $8.336 billion sought across 277 qualified Tier 2 offerings.

Click to enlarge

ImageSource: SEC

As you can see, Tier 2 offerings are a lot more popular than Tier 1.

Regulation A+ guidelines

“Regulation A+ rules created two tiers of offerings, each with slightly different requirements.“Tier 1” offerings may not exceed $20 million in a twelve-month period and “Tier 2” offerings may not exceed $50 million in a twelve-month period.”

—SEC

Issuers of a Regulation A+ offering are allowed to make public share offerings of up to $50 million in a 12-month period. An Issuer is also allowed to conduct general solicitation and advertising to both accredited and non-accredited investors. There is an approval process, and the SEC must qualify an issuer prior to any solicitation being made.

Testing the waters: According to the SEC guidelines, an issuer is able to “test the waters” using various marketing materials to ensure there’s enough interest in the investment offering before officially filing for a Regulation A+ exemption. That said, there are specific rules associated with this clause, and you cannot accept any funds during this phase. It’s critical that you consult with your legal team member on these types of matters.

Regulation A+ timeframe

The time frame around a Regulation A+ offering can vary, but generally speaking, here’s the process from beginning to end:

1. Optional initial “testing the waters” phase.
2. Draft offering statement (DOS) for notice filing to SEC.
3. Approval and amendments as needed for notice filing.
4. Regulation A qualification granted.
5. Beginning of the Regulation A offering (solicitation and advertising allowed).
6. Fundraising complete.
7. Ongoing reporting requirements for Tier 1 or 2 following successful raise.

Click to enlarge

Source: SEC

Tier 1 and 2 for Reg A+

As you know, Regulation A+ has two tiers and there are critical differences between each.

Tier 1 offering: You can sell up to $20 million in equity over 12 months, but the Tier 1 issuer has to pass a state-coordinated review of financials. There are also ongoing reporting and compliance requirements. Tier 1 issuers have to submit an exit report (Form 1-Z19) following a completed or terminated offer. Tier 1 issuers also need to obtain state-by-state approval in the states they are selling in. A state securities law typically applies to a Tier 1 offering.

Tier 2 offering: You can set up to $50 million in equity over 12 months, but there are up-front and ongoing audit and reporting requirements for a Tier 2 issuer. Further, there are limits placed on how much money non-accredited investors can put into the security: the greater of 10% of the investor’s annual income, or net worth, per year.

There are also audited financial requirements and ongoing reporting needed for a Regulation A+ Tier 2 offering. This tier also contains a preemption on Blue Sky Laws. This removes the requirement for an issuer to register in each state that they sell the security in.

There is the misconception that if you’re funding $20 million or below, you have to follow Tier 1 offering guidelines. That isn’t the case. You can be below the $20 million threshold and still follow Tier 2 guidelines, which is a popular choice given the Blue Sky Law preemption of this option. Although the ongoing reporting and auditing requirements for Tier 2 are more stringent, the Blue Sky Laws preemption makes it an easier approval process during the initial phases.

The bottom line

Under the current Regulation A+ guidelines, real estate developers and investors can leverage online equity crowdfunding platforms to raise capital for projects and developments. There are nuances to which Tier is chosen and how much you can raise — it has been suggested that a deal should be worth at least $4 million to go this route– but overall, Regulation A+ can be a unique capital-raising strategy for real estate investors.

Given the technicality of a Regulation A+ issuance and process, it is critical to involve your legal team early and often to ensure you are proceeding correctly.

Unfair Advantages: How Real Estate Became a Billionaire Factory

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To get started, we’ve assembled a comprehensive guide that outlines everything you need to know about investing in real estate – and have made it available for FREE today. Simply click here to learn more and access your complimentary copy.

© 2018 – 2020 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved.

Near-zero lending rates will continue

Nelson Bennett & WI Staff
Western Investor

Multi-family financing five-year funding at unprecedented 1.3 per cent and and “we could slide further into uncharted depths” if downturn persists

The Bank of Canada is holding the overnight interest rate to 0.25 per cent, and several economists are predicting those near-zero rates to stay for at least two years.

The BOC also announced it will continue aggressive quantitative easing policies to inject liquidity into the Canadian economy, as it recovers from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been buying Canadian government bonds at a rate of $5 billion per week.

“This QE program is making borrowing more affordable for households and businesses and will continue until the recovery is well underway,” the BOC said in a press news release Wednesday, July 15.

As of July 14, multi-family investors buying buildings worth $5 million or more could access Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. insured mortgages at 1.3 per cent for five years and 10-year loans at 1.7 per cent, the lowest rates ever offered. 

“This is free money. Buy an apartment building now,” quipped Mark Goodman, of Goodman Commercial Inc., Vancouver.

The Bank of Canada indicated it will likely hold interest rates at near zero until inflation has reached 2 per cent.

“As the economy moves from reopening to recuperation, it will continue to require extraordinary monetary policy support,” the BOC said.

“The Governing Council will hold the policy interest rate at the effective lower bound until economic slack is absorbed so that the 2 per cent  inflation target is sustainably achieved.”

A survey of 16 economists compiled by Finder.com found that roughly two-thirds of economists predict the BOC will hold to its low interest rates until 2022 or 2023 – an indication of just how long it may take for the Canadian economy to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic shock.

It also found that a majority of the economists think Canada’s GDP will shrink by 6 per cent  to 8 per cent in 2020.

The lowest fixed residential mortgage rate available as of July 15, according to rate comparison website RateSpy.com, was the one-year fixed at 1.59 per cent (for those putting down less than 20 per cent for insured mortgages).

Even the 10-year fixed rate is reaching new lows, currently available nationally as low as 2.79 per cent

“Fixed rates are dirt cheap because funding costs keep sliding,” RateSpy founder Rob McLister said July 2. “With a bearish economic report or two, we could slide further into uncharted depths, as soon as next month.”

© Copyright 2020 Western Investor

Trudeau extends CEWS program until December

Ephraim Vecina
Mortgage Broker News

The federal government has announced that it will be extending its wage subsidy program – which has proven instrumental to the continued survival of many households and businesses – to companies severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic until at least December.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that this extension would provide “greater certainty and support to businesses as we restart the economy.” Trudeau said that more details, including eligibility requirements, will be available in the next few days.

Data from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada indicated that the subsidy played a large part in insolvencies recently seeing their largest year-over-year decrease since 1988. The OSB’s figures showed that there were 6,111 insolvency filings in May, falling by 8.8% monthly and 51% annually.

However, market players expressed concern that the duration of the federal aid might need to be extended even further, all the way to 2021.

“I don’t think anybody expects that … everything is going to be fine [for affected industries] by December 31,” said Ross Laver, senior vice-president for strategy at the Business Council of Canada. “We need to bear in mind that some of them are going to need help for an extended period of time.”

Copyright © 2020 Key Media

Understanding the Buyer’s Agency Exclusive Contract

BCREA

When working with buyers in a real estate transaction in BC, REALTORS® may choose to use the Buyer’s Agency Exclusive Contract. BCREA has created this video for Realtors to share with their clients to help them better understand the purpose of this common standard form and its contents.

Copyright © 2020 British Columbia Real Estate Association

A new option for struggling Airbnb investors: REW.ca

Ephraim Vecina
Mortgage Broker News

Online marketplace Real Estate Wire (REW.ca) has announced the addition of more than 10,000 rental listings to its platform, which is accessible to Canadians everywhere.

The decision to place these listings on the platform stemmed from a long-running market trajectory, said Simon Bray, president of REW.

“In recent years, we’ve seen generational and economic factors drive a trend towards rentals,” Bray said. “We’re excited to add rental listings to our real estate marketplace. We believe that renters should have access to the same great tools, insights, and resources as buyers.”

REW said that every listing will be vetted through trusted property management companies. The 10,000 new additions are located in BC, Alberta, and Ontario.

Over the last few months, the rental sector has come under closer scrutiny, particularly due to its impact on the housing market.

Data from analytics firm AirDNA showed that long-term residential supply has noticeably improved as Airbnb and similar services have scaled back because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to AirDNA, the number of short-term rental properties in major markets fell from January to April. This was most apparent in Vancouver (down 18.5%), Toronto (down 20%), and Montreal (down 22%).

“We are seeing an incredible new amount of inventory of furnished units come onto the long-term rental market over the last few months,” said Andrew Harrild, co-founder of condos.ca.

Copyright © 2020 Key Media

BCREA shows housing market revitalized

Brendon Ogmundson
BCREA

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,166 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) in June 2020, an increase of 16.9 per cent from June 2019. The average MLS^® residential price in BC was $748,155, a 9.1 per cent increase from $685,968 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume in June was $6.1 billion, a 27.5 per cent increase over 2019.

“Sales around the province surged back to pre-COVID-19 levels in June,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “While there are some temporary factors that may have pushed demand forward, we are cautiously optimistic that market activity will remain firm.”

Although listings activity has normalized along with sales, active listings are still down close to 20 per cent year-over-year and, as a result, many markets are seeing upward pressure on prices.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was up 0.6 per cent to $24.7 billion, compared with the same period in 2019. Residential unit sales were down 8 per cent to 32,875 units, while the average MLS^® residential price was up 9.4 per cent to $751,722.

For the complete news release, including detailed statistics, click here.

Copyright © 2020 British Columbia Real Estate Association

BCREA shows housing market revitalized

Brendon Ogmundson
BCREA

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,166 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) in June 2020, an increase of 16.9 per cent from June 2019. The average MLS^® residential price in BC was $748,155, a 9.1 per cent increase from $685,968 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume in June was $6.1 billion, a 27.5 per cent increase over 2019.

“Sales around the province surged back to pre-COVID-19 levels in June,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “While there are some temporary factors that may have pushed demand forward, we are cautiously optimistic that market activity will remain firm.”

Although listings activity has normalized along with sales, active listings are still down close to 20 per cent year-over-year and, as a result, many markets are seeing upward pressure on prices.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was up 0.6 per cent to $24.7 billion, compared with the same period in 2019. Residential unit sales were down 8 per cent to 32,875 units, while the average MLS^® residential price was up 9.4 per cent to $751,722.

For the complete news release, including detailed statistics, click here.

Copyright © 2020 British Columbia Real Estate Association