Canadian Mortgage Professional unveils Top 75 brokers for 2022

Roxanne Libatique
other

The Canadian mortgage sector remained productive over this last year, with the same volume of business for many brokers across the country despite the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging COVID-19 variants, and a rollercoaster of lockdowns. Now, Canadian Mortgage Professional (CMP) has identified this year’s top 75 mortgage brokers who stood out for their ability to navigate the sometimes harsh realities of the brokerage world.

CMP identified the best mortgage brokers in Canada this year by opening nominations in January. Eligible nominees had to be licensed and employed as brokers in 2022 and needed to submit a breakdown of their deals that included verifiable contact information, with all deals and volumes personally initiated and only including residential-based mortgage deals. Receiving over 200 nominations across Canada, CMP’s industry experts narrowed down the list based on specific, outlined criteria.

This year’s top mortgage broker list features Susanna Penning, a senior mortgage specialist at The Mortgage Advisors (TMA), where she has gradually built a team of six members under the YourMortgageSpecialist.ca brand, a boutique division within TMA that aims to become the preferred and most trusted mortgage agent team in Ottawa.

Winners have thrived amid a difficult climate

Find out more about Penning’s mortgage journey and achievements, as well as the rest of CMP’s top 75 mortgage brokers this year, by reading the CMP Top 75 Brokers 2022 report. Thank you to those who participated this year, and congratulations to all the winners.

 

Copyright © 1996-2022 Key Media, Inc.

Toronto home prices take a dip

Ari Altstedter
other

New listings close the gap with sales

The average price of a Toronto home dipped in March as a slight cooling of activity allowed the pace of new listings to close the gap with sales, even as the market remained heavily tipped in sellers’ favour compared with historic standards.

The average home price in Canada’s largest city dipped 2.6% to just under CA$1.3 million in March from the month before, data released Tuesday by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board show. The number of sales fell 30% from last year as new listings declined 12% in the same period, affording buyers slightly more choice than they enjoyed when Toronto posted its most-active March market on record in 2021, according to the report.

“We did experience more balance in the first quarter of 2022 compared to last year,” Jason Mercer, the Toronto real estate board’s chief market analyst, said in a statement. “If this trend continues, it is possible that the pace of price growth could moderate as we move through the year.”

The historic run-up in house prices Canada has seen the last two years is facing a crucial test heading into the traditional spring selling season as rising interest rates, and other efforts by policy makers to cool demand, provide more hurdles for buyers already stretched by record prices. The province of Ontario, home to Toronto, raised its tax on foreign home buyers last month, the municipal government plans to tax empty homes, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has indicated the federal budget coming Thursday will make housing affordability a focus.

All this comes with the Bank of Canada widely expected to begin one of the most aggressive efforts to raise interest rates in its history as inflation running at levels not seen in decades risks getting out of control. All six of Canada’s major private banks now expect the central bank to double the benchmark interest rate at a policy meeting next week, with more increases to follow later in the year.

But Toronto’s housing market remains historically tight. Last month was still the third-most-active March on record and the benchmark home price — calculated separately from the average to account for changes in the composition of home sales — rose 35% from last year. And the average length of time it took for a property to sell in Toronto fell in March to 11 days from 13 in the same month last year. This has led many in the real estate industry to diagnose the problem as a dearth of supply rather than excess demand.

“We need adequate housing supply and choice,” Kevin Crigger, the Toronto real estate board’s president, said in the statement. “This needs to be the focus of policy makers rather than short-term and ineffective measures to artificially suppress demand.”

Copyright © 1996-2022 Key Media, Inc.

 

Re/Max launches ‘Your Unfair Advantage’ advertising campaign

REM Staff
REM

 From April to early June, Re/Max plans to saturate Canadian markets across multiple media channels with a new advertising campaign called “Your Unfair Advantage.”

“This new work is a step in modernizing the Re/Max brand, aimed at sparking interest among two critical growth segments – Gen Z and Millennials – and raising the bar in real estate advertising,” the company says. “At its core, the campaign highlights the winning advantage Canadians get when buying or selling a home with a Re/Max agent, told in totally unimaginable and wildly entertaining ways.”

 

Consisting of four 15-second video spots and two six-second video spots, along with animated and static copy-led creative, the campaign breaks traditional real estate advertising norms, the company says. It likens the experience of working with a Re/Max agent to that of having an octopus for a ping-pong partner or riding Pegasus to beat the traffic. Copy-led headlines supplement the eye-catching visuals, offering facts or insights designed to help compel a buyer or seller to use Re/Max.

 

“The real estate industry has been top of mind for many Canadians, especially through the pandemic over the last two years. We’ve seen incredible market growth across Canada, as affordability and hybrid work models have shifted migration patterns,” says Christopher Alexander, president of Re/Max Canada, in a news release. “We wanted to cut through the noise with this campaign and demonstrate that, with Re/Max on your side, you’ve got the country’s strongest agent network right there with you.”

 

Anticipated to generate more than 816 million media impressions, the campaign will appear on national TV (sports and lifestyle focus); programmatic video and display; direct digital buys with TheScore, Rogers and Yahoo; paid search; and in Eastern Canada across billboards and transit shelters. The campaign ads will also run across all major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest), including TikTok and Twitch, which are new to this year’s media buy, in an effort to increase brand awareness and favourability with a younger audience, the company says.

 

 

© 1989 – 2022 REM Real Estate Magazine

Greater Vancouver home prices up 3.6 per cent in March versus February

Glen Korstorm
Western Investor

Year-over-year price increase in March was 20.7 per cent

 The Grosvenor Pacific and Vancouver House condominium buidlings are iconic fixtures in Vancouver’s Downtown South neighbourhood.Glen Korstrom

Greater Vancouver home prices continued to soar in March, according to Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) data.

The region’s benchmark home price rose to $1,360,500 in March, up 20.7 per cent from March 2021, and 3.6 per cent from February, according to the association that represents real estate agents and their companies.

Benchmark prices for all classes of home have been reaching new all-time highs in recent months. The region’s benchmark home price at the end of 2021 was $1,230,200.

“We’re still seeing upward pressure on prices across all housing categories in the region,” said REBGV chair Daniel John. “Lack of supply is driving this pressure.”

Sales for homes has slowed, but remains comparatively high. 

Home owners transacted 4,344 sales in March, down 23.9 per cent from the record monthly high of 5,708 homes in March 2021. March’s sales total was 25.5 per cent higher than the 10-year average for that month. 

New homes are being listed for sale, but less frequently than last year. 

There were 6,673 detached, attached and apartment properties listed for sale on the Multiple Listings Service in Metro Vancouver in 2022, according to the REBGV. That is 19.5 per cent down from the 8,287 homes listed for sale in March 2021, but 22 per cent more than the 5,471 homes listed for sale in February. 

The real estate class that saw the biggest sales decline was detached homes. Sales of detached homes in March 2022 reached 1,291 – 34.3 per cent less than the 1,965 detached sales recorded in March 2021. The benchmark price for a detached home is $2,118,600. That’s 23.4 per cent more than March 2021, and 3.6 per cent more than February 2022.

Sales of apartment homes reached 2,310 in March 2022 – 14.3 per cent less than the 2,697 sales in March 2021. The benchmark price of an apartment home in the region is now $835,500. That’s 16.8 per cent more than March 2021, and 3.4 per cent more than in February 2022.

Attached home sales in March 2022 totalled 743, which was 29 per cent less than the 1,046 sales in March 2021. The benchmark price of an attached home is $1,138,300, which is 28.1 per cent more than in March 2021, and 4.4 per cent more than February 2022.

 

© 2022 Western Investor

Reliance begins construction of new 1166 West Pender office tower

Peter Mitham
Western Investor

New triple-A office tower will be 344,000 square feet, more than twice the size of the existing Canada Revenue building, and feature private air circulation for each floor

 Demolition has started on the former Canada Revenue Agency building at 1166 West Pender as Reliance Properties Ltd. of Vancouver and Texas-based investor Hines prepare to raise a 32-storey office tower on the site.Submitted

Demolition of 1166 West Pender Street – the former Canada Revenue Agency building – has begun, setting the stage for partners Texas-based real estate giant Hines and Reliance Properties Ltd. to redevelop the downtown Vancouver site with a 32-storey tower featuring efficient new floorplates for a post-pandemic workforce.

“It’s well underway,” Reliance president and CEO Jon Stovell told Western Investor, citing the reopening of the offices and the ongoing growth of the tech sector. “We need to get this building underway because there’s going to be a shortage of office supply at the back end of 2025, into 2026 if we don’t move this building ahead.”

Stovell said a business services firm has come to it in the past week with a mandate for “well over 100,000 square feet.”

CBRE Ltd. is handling leasing and forecasts downtown Class A vacancies to run at approximately 7 per cent this year, as new space comes on-stream and demand stabilizes following the pandemic. But balanced conditions will shift back to under-supply over the next couple of years as the economy finds its feet, Stovell said.

“With COVID starting to be fully understood and finding its place in society now we’re seeing a lot of demand for office coming back, a sudden rush,” he said. “Those tenants with those longer term planning horizons [who] know years in advance are back in the market with force.”

Reliance purchased the property from Greystone Management Investments Inc. for $71.4 million in 2016 and Hines joined as an investor in March 2021. The venture marked the Texas firm’s first acquisition in Vancouver. It has also invested in CIBC Square and T3 Bayside in Toronto, as well as 8th Avenue Place in Calgary.

The new Vancouver tower will be 344,000 square feet across 32 storeys. It will feature a cascading series of green terraces on the top nine floors that resemble those of the nearby Evergreen building designed by Arthur Erickson in 1980 and subsequently purchased and renewed by BC Investment Management Corp. in 2006.

The terraces take the feature to a new level – 20 storeys higher, in fact, allowing for a lush setting from which to view the surrounding water and mountains. It also mitigates shading of greenspace along Coal Harbour, two blocks to the north.

To reflect the realities of workspaces following the pandemic, each floor of the building will feature private air circulation and superior air filtration with electrostatic filters with an elevated MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values) rating based on the capture of particles of 0.3 to 10 microns. Building systems will target not only LEED Gold certification for its environmental qualities, but the similar WELL rating system designed to assess health and wellness features.

Promised workplace amenities include “an activated employee lounge and collaboration area” and a “club-quality fitness facility” on the third floor as well as modular conferencing facilities.

A fourth-floor co-working space professionally managed by Hines SQ, the co-working arm of Hines, will be available for short-term tenants as well companies on site who may need temporary space.

“The idea behind providing it that it gives tenants coming into the building an opportunity to ramp up into their space,” he said. “Or they can take additional space in SQ, and then give it up again when it’s done.”

The building is more than double the size of the tower being demolished, which was the long-time home of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA moved out in 2017). The tower had 15 storeys and offered 147,240 square feet of space. However, it didn’t maximize the space available to it, featuring angled corners than limited floor plates. Greystone had originally considered a renovation that would reclaim the corners and expand the floorplates but Reliance had other ideas.

“We always saw this as a development site,” Stovell said. “The existing building is too small relative to the capacity of the site under the city’s rezoning policies to obtain.”

The new structure aims to maximize density. Reliance took the site through rezoning and won a 19 FSR, double the 9 FSR allowed under the previous zoning. This allowed for a design with 12,000-square-foot floorplates and a healthier, more efficient working environment.

“It’s a significant intensification of the site,” he said.

 

© 2022 Western Investor

Vancouver rental prices continue to trend upwards into April

Michelle McNally
Livabl

 

 Photo: Sergii Figurnyi / Adobe Stock

The cost of a rental property in Metro Vancouver continues to rise as the market shifts into springtime.

According to liv.rent’s April 2022 Metro Vancouver Rent Report, the average price of an unfurnished one-bedroom rental spiked to $1,908, up $52 from March. This marks a high for Vancouver’s rental prices dating back to February 2019 when liv.rent first started its monthly market reports.

Average rents for one-bedroom, unfurnished properties in Metro Vancouver have been climbing consecutively since January, but April marks the largest month-over-month increase since that time period. Between January and February, rents grew $13 to $1,840 before rising another $16 from February to March up to $1,856 a month.

Housing Market News Alerts

Sign up now for news alerts on the Vancouver housing market

“Notably, Vancouver itself saw increases in price for both unfurnished and furnished rentals this month, as did nearly every other Metro Vancouver municipality we’re looking at here – with particularly large increases in West Vancouver and North Vancouver,” said liv.rent’s report.

By region, rents for unfurnished, one-bedroom homes were up in North Vancouver, West Vancouver and New Westminster by 6.03 per cent, 7.67 per cent and 2.93 per cent month-to-month. For the same furnished bedroom type, average prices rose 24.51 per cent and 6.98 per cent in Langley and Burnaby compared to March, but were down 17.44 per cent monthly in North Vancouver.

The average rent for an unfurnished, one-bedroom rental in Metro Vancouver will cost you $167 less a month compared to the average furnished counterpart, which is valued at $2,075.

“At different times of the last year, furnished rentals were nearly level with unfurnished units in terms of average price – but now there’s a healthy gap in price between the two,” said the rental report. 

 

Surrey offers the least expensive unfurnished one- and two-bedroom rentals in the Vancouver region, priced at an average of $1,453 and $2,050. For $2,656, Langley has the cheapest unfurnished three-bedroom rental properties.

On average, the most affordable furnished one- and three-bedroom rental homes are also located in Surrey at $1,623 and $2,936. The cheapest two-bedroom properties with furnishings are in New Westminster, priced at an average of $2,158.

In April, the most expensive place to rent continues to be Vancouver at $3.30 a square foot, while Surrey is the cheapest at $2.14 a square feet. Overall, the average rent per square foot in Metro Vancouver is $2.71, slightly higher than Toronto at $2.54.

The majority (31 per cent) of Vancouver’s renters are between 25 to 34 years old, but a chunk of the market is also occupied by those under 25 years old (24 per cent) and renters between 35 and 44 years old (19 per cent). On average, Vancouver renters put 35.64 per cent of their income towards rent, which is slightly above the recommended 30 per cent.

Compared to the rest of Canada, Vancouver is the most expensive rental market at $2,090 for an unfurnished, one-bedroom rental. This beats out Victoria ($1,853) and Toronto ($1,776) by $237 and $314 a month.

 

© 2020 BuzzBuzzHome Corp.

4 ridiculously simple ways to become more organized

REM Staff
REM

 Most Realtors are remarkably comfortable operating in a state of constant chaos. I speak to agents all the time who seem to take great pride in their “ability” to function with few or zero organizational systems.

Whether this is good for their cash flow is another question, entirely. (Hint: It’s not.)

I am not a naturally organized person, either. In fact, very few Realtors are. If we were, perhaps we would have pursued a career in accounting.

That said, if your goal is to complete 50+ or 100+ deals per year, you must learn to use some basic organizational skills to increase productivity and decrease anxiety. The following ideas are so ridiculously simple that if you’re not already doing them, you can start immediately. I mean today.

1. Stop relying on your memory

Have you ever made a mental note about something you needed to do, got distracted and then completely forgot all about it? Has your memory ever cost you $10,000 or $20,000 (a missed opportunity to pick up a new client, for example)? Even if you can honestly answer “no” to that question, it’s probably only because you don’t remember!

How many ideas do you think of and forget every day – ideas that could improve your business or increase the likelihood of a future sale – that never get implemented?

Personally, I’ve got “Brilliant Ideas” and “Things To Do” popping in my head like popcorn, 24/7, which I immediately write down in my Gmail Tasks List. I’ve named my list “Brain Clutter” because it allows me to get the clutter out of my brain and onto a list.

If I’m on the run, I simply tap the tasks app on my phone and quickly write down whatever Brain Clutter I have going on. Usually, one or two words are enough to trigger my memory later, when I review the list.

The habit of writing down thoughts and ideas prevents me from forgetting things and frees up my brain to concentrate on the big picture.

Do you ever find yourself using all your powers of concentration trying to remember six different little things? I use Gmail, but there is a tasks list or to-do list included with every email application, so use whatever you have already. Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be.

The main point is to stop relying on your memory and start writing things down. But not on cocktail napkins.

2. If it takes less than two minutes, do it now

Often when you think of a simple task, the most efficient way to get it done is to do it now while it’s fresh in your mind.

Actually, when I think of a short task, I typically write a word or two on my Brain Clutter list first. Then I complete the task and delete it. This ensures I don’t get distracted and forget. Plus, it’s ever so satisfying to delete tasks from my Brain Clutter list.

3. Keep a prospects/current clients list

Unless you are an absolute pro at using your CRM, I strongly recommend you keep a very basic spreadsheet with a list of all your current prospects and clients. Prospects tend to get buried deep inside our giant CRMs, so I like to view all my current clients and prospects on a single spreadsheet that I can access quickly whenever I have time.

This spreadsheet can be as simple as three columns; Column A for last names, Column B for first names and Column C for the date and most recent activity. For example, “Feb. 24 – Sent an email recommending showings this Saturday”. Simple!

You can start with this ultra simple three-column spreadsheet and immediately feel at least 50 per cent more organized. You will be shocked at how many prospects you would have forgotten about before implementing this simple system.

4. Review your lists regularly and establish a morning routine

Now you need to review your tasks list and your prospects list regularly. You can do this throughout the day whenever you have time. And, I strongly recommend adding this into your morning routine.

You probably already have a morning routine and don’t even realize it. For example, you sit down with your morning coffee and review your emails. Now, simply add a complete review of your tasks list and prospects list into your routine every morning and act on at least a few of the items. For example, set up an “appointment with yourself” in your calendar to take care of Task A and send an email to Prospect B about the new listing that just popped up. Once you’ve dealt with the item, remove it from your task list.

Few Realtors are naturally organized, but those who make the most money are the ones who learn to utilize simple organizational techniques. So try these four and tell me I’m wrong. Just go to your task list right now and write, “4 simple rules”. That’s all you need to do for now. This will trigger your memory when you read it later and have more time to implement the ideas.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “I’ll remember to do this later,” go back and read #1 again.

Stop relying on your memory.

 

© 1989 – 2022 REM Real Estate Magazine

Calmer than last spring’s record pace, Metro Vancouver home buyer demand remains elevated

REBGV Staff
REBGV

 While down from last year’s record numbers, home sale activity in Metro Vancouver’s* housing market remained elevated in March.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 4,344 in March 2022, a 23.9 per cent decrease from the 5,708 sales recorded in March 2021, and a 26.9 per cent increase from the 3,424 homes sold in February 2022.

Last month’s sales were 25.5 per cent above the 10-year March sales average.

“March of 2021 was the highest selling month in our history. This year’s activity, while still elevated, is happening at a calmer pace than we experienced 12 months ago,” Daniel John, REBGV Chair said. “Home buyers are keeping a close eye on rising interest rates, hoping to make a move before their locked-in rates expire.”

There were 6,673 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in March 2022. This represents a 19.5 per cent decrease compared to the 8,287 homes listed in March 2021 and a 22 per cent increase compared to February 2022 when 5,471 homes were listed.

The total number of homes currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 7,628, a 16.6 per cent decrease compared to March 2021 (9,145) and a 13.1 per cent increase compared to February 2022 (6,742).

“We’re still seeing upward pressure on prices across all housing categories in the region. Lack of supply is driving this pressure,” John said. “The number of homes listed for sale on our MLS® system today is less than half of what’s needed to shift the market into balanced territory.”

For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for March 2022 is 56.9 per cent. By property type, the ratio is 38.8 per cent for detached homes, 73.3 per cent for townhomes, and 70.3 per cent for apartments.

Generally, analysts say 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 $1,360,500. This represents a 20.7 per cent increase over March 2021 and a 3.6 per cent increase compared to February 2022.

Sales of detached homes in March 2022 reached 1,291, a 34.3 per cent decrease from the 1,965 detached sales recorded in March 2021. The benchmark price for a detached home is $2,118,600. This represents a 23.4 per cent increase from March 2021 and a 3.6 per cent increase compared to February 2022.

Sales of apartment homes reached 2,310 in March 2022, a 14.3 per cent decrease compared to the 2,697 sales in March 2021. The benchmark price of an apartment home is $835,500. This represents a 16.8 per cent increase from March 2021 and a 3.4 per cent increase compared to February 2022.

Attached home sales in March 2022 totalled 743, a 29.0 per cent decrease compared to the 1,046 sales in March 2021. The benchmark price of an attached home is $1,138,300. This represents a 28.1 per cent increase from March 2021 and a 4.4 per cent increase compared to February 2022.

*Editor’s Note: Areas covered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver include: Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, South Delta, Squamish, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Whistler.

The real estate industry is a key economic driver in British Columbia. In 2021, 43,999 homes changed ownership in the Board’s area, generating $2.98 billion in economic spin-off activity and an estimated 20,942 jobs. The total dollar value of residential sales transacted through the MLS® system in Greater Vancouver totalled $53.4 billion in 2021.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is an association representing more than 14,000 REALTORS® and their companies. The Board provides a variety of member services, including the Multiple Listing Service®. For more information on real estate, statistics, and buying or selling a home, contact a local REALTOR®.

 

© 2022 REBGV

Vancouver l iive-work condo sells for $1,100 per square foot

NAI Commercial
Western Investor

Calgary 239-unit walk-up rental building sells for $38 million

Mainstreet Equity Corp. Calgary
Western Investor

All-cash deal nets well-managed property in popular Bridgeland-Riverside community.

Mainstreet Equity Corp. Calgary, for Western Investor

Property type: Multi-family rental

Location: 641 Meredith Road NE Calgary.

Number of units: 239

Year built: 1979

Price per suite: $159,435

Sale price: $38 million

Buyer: Mainstreet Equity Corp., Calgary

 

 © 2022 Western Investor