More rate cuts ahead: Why fixed rates will lag behind – updated strategies for this new mortgage environment. The Bank of Canada (BOC) delivered a jumbo rate cut, reducing its key interest rate by 0.50% to 3.75% on October 23rd. This brought PRIME to 5.95% with most lenders. This is the fourth time the rate…
Posted November 6, 2024 7:52 am. The BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) says 2025 will see a big rebound in home sales. The association expects sales will jump by more than 13 per cent next year following a flat 2024. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE! “Following two pretty challenging years for sales, it looks like markets across BC are starting to build momentum,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “In addition to lower mortgage rates, new policy changes allowing longer amortization for first-time homebuyers and increased mortgage insurance caps will provide a boost to market activity.” The association also forecasts the average sale price of a home will rise next year, provincially by about three per cent, but by only one per cent locally. For Vancouver, the BCREA is forecasting an average listing price in the fall of 2025 to be around $1.3 million, with the average listing in the Fraser Valley to be around $1.05 million.
Posted October 29, 2024 10:51 pm. Most people think of the words “expensive,” “out of reach,” or even “impossible” when it comes to the younger generations buying homes in Vancouver. While some of those attitudes may hold true, more than half of Canadian millennials and Gen Z, according to a new Scotiabank report, are still set on buying homes in the next five years despite the high cost of living. “Within my friend group, it’s kind of a big deal right now, kind of an urgency to be able to buy a house,” a Vancouver resident told CityNews Vancouver. “A few of my friends already have purchased but we definitely have a couple who, they just got engaged and they’re expecting, and now it’s like, are we going to be able to? That’s definitely on their radar.” Another Vancouverite says they are determined to find a home as a couple but “at some point financially, we might have to choose to go somewhere else, outside of Vancouver, the Lower Mainland, something that we can afford.” The report from Scotiabank says in B.C. across all age groups 39 per cent of all respondents were looking to buy a home within five years which is about on track with the rest of the country at 42 per cent. While fewer younger Canadians own a home today compared to three years ago, realtor Kit Sorongon tells CityNews Vancouver that he’s not surprised by their unwavering determination to buy. “They’re waiting for the opportunity to be able to be qualified and be able to afford, and that’s why their prediction of the next five years, that’s actually very, very accurate, and very realistic,” Sorongon said. The report says more than half of Millennials and Gen Zeds find the economy is pushing back their home-buying plans, but the demand for homeownership is still strong. Sorongon says he expects more younger clients to qualify for a mortgage because the Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point last week. “Having that already intimate desire to own a property with all the signs showing up, it gives them the optimism to be able to purchase again,” he said. In B.C., the number of homeowners remained steady at 59 per cent this year, while fewer are renting and more are living with family.
A Vancouver home that has been listed on and off since 2018 still hasn’t found a buyer despite millions in price drops. The most recent assessed value, pegged by BC Assessment at $5,578,000, is much lower than the asking price. Located on 1416 Acadia Road, the Vancouver home is currently listed for $9,998,000. It has been listed numerous times since 2018, and the asking price has steadily dropped. Angell, Hasman & Associates Realty The ocean-view estate is in what the listing calls “Vancouver’s most coveted University Endowment Lands.” It features five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and 7,070 sq ft of space on a 20,800 sq ft lot. It’s massive. The listing also calls the home a “historic masterpiece,” which makes sense as it was built in 1935. Angell, Hasman & Associates Realty Interior shots reveal an exquisitely staged home, and it’s easy to see why the owner values it so highly. Despite the historic home’s size and design, BC Assessment only values the building at $712,000. Angell, Hasman & Associates Realty The home was listed for $18,980,000 in 2017, but that listing expired in 2018. The year after, it was listed again for $15,888,000, but that listing also expired. Angell, Hasman & Associates Realty In 2019, it was listed again with another price drop, down to $13,980,000. That listing expired in 2020 and stayed off the market for three years. It wasn’t listed again until 2023 when the asking price dropped to $10,500,000. That listing expired in 2024. After that, it was listed twice more at the same price. One of those listings expired, and the other was terminated this August. Finally, it was listed earlier this week for $9,998,000. Angell, Hasman & Associates Realty The home features walk-out access to a private garden terrace and an outdoor summer dining area overlooking Pacific Spirit Park. Angell, Hasman & Associates Realty The sink area in this bathroom is a sight to behold. Angell, Hasman & Associates Realty “The entire property has been [professionally] landscaped and is beautifully illuminated at night with dramatic effect,” the listing says. Angell, Hasman & Associates Realty If you had all the money in the world and could make a bid on this home, what would you offer?
The BC government is set to hit a historic milestone in its clean energy infrastructure efforts. It promises that by the end of the month, electric vehicle drivers will be able to travel throughout BC along the “Electric Highway.” This means that fast-charging stations for public electric vehicles will be in place along major routes, making travel from Alaska to Washington possible for BC drivers, something which was impossible before due to the risk of EVs losing power mid-trip, also known as “range anxiety.” “The completion of BC’s Electric Highway by summer 2024 fulfils a key commitment of CleanBC, the Province’s climate action plan. In addition, the Province is working toward an overall target of building 10,000 public charging stations by 2030. As of August 2024, there are more than 5,300 public charging stations in the province, an increase of nearly 350% since 2018,” the Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation said Friday in a release. BC Government The hope is that more drivers will be encouraged to switch to electric vehicles in the years ahead due to the advancement in reliable travel options to lower greenhouse gas emissions and meet energy targets. “In 2023, approximately 23% of light-duty vehicle sales were EVs, an increase from 18% of sales in 2022, and well ahead of the Province’s targets under the Zero-Emissions Vehicle Act,” the government said. “British Columbians are embracing electric vehicles faster than any other jurisdiction in Canada, and that’s why we are continuing to make investments for growth within our current system and building out our fast-charging network across BC,” Chris O’Riley, president and CEO of BC Hydro, added. Completing BC’s Electric Highway was a collaborative effort involving utilities, local governments, Indigenous communities, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, and the private sector. The Province has contributed more than $13 million directly to this initiative through the GoElectric Public Charger Program and additional funding through Natural Resources Canada’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program.
Posted September 16, 2024 3:46 pm. BC Ferries says it’s going ahead with the next steps in procuring five new major vessels needed on its busiest routes between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. The company says the new vessels will help it to address projected population growth, replace aging vessels, and meet customer expectations. CEO Nicolas Jimenez tells 1130 NewsRadio that the Ferry Commissioner still has to approve the designs, but they’re hoping to get the first of the five new vessels in the water by 2029 — with all of them operating by 2031. “What we would see is essentially a ship deployed about every six months. It takes a bit of time to bring a new ship into service. So it’s not like five show up day 1, and day 2 you take out five or four old ships. You need time to absorb that into your system,” Jimenez explained. For now, the company says, it’s going to work on maintenance to extend the operational life of two current vessels — the Queen of Surrey and the Queen of Oak Bay. The C-class vessels serve routes between Vancouver Island and the mainland, and BC Ferries has said its current fleet is aging. Last week, BC Ferries had to pull its ship, the Queen of New Westminster, out of service for six months after a propeller fell off the vessel into the sea. The company says the new fleet will help meet the record-breaking demand it saw this summer, with over 8,040,000 passengers and over 3,150,000 vehicles transported between June 1 and Aug. 31. “[We’re] one of the few transportation services, I think, in North America that have surpassed our pre-COVID high. So definitely we’re feeling the pressures and we’re going to continue to be there,” said Jimenez. Ed Hooper, the company’s executive director of shipbuilding says the five new ferries will be more environmentally friendly than its older ships. “These new vessels will be quieter and cleaner than the vessels they replace, allowing us to achieve a significant reduction in our corporate greenhouse gas emissions,” said Hooper. BC Ferries says it needs seven new vessels in total, but will look at adding in the remaining two ships later on.
Posted September 16, 2024 4:06 pm. Last Updated September 16, 2024 4:07 pm. The provincial government announced Monday it’s granted extensions to 21 municipalities that were having trouble meeting the deadline for adopting multi-unit housing legislation. The deadline was designed to force local governments to comply with the new provincial small-scale, multi-unit housing (SSMUH) legislation. In a release Monday, the province says it is now giving 21 communities more time. Where the SSMUH requirements apply, the following governments have been granted an extension for all zones: Northern Rockies Regional Municipality has been given until Dec. 31, 2024. Wells has been given until Dec. 31, 2024. City of North Vancouver has been given until June 1, 2025. Coquitlam has been given until June 30, 2025. Fraser Valley Regional District has been given until Dec. 31, 2025. Peace River Regional District has been given until Dec. 31, 2026. Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality has been given until June 30, 2027. Greenwood has been given until March 31, 2028. Osoyoos has been given until Dec. 31, 2029. Kitimat has been given until Dec. 31, 2030. Others have amended their bylaws for most areas of their community, the province says, but were granted an extension for certain areas and neighbourhoods where infrastructure upgrades are needed or underway, including: The Lougheed/Shaughnessy block in Port Coquitlam has been given until Dec. 31, 2025. Various areas within the Sunshine Coast Regional District have been given until Dec. 31, 2025. The 4th Avenue extension in Ladysmith has been given until Dec. 30, 2026. The Queensborough neighbourhood in New Westminster has been given until May 4, 2029. The Silver Creek and East Kawkawa Lake areas of Hope have been given until Dec. 30, 2030. Electoral Areas B, C, E and F in the Kitimat-Stikine Regional District have been given until Dec. 30, 2030. The Malone Road subdivision, Lot 5 Holland Creek, Forest Field Area, and south areas of Ladysmith have been given until Dec. 30, 2030. The Okanagan Falls and Faulder and Heritage Hills areas in the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District have been given until Dec. 30, 2030. Steveston in Richmond has been given until Dec. 30, 2030. Various areas in Kamloops, including the Rayleigh Waterworks District have been given until Dec. 31 2030. Part of the Proper neighbourhood and surrounding Hazel Park in Chilliwack have been given until Dec. 31, 2030. The Western Foreshore and Kye Bay areas of Comox have been given until Dec. 31, 2030. The province says seven requests for extensions from Ladysmith, Langley, Maple Ridge, the Mount Waddington Regional District, the Nanaimo Regional District, Sooke and View Royal were declined. “Communities that did not receive an extension have 90 days from the date they were first notified to adopt the new bylaws.” The extensions are frustrating District of West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager after Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon refused to grant West Vancouver an extension just weeks ago. “[I’m] very disappointed that they wouldn’t extend the same courtesy,” Sager told 1130 NewsRadio Monday. Sager thinks the government is pulling back now because the election is coming up and the legislation has seen pushback from mayors across the province. After meeting with the Union of BC Municipalities Monday, Sager says his city is not alone, feeling as though the housing ministry could have handled the legislation better. “I don’t think there’s a single mayor that is even remotely happy with the way this has been rolled out. They’re encroaching on municipal authority. Municipal responsibility is why we offer ourselves for public service, to do proper long-term planning that works in the community, to make sure that we have the proper infrastructure to service whatever is built — make sure that the simple things like the sewer pipes and the wire pipes are adequate. And so this one-size-fits-all dictated out of Victoria just seems to me and my council to be really offside,” said Sager. —With files from Srushti Gangdev.
Posted September 19, 2024 7:55 am. Commuters heading to the Massey Tunnel can expect another day of gridlock with no word on how the replacement project is going. Delta Coun. Dylan Kruger isn’t happy, as the B.C. government hasn’t provided much of an update on the replacement project. Kruger’s wondering what’s going on. “We should have had a new crossing completed over two years ago … to relieve what is the biggest bottleneck in Metro Vancouver — over 100,000 commuters going through that crossing every day, stuck in traffic,” he told 1130 NewsRadio. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE! Instead, Kruger says they’ve been given no information at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention, currently underway in downtown Vancouver. “There’s been no update to timelines or budget since pre covid. We are seeing almost every major multibillion-dollar infrastructure project go over time and over budget right now,” he explained. “I’m very concerned about the ability to deliver this project at the quote of $4.1 billion from a number of years ago, and I’m also increasingly concerned about meeting that 2030 deadline when we still don’t have an improved environmental assessment.” He points to what’s happened with other major projects like the North Shore Waste Water Treatment plant and the new Pattullo Bridge. Both have seen their price explode by billions of dollars, and delays in when the work is supposed to be done. “Building a tunnel is complex. You have to build it in segments on dry land and then plunk massive concrete tubes into the middle of the Fraser River estuary, so we still have an improved environmental assessment on the project and I’m also concerned about short and long-term impacts of one of our best regional parks in Metro Vancouver.” He says if the NDP had stuck with the project the then-BC Liberal government was building, people would already be using the new bridge. Kruger is crossing his fingers that Eby will give civic politicians an update at Thursday’s Union of BC Municipalities Convention.
One of BC’s most iconic marinas, Montague Harbour Marina on Galiano Island’s southwest shore, is now for sale. Located in one of the largest natural harbours on the southern coast, Montague Harbour is a prime destination for boaters exploring the Gulf Islands and offers a dream opportunity to own a world-class property. As the island’s only marina, Montague is a must-visit stop along BC’s famous boating route. Colliers International Offering nearly 2,000 linear feet of moorage, the marina provides both transient and annual moorage options. This full-service facility is more than just a stopover; it includes a general store, restaurant, marine fuel services, and rentals for boats, mopeds, and kayaks. It even offers kayak tours, adding a recreational element for guests looking to explore the area. This property offers the chance to own a thriving business as well as a stunning piece of BC paradise — all for $3 million, a bargain compared to many BC homes. Colliers International Operating seasonally from May to September, Montague Harbour is a well-established marina with a strong management team and experienced staff. It offers significant potential for growth, including expansion under the current water lot lease and 0.77 acres of upland development opportunity. This could allow for further enhancements to the property. Aerial view of the property (Colliers International) For those with a passion for BC’s coastal lifestyle or those seeking a thriving business venture, Montague Harbour Marina presents a rare and exciting opportunity in the heart of the Gulf Islands. Spread across a 2.34-acre water lot, this marina is a well-managed operation, backed by tenured staff, making it an ideal investment for owner-operators or investors alike. Colliers International Montague Harbour Marine Park on Galiano Island is a haven for nature lovers, offering beaches, tidal lagoons, and towering forests, as well as stunning glacier-carved rock formations. See the listing from Colliers here.
If you and your long-term partner are ready to take your relationship to the next level, what are you choosing to do first: a mortgage or marriage? According to a recent Houseful survey, a majority of young first-time homebuyers in Canada are choosing doorbells before wedding bells. The online Canadian real estate platform owned by RBC found that 78% of single and unmarried first-time homebuyers under 30 are prioritizing saving for a mortgage over having a big, lavish wedding. “Younger adults are increasingly conscious of ongoing housing affordability challenges, which motivates them to secure a financially stable future by seizing saving opportunities earlier,” said Karen Starns, CEO of Houseful, in a news release. “After getting a foothold in the market, they can gain the flexibility to pursue other life milestones that are important to them.” With the cost of living crisis in Canada, buying a home or having a wedding is easier said than done. According to a recent report from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the average price of a home went up significantly this year. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price in March 2024 was $698,530, up 2% from March 2023. In January, CREA said this national average was $659,395, up 7.6% from January 2023. This means from January to March this year, buying a home became $39,135 pricier. Houseful’s survey found that prospective homebuyers are aware of these difficulties in the current market, with 73% of those under 30 saying that reports about the market make housing look unattainable. But this isn’t stopping them from prioritizing home ownership, with 71% believing it will be an important part of their retirement plan. If you’re prioritizing a mortgage over marriage, Daily Hive wants to hear from you. Why have you decided to prioritize buying a home over having a wedding? How are you saving up? Share your story with us in the survey below or email your responses to [email protected] :