Real Estate News & Articles

Housing shortage is feeding rental fraud

2019-05-21

Rental stress hits landlords and tenants Charla Huber M?akola Group of Societies Western Investor Whether you are the one looking for a rental home or a landlord seeking a tenant for your rental home, it’s a stressful time, Charla Hub…

Nearly $90B in equity wiped off Lower Mainland home values in past year

2019-05-21

Report reveals average amount lost per household in individual municipalities, and percentage of equity lost Joannah Connolly Western Investor While falling home prices may be good news for those trying to get into the real estate market, t…

8 Essential Questions to Ask at an Open House

2019-05-17

This invaluable checklist will make sure you don?t miss any red flags or opportunities Mariko Baerg REW  If you’re in the market for a new home, there are a lot of things that you need to keep track of during your home searching …

How smart will smartphones get? A look at the exciting , and worrisome, possibilities

2019-05-17

Ian Bailey The Globe and Mail Let’s say it’s 2029, and your new smartphone has detected a pattern in the use of your Starbucks app. Every time you have a meeting with your boss, you immediately stress-drink a Venti extra sweet, …

President can't have total control at meeting

2019-05-16

Avoid confusion, challenges to meeting procedures Tony Gioventu The Province Dear Tony: Our strata corporation held their annual meeting last week and we were bogged down in simple meeting procedures with the meeting being terminated by the…

Latimer Heights 8207 202B Street Langley approximately 2000 homes of different types by Vesta Properties

2019-05-16

Vesta Properties? Latimer Heights to comprise a grand-scale community Simon Briault The Province No doubt the most striking thing about Latimer Heights, a master-planned development in Langley by Vesta Properties, is the sheer scale of the …

Long overdue beneficial ownership registry would curb money laundering

2019-05-16

Anonymity and invisibility could be reduced by implementing a publicly accessible registry Neil Sharma Mortgage Broker News Canada lacks a publicly accessible ownership registry—a major reason money launderers exploit real estate to c…

CoStar Group takes commercial sector by storm

2019-05-16

CoStar the go-to source for commercial real estate Neil Sharma REP The commercial real estate sector sometimes gets short-shrifted when it comes to accessing data—unlike the residential sector which enjoys copious quantities from all …

Things to consider when helping children buy a home

2019-05-16

A gift or a loan from bank of mom and dad Neil Sharma Canadian Real Estate Wealth As the bank of mom and dad’s popularity shows nary a sign of abating, there are crucial things for parents helping their children become homeowners to c…

Vancouver launches new online tools to help speed up building

2019-05-16

The Regulation Redesign project is an effort to streamline various rules and guidelines that govern developments Steve Randall Canadian Real Estate Wealth The City of Vancouver has updated its suite of tools relating to building permit regu…

BoC will cut interest rates twice this year says Capital Economics

2019-05-15

Poloz to cut interest rates due to the downturn in market Steve Randall Canadian Real Estate Wealth The Bank of Canada will make two interest rate cuts during 2019 according to Capital Economics. That’s because BoC governor Stephen Po…

Re/Max withdraws from referral deal with Redfin

2019-05-15

The issue of Redfin Direct service concerned RE/MAX REM Re/Max has withdrawn from its strategic referral alliance with Redfin after only two months. In March, the companies announced the alliance for Redfin offices in Canada (currently in T…

West Vancouver has been hit hardest by the housing market correction

2019-05-15

West Vancouver takes biggest hit in real estate Josh Sherman other Metro Vancouver’s housing market is undergoing a correction, and some areas have been hit far harder than others. A new Zoocasa study of Metro Vancouver shows how 15 n…

New hotel supply, sales to reach 10-year high this year

2019-05-15

Investment volume is expected to eclipse 10-year national average of $1.8 billion, while new supply forecasted to increase 2 per cent Tanya Commisso Western Investor National hotel construction and sales volume is expected to exceed histori…

The Worst Passwords of 2018

2019-05-14

other Bad habits die hard, according to SplashData’s eighth annual list of Worst Passwords of the Year . After evaluating more than 5 million passwords leaked on the Internet, the company found that computer users continue using the s…

New home prices flat in March say builders across Canada

2019-05-14

New home prices unchanged for 2nd month Steve Randall REP Builders across Canada reported flat or declining prices for new homes according to Statistics Canada. The weakness was reported in 18 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed; i…

Affordability Continues to Weigh on Housing Demand

2019-05-14

BC home sales were essentially unchanged from March BCREA The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 6,652residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April, a dec…

Trudeau says new mortgage rules cut froth in Toronto, Vancouver

2019-05-14

Government looking at mortgage changes Mortgage Broker News The Canadian government is monitoring whether tougher mortgage rules are having the desired effect but doesn’t favour allowing longer mortgage terms, Prime Minister Justin Tr…

Anti-money laundering measures target Mortgage Broker Act

2019-05-14

Mortgage Broker Act to be overhauled Neil Sharma Mortgage Broker News After last week’s bombshell reports on money laundering in British Columbia, the expert panel that prepared one of them wants the Mortgage Broker Act completely ove…

Damp April for B.C. home sales, average price down 6.2%: BCREA

2019-05-14

Listing inventory builds up across the province, although some regions remain in seller?s market territory Joannah Connolly Western Investor There has been only a meagre spring awakening when it comes to B.C. home sales this year, with Apri…

Parq Vancouver's debt problems spark questions about public incentives

2019-05-14

Lease payment obligations halved; construction subsidy provided earlier than required Glen Korstrom Western Investor Parq Vancouver is struggling financially because of interest payments on its high debt load but the project was helped by w…

Western Canada drives rise in building permits

2019-05-13

Building permits in Canada rose 2% from February Steve Randall Mortgage Broker News Building permits issued by Canadian municipalities in March totaled $8.1 billion, a 2.1% rise from February, Statistics Canada has reported. But the gain wa…

Are Toronto, Vancouver facing an office vacancy surge?

2019-05-13

Vancouver vacancy rate estimated to hit 6% Steve Randall Mortgage Broker News The office vacancy rates in Toronto and Vancouver are set to double by 2023 according to a new report. Research firm CoStar Group says that the vacancy rate in do…

BC's REALTORS' Welcome Government Recommendations on Money Laundering

2019-05-13

Panel on money laundering makes recommendations BCREA The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) is encouraged by the recommendations set out by the Ministry of Finance’s Expert Panel on Money Laundering led by Maureen Malon…