Category: Real Estate News

Property Transfer Tax (PTT) A New Housing exemption will apply to newly built homes or newly subdivided units priced up to $750,000, saving buyers up to $13,000; and  a partial exemption will apply on newly built homes priced $750,000 to $800,000.   A new 3% PTT rate will apply to the portion of a home sale […]

The Canadian government announced today that it is increasing the minimum down payment on insured mortgages from 5 per cent to a two tiered system under which the minimum down payment on houses priced above $500,000 will remain at 5 per cent, but there will be an additional 10 per cent required on the portion […]

When investing in real estate, the basics are still true – location, location, location. You can change the look and feel of a real estate investment property, but you can’t change the location…and waterfront is the best location of all. Another thing we’ve learned through our years of experience in real estate is that it’s […]

Bank of Canada Interest Rate Announcement – July 15, 2015 The Bank of Canada announced this morning that it is lowering its target for the overnight rate by 0.25 percentage points to 0.5 per cent. In the press release accompanying the decision, the Bank emphasized that while this additional stimulus is required to help return […]

We were privileged to interview master builder, Sherman Peng of URBANSCAPE PROJECT LTD, who shared his insights and walked us through a recent coach house project on the Vancouver Westside. This brief video shows how he converts a garage into a 1 bedroom and den, 700 SF, 2 level coach house on a 33 ft […]

Recent news stories have focused on the foreign buyer segment of the market, concluding that foreign investors are unduly inflating home values and driving potential domestic buyers out of the housing market, especially those looking to purchase their first home. However, there are data and analyses from a number of sources that point to foreign investment […]

A shockwave went through the real estate industry last week when Zoocasa suddenly announced that it’s going out of business, ending its popular real estate referral program for its customers, including Vancouver home seller and buyers. See Zoocasa’s shutdown notice at www.zoocasa.com. Zoocasa was launched by Rogers Communications as a real estate referral service that […]

Land sales drive commercial real estate activity in the first quarter An increase in raw land sales helped boost commercial real estate totals across the Lower Mainland in the first quarter of 2015, according to data from Commercial Edge, a commercial real estate system operated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV). The […]

BC Home Sales Continue at Brisk Pace Vancouver, BC – June 15, 2015. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 10,174 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in May, up 16.6 per cent from the same month last year. Total sales dollar volume was $6.4 […]

BCREA 2015 Second Quarter Housing Forecast Vancouver, BC – June 1, 2015. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2015 Second Quarter Housing Forecast today. “More robust economic growth, strong consumer confidence and rock-bottom mortgage interest rates are expected to push housing demand this year to its highest level since 2007,” said Cameron […]