The Metro Vancouver Real Estate Thread

[JamesOwnz]

Originally Posted by logan5

Brentwood is just horrid. It's a huge drop off in lifestyle in exchange for a more central location. Not worth it imo. Everybody has different priorities, but a neighbourhood that draws you out after work or on the week-ends is far more valuable than a convenient location. Brentwood has no identity, and even with a hundred more clone towers, it will still have no identity.

Are we including the heights into brentwood? Or when we say Brentwood are we just counting the mall and the new condos?

If we include the heights that area is almost perfect to raise a family in..if he was in a condo by the mall well he can't exactly walk his child to school everyday but is a 5 min drive to about 4 different elementary schools.

No, it is not a great area for the 20s/early 30s person who wants to go out and party every weekend (but even then.. only a 15 min skytrain to granville)

[Smooth]

As some of you may know, Bob Rennie recently addressed the Urban Development Institute regarding housing affordability. The speech was very informative and was supported by well researched data.

If any of you are interested in the affordability issues affecting the City of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland then I highly recommend watching the speech.

• Video Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szsMBFgf21k

[wrenegade]

Thanks for posting that. I was unable to attend due to work this year but have added the video to my watch later list!

[Sheba]

Christy Clark reveals 6 key principles to affordable housing

Premier Christy Clark says her government will lay out a plan to address housing affordability in the province over the coming days and weeks.

In a new address on YouTube, Clark lists six principles the government will consider, including supporting first-time homebuyers and protecting consumers from greedy sales practices.

She says a determined effort must be made by all levels of government because high housing costs are impacting families.

"To make sure that we preserve the dream of owning a home and keeping it in the reach of the middle class," said Clark in the video.

On Sunday, Jean-Yves Duclos, minister of Families, Children and Social Development, and Rich Coleman, the province's housing minister are set to announce funding for the issue at a media event on Hastings Street in Vancouver at 2:30 p.m. PT.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said he wants the province to co-operate in collecting an empty homes tax; Robertson hopes to create more rental housing instead of letting investment properties sit dormant while his city's living costs soar.

YouTube link (see if you can watch it without rolling your eyes)

[ssiguy]

Note to self.............stick spoon down throat.

[jlousa]

Never a problem that a government couldn't make worse. Besides the shark has already been jumped. The latest push upwards on land prices we've seen is going to be the last for quite a while even before any intervention. And feel free to quote me on that. Not recommending people cash out but if that is how you've been making a living then start looking for a job.

[supercanuck]

Does anyone know why there is no development around the 2 Expo Vancouver stations, Nanaimo and 29th Avenue? To me it would make sense to add density around transit but those 2 areas have remained untouched. Thanks for any insights.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by supercanuck

Does anyone know why there is no development around the 2 Expo Vancouver stations, Nanaimo and 29th Avenue? To me it would make sense to add density around transit but those 2 areas have remained untouched. Thanks for any insights.

See post here:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=547

[Sheba]

British Columbia real estate panel urges tougher fines, oversight

British Columbia's real estate agents and brokerages should be fined dramatically more than they currently are for misconduct and face more stringent regulatory oversight, an advisory board recommended on Tuesday.

The final report by the provincially appointed Independent Advisory Group follows a four-month review of the sector, which has come under scrutiny after media reports of predatory practices by some agents and brokers in red hot markets.

Housing prices have skyrocketed in British Columbia, jumping 30 percent in Greater Vancouver over the last year, prompting concerns that speculators and foreign investors are driving the market rather than local housing needs, and posing regulatory challenges.

"The regulatory regime for real estate was designed for people who buy and sell homes, not people who are buying and selling investments," advisory group chair Carolyn Rogers told reporters. "That is a different market, it requires different regulatory rules, approaches and power."

That shift drove the group to urge numerous changes to strengthen the Real Estate Council of British Columbia's oversight of the industry, including ensuring that the Council is the only body responsible for investigating misconduct.

There was previously some confusion as to whether regional real estate boards, which are industry groups, or the provincially appointed Council was the de facto regulator.

But the most striking of 28 recommendations was that maximum penalties levied by for misconduct by individual licensees be boosted C$250,000 ($191,703) from a current C$10,000, and to C$500,000 from C$20,000 for brokerages. It also recommended raising maximum administrative penalties to C$50,000 from C$1,000.

"Large commissions and low penalties for licensee misconduct combine to create the perception that regulatory penalties are simply a transaction costs for otherwise profitable behavior," the advisor group said in its report. "This significantly undermines the effectiveness and credibility of the regulator."

The report also recommended that agents no longer be able to represent both buyer and seller in a transaction, and that they be prohibited from having a financial interest in a transaction, beyond getting a commission.

Seven of the recommendations, including changes to monetary penalties, are subject to approval by the British Columbia government. The remainder will be implemented by the Real Estate Council, which has accepted the recommendations.

The advisory group said it does not expect the stricter rules to have a material impact on scorching real estate markets in the province or housing affordability, noting the focus was on rebuilding consumer trust.

[cornholio]

Originally Posted by Sheba

British Columbia real estate panel urges tougher fines, oversight

Not enough and frankly meaningless. The real estate board has lost all relevance in this province. At some point it will be completely reworked from the ground up. Its not a matter of if but a matter of when. Those that still hold any sort of value in the real estate board or anything coming from it should re analyze their views. The real estate board is morally bankrupt, it has completely failed at the one thing it was tasked to do and there is no saving it.

The sooner people shun it as they should the faster we can fix the industry.

[cornholio]

Well that was quicker then i thought. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-...ticle30681945/ No more self regulation for the industry.

Still dont trust the liberals on this issue but this has to be done. Like I said the real estate board is broken and has lost all credibility / relevance. The outcome cant be worse then the status quo and with time the industry can be fixed. First thing is to purge the old guard that have been holding power up until now. Then real changes can start happening.

[sacrifice333]

Originally Posted by cornholio

Well that was quicker then i thought. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-...ticle30681945/ No more self regulation for the industry.

Well... another great way to do something without actually doing anything.

The Liberals and every other political party will be very slow to do anything meaningful because tempering the bubble through foreign investment rules, PTT changes, or anything else will mean an equity hit to the most politically influential generation, the Baby Boomers-- they won a generational lottery... and they're keeping the windfall thanks to political cowards.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by cornholio

Well that was quicker then i thought. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-...ticle30681945/ No more self regulation for the industry.

Still dont trust the liberals on this issue but this has to be done. Like I said the real estate board is broken and has lost all credibility / relevance. The outcome cant be worse then the status quo and with time the industry can be fixed. First thing is to purge the old guard that have been holding power up until now. Then real changes can start happening.

The Real Estate Boards are private and are still very much in existence. The regulator, the Real Estate Council is what has been brought back under government control.

Regardless, I think that this is probably good, but I doubt that it will change much.

First, the government will now directly determine who oversees real estate regulation. This means that if the government does not take regulation seriously, the industry could ultimately end up with even flimsier regulation (a superintendent being influenced by the industry's political contributions is likely a weaker regulator than old-guard real estate managing brokers who have a stake in seeing their industry regain public credibility).

Second, the strength of the Real Estate Council's powers were always determined by statute and regulations. They wanted the ability to have stricter punishments, it was the government that held back.

Third, the new Superintendent of Real Estate Council will not be able to change much if FINTRAC and other financial oversight bodies are not strengthened.

[Klazu]

You know the market is ridiculous when you are constantly getting unaddressed letters per mail claiming how an unit in the same building has just sold for "a very good price" and how "there are buyers looking for apartments in this building". It is okay to call the realtor "at any time" and him having a "successful and aggressive marketing plan". Finally the letter reminds "not to wait, as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity".

This is the third letter we have got in two months' time. I cannot imagine how much people that are living in tear-downs in the most sought-after areas like Westside or Shaughnessy are being bombarded by these greedy bastards.

Things will crash hard soon.

[Sheba]

British Columbia backs Vancouver plan to tax vacant homes

British Columbia will support a plan by Vancouver, a Canadian city in the grips of a housing affordability crisis, to tax vacant homes as a way to try to increase the supply of rental accommodation, the province's finance minister said on Monday.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said last month the west coast city, with a rental vacancy rate close to zero, would find a way to tax its nearly 11,000 empty homes with or without the province's backing. He had given the province until Aug. 1 to respond.

If implemented, the tax could drive up costs for many foreign investors who have helped make Vancouver Canada's most expensive property market and drive new investments to other housing markets.

Finance minister Mike de Jong said the British Columbia government would introduce on July 25 the necessary amendments to the Vancouver Charter to allow the city to push ahead with its tax plan. The charter is a provincial statute under which the city is regulated.

"We are going to provide a clear statutory authority for the City of Vancouver to implement a vacancy tax. They won't have to camouflage it as a business tax," de Jong told reporters.

He was referring to a "Plan B" by the city to draft its own regulations to tax empty houses as business investments if it did not get the province's backing to change the charter.

More than 90 percent of detached homes in Vancouver are worth more than C$1 million ($762,078.95), according to a study released last month.

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by Klazu

You know the market is ridiculous when you are constantly getting unaddressed letters per mail claiming how an unit in the same building has just sold for "a very good price" and how "there are buyers looking for apartments in this building". It is okay to call the realtor "at any time" and him having a "successful and aggressive marketing plan". Finally the letter reminds "not to wait, as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity".

This is the third letter we have got in two months' time. I cannot imagine how much people that are living in tear-downs in the most sought-after areas like Westside or Shaughnessy are being bombarded by these greedy bastards.

Things will crash hard soon.

Some of us are good-guys. I'm a very successful Realtor and I don't subscribe this kind of annoying marketing. I'm sorry my colleagues are doing this in your building and directly to you. If you request they stop sending you information most of them will cease. I have to agree, many Realtors do too much of this, they should realize it's mostly ineffective, especially when it annoys rather than informs.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by connect2source

Some of us are good-guys. I'm a very successful Realtor and I don't subscribe this kind of annoying marketing. I'm sorry my colleagues are doing this in your building and directly to you. If you request they stop sending you information most of them will cease. I have to agree, many Realtors do too much of this, they should realize it's mostly ineffective, especially when it annoys rather than informs.

On the other hand, please keep the free Realtor notepads coming! I can't remember the last time I've used anything else at home for grocery lists, packing checklists, and general household notes.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

On the other hand, please keep the free Realtor notepads coming! I can't remember the last time I've used anything else at home for grocery lists, packing checklists, and general household notes.

We get those letters and notepads fairly regularly and most of them land in recycling pretty fast. I like the fridge magnet with tear-off calendar pages that comes around xmas (there's only one realtor I know of that does that).

[connect2source]

Some good international perspective on our real estate issues in the The Guardian a couple of days ago :

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...itish-columbia

[Sheba]

Vancouver housing: After dragging heels, Feds plan crackdown on tax cheats

A “bombshell” internal federal government document has triggered a new wave of accusations of government inaction in dealing with Vancouver’s housing affordability crisis.

The document, leaked to the South China Morning Post, indicates the Canada Revenue Agency conducted only one successful global audit last year of the so-called “astronaut” millionaire immigrants who buy pricey homes and settle families in Metro Vancouver, but fail to report their worldwide taxable income.

The single overseas audit was one of 339 audits done by the CRA’s Pacific Region that yielded a total of $14.4 million in recovered revenues and $1.3 million in fines.

The document is stamped “protected B” — which indicates that the public disclosure of the report could cause “serious injury to an individual, organization or government,” according to Public Works and Government Services Canada.

The Hong Kong newspaper quoted from a provocative slide presentation to B.C. Pacific Region agency staff last month that said the agency is now beefing up its resources to go after tax cheats, and especially the top 500 files of greatest concern in the city’s overheated housing market.

The additional 85 full-time staff on the West Coast will target the “astronauts” as well as speculators who “flip” properties to obtain a quick profit, then fail to pay capital gains tax and sometimes don’t pay the goods and services tax.

Some, according to the presentation, seek to avoid the GST by claiming the house is a “principal residence” and therefore exempt.

The quick sale is justified in a variety of ways, according to the slide presentation, including: “Dad tripped over a crack in the sidewalk in front of the house (bad omen).”

Another excuse for a quick-sell is a negative Feng Shui report — a reference to the ancient Chinese philosophy of harmonizing people with their surrounding environment.

The slide show also presented a photo of a Vancouver mansion that sold for $5.8 million, over a caption saying the new owner had declared income so low he or she was able to claim the federal tax break intended for low-income Canadian workers.

A CRA spokesman issued a statement Thursday saying the agency’s efforts are not targeting specifically foreign buyers.

“The source of funds for the real estate purchases are not the focus of tax non-compliance,” said Jeffrey Lansing.

He also noted that the agency’s focus on domestic tax evasion and real estate flipping is taking precedence over failure to report offshore income because that’s the area “where the risk of non-compliance was highest.”

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