Oleg Tsaryov*

District of North Vancouver residents sounded off at an Oct. 10 public hearing about proposed new rules to legalize & regulate short-term rentals in the district, which are not currently permitted but rarely face enforcement. 

As of Oct. 4, district staff had identified 1,018 short-term rental listings (up from 832 in May and almost double the count done in January), or about 3% of the total number of homes in the district. 

Almost 90 % of those listed are for the entire dwelling unit, rather than just a single room shared in an owner’s home. Under the proposed rules, hosts would only be granted a licence if they are offering their own principal residence for short-term rentals. 

The rule would also apply to secondary suites, so hosts could not offer basement apartments or coach houses unless they live in them. A a sticking point for a large contingent of residents who currently host short-term rentals in their secondary suites without permits. 

The most common theme among them was that revenue they provide is now necessary for homeowners to cover their cost of living on the North Shore. If the bylaw passed, the district would spend much of 2024 communicating with short-term rental hosts about the rules in hopes of bringing them into compliance. Starting in 2025, the district will begin using revenues brought in from short-term rental licences to go after those still flouting the bylaw. 

North Shore News  

Oleg Tsaryov, TOP 1% of all REALTORS® in Greater Vancouver* *using MLS

Demand for labour is showing little signs of abating in B.C.

The province added 25,700 jobs to the economy in September for the  second consecutive month of job growth, according to Statistics Canada  data released Friday (Oct. 6).

Demand was highest in B.C.'s construction industry (+12,600 jobs).  Food services and accommodation took (-6,700 jobs) took the biggest hit.

Meantime, the province's unemployment rate expanded by 0.2 percentage  points to reach 5.4 per cent as more people entered the labour force  looking for work.

Employment across Canada rose by 64,000 jobs while the unemployment rate remained static at 5.5 per cent.

The Bank of Canada paused interest rate hikes last month, leaving its  key rate untouched at five per cent amid signs the economy is cooling.

The country has since added more than 100,000 jobs to the economy.

“There is little debate that the gaudy headline job growth overstates  the strength of the labour market, juiced by a seasonal spike in  education jobs and by surging part-time employment,” BMO chief economist  Douglas Porter said in a note, referring to the national numbers.

“We don't believe this is enough to tip the scales for the Bank of  Canada, but it will keep their tightening bias firmly in place.”

TD senior economist James Orlando also cautioned against getting too excited by the latest national numbers.

“Almost all the gains were in the historically volatile education  sector. And when looking at cyclically driven private sector firms,  hiring only increased by [1,000 jobs] this month,” he said in a note.

“Furthermore, most of the job gains were in part-time employment,  causing the number of hours worked to decline. These details should  throw some cold water on a seemingly hot jobs report.”

But he said the latest jobs report still muddies the outlook for the  Bank of Canada ahead of its next interest rate announcement Oct. 25.

CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham said in a note he anticipates  the Bank of Canada will hold off any moves to its key rate at the end of  the month.

"Falling job vacancies and a stall in economic activity [is] evidence  that the economy is now responding to prior rate increases," he said.

Western Investor

​The  Bank of Canada announced today its sixth interest rate decision of  2023, keeping the overnight rate at 5.00%. After recent increases, the  Bank has now paused. In its updated forecasts, the Bank expects  inflation to reach the 2% target in mid-2025, instead of the original  2024 expectation. The Bank controls inflation by raising borrowing  costs, which can lead to businesses passing higher costs to consumers.  This approach can be likened to fighting fire with fire, potentially  resulting in entrenched inflation.

The next Bank of Canada decision is on October 25th.

Regarding  mortgages, variable and adjustable rate mortgages are unaffected by  this decision. Fixed-rate mortgages, on the other hand, are influenced  by government bond yields of corresponding lengths. As bond markets  fluctuate daily, fixed rates can change at any time and have been on an  upward trend in recent months.

In the real estate sector, higher  rates have reduced purchasing power and buyer interest, resulting in  fewer bidders at listings. This has led to more stable prices in the  Greater Vancouver area due to reduced competition among buyers in a  limited supply market.

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Oleg Tsaryov,TOP 1% of all REALTORS® in Greater Vancouver, President's Club Leader 2017 - 2022*​, *using MLS

Brendon Ogmundson, the chief economist at the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA), stated today that the BC housing market has shown unexpected resilience in 2023. 

According to BCREA's analysis of regional real estate data, they anticipate a 2.8% year-over-year reduction in home sales this year, accompanied by a 2% decline in the average home price to $976,600.  Within the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver's (REBGV) jurisdiction, a 4.3% year-over-year decline in home sales is projected for 2023, while the average home price is expected to experience a marginal 0.2% increase to $1.275 million.  For the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB), a 0.7% year-over-year decrease in home sales is predicted for 2023, and the average home price within its jurisdiction is anticipated to drop by 5.2% year-over-year to $1.04 million.  Despite below-average sales due to limited inventory, home prices have risen this year.  ​ 

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Oleg Tsaryov, a top producer and your local real estate agent, with 20 years of experience in selling homes and condos in Greater Vancouver   

Top 1% of all REALTORS®, 2017-2022* * using MLS  

My email:[email protected]

HOUSING TRENDS AND AFFORDABILITY

    Owning a home got even more expensive: Rising interest rates further inflated home ownership costs in the fourth quarter of 2022, despite a generalized dip in property values. RBC’s aggregate affordability measure for Canada rose for a nineth-straight quarter to 62.8%, its worst-ever level. The situation deteriorated in all markets we track. Buyers in BC and Ontario are especially challenged.

    But the pace of deterioration is slowing significantly: The increase in RBC’s aggregate measure in the fourth quarter (1.4 percentage points) was the smallest in almost two years, as lower prices have started to take some of the pressure off.

    Price drop, stable rates set the stage for relief—soon: The fourth quarter may prove to be the low point for ownership affordability. Further widespread price declines—particularly in Ontario and BC—should help lower ownership costs as interest rates stabilize. We expect affordability trends to improve noticeably this year—albeit only partially. Our call for a 15% peak-to-trough decline in the national RPS benchmark price would only partly reverse the more than 40% surge in the first two years of the pandemic.

https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/brighter-days-ahead-as-home-ownership-costs-go-through-the-roof/

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Oleg Tsaryov, your local real estate agent.

Top 1% of all REALTORS®, 2017-2022* * using MLS