Have Vancouver’s policies hindered rental housing more than helped?

December 16th, 2017
Vancouver's stratospheric housing costs have driven the city to groundbreaking interventions to make more rentals available. That has included Canada's first sin tax for homes left vacant and a radical new housing policy emphasizing creating purpose-built apartments geared to rates local residents can afford. But some developers and housing advocates say the city has actually obstructed – no ...

Chinese real estate portal says investment in Vancouver 'flat as a pancake'

December 4th, 2017
Real estate sales to Chinese buyers in Vancouver are in the midst of a "no growth" pattern, according to data gathered by China's largest real estate portal, Juwai.com. "Chinese buyer demand in Vancouver is flat as a pancake — neither up nor down," said Byron Burley, vice president for Juwai.com in B.C. The most common searches on Juwai in addition to Vancouver were Toronto, Seattle, Montre ...

New mortgage rules could disqualify 10% of buyers with big down payments: Bank of Canada

December 3rd, 2017
New rules coming in January could disqualify up to 10 per cent of prospective home buyers who have down payments of 20 per cent or more, the Bank of Canada says. The new rules will likely cause those buyers to settle for smaller homes, put more money down or delay buying. Some may also take out riskier loans from alternative lenders that are not federally regulated, including credit unions a ...