This past week the Bank of Canada held its rate at 5% after raising its benchmark rate 10 times since 2022. Creating a sense of relief across the housing industry, mortgage strategist Robert McLister in the Financial Post cautions “If consumer inflation expectations tick meaningfully higher, I have no doubt the Bank of Canada will hammer them back down with at least another quarter-point hike, despite a shrinking economy.”
RBC’s Special Housing Report nods to 2024 before we see any market gains as high interest rates, ongoing affordability issues and a looming recession continue to pose major obstacles.
Not out of the woods yet, Storeys reports over 30 GTHA condo projects have been delayed as developers chose to wait for a more favourable market, which represents an additional 8,000 units that could have been added to the Toronto and Hamilton area’s housing supply stock if not for affordability challenges brought on by sticky inflation and rate realities.
Housing Minister Sean Fraser indicates tax incentives, GST removal, and favourable financing are still on the table as the federal government hopes to ease housing pain as covered in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live this past Sunday.
Locally, this Thursday, the City of Vancouver has a scheduled hearing to address the Addition of Missing Middle Housing and Simplifying Regulations, also known as the Multi-Plex Program that could potentially allow for up to six individual housing units on an existing single family home property, in an effort to address the housing crisis. Ron Rapp is scheduled to speak on behalf of HAVAN members.
HAVAN continues to work with CHBA BC and CHBA to advocate for all levels of government to work together to address the challenges of the housing industry including zoning restrictions, density limits, and NIMBYism.
Looking to stay up-to-date on Metro Vancouver’s residential housing industry? Sign up for Ron’s weekly Monday Morning Briefing and other HAVAN emails here.
QUICK BITES …
- An oped in the Vancouver Sun, looks at zoning with Douglas Todd suggesting to make a real difference, the percentage of affordable units must be raised from 20 to 50 percent. This theory of course would require a more favourable environment.
- It would appear Canada is not alone in the struggle to deliver homes. The Economist is reporting Germany’s construction industry that represents 12% of the GDP is on the brink of collapse due to rising costs, red tape, and increased demand.
- The Rennie Advance – September 2023 report is out.
- There were 3,943 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in August 2023. This represents an 18.1 percent increase compared to the 3,340 homes listed in August 2022. This was 5.3 percent below the 10-year seasonal average (4,164). Access the
REBGV Monthly Market Report August 2023 for the complete rundown.
- Reminder, the FortisBC New Home Program is set to undergo a program change for 2024. To ensure rebate eligibility for the rebates available under the 2023 New Home Program, check out the details here. FortisBC will be hosting two information sessions to give a rundown of the program changes and answer questions. Both sessions will cover the same content so please feel free to register for your preferred date/time using this link:
• Session 1: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 – 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
• Session 2: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 – 11:00 a.m. to noon.
