The non-permanent residents
Much has been written about the surge in population growth in recent years, and indeed year over year growth in B.C. has spiked to levels that we have not seen in many decades. Many have...
Category: News
Summary of housing policy actions
2023 has been a momentous year in housing policy at the provincial level. More has changed this year on the housing front than did in the past 40, and it’s getting quite confusing to keep...
October: Rates and Regulations
It’s been an eventful month for the housing market both in Victoria and the broader regulatory landscape in the province. In Victoria rates have continued to suppress activity, while the province dropped two bombshells, one...
About those AirBnB regulations
Last week the provincial government brought in broad new restrictions on short term rentals, defining minimum standards on what’s legal, unveiling new strategies for enforcement, and most surprisingly, ending the practice of grandfathering for short...
March: Slow sales & tight supply, plus housing reforms
March is a wrap, and the situation remained substantially the same as in February. Sales are still historically slow for this time of year, but sellers are uninterested in playing ball with new listings trailing...
Supply is not the problem? A rebuttal
This weekend I read an article by Dr. Joshua Gordon in the Globe and Mail arguing that the focus on housing supply is a red herring, and demand stoked by foreign buyers, cheap credit, and...
What could COVID-19 do to real estate?
This post is 4 years old. The data and my views may have since evolved.Since it’s all Coronavirus all the time on the blog these days, here’s a closer look at how the situation may...
The real story on assessments
This post is 4 years old. The data and my views may have since evolved.BC Assessment has released their previews of assessments for the year, and the media has jumped on them to make breathless...
On “Clickdata” and why I don’t cover it
This post is 5 years old. The data and my views may have since evolved.Another month another rent report from the folks at Padmapper and of course the requisite spinoff articles in the media about...
The Evil Investors
This post is 5 years old. The data and my views may have since evolved.There’s a study out by SFU’s City Program that has been getting some media coverage lately. In it, Andy Yan examined...