Rob Johnson

It appears that the lower mainland of BC is not the only area struggling in the housing market.  Check out this article recently posted in the Real Estate Magazine by Courtney Zwicker - Canada’s housing recovery hit another setback in September: RBC

Check out this article published in REM by Courtney Zwicker on August 14 covering the BC Ruling regarding Aboriginal Title over land in Richmond - https://realestatemagazine.ca/cowichan-title-ruling-may-reshape-b-c-property-rights-lawyer-says/

If you sell a property within 2 years you are subject to BC Home Flipping Tax - 20% which diminishes up to the 730days.  Full details here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/income-taxes/bc-home-flipping-tax

Here’s a good article published in REM September 19 by Karen Yolevski, Royal Lepage explaining how declining rates will eventually trigger more buyers to enter the market, which will cause prices to increase.  The question is when will rates bottom out? https://realestatemagazine.ca/unlocking-homeownership-why-interest-rate-cuts-are-not-the-only-key-to-getting-first-time-buyers-in-the-door/

Read on…..https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2024/09/government-announces-boldest-mortgage-reforms-in-decades-to-unlock-homeownership-for-more-canadians.html?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=COMM_News2Me_EN_2024-09-19&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.canada.ca%2fen%2fdepartment-finance%2fnews%2f2024%2f09%2fgovernment-announces-boldest-mortgage-reforms-in-decades-to-unlock-homeownership-for-more-canadians.html&utm_id=1124535&sfmc_id=22383141

Here’s an interesting article regarding the state of the market across the country posted by Matt Day September 17th on CREA’s website: https://www.creacafe.ca/canadian-real-estate-activity-flat-as-a-pancake-in-august/?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=COMM_News2Me_EN_2024-09-19&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.creacafe.ca%2fcanadian-real-estate-activity-flat-as-a-pancake-in-august%2f&utm_id=1124535&sfmc_id=22383141

This supports my feeling that most buyer’s are sitting on the sidelines right now waiting for interest rates & pricing to bottom out before acting.  

Here’s the details on the B.C. Government website - https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024HOUS0115-001044

BC Government Responds to Industry Feedback on Residential Tenancy Act

Changes

In the immediate wake of publicly voiced concern from the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA), the BC Government has reversed course on two recent changes to the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) as they relate to buyers of tenanted properties.

The initial changes laid out in Bill 14, which came into effect on July 18, 2024, required four months' notice - instead of the previous two months' notice - for evictions due to personal or caretaker use. The legislation also raised the dispute period from 15 days to 30 days.

Now the government is amending the regulation to lower the personal-use notice period to three months and the dispute period to 21 days for situations when a landlord gives notice to a tenant on behalf of a purchaser. These changes come into effect on August 21, 2024.  Here’s the link to the various types of evictions & the procedures:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/ending-a-tenancy/evictions/types-of-evictions