Vancouvers empty home tax is bringing in some decent coin – almost $40 million in 2018.
If you believe in a vibrant vancouver and want to do your part to support it, you can own a home here and keep it empty – that extra tax income goes to support affordable housing and rent protections.
If you really want to go the extra mile, don’t report your empty home: Audits raises $22.1 million in taxes and fines from empty home owners.
Read more here.
Best if you’re hoping for price drops on real estate that is.
We dont have official numbers for March yet, but realtor Steve Saretsky says that we just saw the lowest March sales numbers since 1986:
Saretsky said prices are in fact taking a dip, however the slide isn’t evenly distributed.
“You know you can probably get a 40 per cent discount at a house in West Vancouver, but you might only get a 15 per cent discount on a house in East Vancouver.”
He added that condo sales also saw an 18-year low last month.
Of course he did say this on April 1st. Read the full article here.
There’s a catch ( there’s always a catch ).
The house is in Alberta and you have to write an essay about why you want a $1.7 million house for $25. The $25 is your entry fee.
Looks like a decent way to drum up some hype and try to get more than your asking price in a collapsing market.
The bank that cried wolf: Housing market vulnerabilities are still high.
Vulnerabilities in the Canadian housing market are still high despite rising interest rates and tighter mortgage rules, Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins said on Thursday.
…
It also released results of a model it said showed Canadian banks’ capital positions would not be affected by a 20 percent correction in the housing market, with the biggest declines in Toronto and Vancouver.
Read the full article here.
As you may be aware it is always a good time to buy or sell real estate according to most real estate professionals who earn their living by buying and selling real estate.
Well right now it’s a great time to buy or sell real estate because the runaway market is taking a breather.
It’s a “soft landing,” according to Royal LePage CEO Phil Soper, who says their latest house price survey shows the effects of government measures to cool things down.
What were previously called the “dangerously overheated” conditions in Metro Vancouver housing have cooled significantly, but prices have remained resilient.
He says it’s the soft landing policy-makers had hoped for, rather than a crash.
“But it won’t stay this way for long. Household formation in Canada… is going to grow rapidly,” he predicts.
Read the full article here.