All in Vancouver
The housing supply problem is bad, it’s real, and will likely get worse.
We’ve all heard people in Vancouver who blame lack of supply for housing unaffordability. Many will have heard the opposing “Supply Myth” argument. We believe that the supply problem is real and could be worse than any of us imagined.
By 2021 Metro Vancouver housing stock will be short by 52,000 homes!
Vancouver is in a terrible housing crisis and it’s tearing the city apart pitting neighbour against neighbour, and parents against their kids.
Most candidates for mayor promise bold new measures to build more of the “right kind of housing” but each of them has different ideas about the definition of “right kind of housing”. In this article we dig into their proposals and promises and help you compare them objectively.
In the past year, detached home prices have drifted downward in Vancouver while condo prices have surged, so the price gap between the two has narrowed. At the end of this article we explain our belief that now may be the best time to trade in your condo or townhome for a detached home.
The City of Vancouver recently announced the beginning of 18 months of consultation that will result in a “Making Room” rezoning which is intended to find neighbourhoods to add more duplexes and laneway homes. Making room implies, there isn’t room already and this is far from the truth. Vancouver has loads of space, but it is poorly used. Vancouver’s land use has barely changed since we paved over the orchards and farms to build suburbs south of the downtown core after WWI. Rather than just “Making Room”, it’s time for Vancouver to evolve from Citified Suburbia with families stuffed in laneway houses and basement suites to a network of purposefully designed “Urban Family Districts”.
It's called "home porn," those sensuous scenes in house flipping TV shows where some broken-down shack is transformed into a mansion worthy of the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. And it all comes together in a few weeks at prices anyone can afford! It should come with a “DON’T TRY THIS YOURSELF” disclaimer because in a falling market you can get seriously burned.
Advice, guides and checklists for first time home buyers on the second stage of homebuying. Learn how to get a reliable mortgage pre-approval and chose a home buying strategy. Find out what conditions you should include in your offer.
This real estate update is focused on the City of Surrey. Real estate is local and even though Vancouver and Toronto are in the news that doesn’t help people living in sub-markets like Surrey. The fact that luxury downtown condos aren’t selling as quickly doesn’t have much bearing on Surrey.
It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of home shopping. With every open house we visit, we start to imagine what it would be like to live in our very own home. With all this excitement we often overlook the many surprising and stressful costs involved in this purchase.
