BC real Estate Facts and Forecast for 2021

What will Kamloops Real Estate do in 2021? Is it time to sell or buy your Kamloops real estate?

Read what the BC Real Estate Association thinks and the stats for 2020

Fourth Quarter – November 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated recession have impacted housing markets in unexpected and unpredictable ways. Despite what may be the worst recession in BC history, the housing market had a record fall season and prices are rapidly rising as pent-up demand floods into an under-supplied market.
As that pent-up demand from the loss of a spring season fades, sales will likely slow from their current pace, but activity is expected to remain strong as record-low mortgage rates and a recovering economy continue to drive sales.

The average Canadian…

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B.C. real estate market post-pandemic recovery.

The B.C. Real Estate Association's latest housing forecast was released Tuesday and shows that while sales in 2020 did fall to "historic lows" in April, they have since rebounded to pre-pandemic levels and even puts the year on track to outdo 2019 sales.

Among the industries still grappling with the impacts of COVID-19 this year, the B.C. housing market is not one of them.

The Canadian real estate market dipped in April this year, amid the lockdowns and economic impacts brought about by COVID-19. Although the pandemic stopped what was predicted to be a strong spring 2020 market, transactions started to pick up around May and June.

The B.C. Real Estate Association’s latest housing forecast was released Tuesday and shows that while sales in 2020…

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B.C. real estate: home prices forecast to rise

B.C. real estate: home prices forecast to rise 7.7 percent by end of 2020, and 3.7 percent in 2021

B.C. realtors expect not only to sell more homes this year and the next compared to 2019.

They also anticipate prices to rise in 2020 and 2021. The B.C. Real Estate Association predicts 2020 to finish with a 7.7 percent increase in average price over 2019. The BCREA also forecasts a further increase of 3.7 percent in 2021.

In Greater Vancouver, the association anticipates the average price to jump 5.9 percent over 2019. For 2021, the average price in the region is predicted to rise 2.4 percent. In the Fraser Valley, the BCREA expects the average price to grow 6.7 percent in 2020, and 2.6 percent in 2021.

It can be recalled that the Canada…

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Real Estate and Radon in BC - What it means to you as a buyer or a seller

Radon Precautions for Buyers and Sellers

It is important for home buyers and sellers to understand the risks associated with radon levels in homes, and to have enough information about radon to make an informed decision when buying or selling real estate.

So what is Radon?

Radon is measured in becquerels per cubic metre (Bq/m3).

Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive, odourless, and colourless gas that is generated through the decay of uranium and other elements in soil minerals. In fact, radon is present at different concentrations (depending on the makeup of bedrock or sediment) throughout Canada. As radon seeps up through the ground, it can find its way into your home through cracks in your property foundation and walls. If radon…

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COVID-19 and Real Estate Market Trends

The global pandemic may have brought the Canadian real estate sector to a near standstill this spring, but over the longer term it appears to have stoked homebuying intentions.

It almost goes without saying that COVID-19 has had a far-reaching impact on the Canadian economy and healthcare system in the first half of 2020. As expected, the spring housing market was much cooler than 2019, with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) confirming that May 2020 recorded the lowest volume of sales in May since 1996. Despite the significant drop in sales volume due to the pandemic, though, national home prices remained relatively stable. 

After a quiet April, market activity began to pick up in local housing markets across the country in May: more…

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Are you ready to be a landlord?

The single family home has, unfortunately, become unaffordable for many people.

With roller coaster housing prices and more people finding that renting is better idea than buying, there will be more people turning to renting.

So you’ve made the fortuitous decision to invest in real estate and now you want the revenue stream to begin raining down on you. But are you ready? Below we provide a list of items to help prepare you to be an effective and fair first-time landlord!

NB- We are assuming your building allows rentals so you are not breaking any strata laws in listing your place.

Know your Tenants Rights and the Law

Learn about landlord and tenant laws in your province to ensure you’re prepared in case things go wrong—and they will. The…

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BC Housing Market Activity Shows Signs of Recovery in May

Vancouver, BC – June 15, 2020.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 4,518 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in May 2020, a decline of 45.2 per cent from May 2019.

With many markets across the country heading into 2020 with gusto, the COVID-19-pandemic has had an abrupt cooling effect upon real estate Canada-wide. Sales volume, listings, and demand are all showing obvious month-over-month dips; impacts of precautionary social distancing measures, and a national economy on pause.

Yet, not all hope is lost. There is a great deal of optimism that, should events unfold according to the predictions of the country’s public health officials, we may witness a slow crawl…

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Buying a mobile home in BC - What do you need to know.

Buying and selling manufactured homes

Most first-time home buyers only consider site-built single-family homes, but have you considered buying a mobile home or manufactured home? Mobile and manufactured homes, while not as popular, have one big advantage: They typically offer more space or amenities for the money.

Mobile homes, also known as “manufactured homes," are built in a factory and placed on a trailer chassis to allow them to be moved. Mobile homes are sometimes placed in a mobile home park or on leased land. In these cases, the owner rents a space or leases land, but owns the mobile home itself. Alternatively, mobile home owners can place mobile homes on land they own or are buying under contract.

Today's companies manufacture homes at…

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Understanding the BC First Time Home Buyer Incentive Program

You may have heard of the incentive programs that the federal government has created to try to entice first time home buyers into the real estate market, but how much do you really understand? Is this something for you?

The government of Canada has a couple of programs that are designed to get first time buyers on the property ladder. Read on to see if they are right for you.

1) The Home Buyers' Plan (HBP). This is a program that allows you to withdraw funds from your Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) to buy or build a qualifying home for yourself or for a related person with a disability. The HBP allows you to pay back the withdrawn funds within a 15-year period. So what are the rules?

• Permits two first-time buyers in the same…

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Coronavirus and your finances - Tips to help

If you have questions about the coronavirus and how the current situation might impact your finances, you’re not alone.

We’ve all heard the words “unprecedented times” more than ever over the last month. While we deal with so much uncertainty around us, it’s important to recognize that there are still actions we can take to help protect ourselves.

With financial markets crashing and the loss of a number of jobs, Canadians are questioning their financial future. It is yet to be determined the real economic impact of the coronavirus as data is changing quickly with limited time to analyze. There are indications that joblessness will increase in the short term, which can be scary; however, the government and lenders are stepping up to aid households in…

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