Home Sales Continue on Upward Trend in September, BC Real Estate Association. Vancouver, BC – October 15, 2014. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,636 residential sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in September, up 17.5 per cent from September 2013. Total sales dollar volume was $4.4 billion, an increase of 25.8 per cent compared to a year ago. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose to $574,641, up 7.1 per cent from the same month last year.
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“Consumer demand remains robust in most BC regions,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “More homes traded hands last month in BC than any September since 2009, while the Okanagan had its most robust September in nine years.”
“Population growth, low interest rates and strengthening economic conditions continue to be supportive of housing demand,” added Muir.
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was up 23.2 per cent to $37 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales were up 16 per cent to 65,353 units, while the average MLS® residential price was up 6.2 per cent at $565,655.
This article appeared on Infotel.ca on October 24th, 2014 and was written by Jennifer Stahn.
KAMLOOPS – Requests to build more than 90 housing units were before council this week as developers look to move forward on projects around the city.
Projects for the industrial area of McGill Road, on Tranquille Road in Brocklehurst, downtown Battle Street and Qu’Appelle Boulevard in Juniper Ridge were all up for discussion Tuesday.
Council agreed to send the McGill Road project, which includes 14 residential apartment units situated in a commercial and industrial complex across from the new Telus Data Centre, and a 20-unit duplex development on Tranquille Road close to the airport to public hearing.
“This is our first development of this nature in our city,” Development Director Marvin Kwiatkowski says of the McGill complex, adding it would be different than the caretaker units that already exist in some industrial areas.
An 18-unit rental complex for 801 Battle St. got another look following an appeal by the developers earlier this month. Council agreed at the time to send it back to a public hearing, set for November, and Tuesday council got a preview of the new plans.
A 40-unit complex set for Juniper Ridge was also before council as the developers looked for a development permit, a necessary step before the project can move forward.
At the end of August the number of multi-family building permits so far this year were significantly below 2013 with only 125. In 2013 a total of 312 multi-family units were issued building permits.
CMHC Chief Says Housing Agency Considering Passing on Mortgage Risk to Banks, Financial Post. This article appeared in the Financial Post on September 19th, 2014 and was written by Garry Marr.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is looking at changes to mortgage default insurance that would include sharing risk with banks, the Crown corporation’s chief executive told a Montreal audience Friday.
“In our role as an adviser to government, we are evaluating a range of ideas on future improvements to our housing finance system, including risk-sharing with lenders to further confront moral hazard, future sandbox changes if housing markets are to become less stable, and increased capital requirements,” Evan Siddall told the Saint James Club, according to notes posted on CMHC’s website.
The Financial Post reported this month CMHC was looking at a new formula to push some of its losses on to financial institutions, essentially forcing them to pay a deductible on mortgages insured with the Crown corporation before claims are paid.
Sources have said the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has been involved in discussions with CMHC, which it oversees, while the Canadian Bankers Association is said to be against the measure. The CBA said it has had a variety of discussions with CMHC about mortgage and housing issues.
Mr. Siddall said in his speech that while Canada weathered the 2008 financial crisis it needed to think about “the next economic storm” to ensure the housing finance system can adapt to it.
“We are re-examining our role in the Canadian housing and financial markets and looking to be part of an even more resilient system,” he said. “As much as we never want to use taxpayer money to bail out banks, governments consistently want to help homeowners in the event of a generalized housing crisis.”
Since his appointment, CMHC has raised fees for mortgage insurance to boost capital requirements while reducing some housing that it covers, including second homes. It has also tightened the rules for insuring self-employed Canadians.
“As a government entity, we need to have a different approach to risk management. Implicitly, we are in the bail-out avoidance business. Lenders pay us a premium to back them up if things go wrong,” said Mr. Siddall. “So we have an explicit responsibility to manage tail risk and survive, since insolvency is a less obvious option for us.”
He noted the government has been compensated for its risk to the tune of $18-billion in profits from CMHC over the last decade.
As a government entity, we need to have a different approach to risk management
CMHC is backing about $550-billion in mortgages while another $160-billion in mortgages, covered by private insurers, is ultimately also backed by Ottawa. The federal government backs 90% of mortgage loan insurance issued by private entities Genworth Canada and Canada Guaranty.
“Earlier this year, we measured our mortgage loan insurance programs against the yard stick of attending to Canadians’ housing needs – as opposed to wants, desires well-served by the private sector,” said Mr. Siddall. “As a result of these and other changes, our insurance-in-force has begun to decline.”
The chief executive also addressed the issue of a possible bubble in the housing sector.
“As a risk manager, let me tell you why we aren’t overly worried about a housing bubble at this point in time, based on what we know,” he said. “Our educated opinion is that growth in house prices in Canada will moderate. If we are wrong, and price growth remains strong or accelerates, we may need to look to macro-prudential counter-weights to avoid excesses. As I said, we are currently evaluating them.”
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The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is looking at changes to mortgage default insurance that would include sharing risk with banks, the Crown corporation’s chief executive told a Montreal audience Friday.