There are reasons Grosvenor is feeling hopeful enough to proceed with construction, including selling 100 units in just 30 days.

“There are lots of reports on slower sales in the first quarter of this year and I think it’s clear that that’s attributed to the uncertainty that entered the picture at the beginning of this year. Timing is always relevant in anything related to real estate,” said Marc Josephson, senior vice-president of development at Grosvenor.

But there are reasons Grosvenor is feeling hopeful enough to proceed: When it launched sales for the condo tower last fall, it sold 100 units in 30 days; the project involves a mix of uses and isn’t only focused on residential condos; and the company has access to capital.

Grosvenor is proceeding while other projects have stalled because they didn’t sell a certain percentage of presale contracts and, therefore, were unable to qualify for construction financing.

Tale of two markets in Canada, with some buyers more sensitive to affordability than others

Canada’s housing market may be losing steam this spring, but luxury homes and scenic cabins appear to be weathering the slowdown—just not for the same reasons.

The luxury segment of Canada’s housing market seems to be “holding up” compared with less expensive tiers, said Andrew Dinsmore, CFO with brokerage Engel & Völkers Americas Inc.

That’s partly because well-heeled clients tend to be less sensitive to changes in mortgage rates and home prices, concerned instead with larger wealth strategies, he said.

A May 7 report by Sotheby’s International Realty Canada noted a pullback in Canada’s luxury market in the first quarter, but said “segments of Canada’s metropolitan luxury real estate sector showed surprising resilience, underscoring the strength of select markets and consumer groups in the face of turmoil.”

The Greater Toronto Area saw five sales above $10 million compared with none in the same period in 2024.

But the report went onto note Montreal luxury sales over $4 million stood at eight properties sold in the first quarter of 2025, unchanged from the same period one year prior.

And in Vancouver, luxury sales above $4 million in the first quarter of 2025 declined by 48 per cent year-over-year to 33 properties sold.

Dinsmore said it’s hard to ignore the chill in this year’s spring market.

“There’s signs of a slowdown, and not just in Canada but in the U.S. and other markets as well,” he said.

For the Canadian market as a whole, actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity in April 2025 came in 9.8 per cent below the same month last year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Inventory also increased, with the number of properties listed for sale on all Canadian Multiple Listing Service systems at the end of April 2025 up 14.3 per cent from a year earlier, the CREA said in its latest monthly report.

Properties are also sitting on the market longer. In Vancouver, the average number of days on market increased in April 2025 for all property types compared to a year earlier, according to the Greater Vancouver Realtors professional association.

One reason for the subdued market could be a preference by consumers for liquid assets over real estate, Dinsmore said.

“Having to lock in any cash these days, especially with the economic uncertainty that we’re looking at, is a concern,” he said.

Amid concerns of a tariff-driven recession, this may actually be beneficial to some cohorts by tempering prices and necessitating rate cuts, Dinsmore said.

“Maybe in a way [they are] almost holding out for the possibility of tougher economic times,” he said.

Cabin fever
Meanwhile, a recent report delved into one niche of the market: recreational properties such as cabins in B.C. destinations like Whistler, Penticton, Summerland, Osoyoos, North Okanagan, Tofino and Ucluelet.

Like luxury real estate, cabins are also doing OK, but for different reasons.

“We’re still seeing a pretty balanced market,” said Kingsley Ma, Vancouver-based area vice-president with Re/Max LLC.

A May 12 report from Re/Max found that cabins, often owned by high-net-worth families as secondary homes, are now attracting other buyers interested in using them as primary residences.

“There are a lot of families that are looking for these properties,” Ma said.

“This gives the younger generation, especially with young families, a chance to go, ‘Well, maybe I can live farther as long as I have the internet connection. I get more space, I don’t have to pay as much and it’s perfect to grow my family.’”

Positives for the cabin category may include price points, investment value and proximity to nature, while negatives may include vacancy taxes, short-term-rental restrictions and inflexible employment policies binding workers to certain geographies.

“We need to wait until the tariff situation settles [and] give it a little bit more time before people have that confidence to either move into a primary home in those areas or invest into it,” Ma said.


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Vancouver real estate firm says industry shifts structural, not temporary

A prominent Vancouver real estate company is laying off 31 employees, citing geopolitics, artificial intelligence and other industry upheavals.

Greg Zayadi, president of Rennie & Associates Realty Ltd., said the size of the company’s home office team is being reduced by 25 per cent from 123 to 92 people. The company has a total staff of over 400, according to its website.

Zayadi said in a May 8 post on LinkedIn that it “was a necessary step in response to a changing market, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. The individuals leaving us are thoughtful, talented contributors who have helped shape our culture and our business.”

He cited a “geopolitical, economic, urban affordability and AI-driven hypercycle" and said the firm is responding by becoming “leaner and more focused, and embracing AI and the tools that help us serve better.”

Zayadi said his LinkedIn post was intended to help those affected find new opportunities.

Company owner Bob Rennie declined to go into further details when reached by phone.

“People’s lives are in flux here,” he said.

Sam Mehrbod, founder of Vancouver-based Roomvu Technologies Inc., works in digital real estate marketing like Rennie. He confirmed that major disruptions are afoot.

Somass redevelopment anchors fresh vision for city

An ambitious project to redevelop Western Forest Products Ltd.’s former Somass mill site on the Port Alberni waterfront is moving forward, infusing fresh hope in a city hit hard by the challenges dogging the coastal forest industry.

Higher fees and lower demand are reshaping app-based food services, while operators warn of labour shortages and rising pressure

Business seems to have slowed down for app-based restaurant deliveries in Vancouver, and for industry leader and spokesperson Ian Tostenson, this observation can be attributed to fee increases that have been passed on to consumers.

Last September, new regulations were put in place by the provincial government in an effort to ensure fairer work treatment for app-based ride-hailing and delivery workers across B.C.

The rules, which applied to platforms such as Uber Technologies Inc. and UberEats, established for workers a minimum wage of $20.88, coverage from WorkSafeBC and additional compensation per kilometre. The changes were made after gig workers and others raised concerns about unpredictable pay and price transparency.

City council defers 165-unit rental housing proposal over concerns related to tower shadowing nearby park

Vancouver city council has deferred a decision on whether to allow a developer to build an 18-storey rental housing tower in a Mount Pleasant neighbourhood populated by a high concentration of heritage houses over concerns related to shadowing of a park.

The proposal from HAVN Developments Ltd. is to redevelop three properties currently occupied by three detached houses in the 100-block of West 11th Ave. and build 165 rental units.

The development would border Major Matthews Park, a tennis-court sized green space on Manitoba Street. The ground floor of the tower would contain a commercial unit. The development calls for three levels of underground parking.

A recent public hearing saw substantial pushback from residents, who complained the project between Columbia and Manitoba streets is out of scale for the area and doesn’t align with the character of the neighbourhood.

Council was expected to make a decision Tuesday on the proposal, but concerns raised by councillors Sarah Kirby-Yung and Lisa Dominato over the tower shadowing the park sent the application back to city staff.

Council’s direction came despite city rezoning planner Chee Chan explaining that it would be “challenging to achieve further reductions in shadowing” because of limitations related to the proximity of the property to the park.

“It will be very difficult to achieve without a significant reduction in height and density on this application,” Chan told council.

One of the outcomes of this drop in value of some presales is that more units are put up for sale right away.

Thousands of presale buyers in Metro Vancouver face completing their purchase of condos that are now worth less than they were in 2022 and 2023 when they signed the contracts to buy them.

More than half of the appraisals required by mortgage lenders to complete sales are now coming in at values lower than original sale prices.

As a result, lenders will only write smaller mortgages. That means condo buyers have to satisfy lenders by ponying up the difference between the unit’s value in 2022 or 2023 and what it is worth now, either by putting in more cash or refinancing.

Bidder appears to be recruiting staff and studying new retail concepts

Weihong (Ruby) Liu has reportedly put down a 10-per-cent deposit for 25 Hudson’s Bay Co. stores, indicating that the billionaire B.C. mall-owner is serious about her bid for assets belonging to the liquidating company.

The site is 51,400 square feet, takes up over an acre of land and is currently assessed as having a value of $54.2 million

Central 1 Credit Union appears poised to sell its prime piece of waterfront property next to the Burrard Street Bridge to Nch’Kay Development Corp., the company behind a massive 11-tower rental-housing Senakw project in the area, Postmedia has learned.

Residents of the neighbouring 300-unit Harbour Cove condo building at 1450 Pennyfarthing Dr. recently received notice from their strata corporation about the planned sale of the site at 1441 Creekside Dr., which is currently occupied by a nine-storey office building.

Vancouver city council approves rental towers on former Safeway site in West Point Grey

The revised proposal that was approved Tuesday has a lower street-front podium, its tallest towers are pushed farther north on the lot, the sidewalks and plaza have been widened, and the commercial space is increased.

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The property’s 571 rental units will include 457 at-market rates and 114 at-below market, representing 20 per cent of the residential floor area. It will be anchored by a new grocery store, with a four-storey podium fronting onto West 10th, towers of 19 and 21 storeys that have been moved back from the street front, and two six-storey blocks on the property’s north side.