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  1. High-tech sensors in workplaces, postal-code analysis among tools for real estate strategies.

    Driven by persistent return-to-in-person challenges, local companies are leveraging office space data to optimize the physical spaces they occupy.

    Employee commute times and office space utilization data are informing companies’ strategies for encouraging in-person work and optimizing office layouts to meet long-term goals, according to those who spoke toBIV.

    “As companies are revisiting or choosing to revisit their office space, they’re looking at a year to two years of real good data of who’s coming in, how often, what are they doing and what’s the purpose of the office for those people,” said Alain Rivère, vice-president of the high technologies group at CBRE.
    By Claire Wilson
    19-04-2024

  2. Detached home starts decline as condo, townhome starts boom in 2023

    The West Coast housing market saw a significant boost in construction activity last year, according to a new report by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC).

    The annualBC Check-Up: Investreport found that construction began on 35,553 housing units in southwest B.C. during the year, a 20.9 per cent jump compared with 2022. This marks the highest number of housing starts ever recorded in the region.

    “Our members living in the Lower Mainland have consistently reported that housing prices are the biggest challenge facing B.C. businesses,” said Lori Mathison, president and CEO of CPABC, said in an April 18 statement.
    By BIV Staff
    18-04-2024

  3. BOC’s Latest Rate Announcement

    On April 10, 2024, the Bank of Canada announced it was keeping its overnight rate target at 5%, alongside a Bank Rate of 5.25% and a deposit rate of 5%. It also maintained its strategy of reducing money in circulation, for quantitative tightening.

    The Bank predicts the global economy will grow around 3%, with inflation in most developed economies gradually decreasing and the US economy outperforming expectations. While US economic growth is expected to slow in the latter part of the year, it will still be stronger than expected in January.

    By Joanna Gerber
    17-04-2024

  4. Toronto’s Commercial Real Estate Update

    An Altus Group study found that, in the final quarter of 2023, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) witnessed a total dollar volume of $22.8 billion in 2023’s final quarter, showing a drop of roughly 25% compared to the year before. Despite this slight deceleration, Toronto has kept its place as one of the top three markets for investors; Vancouver and Ottawa are the other leaders.

    The industrial sector maintained stability, with $7.6 billion in dollar volume transacted, showing a marginal increase year-over-year, while the hotel sector exhibited signs of recovery, with $202 million in dollar volume transacted, for a significant 24% increase compared to the previous year.

    By Joanna Gerber
    16-04-2024

  5. B.C. experts urge more budget spending to tackle housing crisis

    Industry experts are still hoping for some housing-related budget surprises, despite federal spending details being pretty much an open book ahead of this week’s unveiling.

    “We don't often know what's going to be in the budget until it's released, but it seems that approach has changed,” said Jill Atkey, CEO of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA).

    “When a budget gets released all in one day, with billions and billions of dollars in spending, each of those initiatives doesn't really get the attention that it potentially deserves. So, it's nice to have a bit more of a focus on housing in the lead-up.”
    By Claire Wilson
    15-04-2024

  6. Attendees at Canadian Hotel Investment Conference Told of Renewed Interest

    The mood at the Canadian Hotel Investment Conference that took place in Toronto was elevated by the renewed investor interest in the hospitality sector and attendees were told to expect an increase in hotel sales this year compared to the past few years.

    A panel of brokers assured the audience that conditions in 2024 are optimal for hotel sales despite the high-interest rate environment. They also said the expected variety of investment opportunities in Canadian hotels has helped to pique investors' interest, pointing specifically to the return of large urban hotel opportunities.
    By Laura Baxter
    12-04-2024

  7. Foreign landlord fails to pay taxes, CRA goes after tenant

    It was a Tax Court of Canada case last year that went mostly under the radar by all except for the legal community who were taken aback by its implications for renters.

    A Montreal tenant was audited and ordered to pay the tax he had failed to withhold on the monthly rent to his non-resident landlord, as required by law. As a result, he was ordered to pay six years’ worth of tax as well as the compounded interest and penalties. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) could not collect against his overseas landlord, so the Canadian tenant was on the hook.
    By Kerry Gold
    12-04-2024

  8. BC Short-Term Rental Changes: New Rules Rolling Out On May 1, 2024

    Significant legislative changes to short-term rentals in BC are coming into effect on May 1, 2024.

    The Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act, which gained royal assent on October 26, 2023, was aimed at increasing the supply of long-term residential housing, empowering local authorities with better tools for short-term rental bylaws, and developing a new provincial registry for all short-term rental hosts. The overall goal was to return short-term rental units back to the long-term rental market. While some of the legislation took effect immediately, some changes are slated to come into effect in May. 

    By Joanna Gerber
    11-04-2024

  9. Metro Vancouver industrial real estate market starting to normalize

    Metro Vancouver’s industrial market is entering a period of equilibrium, as the frenzy that once defined the market dies down.

    This is according to a Vancouver Real Estate Forum expert panel, which last week described as “more normalized.”

    “There’s not this frothy demand where you’ve got … eight people fighting each other for space. Now you’re getting one or two offers. That’s more of a normal market,” said Tim Evans, senior director of leasing with real estate investment firm BentallGreenOak.
    By Claire Wilson
    11-04-2024

  10. Royal LePage expands footprint with Lower Mainland acquisitions

    The importance of technology to residential property sales – and in turn the investors participating in the market – is once again in the spotlight with Royal LePage’s latest brokerage acquisition in Metro Vancouver.

    Royal LePage Elite West, based in Port Coquitlam with offices in Maple Ridge and Abbotsford, announced April 2 that it had shed the Keller Williams banner, becoming the largest-ever Keller Williams conversion Royal LePage has seen as brokerages reassess their affiliation in the wake of turmoil in the U.S.

    “They’re happy to be joining a Canadian company,” Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage, explained toWestern Investorlast week as he returned from events in Vancouver marking the transfer, which adds 175 agents for an initial 10-year term under the Royal LePage banner.
    By Peter Mitham
    09-04-2024

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