September 2020

Canadian Housing Starts (Aug) - September 9, 2020

Canadian housing starts increased by 7% m/m to 262,396 units in August at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). This represents the fourth consecutive monthly increase and the fastest pace of national homebuilding since 2007, pushing up the six-month average to 213,144 units SAAR. August's increase was driven primarily by the multi-units segment in Ontario, marking the province's strongest pace of homebuilding since 1990. 

In BC, housing starts increased by 6% m/m to 44,883 units SAAR in August, following an increase of 42,883 in July. The increase was primarily driven by the multi-unit segment. Housing starts in August were above the pre-COVID level. In the near term, we can expect

Family Home on Quiet Street with Suite

Family Home with Separate Suite at end of a quiet no-thru street close to Lakewood Elementary School, Florence Lake and shopping.

Well maintained 1993 home with big and bright main living spaces, enjoy the gas fireplace in the living room with big picture windows, kitchen and family room lead to a large south-facing deck overlooking great yard for the kids.

There are also three bedrooms and two full bathrooms up.

Down is a 4th bedroom or office and a self-contained one-bedroom suite.

Many extras include silent floors, 3 skylights, a built-in vacuum, all appliances, and the recent addition of a heat pump.

Excellent tenant down, vacant possession up, excellent value

Bank of Canada Interest Rate Announcement - September 9, 2020

The Bank of Canada held its overnight rate at 0.25 per cent this morning, a level it considers its effective lower bound. The Bank is also continuing its quantitative easing (QE) program, with large scale asset purchases of at least $5 billion per week in Government of Canada bonds. In the statement accompanying the decision, the Bank noted that the Canadian economy is evolving broadly in line with expectations, with a strong re-opening phase to be followed by slower, uneven growth and heavily reliant on policy support.  Inflation remains close to zero, with downward pressure from energy prices and travel services, and is expected to remain below the Bank's 2 per cent target

“The Unusual World of Pandemic Economics” –
Why BC’s Housing Market Remains Strong Despite COVID-19

Vancouver, BC – Septemeber 9, 2020. The British Columbia Real Estate Association’s (BCREA) latest Market Intelligence report, The Unusual World of Pandemic Economics, points to uneven job losses across sectors, an increase in many households’ rate of savings, swift government aid, a tighter-than-ever housing supply and low interest rates as the drivers behind BC’s recent housing market highs.

“The COVID-19 recession has battered many sectors of the BC economy. However, looking at recent data in the housing market, it would be difficult to tell there was a recession at all,” says BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “In a typical

The market recovery stayed strong in the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board area, with a continued high volume of sales and low inventory. Much of the activity driven by pent up demand and low-interest rates.

There was a 39% increase year over year for August of total properties sold, hitting 1,101 sales. 547 of those sales were single-family homes, which increased 35% compared to August last year. The sales volume of condos increased in the same time period by 43%, and townhomes in the same period by 19%.

There were 1,081 single-family homes on the market available to buyers (excluding acreages and oceanfront), 427 condos, and 221 townhomes in August 2020. Given the volume of sales, this level of inventory indicates a strong seller's market.

Canadian Employment (Aug) - September 4, 2020

Canadian employment gained 246,000 jobs in August (1.4%, m/m), following a gain of 419,000 in July. Combined with gains in May and June, national employment is now within 1.1 million of its pre-COVID February level. The national unemployment rate fell by 0.7 percentage points to 10.2% from the previous month. August gains were driven by full-time work, wherein the previous month it was in part-time work. Employment continued to increase at a faster pace in the services sector with the help of growth in educational services, accommodation and food services, and in other services sectors. Compared to the same month last year, Canadian employment was down by 5.3% (-1 million). 

Regionally, employment

South facing corner unit w/ city views!

Opportunity knocks!

Welcome to City Side and your chance to own this stylish third floor two bedrooms and one bathroom corner unit with city views and southern exposure!

This condo offers a separate foyer leading to a large open space full of natural light flowing from end to end. There's room for a dining table, living space, and corner area perfect for the home office or reading nook.

Both bedrooms are located at the rear of the unit and the bathroom in the middle giving a perfectly designed floor plan.

Move in and enjoy the comfort of updates including bamboo flooring throughout, quartz counters in the kitchen and bathroom, backsplash, fixtures, new washer and dryer, under-mount

There was only a slight change in the market from July 2020 to August 2020 in the Victoria area. The two months shared the exact same number of sales, though the later month saw a slight decrease in inventory and SFD Benchmark prices.

Specifically, August saw 979 sales (again, same as July) which was a 48.1% increase from August the previous year. Single family home sales rose 45% year over year (509 sales) and condos rose 29.1% in the same period (262 sales). As we said last month “these are some very big numbers for the month and if nothing else, great indicators that this is not a normal market.”

Despite many homeowners seeing the opportunity present to them in the current market, the high levels of sales and demand from buyers continue to

Commercial Activity Impacted by Pandemic in 2020 Q2

To view the full Commercial Leading Indicator PDF, click here.

The BCREA Commercial Leading Indicator (CLI) continued to fall in the second quarter of 2020 from 127.6 to 121.9, representing the fourth consecutive quarterly decline. It was the second-largest drop in the indicator in over two decades, reflecting the hardest hit months of the pandemic in April and May. Compared to the same time last year, the index was down by 9.8 percent.

The second quarter of 2020 saw the complete shutdown of key economic industries in BC, while employment continued to decline in manufacturing and in key real estate sectors. In contrast, the financial component had the largest positive impact on the

BC Monthly Real GDP Estimate for June 2020 & Preliminary Estimate for July 2020 (Updated: August 28, 2020)

The BCREA Nowcast estimate of provincial economic growth (expressed as year-over-year growth in real GDP) for June 2020 is -5.7 percent. For comparison, the Canadian economy contracted 7.8 percent year-over-year in June.

We have also included a preliminary estimate for July 2020 of -4.2 percent. While year-over-year growth remains negative, the rate of decline is slowing as the economy continues to improve on a monthly basis.

Download the full report (PDF)

For more information, please contact:

BCREA is the professional association for