Rattan Mall, The Indo Canadian Voice, June 6, 2017
A new report by Vancity has found that over the past year, housing affordability in most municipalities in the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria has gotten worse, decreasing in some by as much as 38 per cent.
The report, “Home Stretch: Comparing housing affordability in B.C.’s hottest markets,” tracks the affordability of 30 municipalities over a one-year period ending on February 28,
Sam Cooper, Vancouver Sun, May 26, 2017
Sales of farmland in B.C. surged and prices jumped immediately after the provincial government announced a foreign buyer tax on residential land in July 2016, a Postmedia investigation shows.
The surge in agricultural land sales and prices — on property that is not subject to the 15 per cent foreign buyer tax — was largely driven by record-setting sales in the Fraser Valley,
Robert (Bob) de Wit, Vancouver Province, April 07, 2017
When it comes to building new homes, many people are surprised to learn that it takes far longer to make it through city hall than it does to build the house.
To put it in context, a ‘typical’ two-level, 2500-square-foot home takes 16-18 weeks to build, however getting to the stage where the shovel hits the ground can take several months,
Frances Bula, The Globe & Mail, Apr. 03, 2017
One of the solutions that many local politicians talk about when it comes to increasing the supply of housing without building towers everywhere is infill – unobtrusive additions through laneway houses, suites in existing homes, granny flats over garages, and duplexes and triplexes.
But a new analysis of infill housing in the region shows that many Lower Mainland cities make it difficult for owners and builders to create those new kinds of housing in single-family zones,
Brent Jang, The Globe and Mail, Feb. 24, 2017
Vancouver is edging close to having 100 per cent of its detached houses assessed at $1-million or more.
A new study by Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program, shows that 99.7 per cent of single-family detached properties in the city of Vancouver had an assessed value of at least $1-million last July, compared with 91 per cent in mid-2015 and 65 per cent in mid-2014.
Breng Jang, The Globe & Mail, Feb 13, 2017
Vancouver is awash with detached houses reaching the $1-million milestone as the affordability crisis hangs over the city and nearby suburbs.
Within city limits, 99.7 per cent of the 75,295 detached properties in Vancouver had assessed values of at least $1-million last summer, according to a new study by Landcor Data Corp., which tracks real estate in British Columbia.
Jane Seyd, The North Shore News, Jan 16, 2017
Nearly 13,000 homeowners on the North Shore got a tax break from the provincial government last week.
That’s because the province announced it is raising the assessment threshold cut-off for the homeowners’ grant to $1.6 million of assessed value from a previous $1.2 million.
According to the data company Landcor, which analyzed BC Assessment figures,
Graeme Wood, The Richmond News, Jan 12, 2017
Property tax burdens are expected to shift further from condo and townhouse owners to those of detached homes, in Richmond this year.
According to Landcor Data Corporation, average assessed values for condos are up 15 per cent; townhouses spiked 32 per cent; and detached homes went up 44 per cent. The City of Richmond reports the overall average increase to residential properties,
Graeme Wood, The Richmond News, Jan 12, 2017
It’s difficult for University of B.C. associate professor Paul Kershaw, founder of advocacy group Generation Squeeze, to understand the rationale behind giving “paper millionaires” $821 million worth of property tax grants.
“It’s not clear to me any longer why we’re talking about the Homeowner Grant. People are accruing so much wealth in their homes while they’re sleeping,” said Kershaw.
Meanwhile,
Jane Seyd, North Shore News, Jan 10, 2017
Thousands of homeowners in North Vancouver will get to keep the provincial homeowners grant after the government announced Tuesday it is raising the assessment threshold at which owners no longer qualify for the help.
Finance Minister Mike De Jong made the announcement Tuesday morning in Vancouver.
The change raises the threshold at which owners begin to lose the grant from $1.2 million to $1.6 million of assessed value,