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Property Assessments grew by 16% in 2016

Oleg Articles, News, Opinion, Statistics

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Within the next few days owners of more than 500,000 residences in Greater Vancouver will be receiving their 2016 Annual BC Property Assessments in the mail. These assessments will reflect property values as July 1, 2015.

What are property assessments and why are they important? Well, property assessments is an estimated value of your house or a condo by a government agency – BC Assessments. Based on this calculated value the annual property taxes are paid. The higher the BC Assessments value is, the higher annual property taxes are.

There is another important function BC Assessments serve – determining property’s value. Often times when the listing agent tries to determine a listing price of a property he or she will take BC Assessments value into the consideration (not always as each agent has a different way of determining a listing price).  Other times potential buyers will look to BC Assessments or Tax value and try to determine a fair price for a property (that seems not to apply to a current real estate market).

What can owners expect to see this year in their property BC Assessments? Based on the released BC Assessment for this year an increase of 15-20 percent will be typical for a single-family homes in Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby, Tri-Cities, New Westminster and Squamish (See chart below of a complete breakdown). Don’t be surprised if your home BC Assessments value comes with an increase of 25%.

Overall, Greater Vancouver’s region total assessments increased from $546.7 billion in 2015 to $636.2 billion in 2016. A total increase of about 16% in one year. Almost $8.3 billion of that increase is due to new construction, subdivision and reasoning of properties. Take a drive down Cambie Street and you can witness rezoning of properties working at its finest.

All of this is good news for homeowners who are planning to sell their properties in a near future. However, many homeowners who were not planning to sell this year might be forced to do so because of the high property taxes. At least their properties have gone up in value.

If you are a property owner and need more information or have additional questions you can visit www.bcassessment.ca website for all of that.

Here is an example table showing some of the increases for single-family homes and residential strata units for sample Greater Vancouver communities.

BC Assessments Data for 2016
Image: BC Assessment

What do you think about the increase of BC Assessments? Leave your comments below.

3 Tips for selling your home or a condo in a “HOT” Vancouver market

Oleg Articles, For Sellers, Opinion, Tips

Miniature house with sold sign

Greater Vancouver market continues to be very active late into the fall of 2015. Metro Vancouver has a very strong sellers market, for the most part . That’s great news if you are planning to sell your house or a condo.

To find out if your neighbourhood and a property are in a sellers’ market you can contact me (or your real estate agent) directly or check the statistics here – the latest real estate market statistics for September 2015 from the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board. If your home is in fact in a “HOT” sellers’ market what is the best way of selling it and making sure that you don’t leave any money on the table?

  1. Price is everything.  One of the main services that your real estate agent provides is figuring out the exact value of your property. To figure out the value (price) of the property recent sales, available inventory and even tax assessments are all taken into account. Every agent has a different strategy to find the value of the property. I will share mine in another blog post. After the value of your property is established; take away 3-5% and that should be your listing price.  Listing your property 3-5% below market value is very important step. This will generate a lot of buyer interest.
  2. “Hold” your property for at least 5-7 days on the market. In a hot sellers’ market you will be receiving offers on the very first day your property is being listed. Accepting an offer on the first or second day of your property being listed is a mistake and will most likely cost you thousands of dollars. It is very important to hold off all offers for at least 5-7 days. This way your property will get appropriate market exposure.  Set a date for the offer presentation. More often than not your will have a bidding war. Buyers will be lining up to present their offers.
  3.  Do Friday showings and an open house on the weekend. There are circumstances where open houses are not an option. For example it’s against the strata bylaws. In these instances regular showings should be scheduled for the weekend.  Assuming you are able to host an open house you should definitely do it.  Friday showings will be mostly for the agents and for the buyers who can’t make it to the open houses on the weekend. The weekend open houses are what really sells the property. If you followed tip #1. You will have people lining up outside of your front door to view the property. More people = urgency = higher offers.

Ideally, you would want to follow this timeline in listing and selling your property for best results in a sellers’ market. Monday or Tuesday your property is live on MLS (with pictures and full description). Make sure that it’s priced 3-5% under the “market value”. No showings throughout the week until Friday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday showings and an open house. Create urgency and drive as many people to the open house as possible. Monday or Tuesday evening offers presentation. Have at least 3 offers and accept the most favorable one. Sounds easy right? The whole process is of course a little bit more complicated but this should give you a pretty good idea.

Make sure to consult with your real estate professional or call me directly 604-565-7052 before implementing any of the steps. Happy selling:)

New suggested “real estate speculation tax” in Vancouver [OPINION]

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New suggested “real estate speculation tax” in Vancouver [OPINION]

 

You might have heard about the new suggested “real estate speculation tax” in Vancouver BC. Here is how it all started. Greater Vancouver has a very strong real estate market. Prices are steadily going up by 5-10 per-cent every year.  More in the recent years. People have always complained that Vancouver real estate prices are too high. Lately the complaints have been getting louder and louder as most of Metro Vancouver has shifted into sellers market.

Our mayor, Gregor Robinson, thought it would be a good idea to suggest a new “speculation real estate tax” to help drive the real estate prices down. Here is how the tax would work. If you buy a property and sell it within 1 or 2 years (exact details weren’t made clear) another 1-3% real estate speculation tax will apply. Sounds pretty good? According to Mr. Robinson this tax would keep all these evil developers in their place and somehow drive the real estate prices down. Again the details weren’t clear.

My opinion is that this tax is absolutely unnecessary and would work opposite of it’s original intent. Here is why: Vancouver real estate market is already one of the highest taxed in the world. We have: property transfer taxes (don’t get me started on these), annual property taxes and GST for new properties, we don’t need another tax layer.

Adding another tax layer to already very heavily taxed real estate market will only make the prices of real estate go up. One thing we learned from capitalistic system is that the extra cost gets passed down to the consumer, most of the time. In other words buyers will be the ones paying for additional real estate taxes.  Speculation tax would drive the real estate prices in Vancouver up not down.

Luckily premier Christy Clark has shut down the suggestion of this ridiculous tax.  For above state reasons and the fact the most people living in British Columbia own a property. Can you imagine how angry the home owners would get if this tax would actually be introduced?

In my opinion Gregor Robinson was not really intending to introduce this tax but rather was paying political games. Showing people that he’s the “good guy” and that he’s “doing something” to bring the real estate prices down.

What do you think?

Again, in this article I am simply expressing my opinion and not supporting or disapproving of any political figures. I stay out of politics and do what I do best – sell properties.

June 2015 Real Estate Update

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June 2015 Real Estate Update

Metro Vancouver home sales set record pace in June

The REBGV reports that residential property sales in Metro Vancouver* reached 4,375 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in June 2015. This represents a 28.4 per cent increase compared to the 3,406 sales recorded in June 2014, and an increase of 7.9 per cent compared to the 4,056 sales in May 2015.

Last month’s sales were 29.1 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month. It’s the fourth straight month with over 4,000 sales, which is a first in the REBGV’s history. The previous highest number of residential home sales was 4,434, recorded in May 2005.

“Demand in our detached home market continues to drive activity across Metro Vancouver,” Darcy McLeod, REBGV president said. “There were more detached home sales in the region last month than we’ve seen during the month of June in more than 10 years.”

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $694,000. This represents a 10.3 per cent increase compared to June 2014.

“Housing market activity comes in cycles; we’re in an up cycle right now that looks similar to the mid-2000s,” McLeod said. “It would be easy to point to one factor that’s causing this cycle, but the truth is that it’s a number of different factors.

“Conditions today are being driven by low interest rates, a declining supply of detached homes, a growing population, a provincial economy that’s outperforming the rest of Canada, pent-up demand from previous years and, perhaps most importantly, the fact that we live in a highly desirable region,” McLeod said.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Metro Vancouver totalled 5,803 in June. This represents an 8.7 per cent increase compared to the 5,339 new listings reported in June 2014.

“We’re seeing a steady stream of new listings entering the market, but the overall number of homes for sale is not keeping up with buyer demand,” McLeod said.

The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the region’s MLS® is 12,181, a 23.9 per cent decline compared to June 2014 and a 1.3 per cent decline compared to May 2015. This is the lowest active listing total for June since 2006.

The sales-to-active-listings ratio in June was 35.9 per cent. This is the highest that this ratio has been in Metro Vancouver since June 2006. A seller’s market typically occurs when this ratio exceeds 20 per cent for a sustained period of time.

“The competition in today’s market means that buyers have less time to make decisions,” McLeod said. “Given this, it’s important to work with your REALTOR® to gain insight into the local market, to get quick access to new MLS® listings, to develop a buying strategy that meets your needs and risk appetite, and to receive other services and protections that come from having professional representation.”

Sales of detached properties in June 2015 reached 1,920, an increase of 31.3 per cent from the 1,462 detached sales recorded in June 2014, and a 74.2 per cent increase from the 1,102 units sold in June 2013. The benchmark price for a detached property in Metro Vancouver increased 14.8 per cent from June 2014 to $1,123,900.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,774 in June 2015, an increase of 35.6 per cent compared to the 1,308 sales in June 2014, and an increase of 66.1 per cent compared to the 1,068 sales in June 2013. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 5.3 per cent from June 2014 to $400,200.

Attached property sales in June 2015 totalled 681, an increase of 7.1 per cent compared to the 636 sales in June 2014, and a 44.3 per cent increase from the 472 attached properties sold in June 2013. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 7.1 per cent between June 2014 and 2015 to $506,900.

See full report here: June 2015 Stats Package

Note: this article has been sourced from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. 

Home buyer demand outpacing supply across the Metro Vancouver housing market

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Home buyer demand outpacing supply across the Metro Vancouver housing market

Strong home buyer demand coupled with below average home listing activity has created seller’s market conditions within the Metro Vancouver* housing market.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Metro Vancouver reached 4,179 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April 2015. This represents a 37 per cent increase compared to the 3,050 sales recorded in April 2014, and a 2.9 per cent increase compared to the 4,060 sales in March 2015.

Last month’s sales were 29.3 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month.

“The supply of homes for sale today in the region is not meeting the demand we’re seeing from home buyers. This is putting upward pressure on prices, particularly in the detached home market,” Darcy McLeod, REBGV president said.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Metro Vancouver totalled 5,897 in April. This represents a 0.9 per cent decrease compared to the 5,950 new listings reported in April 2014.

The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the region’s MLS® is 12,436, a 19.8 per cent decline compared to April 2014 and an increase of 0.5 per cent compared to March 2015.

“It’s a competitive and fast-moving market today that is tilted in favour of home sellers. To be competitive, it’s important to connect with a local REALTOR® who can help you develop a strategy to meet your home buying or selling needs,” McLeod said.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $673,000. This represents an 8.5 per cent increase compared to April 2014.

The sales-to-active-listings ratio in April was 33.6 per cent. This is the highest that this ratio has been in Metro Vancouver since June 2007.

Sales of detached properties in April 2015 reached 1,815, an increase of 35.9 per cent from the 1,336 detached sales recorded in April 2014, and a 70.6 per cent increase from the 1,064 units sold in April 2013. The benchmark price for a detached property in Metro Vancouver increased 12.5 per cent from April 2014 to $1,078,900.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,579 in April 2015, an increase of 34.7 per cent compared to the 1,172 sales in April 2014, and an increase of 50.1 per cent compared to the 1,052 sales in April 2013. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 4.4 per cent from April 2014 to $394,200.

Attached property sales in April 2015 totalled 785, an increase of 44.8 per cent compared to the 542 sales in April 2014, and a 53.6 per cent increase from the 511 attached properties sold in April 2013. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 5.7 per cent between April 2014 and 2015 to $493,300.

Download the April 2015 stats package 

*Editor’s Note:  Areas covered by Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver include: Whistler, Sunshine Coast, Squamish, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, and South Delta.

The real estate industry is a key economic driver in British Columbia. In 2014, 33,116 homes changed ownership in the Board’s area, generating $2.136 billion in economic spin-off activity and an estimated 16,227 jobs. The total dollar value of residential sales transacted through the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver totalled $27.3 billion in 2014. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is an association representing nearly 12,000 REALTORS® and their companies. The Board provides a variety of member services, including the Multiple Listing Service®. For more information on real estate, statistics, and buying or selling a home, contact a local REALTOR® or visit www.rebgv.org. 

– See more at: http://www.rebgv.org/news-statistics/home-buyer-demand-outpacing-supply-across-metro-vancouver-housing-market#sthash.tGdZxn4I.dpuf

Home buyers remain active despite reduced selection

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Home buyers remain active despite reduced selection

rebgvcolour

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 1,913 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in January 2015. This represents an 8.7 per cent increase compared to the 1,760 sales recorded in January 2014, and a 9.6 per cent decline compared to the 2,116 sales in December 2014.

Last month’s sales were 14.9 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month.

“While demand remains steady, we’re seeing fewer homes for sale at the moment,” Ray Harris, REBGV president, said. “This is creating greater competition amongst buyers, particularly in the detached home market. The number of detached homes listed for sale today is the second lowest we’ve seen in four years.”

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Metro Vancouver1 totalled 4,737 in January. This represents an 11.4 per cent decline compared to the 5,345 new listings reported in January 2014.

 

DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT HERE >> REBGV Stats Package, January 2015

 

Last month’s new listing count was 1.2 per cent higher than the region’s 10-year new listing average for the month.

The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the REBGV MLS® is 10,811, a 14.2 per cent decline compared to January 2014 and a 4.8 per cent increase compared to December 2014.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $641,60022. This represents a 5.5 per cent increase compared to January 2014.

With the sales-to-active-listings ratio at 17.7 per cent, the region remains in balanced market territory.

“The Bank of Canada’s recent announcement to lower its benchmark interest rate is an important one for home buyers, sellers and owners to note,” Harris said. “A reduced rate could allow you to pay down your mortgage a little faster, save some money on your monthly payments, or change the amount you qualify for. It’s important that you do your homework and understand how these announcements impact your situation.”

Sales of detached properties in January 2015 reached 781, an increase of 7.3 per cent from the 728 detached sales recorded in January 2014, and a 44.1 per cent increase from the 542 units sold in January 2013. The benchmark price for a detached property in Metro Vancouver increased 8.4 per cent from January 2014 to $1,010,000.

Sales of apartment properties reached 809 in January 2015, an increase of 7.4 per cent compared to the 753 sales in January 2014, and an increase of 40.5 per cent compared to the 576 sales in January 2013. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 2.5 per cent from January 2014 to $382,800.

Attached property sales in January 2015 totalled 323, an increase of 15.8 per cent compared to the 279 sales in January 2014, and a 38.6 per cent increase from the 233 attached properties sold in January 2013. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 4.3 per cent between January 2014 and 2015 to $479,600.

– See more at: http://www.rebgv.org/news-statistics/home-buyers-remain-active-despite-reduced-selection#sthash.WcmQet3e.dpuf

Top 3 Most Expensive Neightbourhoods in Metro Vancouver

Oleg Articles, Videos , , , , ,
Top 3 Most Expensive Neightbourhoods in Metro Vancouver

This video is an episode from my Vancity Real Estate Show that has aired on Wednesday January 7th. 2015 (link to the original post).

In this episode I count down top 3 most expensive neighbourhoods in Metro Vancouver. All the data for the list has been taken form Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and although we believe that it’s correct there are no guarantees.

Please, call me (604 565 7052) for any real estate help or advice.

What did you think about this video? Leave your comments below

Selling your Vancouver home in a “down market”

Oleg Articles, Tips
Selling your Vancouver home in a “down market”

Selling a home could be a stressful activity.  A lot of home owners are very uncomfortable with strangers coming through the house, opening closet doors and cabinets but it is a part of the sales process. Another added stress of selling a home in any economy is keeping your Vancouver house in a “show ready condition. A lot of times you will have to get your house prepared for showing within hours’ notice. It isn’t such a big issue in when the market is up and properties sell within days but when the market is slow and your property “sits” on the market for months at the time selling process could get frustrating. Imagine trying sell your property for 8 month.

What is down market? Down market could mean many things. It could mean that there are very few buyers and a lot of inventory on the market (aka. the buyers’ market). Buyers’ market could be a result of many factors. Some of the main causes for buyers’ market in Vancouver are: high interest rates and/or change in immigration policies among many others. High interest rates create buyers’ market due to lower number of people being able to qualify for increased monthly payments. Change in immigration regulations could also be a factor in buyers’ market in Vancouver. Vancouver is known for having a hot real estate market for foreign investors. When immigration policies change international investors would be looking for different real estate markets to invest into and thus Vancouver real estate market will have a decrease in active buyers.

Down market could also mean significant housing price drops. Most of United States and Canada experiences significant real estate price drops and eventually recession in 2008. A lot of people could not afford their mortgages any longer and had to sell their homes or had their homes in foreclosures. When there is a large inventory of houses doe to foreclosures and not enough buyers real estate prices can drop significantly, which creates buyers’ market.

Now that we have a better understanding of what down market is and how it’s created let talk about selling your Vancouver home.

To sell a home in any market there is only one thing that’s required – a buyer!  Imagine going out fishing. It’s a lot easier to catch a fish if the river is full of them. As the number of fish decreases it becomes harder and harder to catch one. It is the same situation with buyers.  When the market is on the upswing there are plenty of buyers and a lot easier to find one for your house. Sometimes you could find a few and even have your house in a biting war. As the number of buyers decreases it becomes harder and harder to find one for your house.

In my opinion the key to selling your Vancouver property in a down market for a reasonable price is making it appeal to as many people as possible.

Why did I say for a reasonable price? You can sell anything if you lower the price enough. If you were to put your Vancouver property on the market for $10 it would sell within minute (your real estate agent would probably be the first one to make an offer).  I know it’s a silly example and you wouldn’t put your Vancouver house on the market for $10 but it gets my point across.

So how do you make your property appealing to as many people as possible?

De-personalize your home. Turn your home into a house. Take down all of the family photos. A lot of times buyers would be uncomfortable with having sellers family photos in the house they are thinking of purchasing. Think of it this way. You want to do everything possible to help buyers envision themselves living there.

Make sure your Vancouver house is in a move-in ready state. Fix up all of the little projects around the house you’ve been neglecting. Paint the walls, fix door knobs, remove carpet stains and do whatever else that needs to be done. A big majority of buyers want to buy a house in move-in ready condition without any added DIY (do it yourself) projects.

Curb appeal. Make sure your house looks good from the outside. You’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover but most people do. Make sure the lawn is landscaped, house has been pressure washed or painted and looks like your buyers’ dream home.

Offer “take-back mortgage”.  As I mentioned earlier one of the reasons for slow market is buyers not being able to qualify for mortgages.  If you are in a position to offer buyer take-back mortgage your Vancouver house will come with an extra added bonus that will make it easier to sell. Please, make sure to consult with your financial professional about mortgage take-back option before making any decisions.

Follow these tips for selling your Vancouver home in a down market and good luck.

Find property owners name at The BC Land Title Office

Oleg Articles
Find property owners name at The BC Land Title Office

The BC Land Title Office in New Westminster has records of every property owned in Greater Vancouver Area. What’s more surprising that you can easy request names of owners for each property. Property registry information is public information and can be disclosed to anyone.

These types of searches aren’t free. Cost for each search is just under $10. If you have enough money you can find out who every property in BC.