B.C. ELECTION 2024: 12 HOT TOPICS AND WHERE EACH PARTY STANDS
Wondering who to vote for in the 2024 B.C. election? Here are brief summaries of where the B.C. NDP, Conservative Party of B.C. and Green Party of B.C. stand on 12 major issues, and highlights of what they are promising British Columbians: Affordable housing and rental housing B.C. NDP: The NDP are promising to expand on many policies they have put in place since David Eby became premier, including additional density near transit stations, upzoning single-family lots to allow four to six...
read moreCALGARY HOUSING PRICES STILL CLIMBING, RENTS TAPERING AS CITY HITS RECORD FOR STARTS AND COMPLETIONS
Calgary’s home construction industry has supercharged as the city absorbs record numbers of newcomers arriving in the province — though its increasing population is still nudging home prices higher, housing data show. The city is an outlier among Canada’s major cities that are struggling to build new homes as they, too, continue to see high immigration. It comes as welcome news as Calgary’s housing prices have been climbing for several years. It’s also a departure from the rather grim tone at...
read moreCAPITAL GAINS TAX BREAKS IN THE CROSSHAIRS IN HOUSING AFFORDABILITY REPORT
The corporate quest for profit via real estate holdings is exacerbating Canada’s rental affordability crisis, according to a report from Canadians for Tax Fairness. The report, released earlier this week, blamed capital gains and residential real estate investment trust tax policies for “financializing” housing — “increasing ownership by financial actors” — with the organization suggesting that Ottawa’s much-criticized change to the capital gains inclusion rate is needed to shift the tide....
read moreSASKATCHEWAN HOUSING INDUSTRY LEADERS RELEASE POLICY BLUEPRINT TO MEET DEMAND FOR NEW UNITS
Saskatchewan needs between 60,000 and 80,000 new housing units by 2030 to keep up with population growth and demand, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Housing leaders in the province say there needs to be some policy adjustments to make that happen, and on Monday, the Saskatoon and Regina home builders’ associations, the Saskatchewan Landlord Association and the Saskatchewan Realtors Association released their blueprint to achieve it. Nicole Burgess, CEO of the...
read moreMARKETS ARE UNDERESTIMATING HOW MUCH THE BOC IS GOING TO CUT RATES: CIBC ECONOMIST BENJAMIN TAL
Investors are on edge, with growing recession fears and uncertainty surrounding corporate earnings growth. These concerns, along with high valuations, are fuelling rising volatility in the stock market. To help investors determine if the economy is normalizing or materially deteriorating, I recently spoke with CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal. He provided his assessment of the economy, updated his policy interest rate forecast and discussed potential implications for...
read moreBANK OF CANADA’S TIFF MACKLEM FORECASTS RENT DECREASES, BUT RISE IN HOME PRICES IS POSSIBLE
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem says rental prices could come down in Canada, but that does not mean home prices are going to drop. Average monthly rental rates have already started to decline for studio condos across the country. And student housing landlords in university cities such as Kingston have reported a drop in demand after the federal government’s decision to slash the number of study permits available for foreign students. “With mortgage rates coming down, hopefully with more...
read moreIMMIGRATION NEEDS TO RETURN TO PRE-TRUDEAU LEVELS TO SLOW POPULATION GROWTH: POILIEVRE
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, currently the favourite to win the next Canadian election, says the country needs to slow its soaring population growth to better align with the growth in housing, jobs and health care. “We have to have smaller population growth, there’s no question about it,” Poilievre told reporters Thursday. He said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been adding new residents at “three times the rate of the housing stock.” “We need to have a growth rate that is below the...
read moreTRUDEAU LIBERALS’ 2015 PROMISES ARE HURTING THE MIDDLE CLASS
The Trudeau Liberals have failed Canada’s middle class. On taxes, housing, employment, economic growth, health care and income, ordinary working Canadians are worse off than they were in 2015 when the Liberals took over. The latest proof came this week from Statistics Canada’s family income data. On the surface, the numbers from the latest available year were not that bad: “In 2022, the median family after-tax income of Canadians was $60,800.” That was “up 2.5% from 2021, before adjusting for...
read moreREAL ESTATE INSOLVENCIES IN CANADA SET TO SURPASS LEVELS OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
Residential property developers are facing rising insolvencies as they struggle with higher borrowing and construction costs – and industry experts warn the trend is likely to worsen as interest expenses remain elevated. The number of insolvent real estate companies and projects has been rapidly climbing over the past year and is now on track to surpass levels of the global financial crisis, according to data from the federal Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. “This has been a long...
read moreU.S. PROPERTY GIANT HINES HAS $2 BILLION TO SHOP FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN CANADA
Real estate giant Hines Interests LP is looking to invest up to $2-billion in Canada, and high on its shopping list is land for rental housing developments. The Houston-headquartered firm, which owns and manages about 850 properties in 30 countries, views apartment building developments as a top investment in Canada given the country’s shortage of affordable homes. Its significant pool of capital will let it compete for deals at a time when the commercial real estate sector is reeling from...
read more