Dr Sam Mehrbod’s Blog
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One-bedroom median rent in Vancouver sets you back over $33K a year
In October 2023, Vancouver remains the most expensive city in Canada for housing, with a median rent of $2,800 for a one-bedroom apartment. Burnaby is the third-most expensive city, while Kelowna saw the greatest month-over-month increase, reaching $1,860 for a one-bedroom. Zumper looks at asking prices for rentals across major cities and calculates median asking…
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Vancouver residents react to new rules for short-term rentals
In October 2023, the BC government announced new regulations targeting short-term rental services such as Airbnb. These regulations include a provincial registry and fines for non-compliance, and have been met with both positive and negative reactions. The goal of the regulations is to open up more housing and combat speculation in the rental market. Continue…
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Downtown Vancouver no longer has Canada’s lowest office vacancy rate for a major city centre
Downtown Vancouver no longer has the lowest office vacancy rate amongst Canada's largest city centres. According to a new market update by Colliers International, downtown Toronto has the lowest rate of 11% in the third quarter of 2023, while downtown Vancouver's is 11.9%. This is the highest office vacancy rate in downtown Vancouver for about…
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Canada’s housing starts led by new apartments in Vancouver and Toronto
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) newly released data shows that the number of housing starts in Canada’s six largest metropolitan areas increased by only 1% over the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022. Vancouver and Toronto dominated the housing starts, with 58% of the total being apartments, driven…
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Vancouver West Market Update
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Vancouver housing market more balanced after spring and summer slowdown: board
In September 2023, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported a 13.2% increase in home sales compared to the same month in the previous year. This was accompanied by a 28.4% increase in new listings, allowing overall inventory levels to recover modestly from the previous spring and summer. The composite benchmark home price was…
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ABC Vancouver pushes to prezone 26 city ‘villages’ to accelerate housing
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has announced seven ideas to increase housing supply in the city. These include prezoning 26 "villages" to permit construction of multiplexes, townhouses and low-rise apartments, and amending the Vancouver Charter to remove the need for rezoning. The six other ideas will be discussed at a council meeting next week. Continue to…
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Vancouver Proposes Rent Increases for Moderate Income Rental …
Vancouver city staff are proposing an increase in the rates for moderate income rental housing to address the city's affordable housing shortage. The proposal has been met with criticism from former city councillor Jean Swanson, who believes it is an attempt for developers to make more money. City councillors are debating alternative solutions to support…
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The Challenge of Building Rental Homes in Vancouver
Vancouver city hall has proposed policy amendments to incentivize developers to build more rental homes, both market-rate and below-market. Despite the 2017 pilot program for below-market rentals being initially successful, construction of the 70 approved projects have not yet taken place due to increasing construction costs and interest rates. The proposed policy changes include increasing…
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$108 million in federal financing for new Oakridge rental housing in Vancouver
The federal government has announced that it is providing Marcon Developments with $107.5 million in fully repayable low-interest loans through the Rental Construction Financing Initiative for a major secured purpose-built rental housing project in Vancouver's Oakridge area. This will enable Marcon to construct two towers with a total of 426 rental homes, including 215 market…