Vancouver home sales fall amid mortgage, rate changes

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions implemented new lending guidelines in January that require borrowers who don’t need mortgage insurance to show they would still be able to make payments if interest rates rise.

Additionally, the Bank of Canada has raised rates three times since the summer of 2017 to the current overnight rate of 1.25 per cent. Such hikes increase the cost of variable-rate mortgages. They have also increased the cost of new fixedrate mortgages as yields on the bond market have moved higher.

“Even still, the supply of apartment and townhome properties for sale today is unable to meet demand,” Oudil said.

“On the other hand, our detached home market is beginning to enter buyers’ market territory.”

In February, the sales-toactive listings ratio for townhomes and condominiums was 37.6 per cent and 59.7 per cent, while for detached homes it was 13 per cent.

Downward pressure on home prices tends to happen when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period, while upward pressure tends to occur when it is above 20 per cent for several months.

The benchmark price for detached homes remained virtually unchanged from January 2018 at $1,602,000 in February. The benchmark price for condos rose 2.6 per cent from January to $682,800 and for townhouses jumped 1.9 per cent to $819,200.

Spring time tends to be the busiest for home buyers and sellers in Metro Vancouver, said Oudil, adding the board will wait to see how they react to taxes and other policy measures the B.C. and federal governments introduced so far in 2018.

In late February, the B.C. government unveiled its provincial budget that included a housing plan aimed at improving affordability.

The plan raises the foreign buyers’ tax from 15 per cent to 20 per cent, and expands it from Metro Vancouver to include the Fraser Valley, Central Okanagan, the Nanaimo Regional District and the Victoria area. The change is already in effect.

The government will also introduce a speculation tax in the fall. The annual property tax will target foreign and domestic homeowners who do not pay income tax in B.C. either Felicity Stone or R & FS Investments Inc., in January. On Jan. 22, records show he sold 915,837 shares for roughly $4.22 each or $3.87 million. A day later, he sold 104,421 shares at $4.20 each, and another 128,000 for $4.22 each, or a total of $978,728.

Maricann, which has production facilities in both Langton, Ont., and Dresden, Germany, announced a proposed acquisition on Jan. 24 of all outstanding shares of Haxxon AG, a cultivator of female hemp cannabis flowers based in Regensdorf, Switzerland. The deal, which was targeted to close on March 30, would allow Maricann to produce cannabis flowers in Switzerland that would then be manufactured into products such as cannabis vape cartridges, the company said at the time.

It has also been ramping up production capacity at home, as Canada moves to legalize marijuana for recreational use this year, currently expanding its cultivation and support facilities in Canada to 87,515 square metres. When complete, Maricann’s facility is expected to produce 95,000 kilograms of dry cannabis flower per year, the company says.

Company stock has fallen as much as 30 per cent on the Canadian Securities Exchange on Wednesday to $1.70 per share from Tuesday’s closing price of $2.49. It closed Friday at $2.21.