Downton Abbotsford retail corner site sells for $1.57 million

Frontline Real State Services
Western Investor

Downton Abbotsford retail corner site sells for $1.57 million

Frontline Real State Services
Western Investor

The 6,977 square foot retail building has “exceptional exposure and retail frontage” in the historic downtown area of Abbotsford, B.C.

Frontline Real Estate Services, Surrey, B.C., for Western Investor
Type of property: Retail
Location: 33761 Essendale Avenue, Abbotsford, B.C.
Size of property: 6,977 square feet
Sale price: $1.57 million
Brokerage: Frontline Real Estate Services, Surrey, B.C.
Brokers: Rebecca MacLeod and George Richmond, Frontline, with Mike Grewal of Colliers International, Surrey, B.C.

© 2021 Western Investor

195-room Patricia Hotel and parking lot sells for $61.95 million

Corbel Commercial Inc.
Western Investor

East Hastings Street hotel in Vancouver eyed for repurposing and potential development for social housing

Property type: Hotel

Location: 403, 427 East Hastings Street, Vancouver

Number of rooms: 195

Size of land: 21,350 square feet

Land size in acres: .49 acres

Zoning: DEOD (Downtown Eastside Oppenheimer District)

Price: $61,950,000

Buyer: BC Government

Date of sale: April 15, 2021

Brokerage: Corbel Commercial Inc.

Brokers: Willow King, Marc Saul and Robert Tham

 

© 2021 Western Investor

Vancouver rents rise to remain highest in Canada

WI Staff
Western Investor

Two-bedroom rentals were up 7.7 per cent in May from a month earlier to $2,760 per month – and rents now average $3.04 per square foot

 

Two-bedroom rentals were up 7.7 per cent in May from a month earlier to $2,760 per month – and rents now average $3.04 per square foot

Metro Vancouver has retained the dubious status as the highest-rent region in Canada after average rents for a one-bedroom apartment rose 2.4 per cent in May from a month earlier and two-bedroom rents shot up a nation-leading 7.7 per cent to $2,760 per month.

Nationally, the average asking rent for all Canadian properties in May grew by 2 per cent month over month to $1,708 — the first increase after six straight months of declines, according to the National Rental Report from Bullpen Research and Consulting and Rental.ca.

“ After a year of rental rate declines because of COVID-19-related lockdowns, the Canadian rental market is starting to recover. The average monthly rental rate experienced its first month-over-month increase since October of last year,” the report stated.

The Metro Vancouver vacancy rate, as of December 2020, was 2.3 per cent, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp, up from 1 per cent a year earlier.

But vacancies could tighten, Bullpen cautions.

“With the promise of the border opening to further immigration, international students and tourism, rental rates are expected to continue to rise. The fall of 2021 could be a busy season for landlords and tenants, “ according to Ben Myers, president and CEO of Bullpen Research. 

Vancouver continues to lead the list of 35 cities for average monthly rent for a one-bedroom and two-bedroom home, the research shows.

Year over year, Metro Vancouver’s average monthly rent was down in May 2 per cent for a one-bedroom, but up for a two-bedroom by 8.2 per cent. 

Vancouver experienced the largest month-over-month increase among the major municipalities for condominium rentals and apartments with a monthly increase of 5.4 per cent in average rent of $2,315, also the highest in the country, Myer noted.

“The average per-square-foot rent [in Metro Vancouver] is up 8.2 per cent annually to $3.04, which likely reflects the greater number of small units in the market. Tenants have flocked to larger apartments in locations farther from their place of employment during the pandemic,” according to Bullpen’s findings.

 “The ramp-up in the vaccine rollout and anticipated return to normalcy has tenants trying to get in before rents trend up, increasing demand for all product and bedroom types in May, especially in Vancouver and Toronto,” Myers said.

The National Rent Report charts and analyzes monthly, quarterly and annual rates and trends in the rental market on a national, provincial, and municipal level across all listings on Rentals.ca for 35 cities across Canada. 

© 2021 Western Investor

Coquitlam mega-build bid includes 50-storey towers

Janis Cleugh
Western Investor

Proposed development would add 4,000 new homes, a hotel and convention centre, office and retail space and about $150 million for city fees and amenities

Giant project would include about 580,000 square feet of commercial space. |Marcon

Proposed development would add 4,000 new homes, a hotel and convention centre, office and retail space and about $150 million for city fees and amenities

A hotel with a convention centre, homes for 8,000 residents in 50-storey towers and more than half-a-million square feet for shopping are planned for a key intersection in Coquitlam City Centre.

On June 8, the city’s council-in-committee heard an hour-long delegation from the developers of “Coquitlam Central,” a master planned community that’s intended for an 11.6-acre site east of the Coquitlam Central public transit hub — located at Lougheed Highway and Pinetree Way.

The high-density application, which is expected to go to first bylaw reading in mid-2022 after public consultations, is being proposed by Marcon and Quadreal Property Group in two parts:

• Northside: Two rental buildings with 1,000 units and a strata building with 500 units of housing; 535,000 square feet for retail, office and a hotel; and a 0.3-acre urban park.

• Southside: Five strata buildings with 2,500 units of residential); 47,000 square feet of retail; and a 1.2-acre central urban park, a 0.6-acre public park and a 10-metre wide greenway.

The Coquitlam Central bid is the first application to be presented under the recently adopted City Centre Area Plan (CCAP) update; it’s also the first proposal to come before committee — allowed by council under a new policy adopted last month — for developers to get preliminary feedback.

According to a city staff report, the project — if approved by council — would include about $150 million in development cost charges (DCC), density bonus payments and community amenity charges (CAC) to the city. As well, it would add a pedestrian/cyclist bridge over the Lougheed Highway to the transit hub, a daycare for 150 children, a grocery and $900,000 in public art.

The site itself would take over several properties along Pheasant Street, Christmas Way and Lougheed Highway, including a current dealership, as well as city-owned land at 2976 Pheasant Street. That sale to the Marcon/Quadreal Property Group is now under consideration.

Jim McIntyre, Coquitlam’s general manager of planning and development services, described Coquitlam Central as a “game changer” for the city as it adds a “small slice of a downtown” to a key location; it also lines up with the CCAP, which calls for 24,000 more residents to City Centre.

“It is quite stunning,” McIntyre told the committee of the mega-proposal noting the commercial floor area proposed for Coquitlam Central is more half the size of the Coquitlam Centre mall.

As for the hotel and convention centre, it would share space with the office high rise; however, the group’s request to the city for $7.6 million to build the shell of the 20,000-square-foot. convention centre is still being negotiated, McIntyre said.

Marcon owner Nic Paolella said Coquitlam Central will be a catalyst for the area and will be the first development in Metro Vancouver to be near a SkyTrain, West Coast Express and bus depot.

In his presentation with Ryan Bragg, architect with Perkins and Will, Paolella showed artist’s renderings and a video of the proposal that, when complete, would have two acres of parking below grade for eight levels and provide jobs for 1,800 people.

McIntyre said the proposal will go before council next year to rezone the full site. Subdivision and building permit bids would follow and “need to meet the requirements of the day,” he said.

Coquitlam Central is one of four master planned community bids being processed by the city.

© 2021 Western Investor

Fatigued and frustrated buyers mean home sales slowed again in May: CREA

Sean MacKay
Livabl

Some buyers have had enough of the relentless pace of Canada’s housing market and this frustration is showing up in the market activity data published each month by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

The latest figures released this week by CREA showed national home sales down more than seven percent on a monthly basis in May after dropping 11 percent in April. March now appears to be the indisputable peak of the ongoing housing boom that began to take off last summer.

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With demand still outpacing supply by a wide margin and national home prices up nearly 40 percent on an annual basis last month, CREA Chair Cliff Stevenson says anecdotal evidence continues to mount that buyers are frustrated and experiencing “offer fatigue” in the face of fierce competition.

He went on to say that the urge to purchase a new home as a space to “ride out COVID” has likely declined among buyers as the pandemic continues to recede across the country, helped along by the still accelerating vaccination effort.

CREA Senior Economist Shaun Cathcart added that with Canadians seeing a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel and their lives gradually returning to normal, homebuying may not be prioritized as much as it has been over the last year.

While all these factors contribute to a cooling market, Canadians still had a huge appetite for homes in May. Although it was far from the peak level recorded in March 2021, May sales were still historically high. Months of inventory — a key measure of market balance — came in above its record-low measure observed in March, but at 2.1 months was far below the long-term average of five months.

On the pricing front, the MLS Home Price Index was up a record 24.4 percent annually, while the national average home price was $688,000 in May, up 38.4 percent from a year ago. CREA noted that the annual increase to the average price is distorted by the pandemic lockdown-inspired tumult that gripped the market last year.

© 2020 BuzzBuzzHome Corp.

Inflation Jumps to 3.6% in Canada, Its Highest Since 2011

Shelly Hagan
Bloomberg

Inflation in Canada accelerated to its highest level in a decade, in what policy makers are saying will only be a temporary run-up in prices.
Consumer prices were up 3.6% in May from a year ago, the fastest annual gain since May 2011, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday in Ottawa. That’s up from a pace of 3.4% in April. Economists were predicting a 3.5% rate in May. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.5% versus forecasts for a 0.4% increase.
Core inflation, seen as a better measure of underlying price pressures, rose to 2.3% from 2.1%. That’s the highest reading since 2009.

The Bank of Canada — which is responsible for keeping inflation in check — is brushing off the spike, arguing it is being driven largely by one-off factors. The annual reading is distorted by year-ago comparisons when price fell sharply at the beginning of the pandemic, a phenomenon known as the base effect. Price pressures are also building as businesses scramble to balance a rush of demand against shortages of materials.
Still, Canada’s central bank expects continued excess supply in the economy will put downward pressure on prices once the base effects abate in coming months. If inflation proves more durable, however, it may force the Bank of Canada to bring forward interest rate increases that investors aren’t anticipating until later next year.
The central bank has said it expects inflation to remain around 3% over next several months before moderating. Governor Tiff Macklem will likely reiterate that message during testimony before Canadian senators Wednesday evening.
“The base effects, which are pushing up the headline inflation readings at the moment, should begin to fade in the June data, and continue to do so for some months thereafter,” Royce Mendes, an economist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, said in a report to investors. “As a result, the Bank of Canada will continue to look through the recent acceleration in inflation.”
Cost of Living
Homeowner replacement costs in Canada rise fastest in over 30 years
Source: Statistics Canada
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A similar phenomenon also drove inflation higher in the U.S. last month to an annual 5% pace. Inflation in Canada is lower because of a slower reopening and recent gains in the Canadian dollar that is dampening prices for imported goods.
Rising prices for cars were among the biggest drivers of inflation last month. Car prices are up 5% from a year earlier, in part because of supply chain issues related to a shortage of semiconductor chips globally. Gasoline also gained in May, and is up 43% from a year earlier when prices were still affected by the pandemic shutdowns.
Canada’s hot housing market is also factor in the inflation story amid robust demand for single family homes and rising costs of construction materials like lumber. The costs of owning a home are up 11.3% from a year ago, the largest annual increase since 1987.
— With assistance by Erik Hertzberg
(Updates with economist quote, details throughout.)
Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal.

@ 2021 Bloomberg

CMHC on what pushed housing starts higher last month

Ephraim Vecina
Mortgage Broker News

Intensified multi-family market activity pushed Canadian housing starts higher in May compared to previous months, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The latest data from the Crown corporation showed that the six-month moving average of Canadian housing starts was 280,779 units in May, recovering from the 278,462 units in April.

“The national trend in housing starts remained elevated in May, registering a slight increase from April,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC. “In May, higher multi-family [seasonally adjusted annual rates] offset lower single-detached starts in Canada’s urban areas, contributing to the increase in the national trend.”

However, the trend was not as high as it could’ve been, owing to some weaknesses observed in several markets.

“Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal starts trended lower in May, as these markets continued to moderate from the historical highs recorded in the first quarter of the year,” Dugan said.

Read more: Federal government, CMHC announce second round of Housing Supply Challenge

The standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts across all Canadian markets was 275,916 units in May, representing a 3.2% gain from 267,449 units in April.

Urban starts accounted for the vast majority of this growth, increasing by 1.8% in May to 254,647 units. Multiple urban starts increased by an estimated 10.9% to 190,530 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased by 18% to 64,117 units. Rural starts had a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 21,269 units.

Copyright © 2021 Key Media

Condo prices see a significant spike in the GTA

Ephraim Vecina
Mortgage Broker News

Condo prices in the Greater Toronto Area have grown by 44% since the 2017 housing peak, a trend that is in line with the opinion of nearly half of mortgage and property agents in Ontario who believe that Canada is currently labouring under a property bubble.

New data from tech-enabled brokerage Properly indicates that this surge in condo values stems from the relative accessibility of the asset class when compared to other property types.

The trends over the past few years point to affordability as the foremost consideration among buyers in the GTA. Aside from condos, other housing types that have seen price spikes since 2017 include townhouses (33%), semi-detached homes (27%), and freehold townhouses (26%). To compare, detached homes saw their value grow by 21% in the same period.

Read more: What’s happening with house price growth in Canada?

“This past year, condo sales were hit the hardest by the pandemic. While sales are now back up to pre-pandemic levels, it’s [a relief] for condo owners to know that their investments have appreciated significantly over time,” said Anshul Ruparell, co-founder and CEO of Properly. “Moving forward, it’s forecasted that solid growth in condo sales will continue as pandemic restrictions ease.”

A recent survey by Juwai IQI found that a considerable number of industry professionals (44%) believe that Canada is experiencing a residential real estate bubble.

“In Ontario, 41% of agents believe there is a property bubble in Canada. That compares to 34% who disagree,” said Georg Chmiel co-founder and executive chairman of Juwai IQI Group. “Agents in Quebec are the most likely to believe there is a bubble, with 62% agreeing that there is. In Alberta, only 30% of agents believe there is a bubble.”

Copyright © 2021 Key Media

Canadian home sales, prices drop from the month before amid buyer fatigue

Julie Gordon
other

Home sales fall 7.4% in May from April, while the average selling price was down 1.1%

Canadian home sales fell 7.4 per cent in May from April, while the average selling price was down 1.1 per cent from the previous month, according to CREA data. Photo by Tyler Anderson/National Post
OTTAWA — Canadian home sales and the average price fell in May compared with the previous month, as frustrated would-be buyers took a break and some of the pandemic urgency to secure a home began to fade, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said on Tuesday.
Canadian home sales fell 7.4 per cent in May from April, while the average selling price was down 1.1 per cent from the previous month, according to CREA data. It was the second consecutive month of declines after a blazing start to the year.
“While housing markets across Canada remain very active, we now have two months of moderating activity in the books, and that goes for demand, supply and prices,” Cliff Stevenson, chair of CREA, said in a statement.
“More and more, there is anecdotal evidence of offer fatigue and frustration among buyers, and the urgency to lock down a place to ride out COVID would also be expected to fade at this point given where we are with the pandemic,” he added.
Story continues below
Provinces across Canada have begun reopening from a third round of shutdowns and COVID-19 vaccinations are being rapidly deployed, buoying hopes of a return to normal in the second half of the year.
Canada’s housing market surged in late 2020 and early 2021, with home prices escalating sharply amid investor activity and fear of missing out. Many smaller centres saw record price gains as urbanites fled to suburbs and beyond in search of more space.
The national average selling price was $696,000 in May, down 1.1 per cent from April but up 38.4 per cent from a year earlier, the industry group said. Home prices fell in April and May of last year amid first-wave COVID-19 shutdowns.
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Actual sales, not seasonally adjusted, rose 103.6 per cent from a year earlier, while CREA’s Home Price Index was up 24.4 per cent on the year and up 1 per cent from April.
Canadian housing starts, meanwhile, rose 3.2 per cent in May compared with April as multiple urban starts jumped, offsetting a drop in single-detached starts, separate data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed.
“Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal starts trended lower in May, as these markets continued to moderate from the historical highs recorded in the first quarter of the year,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC, in a statement.

© Thomson Reuters 2021