What’s pushing Vancouver home prices higher now?

Home prices in Vancouver continue their ascent a year after the BC government imposed a foreign-homebuyer tax on the metro area a year ago, and it has a lot to do with an insufficient supply of housing, TD Bank observes.

“We don’t anticipate a significant drop in home prices in any way. Interest rates are going up but they’re going up very gradually, and really what matters is the supply-demand balance of home price,” Diana Petramala, TD Bank economist, tells BuzzBuzzNews.

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Vancouver Holds On in World’s Top 3 Most Liveable Cities

Despite its points sliding slightly, Vancouver has held onto its third-place ranking for the seventh consecutive year in what is arguably the most-respected global liveable cities chart.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) placed Vancouver third under Melbourne, Australia and Vienna, Austria. Toronto came in fourth place, just a hair behind Vancouver in points, whereas in previous years Vancouver enjoyed a bigger lead over Toronto. Calgary was in joint fifth place with Adelaide, Australia.

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B.C. tenants are about to get hit with the largest rent increases allowed in five years

Every year, the B.C. Residential Tenancy Branch sets the maximum allowable percentage by which landlords are legally permitted to increase rents.

Because there is an acute housing shortage in Vancouver, it means that that percentage is the exact amount by which most landlords do raise rents.

Yesterday (August 23), the Residential Tenancy Branch revealed this number for the year ahead, and it’s a big one.

In 2018, landlords are permitted to increase rents in B.C. by four percent.

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