Victoria council is planning to adopt a policy where 20% of units in new, large residential strata buildings must meet the city’s affordability criteria. The Times Colonist reports the city’s own consultants and other industry experts warn against this because it will discourage development. Victoria’s population growth has exceeded new housing starts since 2011 and […]
CMHC reports May’s single detached housing starts in Greater Victoria declined 39% compared with the same month last year. Starts dropped from 93 to 57, an indication that affordability continues to be a challenge, particularly since the introduction last year of the mortgage stress test, speculation tax and other government regulations inhibiting supply. The stress […]
On June 13, Victoria Council will review a proposed “inclusionary” housing policy which actually excludes more new homebuyers unable to add the costs of council’s demands onto their mortgages. In our letter to council, we oppose their policy and say: “Since 2016, the city has collected millions of dollars from new development. The report also […]
Casey Edge, VRBA’s Executive Director was interviewed in Canadian Contractor magazine and had this to say about residential construction, BC Energy Step Code, housing affordability and other topics.
View Royal Council is considering a DCC waiver for an affordable housing project creating 152 affordable, not-for-profit rentals, which is what the BC government has in mind when enabling local governments to provide DCC waivers. VRBA sent a letter outlining some of the reasons the DCC waiver is appropriate, including the developer’s donation of 12.5 […]
The federal government’s mortgage stress test appears to be doing more harm than good, especially for the younger generation. Central 1 Credit Union says “They’re (first-time buyers) still facing a down payment constraint due to the federal mortgage stress test so even though prices have come down they’re not necessarily in any better position to […]
Interesting news stories about housing surfaced last week. First, CMHC’s latest study says Victoria house prices are moving closer to levels supported by market fundamentals such as population, personal disposable income and interest rates. They also report that young adults are a key driver of increasing household formation. We have said for some time that […]
CMHC’s latest Housing Market Assessment reports, “While house prices in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto and Hamilton continue to move closer to levels supported by housing market fundamentals such as population, personal disposable income and interest rates, we continue to see a high degree of vulnerability in their overall assessment.” For Victoria, they report, “The population of […]
Update: After ignoring the Rollo Report on the EDPA, Saanich Council plans to spend several hundred thousand dollars on more reviews while imposing “interim” severe restrictions on private property and development. Here is our letter to council. Claims by some Saanich councillors that Saanich lacks tree and environment protection without the EDPA are simply without […]
Are you ready for 2019? Hear from experts at VRBA’s Crystal Ball Housing Forecast, Tuesday, January 15 from 6 pm to 9:30 pm (includes dinner) at the Royal Colwood Golf Club. Speakers include: Kyle Kerr, Past President, Victoria Real Estate Board Cameron Muir, Chief Economist, BC Real Estate Association Braden Batch, Senior Analyst-Economics, Canada Mortgage […]
© Copyright Victoria Residential Builders Association 2017
