Saturday, Sept 14, 2019
Volume 28 Number 37
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How realtors in Vancouver’s once-hot housing market are finding new ways to sell homes You won’t find Vancouver realtor Mark Wiens driving around to open houses in a Ferrari, but you might just catch him at a local taxidermy shop in search for a bear rug. It’s a prop for a reality show that launched last week, Vancouver’s Next Top Agent (VNTA), one of the creative initiatives he’s taking on to tackle the city’s cooling real estate market.
“Now more than ever we need to be doing more to make sure our clients’ properties are getting
the exposure they need so that they get sold,” Wiens told BNN Bloomberg during an interview
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at his Vancouver office. Vancouver realtors continue to be challenged by the city’s sluggish housing market. According to the latest data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), home sales in the region remained below historical averages for the month of May while listings surged year-overyear. “What people do in a cooling market is do less and cut back, but what we’ve decided to do is increase things 10-fold,” Wiens says. Using over $100,000 of his own money to produce the show, Wiens admits it’s a risky expense to take on but one he believes is necessary. He even secured music licensing, catering for a camera
crew, a helicopter, and lawyers to create non-disclosure agreements. Wiens says while he’s being strategic at a time when sales are low, he hopes to show realtors in a humanizing light through VNTA, as reports of questionable practices like shadow flipping have casted a negative shadow on the profession in re-
cent years. VNTA, which will post its final episode on July 3 on Wiens’ YouTube channel, began with nine contestants competing through various challenges, one whereby they present sales pitches using random words like bubble tea, kaleidoscope, and
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Housing starts climbed 1.9% in August: CMHC OTTAWA: The pace of new housing starts in August climbed 1.9 per cent compared with July as the housing market rebounded from its recent slowdown. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Tuesday the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts rose to 226,639 units in August, up from 222,467 units in July. Economists on average had expected an annual pace of 215,000, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv, while the six-month moving average increased to 218,998 in August compared with 208,931 in July. “August was yet another strong month for new construction, with broad-based gains registered across nearly all prov-
inces,” TD Bank economist Rishi Sondhi wrote in a report. “Moving forward, homebuilding is likely to remain strong through the remainder of this year, as solid demand fundamentals -- namely low mortgage rates, healthy population growth and solid labour markets -- underpin construction.”
The housing market cooled last year in the wake of tighter mortgage qualification rules and a rise in mortgage rates. However, housing has started to regain strength this year as offers from lenders for fixed-rate mortgages have moved lower. The increase in the annual pace of housing starts in August came as the pace of urban starts increased two per cent in August to 213,663 units. Multiple-unit urban starts fell 1.4 per cent to 160,388 units in August while singledetached urban starts increased by 13.6 per cent to 53,275. Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 12,976 units. In a separate release, Statistics Canada
said Tuesday that the value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities rose three per cent to $8.3 billion in July, the latest numbers available. The agency said the value of permits for multi-family dwellings rose 4.2 per cent to $2.8 billion in July, led by a gain in Ontario, while the value of permits for single-family homes edged down 0.2 per cent. Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital markets, said the construction side of the Canadian housing market still looks rock solid. “This reflects strong demographic demand, both from international inflows and new households created within Canada,” Kavcic wrote.
Foreign money is to blame for home prices, majority of Canadians say Nearly two out of three Canadian consumers believe that foreign real estate investment is the main driver of inflamed home prices, according to a recent Equifax survey. As much as 61% of Canadians surveyed cited foreign money as the crucial factor responsible for the higher costs in the nation’s already stressed housing markets. The ratio climbed to 69% among Canadians who
are considering getting mortgages, while 78% stated that the federal government should step in to help would-be buyers. Roughly 70% said that the federal assistance should focus on those buying for the first time. Regarding the form that the assistance should take, 48% said that the mortgage stress test should be relaxed for first-time buyers. Meanwhile, 47% stated that this relaxed regime should
be applicable to all buyers, and 38% argued that the stress test should be removed period. Last month, BMO chief economist Douglas Porter warned that taking into account current trends, the greatest risk to the Canadian market is not a housing crash, but a return to “nosebleed levels of price grow-th.” This is because while sub-2% interest rates are helpful for borrowers, these might also trigger a
renewed surge of speculation among wealthy foreigners taking advantage of Canada’s housing markets. “Domestic policymakers [in Canada] may need to consider other ways to control [real estate] speculation – especially from abroad – in a world where interest rates stay below inflation, or even below zero,” Porter cautioned, as quoted by the Vancouver Courier.
Speculators have had long presence in Canada The share of vacant homes in Canada rose considerably between 2006 and 2016—a sign that speculators have been omnipresent in the country for quite some time. According to a Point2 Homes, which tracked “ghost” homes in the country between 2006 and 2016, Winnipeg (42.7%), Montreal (36.3%) and Edmonton (32.5%) witnessed the biggest percentage increases of vacant homes in that 10year span. By 2016, there were 1.3 million empty homes in Canada, the report concluded.
Point2 Homes did look at 150 Canadian cities and determined Grande Prairie (+181.4%), Leduc (+172.4%) and Ford Saskatchewan (+146.8%) all had the biggest increases in empty homes. Conversely, Ajax (-53.1%), Burlington (-52%) and Port Moody (-50.4%) had the most significant declines. Interestingly, the report also noted that, in 2016, Canada’s share of empty homes was five times bigger than it was in the United States. Vancouver’s share of vacant properties increased 9.6% in that decade span, while Toronto decreased a modest 4.7%.
Carl Gomez, QuadReal’s chief economist, says that while the data period ended three years ago, speculative activity explains much of what happened in the period specified, as well as in the years hitherto. “This is rearview mirror stuff because the data only goes until 2016 and we’ve seen a change in the drivers, but one reason the vacancy rate increased in Vancouver—and this has been a story around Vancouver for quite a period of time—is over that time you saw a lot of foreign and local investors and this is a big issue around empty homes in Vancouver,” said Go-
mez. “Residents bought these homes and probably lived offshore or in another province, but generally there have been a number of empty homes.” He added that the British Columbia government has since brought in a slew of cooling measures that have curbed speculation, at least partially. “I suspect these numbers have changed since 2016 but I also suspect Vancouver is dominated by speculators,” continued Gomez. In Toronto, the condo market is investor-driven, however, their holdings do not typically remain empty.
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ripe banana. The Apprentice-like program includes all the dramatic elements of a reality series: a $3-million mansion, emotional farewells, and a hunk in a hot tub. Contestants are rewarded “sold” stickers at the end of each episode to advance to the next round based on how they fare in the challenges. The winner will earn a spot on Wiens’ sales team at Dracco Pacific Realty. “Some people in the industry are scared of what I’m doing because they’re not willing to do it,” Wiens says. “This is a competitive business and there’s only a certain number of clients.” Mary Saleh, an 18-year veteran realtor currently with RE/MAX also feels the pressure of growing competition. “A lot of buyers or investors have lost faith,” she said in a phone interview. “Affordability is one thing but financing is the bigger issue.” Saleh is referring to the B-20 guideline implemented by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) in early 2018. The rule imposed new stress tests for uninsured mortgages, where the borrower makes a down payment of at least 20 per cent on the purchase of a home. “I don’t understand what the government is trying to gain here,” she said. Despite her extended use of social media to build clientele, Saleh’s doing something she’s never done before – knocking on doors in her Vancouver neighborhood of Commercial Drive. Saleh says she’s also now receiving invitations from developers with a chance to win a Louis Vuitton handbag or a Ro-
Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019
lex watch. Wiens also said he’s experienced developers trying to woo potential buyers with fancy events and free booze. Brian Chung of Oakwyn Realty (Courtesy of Brian Chung) Newbies like Brian Chung of Oakwyn Realty, who acquired his licence just a year ago, are figuring out their brand strategies to address the slowing market. “Everybody going into this industry has to play into their own backgrounds and circumstances,” he told BNN Bloomberg in a phone interview. As a chartered professional accountant with experience outside real estate, Chung has built up what realtors call “centres of influence.” “It could be your hockey team, a volunteer group, or your church ... groups who know you that trust you,” he says. “I’ve lived, breathed and tasted both the buy and sell sides in various parts of the city, and they know I’ve bought and sold more than the average Vancouverite.” Chung emphasizes the importance of education and training across the industry, taking into account the fiduciary duties of a realtor. “The barriers to entry are low, yet we’re tasked with selling $3-million homes when these are people’s life savings,” he says. As for Wiens, he is hopeful that the market will recover eventually but still plans to go above and beyond when it comes to selling homes. “We have an opportunity to do something special here and help clients so everybody wins,” says Wiens about VNTA. “The only negative is my bank account.”
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