News & Tips

Property Transfer Tax (PTT) is a provincial land registration tax paid by a property buyer or owner when a property title is registered at the Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA). How much is the PTT? The PTT is charged on the fair market value of a property at a rate of: 1% on the first $200,000 […]

As we help our clients navigate the current market, we continue to see high demand for condos, especially at the lower-to-mid range price points. Many of our clients who have been trying to purchase since early January, have been repeatedly faced with multiple offer and “subject-free” competition. A factor that may be feeding this demand […]

You likely received your BC Assessment notice in the mail last month and saw a substantial increase in your home value.  Metro Vancouver property assessments saw an uptick of 15-50 percent in 2017.   Larger property assessments increase for single-family homes Increases of 30-50% were typical for single-family homes in Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, […]

Mixed Start to the New Year for Vancouver’s Housing Market After near record-breaking housing sales in 2016, the Vancouver real estate market started the year in January 2017 with a mix of cooling trends in some areas and hot spots in others. Overall, Vancouver residential real estate sales volume for January 2017 was down approximately […]

Effective January 16, 2017 – the new BC Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership program contributes to the amount first-time homebuyers have already saved for their down payment, providing up to $37,500, or up to 5% of the purchase price, with a 25-year loan that is interest-free and payment-free for the first five years. The […]

On Jan 10, 2017, BC’s Finance Minister announced that the province’s home owner grant program will now include properties with an assessed value of up to $1.6 million – which is up from the previous threshold of $1.2 million. This $400,000 increase from last year’s limit will ensure nine out of ten homes across the […]

2016 Year End Housing Market Update: A heated year for Metro Vancouver real estate draws to a close The Metro Vancouver housing market had its third highest selling year on record in 2016, behind only 2015 and 2005. Sales of detached, attached and apartment properties in the region reached 39,943 in 2016, a 5.6 per […]

Eighty percent of real estate home buyers start their home search online, so your home’s “internet appeal” or how good your home looks in online photos is taking over as the top way to make a good first impression. The Internet has become an irreplaceable tool for selling homes in Vancouver and across the world. […]

Home sales and listings just below 10-year average Home buyer and seller activity remains near  historical averages in the Metro Vancouver* housing market. Residential home sales in the region totalled 2,214 in November 2016, a decrease of 0.9 per cent  from the 2,233 sales recorded in October 2016 and a decrease of 37.2 per cent […]

You may or may not have heard about recent tax changes regarding the principal residence exemption available on the sale of a taxpayer’s principal residence (residents of Canada only.) The recent changes are significant and I would consider them to be a TAX TRAP because the new rules now require positive action by the taxpayer […]