Frankly Speaking

The rapid rise in prices for housing of all types is the largest single pocketbook issue facing voters in the 2017 provincial election. The pocketbook issue which may prove to have the biggest influence on how people vote in the May 9 provincial election is housing. When looking back at the cost and availability of housing in 2013, when the last election was held, there is no comparison with the multiplicity of challenges on that front today. While the cost of detached houses had already risen substantially in some areas, sale prices were nowhere near what they are today. Townhouses and apartments were definitely affordable for most working people. Interest rates were low, as they are today, but the monthly payments were significantly less, simply because the initial cost was less. I took a close look at the Surrey, North Delta, White Rock and Langley markets in 2013 and 2017, based on Fraser Valley Real Estate Board sales statistics. In the markets other than Langley, p...

Premier Christy Clark has taken to YouTube to announce that her government plans “bold action” on the very significant issue of housing affordability. Clark said, in a video released last week, that the province will be announcing specific measures to make housing more affordable in the coming weeks. On Sunday, Housing Minister Rich Coleman and his federal counterpart announced that the federal government will spend $150 million on affordable housing in B.C. Housing prices have gone from a curiosity to an annoyance to a full-blown problem in the past few years. It’s not a problem for those who have significant equity in their homes, but it is a big problem for everyone else – renters, homeowners with large monthly payments and those who want to buy their first home, or those hoping to relocate from one home to another. Prices have been rising sharply. Many realtors admit that it is very difficult to accurately price homes because of the demand. The supply is not coming close...

Speakers at a housing forum sponsored by the Urban Development Institute brought a measure of common sense to the often-overheated rhetoric about housing prices in Metro Vancouver. As they pointed out, the price of townhouses and condominium apartments in the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board area (which includes Surrey and Langley) has actually fallen since 2008. Only the price of detached homes is rising. The significant change is the development of a two-tier market. There is one market for detached homes, no matter what size the lot, and another for multi-family units. The gap between the two has risen from $200,000 in 2009 to between $300,000 and $400,000 today. It continues to widen. In some ways, this should not be a surprise. Ever since the Agricultural Land Reserve was created in 1972, there have been significant limits on land available for urban development. Up until recent years, there has been enough supply available. But that has changed. Much of Surrey has been develope...