IN THIS ISSUE
• June statistics: progress made
• Mechanical ventilation tops
• Busiest month for cruise ships
• 'More like family than realtors'
Jennifer The Clarks: Dale
604-726-8768 Team JenDale 604-720-3353
Sales versus listings: the difference slowly shrinking
Sales versus listings: the difference slowly shrinking
Catching up.
That’s what time it is for the listings part of the Lower Mainland real estate market, and while it’s not happening overnight, it is happening. The number of listings is creeping closer to addressing the demand of buyers who are shopping for homes.
According to the monthly statistics released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, here is what happened in June:
• There were 5,348 new listings on MLS in all three housing categories: detached, attached and apartment homes.
• There were 2,988 homes sold.
Translation: more listings in June than sales.
Despite that, home prices continue to rise because there still aren’t enough listings. The total number of homes listed in Metro Vancouver (9,990) is down 7.9 per cent 
from June 2022 and 17.4 below the 10-year season average.
from June 2022 and 17.4 below the 10-year season average.
Meanwhile, the sales-to-active-listings ratio continues to indicate the upward pressure on prices is continuing. If the ratio is above 20 per cent for a sustained period, that means prices are likely to rise. In June, the ratio was 20.9 per cent for detached homes, 38.5 per cent for townhomes, and 39.4 per cent for apartments…an average of 31.4 per cent.
The REBGV’s director of economics and data analytics, Andrew Lis, said in a news release:
“The market continues to outperform expectations across all segments, but the apartment segment showed the most relative strength in June. The benchmark price of apartment homes [$767,000] is almost cresting the peak reached in 2022, while sales of apartments are now above the region’s 10-year seasonal average. This uniquely positions the apartment segment relative to the attached and detached segments where sales remained below the 10-year seasonal averages.”
At the same time, the REBGV reports that the benchmark price for apartments has barely changed from June 2022 (0.5 per cent) and from May of this year (0.8 per cent). Sales have increased by 18.6 per cent, year to year, just as they have for detached homes (28.3 per cent) and attached homes (17.6 per cent).
“Despite elevated borrowing costs, there continues to be too little resale inventory available relative to the pool of buyers in Metro Vancouver,” adds Lis. “This is the fundamental reason we continue to see prices increase month over month across all segments.”
For first-time buyers, there is a threshold of $525,000 for exemption from the property transfer tax, and the REBGV is advocating that raising that “simple policy adjustment” would make homes more affordable for those who have never owned one.
All things considered, the real estate market has at least stabilized and gives every indication that the rest of 2023 might be a year of growth.
Statistics for the markets of West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Vancouver West and Vancouver East are graphically displayed below, as always
One of the benefits of being realtors is getting to meet and interact with nice people you'd never met. People like Ima Crossley.
The introduction was through a client, and Ima became a neighbourhood friend in West Vancouver while working with Dale and Jennifer. Because of a working relationship that developed as she opened Twiga, a store in Ambleside that specializes in natural fabrics and easy-wear, she was happy to share her thoughts about Nexus Realty with newsletter readers…
“I don’t really know if I’d have been able to open my store without Dale and Jennifer. They helped me in so many ways that I just couldn’t believe it. I was really having a hard time, getting all the permits and licenses, and Dale saw that and just stepped right in to help. There were some electrical things I had to solve and Dale sent over his electrician and we got that done right away. It was a real nightmare, and he talked to licensing people and just told them that I needed to get the store open.“I’ve never, ever seen realtors like that…ever! Right from the beginning, Dale showed me the space and he thought it was such a good fit for me. With some realtors after the lease is signed, you would not hear back, but not them. They’re so different from other realtors. You know, sometimes when you meet a person you just get a feeling that they’re really nice, and that was Dale. They’re more like family than realtors.
“And now, I love the Ambleside space. It’s so nice. Many of my old customers have found me, and also sent others to me as well. There’s walk-in traffic, and I’m even getting some tourists, too. It was a really good move, and Dale even sent one of his neighbours in to see me…he really does everything!”
Mechanical ventilation more than housing trend
Something that has, perhaps surprisingly, been in the B.C. Building Code for almost a decade is a requirement for mechanical ventilation systems in all new houses. This is typically done by heat exchangers that transfer warm air from inside to outside, or vice-versa depending on the outside temperature.
Their efficiency is measured in Air Changes per Hour (ACH) — air leakage through the walls, cracks or holes in the air barrier system. The lower the ACH number the
tighter the home. According to BC Housing: “Most new houses in Canada will have ACH values of between 2 and 5, with older houses in the range of 5 to 10 or higher.”
Their efficiency is measured in Air Changes per Hour (ACH) — air leakage through the walls, cracks or holes in the air barrier system. The lower the ACH number the
tighter the home. According to BC Housing: “Most new houses in Canada will have ACH values of between 2 and 5, with older houses in the range of 5 to 10 or higher.” In the soon-to-be completed project at the corner of 53rd Avenue and Ross Street in Vancouver — six new homes on a large rectangular lot — the ACH is about 2. Because it’s so air-tight, it increases the need for air to be mechanically (in a controlled way) exchanged. In these homes, the air will be changed to fresh, filtered air about eight times every 24 hours.
For anybody with asthma, COPD or any kind of respiratory issue, this is important, to say the least. It’s also important for anybody who simply wants to breathe clean air, and who doesn’t want that?
Governments encourage the construction industry to Build Tight, Ventilate Right and “fresh air machines” — they’re either Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV) or Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERV), the latter has a moisture component — are designed to address the “ventilate right” part. Ventilation is the process of
supplying air to and/or removing air from a space for the purpose of controlling air contaminant levels, humidity or temperature.
For anybody with asthma, COPD or any kind of respiratory issue, this is important, to say the least. It’s also important for anybody who simply wants to breathe clean air, and who doesn’t want that?
Governments encourage the construction industry to Build Tight, Ventilate Right and “fresh air machines” — they’re either Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV) or Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERV), the latter has a moisture component — are designed to address the “ventilate right” part. Ventilation is the process of
supplying air to and/or removing air from a space for the purpose of controlling air contaminant levels, humidity or temperature. A guide provided by all levels of government says: "Mechanical ventilation offers a more efficient, predictable and secure manner of ventilation in comparison to open windows. It’s cost-effective to build air-tight housing and provide more mechanical ventilation than it is to build leaky houses and rely on natural ventilation.”
So it’s also about saving money as well as, perhaps, lives. Heating is known to account for over 50 per cent of annual energy consumption in houses. Mechanical ventilation is not only for new houses, because the provincial government provides grants up to $11,000 for home owners who are interested in upgrading an existing home,
The six Vancouver homes at 53rd and Ross are air tight and the heat exchangers reach every room. In the photos here, the heat exchanger is located above the washer and dryer, both in a hallway closet. The pressure sensors are in every room, so the air is balanced in every room.
And best of all, it’s fresh!
So it’s also about saving money as well as, perhaps, lives. Heating is known to account for over 50 per cent of annual energy consumption in houses. Mechanical ventilation is not only for new houses, because the provincial government provides grants up to $11,000 for home owners who are interested in upgrading an existing home,
The six Vancouver homes at 53rd and Ross are air tight and the heat exchangers reach every room. In the photos here, the heat exchanger is located above the washer and dryer, both in a hallway closet. The pressure sensors are in every room, so the air is balanced in every room.
And best of all, it’s fresh!
Vancouver's busiest month for visitors on cruise ships
With July comes the height of the vacation season. That’s true in all aspects of tourism everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, which means vacationing cruisers are more plentiful than ever. Also the ships that carry them.
It turns out that July is the busiest cruise month of the year in Vancouver. There will be 65 ships going to and coming from Canada Place this month, four more than in its neighbours on the calendars, June and August.
The busiest day of the month is a tie: Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th, when there will be four ships in port each day. However, there’s a trivia component, or an asterisk. One ship, the 230-passenger Hanseatic Nature, is staying the night, so it will be here on both days — and its passengers will have almost a full day to tour Vancouver. Most of them speak German, as this luxury expedition ship was launched five years ago by Hapag-Lloyd, a cruise company in Germany that is better known for its place in the container shipping world.
Its arrival and departure times, as well as those of the more traditional cruise ships, are all listed right here under — surprise, surprise — “Cruise Ship Schedule."
Meanwhile, in other news...
The most important real estate news is widely covered in major media outlets, and sometimes analyzed here in News From Nexus.
What you'll find in this section is interesting real estate news that you may not see on TV or in the mainstream newspapers.
More homeowners turning to heat pumps for cool air in summer
CBC News reports that the demand has soared for government rebates up to $11,000 for home owners who install heat pumps. In 2023, there is a 40 per cent increase in applicants, now numbering more than 10,000, as more people believe that air conditioning is a medical necessity. So far, the rebates only apply to single-family, detached homes and not condos, even when installation is approved by strata.The movie name that became a Supreme Court ruling
Have you ever heard about the Ghostbusters Ruling, a case decided by the New York State Supreme Court that requires property owners to sign a disclosure, when planning to sell, stipulating if they believe the property is haunted? When the buyer first heard about the “haunted house" he said “we’ll have to call the Ghostbusters” — the name of a popular movie written by Canadian Dan Akroyd.Vancouver No. 5 in world-wide ranking of most livable cities
According to the 2023 Global Liveability Index, Vancouver is again fifth on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s list of most livable cities in the world. It is the highest-ranked city in North America with a score of 97.3 based on scores from 100 in five weighted categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure (perfect scores in healthcare and education). The No. 1 city was Vienna, Austria.
