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Transition plan will raise rebates to homes under $850,000

OTTAWA -- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is predicting the Canadian housing market will remain fairly stable this year and next, with little change from 2011 in prices, new home construction and sales of existing homes.

The national housing agency says that's because the economy appears set to expand at only a moderate pace over the next two years and mortgage rates will remain low.

The CMHC says it expects the average house price in Canada to hit $368,900 for 2012 and $379,000 for 2013.

Housing starts are expected to be around 190,000 units this year and 193,800 units in 2013, while existing home sales are expected at about 457,300 units in 2012 and moving a little higher to 468,200 units in 2013.

Low mortgage rates and high demand have driven housing prices sharply higher in large urban centres such as Toronto and Vancouver, leading many experts to warn that a housing bubble could burst when rates finally do rise.

Despite those warnings and alarms from top government officials that Canadians are taking on too much debt overall, the housing market has seen little change over the past few years, with price growth slowing but not retreating in most areas.

Vancouver, BC – January 13, 2012. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that the dollar volume of homes sold through Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in BC climbed 14.2 per cent to $43.1 billion in 2011. A total of 76,721 homes were sold in BC in 2011, up 2.8 per cent from 2010. The average annual MLS® residential price climbed 11.1 per cent to $561,304 over the same period.                      

“Low mortgage interest rates and gradually improving economic conditions contributed to a moderate increase in consumer demand last year,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “BC home sales came in about on par with their 15-year average, but fell well below their ten-year average of over 88,000 units.”

Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the North experienced the largest percentage increase in unit sales last year, while consumer demand edged lower in Victoria and on Vancouver Island.

BC residential unit sales in December dipped 3.9 per cent to 4,090 units, while the average MLS® residential price was 2 per cent lower than in December 2010.     

The majority of all new housing starts involve strata properties. In a dozen municipalities, strata properties now make up more than half of all taxable properties.¹

In December 2011, the provincial government changed several important strata requirements.² Whether a licensee markets strata properties or manages them, the licensee needs to know about these developments. The changes mainly concern depreciation reports and contributions to a strata corporation's contingency reserve fund (CRF). Some changes are immediate, while others come into effect at different times over the next two years. This is a summary of the changes that most concern licensees.

Depreciation Reports
A strata corporation's depreciation report estimates the life expectancy of major items and the ultimate cost of their repair or replacement. Effective December 13, 2011, every strata corporation must periodically obtain a depreciation report, unless otherwise exempted. A strata corporation whose strata plan contains less than five strata lots is excused from this requirement. So too, where a strata corporation by 3/4 vote waives the requirement for a depreciation report, the corporation may defer compliance with this requirement for up to 18 months.

With some exceptions, a strata corporation has two years (in most cases, until December 13, 2013) to obtain the mandatory depreciation report. After that, a strata corporation must update its depreciation report every three years, unless exempted. Only a qualified person may prepare the depreciation report, which must involve an onsite inspection. The depreciation report must project the anticipated costs of maintenance, repair and replacement of major building components over the next 30 years. The depreciation report must also contain certain information, including a financial forecast that offers at least three cash-flow funding models for the CRF.

Strata Records
Effective December 13, 2011, a strata corporation must keep among its records any depreciation report obtained by the strata corporation. The strata corporation must also keep any reports respecting the repair or maintenance of major items in the strata corporation, including engineers' reports, risk management reports, sanitation reports and reports respecting any items for which information is mandatory in a depreciation report.

Effective March 1, 2012, whenever a strata corporation issues an Information Certificate (Form B), the corporation must attach to it, among other things, the corporation's most recent depreciation report.

In addition, effective, January 1, 2014 the Information Certificate (Form B) will change. At that point, the Form B will require a strata corporation to disclose if there is any parking stall or storage locker allocated to the strata lot and if so, whether the parking stall or storage locker is a separate strata lot, part of a strata lot, or part of the common property.

Funding the CRF
In the past, the Strata Property Act imposed a CRF ceiling. In simple terms, once a strata corporation's CRF exceeded the amount of the previous year's operating budget, the law prohibited further CRF contributions, unless the eligible voters by 3/4 vote decided otherwise. Effective December 13, 2011, the CRF cap disappeared. Now, so long as the strata corporation has the statutory minimum amount in its CRF, the corporation may approve further contributions as part of the ordinary budget approval process after considering the depreciation report, if any.

This is only a summary of these important changes; the new requirements for depreciation reports, for example, are reasonably complex. A licensee can view the legislation at: www.housing.gov.bc.ca/strata/regs/OIC-SPA.pdf. Every listing licensee and buyer's agent should immediately add to their list of requisite documents any depreciation report, as well as the related documents listed above. Every strata property manager may learn the specifics of these changes by attending those industry events where these developments will undoubtedly be discussed in detail.

BCREA 2012 First Quarter Housing Forecast Update

Vancouver, BC – January 27, 2012. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2012 First Quarter Housing Forecast Update today.

“Modest economic growth at home and abroad is expected to limit growth in consumer demand both this year and in 2013,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist.

BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to increase 2.1 per cent from 76,817 units in 2011 to 78,400 units this year, increasing a further 2.7 per cent to 80,500 units in 2013. The 15-year average is 79,000 unit sales. A record 106,310 MLS® residential sales were recorded in 2005.  

"While European sovereign debt concerns and a sluggish US economy will continue to impact consumer confidence, strong demand in the bond market is expected to keep mortgage interest rates at or near record lows for most of 2012,” added Muir.

Home prices in most BC markets are forecast to experience little change over the next 24 months as the supply of homes for sale more closely matches consumer demand. The average MLS® residential price in the province is forecast to edge down 2.2 per cent to $548,500 this year and remain relatively unchanged in 2013, albeit increasing 0.8 per cent to $553,000.