CHANGES TO ZONING AND TENANCY AGREEMENTS

The province has moved to increase supply to the BC housing market by legislating that more residential units to be built on lots now zoned for single-family homes or duplexes. Their hope is to increase supply to “missing middle” property types, such as laneway homes,  duplexes, triplexes, townhouses and low-rise condos. 

With increased density, more homeowners could become landlords if they choose to build rental properties on their land, which in turn will be effected by new rules surrounding tenancies.

Starting July 18, 2024, landlords will be required to use the Landlord Use Web Portal to generate Notices to End Tenancy for personal occupancy or caretaker use. By requiring landlords to include information of who will be occupying the home on the notice, tenants can have a better sense of the landlords’ intentions and may provide this information at the dispute hearing if they believe the landlord is acting in bad faith.

Under the Residential Tenancy Act, a landlord can evict a tenant if the following people will be moving in:

• they or a close family member (parent, spouse or child);

• a purchaser of the property or a close family member of the purchaser; or

• a superintendent for the building.

Landlords will also be required to give tenants 4 months’ notice instead of 2 months when evicting and tenants will have 30 days to dispute Notices to End Tenancy instead of the current 15 days. The person moving into the home must live in it for a minimum of 12 months and landlords who evict in bad faith could be ordered to pay the displaced tenant 12 months’ rent. For greater details visit the BC website: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024HOUS0115-001044

It continues to be an active year. Contact me today to learn more about the zoning changes or to discuss your real estate questions.

-Dan Pigott
604-862-4124   dan@pigottproperties.com

In April the North Shore real estate market witnessed a surge in new listings, with 886 properties available for sale. This represents the highest amount of available inventory in this area since May 2021, a welcome respite for buyers who have long grappled with inventory scarcity in the preceding years. 

April saw 318 transactions across the North Shore. Notably, this represents the highest level of sales activity we have seen this year, and the highest number of sales since June of 2023. Against this backdrop, the average sales price for the month was $1,482,830 in North Van and $2,889,564 in West Van, down 0.8% and 3.1% respectively when compared to 2023. 

Looking at the bar chart above you can see that every market area shows a significant rise in listings while sales have stalled. Note how close the “New Listings” and “Total Listing” numbers in North Vancouver are. The the market will correct itself and prices will have to come down to engage buyers.

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

If you own recreational, investment, or other secondary property and are considering selling or passing the property to your children, you should consider doing so prior to the proposed changes to capital gains which come into effect June 25th.

The 2024 budget proposes to raise the inclusion rate for capital gains to 66.7% for gains exceeding $250,000 that are realized on the sale of secondary properties. The inclusion rate of 50% remains unchanged for gains of less than $250,000. Title must transfer prior to the June 25th deadline to avoid exposure to the new tax rates.

Not to worry if you are thinking of selling your principle residence, as these properties remain exempt from capital gains.

If you have questions about the changes coming and how it may affect you, contact us soon. The June 25th deadline is just around the corner.

It continues to be an active year. Contact me today to get started!

-Dan Pigott
604-862-4124  |  dan@pigottproperties.com

What a team! If you want any assistance in selling or buying a home, townhouse or condo look no further! With a time crunch to sell my condo and then be able to purchase a home I so desperately wanted within weeks Dale and Dan made it happen.

Listen to everything that Dale tells you and your home will go from cluttered and lived in for years to a show home. I know because that is what Dale did for me. Her experience and knowledge is priceless. Dan is efficient trustworthy and at the same time caring. This team goes above and beyond for their clients.

At the same time my kid also needed to buy a condo once my place sold and again with a tight time line. They had a small budget to work with and with Dale’s drive to get them a place that was safe and well maintained Dale found a place and in less than two weeks the deal on a condo was done and exactly what my kid wanted.

My place sold on January 22nd I purchased my new home January 26th and my kid purchased their place February 16th. It was amazing! Dale and Dan got us through all the nervousness and worry with kindness, caring and understanding. Such professionals. Amazing!

-Molly McDonald

Affordability in our real estate market has long been a top of mind issue, exacerbated now by the rise in rates. We have discussed the inventory shortage over the past several months and many have asked, “why not simply build more homes to solve the problem?” 

Not only does the shortage of developeable land and cost to acquire it pose major hurdles, a recent study by the Urban Development Institute in Vancouver shows that taxes and fees to develop can be prohibitive for many smaller developers. The report looked at the costs of an 800 sqft. condo in Vancouver in 2023 and contributing factors to the unit’s staggering average price of $1,120,000. Fees and taxes per unit were 29.25% of the imagined condo’s cost. Keep in mind these do not include the cost to build or for land acquisition. (Click here to see the report)

 While the Vancouver market is already wildly out of price for many, developers will always look at their bottom line, keeping their prices as high as the market will allow. The only way forward in this situation would be to flood the market forcing prices down, and while the expense to build is so high, this scenario seems an unlikely solution.

 Creative home-ownership may be a way forward. 

 Rising values have led to an increasing number of homeowners opting to become co-owners. This can take various forms, whether it be splitting a single family dwelling with friends, building a laneway house, or buying duplexes for extended families to live next door. Census data shows that multi-generational households are now the fastest growing household type in Canada. In cases where home-buyers cannot afford to purchase on their own, they are combining their buying power with their parents, children, siblings or friends. (Click here to read the Royal Lepage article)

 Interested in learning more about The Urban Development Institute report? 

Call us today for more info and market updates!