Ottawa, ON (October 27, 2017) – The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) today announced that Michael Bourque has accepted the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective later this year.

“On behalf of CREA’s Board of Directors, we are delighted Michael accepted the role of CEO,” said Andrew Peck, CREA President. “The real estate profession is experiencing an era of change as technology, consumer expectations and the regulatory environment evolve.  Michael’s unparalleled experience in association management and public policy position him to hit the ground running and face these challenges head on.”

Mr. Bourque is currently the CEO at the Railway Association of Canada. He has 30 years of experience in public policy roles on Parliament Hill, as a senior federal public servant and in government relations for Bayer and the Chemistry Industry Association.

“I am excited to begin my work with CREA staff, and the community of REALTORS...

Courtesy of MyPrinceGeorgeNow.com

Prince George ranked very well during the 2016 Census housing numbers according to Stats Canada.

One of the biggest surprises was a number of millennials who own homes says analyst Jeff Randle.

“The homeownership rate among 15 to 24-year-olds in Prince George is about 23.6%, this is above the national average which is just under 20%.”

In BC, homeownership rates fell to 68% in 2016, that is down almost two points from the 2006 rate of 69.7%.

However, the northern capital leapfrogged both the provincial and national rates.

“About 7 in 10 people own their household, which is above the national and provincial rate. For Canada, it was just over 68 and for BC it’s right at 68% and the local rate is down about 1% over the last 10 years,” added Randle.

When we look at a number of people living in condos, the rate in Canada was a modest 13.3% in 2016.

However, that housing option is becoming quite popular in...

From the City of Prince George:

In September 2017, Prince George's unemployment rate was 5.7%, a decrease of 0.4% when compared to the same month in 2016 when it was 6.1%. The unemployment rate was higher than the provincial rate of 4.9% but lower than the national rate of 6.2%.

Prince George's employment rate in September 2017 was 68.1%, an increase from the same month last year when it was 66.5%. The employment rate was higher than the national rate of 61.6% and British Columbia's 62.0%.

Total employment in the Cariboo Economic Development region was 83,300 for September 2017. This represented a net increase of 500 jobs when compared to the previous month. Both Wood Product Manufacturing and Paper Manufacturing saw the highest increases, adding 400 jobs. The highest decrease in jobs occurred in Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Rental and Leasing, with a decrease of 300 jobs.

https://princegeorge.ca/Business%20and%20Development/Economic%20Development%20Documents/07.2017_Economic%20Upda...

The housing situation in Prince George seems to be a bit of a tricky one right now.

The city is looking at ways to combat this, including how to incorporate affordable residential housing in the downtown area. cont.... https://www.myprincegeorgenow.com/59914/housing-market-tight-prince-george/

Here is live graph of last 10 years of home sales in Prince George city & rural priced at $500,000 or more.

Each data point is 12 months of activity.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) announced new restrictions on uninsured mortgages today. Effective January 1, 2018, all home-buyers with a down-payment of more than 20 per cent will have to qualify at the higher of the posted 5-year qualifying rate and their contractual rate plus 200 basis points (2 per cent).  This is in addition to policy announced in October of 2016 that required all insured borrowers qualify at the posted 5-year qualifying rate. 

In addition to the new stress test for uninsured mortgages, OSFI is also requiring lenders to establish and adhere to appropriate loan-to-value limits reflective of risk and the current economic environment and is prohibiting s lending arrangements designed to circumvent loan-to-value limits such as combing mortgages with other lending products. 

These new residential mortgage underwriting requirements will apply to all Federally regulated financial institutions.

The impact of the new stress...

Ottawa, ON, October 13, 2017 – According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales in September rose modestly from the previous month but remained down from levels recorded one year ago.

Highlights:

• National home sales rose 2.1% from August to September.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 11% below last September’s level.
• The number of newly listed homes rebounded by 4.9% from August to September.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) was up 10.7% year-over-year (y-o-y) in September 2017.
• The national average sale price climbed by 2.8% y-o-y in September.

The number of homes sold via Canadian MLS® Systems edged up 2.1% in September 2017. The small gain builds on an even smaller increase in August, but leaves national home sales almost 12% below the record set in March.

Activity was up between August and September in about half of all local markets, led by Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island, the Greater...