For the last three years, we’ve been working behind the scenes to ensure that REBGV stays focused on meeting Excellence Canada’s high standards – which, in turn, ensures delivery of first-rate service to you, our members.

Our quality improvement efforts carry on in busy markets, during times of upheaval such as we are currently experiencing, and in times of large-scale change such as the REALTORS® of BC proposal. No matter what gets thrown at us, we never compromise our dedication to organizational progress, improvement, and results.

We recently qualified for a Canada Award of Excellence gold certification in Excellence Canada’s new Excellence, Innovation, and Wellness program. We sent the below message to our media contacts last week. This is a prestigious national award that we share with all of you.

Sincerely,
Brad Scott, CEO

REBGV achieves Canada Award of Excellence 

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) has achieved the Canada Award of Excellence gold certification in Excellence Canada’s new Excellence, Innovation, and Wellness program.

Excellence Canada’s standards are based on the most effective practices and proven management strategies from around the world.

“In meeting the rigour of the Canada Awards for Excellence requirements, REBGV has demonstrated that it is one of the best managed organizations in Canada,” Allan Ebedes, President and CEO of Excellence Canada said in a statement.

The Governor General of Canada is the Vice-Regal Patron of the Canada Awards for Excellence, making this the most prestigious awards program in the country.

REBGV has had a formal business excellence program in place since 1996. Since 1998, the board has advanced through Excellence Canada's continuous improvement and excellence programs, receiving recertification every three years.

“We are always striving to achieve organizational efficiency, progress, and results for our REALTOR® members,” Brad Scott, REBGV CEO said.  “This program brings rigour, discipline, and structure to our continuous improvement efforts.”

Founded by Industry Canada, Excellence Canada is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to advancing organizational performance across Canada. Since its inception, Excellence Canada has helped thousands of organizations in Canada implement continual quality improvement systems and employee wellness strategies. As Canada’s national authority on quality and healthy workplace practices, Excellence Canada provides measurable standards and objective validation through its certification programs.

Fiscally conservative, pro-entrepreneurial governments typically refrain from enacting policies and legislation that intervene in the marketplace. A key reason is because there’s always the concern that intervention will result in unintended consequences that can be chaotic.

Chaos is the enemy of stable markets. Stable markets make strong economies. Strong economies rely on predictable tax policy. Tax policy imposed without notice can put reasonable law-abiding residents in harm’s way.

The imposition of a 15 per cent Property Transfer Tax (PTT) on foreign buyers, already obligated under existing contracts, is having serious consequences for some of these buyers. Ditto for the sellers with whom they have contracted. You can choose the label you want to apply to that sort of government action.

What does this have to do with ethics?

Many of the accusations levelled against our profession during the past few months have called the behaviour of a small minority of members into question, and rightly so. The government has taken action and we’ve been generally supportive of the changes it wants to make to our regulatory regime. You can now decide whether our government has acted ethically by steadfastly refusing to grandfather existing real estate contracts with respect to the new tax.

If you are concerned about the way the new tax is being retroactively applied to the foreign buyers we’ve invited to invest here, we urge you to write to your provincial MLA and the premier to tell them what you think.

Despite our pleas, the government refused to grandfather the deals already in the pipeline before the August 2 deadline. If you’re not happy with that please let your MLA know – 12,000 letters from us makes a statement.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking only foreign buyers are affected by this tax. Not grandfathering these deals affects all of us. Our reputation as a stable place to do business is at stake, not to mention the potential risk local Canadian sellers are facing.

It is difficult to accurately estimate how many local sellers have sold their property to a foreign buyer. We think there are quite a few. And these local sellers are all relying on those deals to complete so they can, in turn, close on homes they’ve bought.

You can debate whether a foreign buyer real estate tax is necessary. There are good arguments on both sides. But what should not be up for debate is whether this tax should apply to deals already inked. It’s not fair and it isn’t reasonable.

Here’s a link to that letter to your MLA. If you are unhappy with what’s happened, get that letter to your MLA out the door today. Don’t rely on others to do it. Do your bit now.

Top Tip

In these hypersensitive times, it doesn’t hurt to remember that “anything we say can and will be used against us” in the court of public opinion. Before posting or sending or writing anything involving your real estate activities, opinions, and advertising to generate business, think about whether the information is accurate and legal, and how your audience might perceive it. What may seem like a helpful suggestion may be completely misunderstood after it becomes public. If you’re in doubt about something you’re about to say publicly, first check with your managing broker before posting or sending it. It’s far easier to check first than to deal with Internet outrage later.

With the implementation of the foreign buyer tax, we’ve been working hard to get the REALTOR® perspective heard in both the media and with the government. Over the past week, we've conducted interviews with every major media outlet locally along with news organizations in France, New Zealand, China, the United States, and Japan.

Board President Dan Morrison offers his perspective on the work we’re doing to represent you in the media. Click on the below image to watch this video.

Here’s a collection of some of our media relations efforts over the past week:

Vancouver Sun: Foreign Buyers Tax: Realtors begin to report sale collapses

CTV News Channel: Dan speaks with Beverly Thomson about the new tax

CNN Money: Vancouver just hit foreign homebuyers with a massive tax

City TV: Dan discusses the foreign buyer tax

CKNW: Metro Vancouver home sales decline in July: report

Meeting with elected representatives

Dan, along with Jim Stewart, BCREA’s president-elect, met with NDP Housing Critic David Eby to discuss real estate issues – including the implementation of the foreign buyer tax. 

Support the #goodapples in our profession

We need your help to start a grassroots campaign to give the public a more accurate picture of what we stand for as professionals. Engage with your clients and share your stories on social media using the #goodapples hashtag. Share our posts and like them on Twitter and Facebook. Together we can strengthen the public’s trust.

Member engagement

We're hosting broker meetings with BCREA later this month to help inform our feedback and advocacy positions with government. We'll schedule other member and government meetings in the days and weeks ahead.

We’ll continue to update you on these matters as we do more.

Metro Vancouver homes sales resembled more typical levels in July.

Residential property sales in the region totalled 3,226 in July 2016, a decrease of 18.9 per cent from the 3,978 sales recorded in July 2015 and a decrease of 26.7 per cent compared to June 2016 when 4,400 homes sold.

This is the first time since January that home sales in the region have registered below 4,000 in a month.

“After several months of record-breaking sales activity, home buyer demand returned to more historically normal levels in July,” Dan Morrison, REBGV president said.

Last month’s sales were 6.5 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month.

“Home sale activity showed some moderating signs in late June and this carried into July,” Morrison said. “We’ll wait and watch over the next few months to see if this marks the return of more normal market trends.”

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Metro Vancouver totalled 5,241 in July 2016. This represents a 2.5 per cent increase compared to the 5,112 units listed in July 2015 and a 10.8 per cent decrease compared to June 2016 when 5,875 properties were listed.

The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 8,351, a 27.4 per cent decline compared to July 2015 (11,505) and a 6.9 per cent increase compared to June 2016 (7,812).

The sales-to-active listings ratio for July 2016 is 38.6 per cent.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $930,400. This represents a 32.6 per cent increase compared to July 2015.

Sales of detached properties in July 2016 reached 1,077, a decrease of 30.9 per cent from the 1,559 detached sales recorded in July 2015. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 38 per cent from July 2015 to $1,578,300.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,602 in July 2016, a decrease of 7.3 per cent compared to the 1,729 sales in July 2015.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 27.4 per cent from July 2015 to $510,600.

Attached property sales in July 2016 totalled 547, a decrease of 20.7 per cent compared to the 690 sales in July 2015. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 29.4 per cent from July 2015 to $669,000.

For more information:

• Full stats package – get the breakdown for July
• REBGV Stats Centre – view long-term trends and breakdowns by region, property type, etc.
• Member Market Poll – a demographic survey of sales performed each month

What would happen if Vancouver area home prices fell by 50%?

Canada’s financial watchdogs and mortgage insurers are preparing. Here are new requirements:

OSFI:  Canada’s baking regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) asked smaller banks if they could survive a “50% downturn in valuations for Great Vancouver.” OSFI issued a letter requiring smaller banks (for example Citizen’s Bank), to perform a stress test to assess risk.

The big six banks (Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, and Toronto-Dominion Bank) and HSBC are already required to perform a similar stress testing process.

OSFI’s mandate is to supervise federally regulated banks (not credit unions) and determine if they are in sound financial condition. OSFI recently tightened supervisory expectations for mortgage underwriting and is in the process of updating capital requirements for residential mortgages.

FICOM: BC credit unions are supervised by the Financial Institutions Commission (FICOM). FICOM also asked credit unions to perform stress tests. In a letter FICOM states it’s “monitoring risks faced by BC credit unions, including record-high house prices and concentrations of higher loan-to-value loans in select regions.” FICOM advises credit unions to “take into account high levels of household debt and low income growth to ensure borrowers do not become overextended and pose undue risk to the credit union.”

FICOM’s Residential Mortgage Underwriting Guideline sets out supervisory expectations for residential underwriting and risk management practices at BC credit unions.

CMHC: a provincial Crown corporation and Canada’s largest mortgage insurer, also issued a warning that Vancouver shows strong evidence of “problematic conditions.” CMHC detects “a combination of overheating, price acceleration, and overvaluation,” according to its latest Housing Market Assessment released July 27, 2016).

“Right now we’re seeing moderate evidence of overheating and price acceleration in Vancouver because supply is not keeping pace with demand. We’re also continuing to see strong evidence of overvaluation mainly because single detached home prices are higher than those supported by economic fundamentals,” said Robyn Adamache, Principal Market Analyst (Vancouver), CMHC in a news release.

Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau is setting up a working group of federal, provincial, and municipal representatives to recommend policy changes to prevent a housing bubble.

With Paragon, you can search according to your client’s needs. Are they looking for all properties within a specific area, or are they looking for a certain property type with exact features, regardless of location?

No matter what they’re looking for, Paragon will help you find it. There are three main ways to search on Paragon: By the map, by criteria, or by features.

Map search

Map searching only takes a particular location into account when searching for properties. From the map, you can draw a shape around the area you’re interested in and all the available properties will appear.

You can draw up to five shapes on a map, and you can even use shapes to exclude a particular area from within an area you’ve highlighted to search. Click here to learn more.

Criteria search

This straightforward method lets you choose the search criteria using fields for property status, board area and sub-area, price ranges, and date ranges.

Once you’ve selected all of the applicable criteria, a counter lets you know how many properties your search has returned. To look at the results in more detail, click “search” and they’ll appear in a grid format below.

Features search

A features search is done the same way as a criteria search, but with more specification. Let’s say your client already knows the area and property type they’re looking for, a townhome in East Vancouver. There are two things they’ll need from their new townhome: Dogs must be allowed, and the unit must have a balcony.

After you’ve entered the initial criteria, look for a magnifying glass icon to the right of the features field. Click on it to open the features window. Choose a category (bylaw restrictions, for example), and look for the specific feature – in this case, it’s “pets allowed.”

Click here to learn more about searching using features.

Resources

For a full walk-through of searching within Paragon, click here. Our Paragon help guides cover just about any issue you may encounter when using Paragon. Be sure to read them.

If you need assistance, contact the Help Desk at 604-730-3020.