Do you have the qualities to make a great Director? The deadline to run in our election is November 15

Are you interested in running to serve on the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s (REBGV) Board of Directors?

If you have the skills and experience to serve your professional association, we want to hear from you!

The deadline to apply to run in our 2022 Board of Directors election is 5 p.m. on Monday, November 15. Email becomeadirector@rebgv.org to get your application process started.

To learn more about the work and time commitment needed to serve on the Board of Directors, click here.

Skills needed in new directors

Each year, the Board of Directors appoints a Board Development Committee (BDC) to guide the process of identifying and recommending high-quality Director candidates for election.

Part of this work involves annually assessing the skillsets most needed to strengthen and diversify the talent around the current Board of Directors’ table.

In consultation with the current Board of Directors, the BDC has prioritized candidates with the following experience, knowledge, and characteristics for this year’s election:

• Members with experience running a business, including business acumen and strategy. This includes Managing Brokers.
• A balance of female and male directors who come from diverse ethnic backgrounds and cultures.
• Diversity of thought and high emotional intelligence, which is a characteristic necessary for the teamwork that helps the directorate innovate and responsibly lead our organization.
• A service-first attitude where the desire to serve on the Board isn’t driven by self-interest.
• Experience in governance with other organizations.

The BDC Roadmap

We’ve developed a roadmap of the BDC’s work to help you understand the different steps it takes year-round to identify qualified candidates to run in the REBGV election.

Click on the image below to expand and review the BDC Roadmap. 

Donations or dollars? It’s your choice with the 27th annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive

The REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive is back to collecting donations of warm winter clothing this year for those most in need. If you prefer the ease of making a cash donation online the way you did last year, you can do that, too!

Clothing donations

The 27th annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive takes place November 15–22. We’re collecting donations of:

• Warm clothing
  • Coats
  • Sweaters
  • Gloves, hats, scarves
• Blankets, sleeping bags
• New socks
• New underwear

Check the list of real estate offices accepting donations. All your donations will stay in the community where you drop them off.

How it works

Our dedicated REALTOR® volunteers collects, sorts, and distributes these donations each year. This ensures items get to where they’re most needed. For example, we make sure that coats for children go to a charity that caters to children.

Cash donations

Last year, we created an online fundraising website because the COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from collecting clothing. Our members stepped up and raised over $30,000 for our recipient charities, so we’re aiming to raise another $30,000 this year!

Click here to make a cash donation at our fundraising website. The money we raise will be split among our recipient charities.

Learn more and follow along

For more information, including a list of drop-off locations and recipient charities, visit www.blanketdrive.ca. You can also visit our Blanket Drive Facebook Page for shareable content, and follow our hashtags on social media:

#realtorscare #blanketdrive #realtorscareblanketdrive

Time is running out to register for our fall member meeting

Don’t miss this year’s online member meeting next week! On November 9 at 10 a.m., CEO Brad Scott and Chair Taylor Biggar will update members on these topics and more:

• MLS® and professionalism research initiatives
• The future of MLS® technology
• How REALTORS® and the real estate profession are changing
• Succession planning at REBGV

Watch a meeting preview with Taylor Biggar:

This will be an interactive session with plenty of opportunities for you to ask questions or share your opinions.

Register today!

There’s no cost to attend, but you need to register online to receive a meeting link.

Remember, you’ll receive one PDP hour for attending the meeting.

We hope to see you there!

Acting responsibly

Think about walking a mile in other members’ shoes before you drop the hammer to tell them. For example, an early offer has materialized in a 4.02 Direction Regarding Presentation of Offers (DRPO) situation. This rule says we’re obliged to tell all buyers’ agents who’ve asked to be kept informed about that early offer.

But, have you noticed that the rule doesn’t mention anything about how long you should give the buyers agent to talk to their client and get back to you? This is because a rule that’s too prescriptive can cause more problems than it prevents. So, similar to other professions, your colleagues and Professional Conduct Committee members expect you’ll “act reasonably,” in keeping with your client’s instructions.

Obeying the letter of the rule by saying “an early offer has come in, you’ve got 15 minutes to reach your client and get back to me,” could be construed unreasonable given that members and their clients have busy lives. Often, it’s impossible to reach a client during their busy day. Would 27 minutes be better? Probably. How about two hours? Even better. Or, if the other party is nine time-zones away, a much longer time would be useful.

Sure, the early offer may have a short fuse driving the situation. But a short fuse shouldn’t short-circuit our professional obligation to act (and aim to get others to act) reasonably. It’s a balancing act with us being mindful there are living, breathing humans involved. And all of them have opinions about us as a profession.

It all comes down to balancing our clients’ instructions with our general obligation as professionals to act reasonably and fairly. I’d suggest a longer time fuse is better than a shorter one in the above scenario. Give colleagues and their clients time to react to the information you’ve just provided. No one likes to be rushed and pressured.

It’s situations like these that can have an impact, good and bad, on our approval rating.

Yes, client instructions are important. But agents who are respected by their clients and who suggest their client act reasonably, are more likely to end up with even-handed instructions. Being seen to be reasonable creates an environment that’s more likely to bring parties together, without the sour aftertaste a dish of pressure can serve up.

Lastly, a reminder: The Ethics Guy® would be happy to “drop by” your office sales meeting. Just ask. Email me at kspencer@rebgv.org. 

Metro Vancouver home buyers compete for fewer home listings in October

Home sale activity in Metro Vancouver remained above historical averages in October while the overall supply of homes for sale dipped to levels not seen in three years.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 3,494 in October 2021, a 5.2 per cent decrease from the 3,687 sales recorded in October 2020, and an 11 per cent increase from the 3,149 homes sold in September 2021.

Last month’s sales were 22.4 per cent above the 10-year October sales average.

“Home sale activity continues to outpace what’s typical for this time of year and the pool of homes available for sale is in decline. This dynamic between supply and demand is causing home prices to continue to edge up across the region,” Keith Stewart, REBGV economist said.

There were 4,049 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in October 2021. This represents a 27.3 per cent decrease compared to the 5,571 homes listed in October 2020 and a 21.7 per cent decrease compared to September 2021 when 5,171 homes were listed.

The total number of homes currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 8,034, a 35.3 per cent decrease compared to October 2020 (12,416) and a 13 per cent decrease compared to September 2021 (9,236).

“Rising fixed mortgage rates should eventually help ease demand, but for now sales remain strong and buyers with rate holds will remain motivated to find a property for the rest of the year,” Stewart said.

For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for October 2021 is 43.5 per cent. By property type, the ratio is 33.6 per cent for detached homes, 64.4 per cent for townhomes, and 46.7 per cent for apartments.

Generally, analysts say downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential homes in Metro Vancouver is $1,199,400. This represents a 14.7 per cent increase over October 2020 and a 1.1 per cent increase compared to September 2021.

Sales of detached homes in October 2021 reached 1,090, an 18.4 per cent decrease from the 1,335 detached sales recorded in October 2020. The benchmark price for a detached home is $1,850,500. This represents a 20.5 per cent increase from October 2020 and a 1.2 per cent increase compared to September 2021.

Sales of apartment homes reached 1,801 in October 2021, a 14.7 per cent increase compared to the 1,570 sales in October 2020. The benchmark price of an apartment home is $746,400. This represents a 9.5 per cent increase from October 2020 and a 1.1 per cent increase compared to September 2021.

Attached home sales in October 2021 totalled 603, a 22.9 per cent decrease compared to the 782 sales in October 2020. The benchmark price of an attached home is $975,000. This represents an 18.5 per cent increase from October 2020 and a 1.2 per cent increase compared to September 2021.

Download the October 2021 Stats Package.

REBGV's economist discusses interest rate and employment trends in two new videos

REBGV Economist Keith Stewart released a new quarterly housing market analysis recently that takes a comprehensive look at MLS® housing market data and other fundamental economic measures affecting the market.

We’ve developed new videos with Keith that offer a deeper insight to the information in the report. In our first video, Keith discusses what’s happening with the Metro Vancouver job market:

Keith discusses mortgages and interest rates in this video:

Help inform your clients about the market. Share these videos with them today.

Watch for Keith’s next report on Metro Vancouver's job market next week!

Lower Mainland’s commercial real estate market sees strong activity in the second quarter of 2021

The increased activity seen in the Lower Mainland’s commercial real estate market in the beginning of 2021 carried into the second quarter (Q2) of the year.

There were 726 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in Q2 2021, a 114.8 per cent increase from the 338 sales in Q2 2020, according to data from Commercial Edge, a commercial real estate system operated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

The total dollar value of commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland was $3.635 billion in Q2 2021, a 130.4 per cent increase from $1.578 billion in Q2 2020.

"Commercial real estate activity continued to strengthen in the second quarter of 2021, with sales reaching levels that we haven’t seen in four years," Keith Stewart, REBGV economist said. “Land acquisition is particularly strong as investors are demonstrating confidence in new development potential in our region.”

Q2 2021 activity by category

Land: There were 236 commercial land sales in Q2 2021, which is a 181 per cent increase from 84 land sales in Q2 2020. The dollar value of land sales was $1.785 billion in Q2 2021, a 181.5 per cent increase from $634 million in Q2 2020.

Office and Retail: There were 278 office and retail sales in the Lower Mainland in Q2 2021, which is up 100 per cent from 139 sales in Q2 2020. The dollar value of office and retail sales was $859 million in Q2 2021, a 39.7 per cent increase from $615 million in Q2 2020.

Industrial: There were 180 industrial land sales in the Lower Mainland in Q2 2021, which is a 71.4 per cent increase from 105 sales in Q2 2020. The dollar value of industrial sales was $480 million in Q2 2021, a 79.8 per cent increase from $267 million in Q2 2020.

Multi-Family: There were 32 multi-family land sales in the Lower Mainland in Q2 2021, which is up 220 per cent from 10 sales in Q2 2020. The dollar value of multi-family sales was $511 million in Q2 2021, a 724.2 per cent increase from $62 million in Q2 2020.

Download the Q2 2021 Commercial Stats Package.