BCFSA now the sole real estate regulator in BC: What you need to know

On August 1, the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) became the sole regulator of our profession in the province, taking on the functions of both the Real Estate Council of BC (Council) and the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate (OSRE).

As a result of this change, the Council and the OSRE no longer exist.

Watch a video detailing this change:

BCFSA resources

BCFSA has renumbered the current Real Estate Rules – view them here. They’ve also created a table of concordance, which compares the rules, as they previously existed, with the new rules.

Other BCFSA resources include:

• BCFSA’s new website.
• BCFSA’s July newsletter that answers frequently asked questions.
• BCFSA’s searchable Knowledge Base for REALTORS® (formerly hosted by Council).
• BCFSA’s professional resources for Realtors (formerly hosted by Council).

Other resources

Review these resources from BCREA’s recent webinar, featuring Micheal Noseworthy, Erin Seeley, and David Avren:

• Watch a recording of the session.
• Review the PDF presentation from the session.

REBGV economist discusses the market, COVID-19's effects, and the state of the recovery

Our economist Keith Stewart recently made his first presentation to members since he joined REGBV. Here are the highlights:

Jobs are recovering, but there’s room to improve

A key economic indicator is unemployment. When unemployment levels spiked after the 2009 financial crisis, it took nearly eight years for those levels to return to where they had been. Some of the sharpest recovery occurred between 2015 and 2017. Real estate sales typically follow unemployment trends and sales were lower than average in 2009 and higher than average between 2015 and 2017.

The exception this time is the uncertain nature of the pandemic. Unemployment shot to unprecedented levels during the height of COVID-19, but much of that was because of the deliberate shutdown of the economy. This explains how quick the economy has recovered as it was strategically brought back to life.

Sales are moderating because they had to

The spring is typically when we see the strongest sales activity in any given year, and we saw records fall this year. But really, sales picked up strong momentum in the fall of last year and surged into 2021 in a way we don’t typically see.

Since the spring, sales have been moderating, but remember that this moderation comes off record sales levels. Year-over-year changes can be misleading. That’s especially important to consider this year. While the market is moderating, it’s still operating at levels that are above long-term averages.

Population growth will look more typical in 2022

Non-permanent residents live in Canada without permanent Canadian residency or citizenship—such as international students and temporary foreign workers (TFWs). They differ from international immigrants who receive permanent residency when they’ve landed.

Non-permanent resident growth virtually ground to a halt amid border pandemic lockdown measures last year. New students and TFWs were not allowed in, and those already here returned to their countries of origin instead of remaining in Canada to pursue and attain permanent resident status. It’s expected this immigrant class will trend toward more typical numbers next year before recovering fully in 2023.

Watch the session and stay tuned for more events

If you missed Keith’s presentation, you can watch a recording here. We’ll share more details about our next event with Keith soon—stay tuned!

If you have questions for Keith, email him at kstewart@rebgv.org.

Help your clients understand summer market conditions with our stats resources

Metro Vancouver's real estate market activity moderated in July from the record-breaking activity we saw to start the year. Home sales and listings fell in line with typical seasonal patterns as summer got going in earnest, and price growth has levelled off in most areas.

You can help your clients better understand these conditions by sharing our statistical reports with them:

• Our July 2021 stats package provides an overall view, breaking down the sale, new listing, and price trends happening in Metro Vancouver.  
• Our July 2021 Stats Centre Reports take it to the neighbourhood level, so you and your clients can focus on the activity happening in the specific area they’re looking to buy or sell.  
• Use REBGV Stats Centre (log-in required) to build your own charts and graphs for clients looking for more information. Have a client who’s curious about how long it might take their Maple Ridge townhouse to sell? REBGV Stats Centre has a graph for that. 
• Watch and share our July 2021 market update video below.

Other REBGV resources

We’re always posting new articles for buyers and sellers on our public website. Here’s a selection you can share with your clients:

• Can you explain sellers’ and buyers’ contractual obligations?
• Two dwellings to be permitted on ALR farmland with conditions
• Home security—11 tips to protect your belongings
• Home sales and new listings on par with historic average

Media coverage

Here’s a selection of the media coverage our release generated:

• Vancouver-area homes sales cooled in July, but they're still ahead of last year's totals
• Dip in home sales and new listings in Metro Vancouver in July 2021
• Greater Vancouver real estate: home sales in July 2021 plunge 42 percent from market peak last March

A tale of two taxes

Since 2018, both our provincial government and the City of Vancouver have decided to harness their taxation power by creating new taxes to drive property owner behaviour in the direction they want: to discourage a property from being left vacant when it could be rented, and to discourage speculation in real estate.

I’m not wading into a discussion on whether these taxes are a good idea from a policy perspective. But given that the province’s speculation and vacancy tax and the City of Vancouver’s empty homes tax are a fact, we should consider how they affect buyers and sellers and the deals we put together for them. Property owners in the City of Vancouver with vacant homes are liable to pay both taxes:

Learn about the provincial speculation and vacancy tax.

Learn about Vancouver’s empty homes tax.

Both taxes are triggered by a home’s occupancy during the taxation year. The city doesn’t have the power to levy taxes directly on property owners; it can only tax property. This matters because the tax, if applicable, attaches to the property. If ownership changes and the tax has been levied (but not paid) by the previous owner, there can be a dispute about who has to pay it when it becomes due.

As far as the city is concerned, the property owner of record is responsible for paying the tax. But if the owner of record has changed since the tax was triggered, what then?

There are a multitude of clauses to help the parties deal with Vancouver’s empty homes tax on WEBForms. Check these out and make sure you choose the right one. Better yet, suggest in writing that your clients get advice from their conveyancer well in advance of putting a deal together. If there’s any doubt at the time you put a deal together, I suggest you insert a subject clause to give the parties a chance to talk to their lawyers. If the property is outside Vancouver, but within the parts of BC where the speculation tax applies, your advice will remain the same; namely, “Talk to your lawyer about the tax and whether it applies.”

But why aren’t there speculation tax clauses on WEBForms? Because unlike the City of Vancouver, which can only tax property, the provincial government can tax property owners directly. Therefore, if the speculation and vacancy tax is payable, the responsibility to pay rests with the property owner and doesn’t attach itself to the property. This means the tax follows the property owner who triggered it, leaving little chance of a nasty speculation tax surprise being visited on the buyer after they have closed on the property.

Top tip

I received a note about incomplete DRPO forms from a colleague instructor who also manages a brokerage. He’s astounded at the number of forms he sees that are incorrectly filled out.

He says, “About half of the forms I get have been signed, but they either have a checkmark in the boxes or nothing.”

Say what?

First, a check mark in a box instead of initials is not a best practice. Get initials.

Second, the form was built to create a standard written record showing whether offers are to be delayed and/or whether buyer agents can attend the presentation of their offers. The form doesn’t have much meaning if it is just signed without the appropriate boxes being initialled. I think an incomplete form like that would have the Professional Conduct Committee scratching its head, don’t you? And that’s not a good thing.

GR Voice: Tell us what the BC budget should prioritize; Millenials to drive housing demand

How would you spend the BC Budget?

Lower or eliminate the Property Transfer Tax? Increase funding for the Home Owner grant? Tell us and we’ll let the BC government know as part of our annual submission.

Learn more.

Increasing demand for homes from millennials

By 2029, there will be 861,000 job openings. New immigrants, including millennial-age professional and technical workers, will help fill these openings. They also plan to buy homes. Here’s what they’re looking for.

Learn more.

REBGV innovates during the COVID-19 pandemic

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, it shifted our world in ways we’d never experienced before. We adapted almost everything we do in a very short time, including the way we work.

Working from home, using physical barriers and distancing, and wearing face masks were just a few ways humanity adapted during the pandemic. You adapted too. Your new world included meeting clients virtually, creating virtual open houses and tours, and completing your PDP requirements by taking courses over Zoom.

Your Board follows an Excellence Program that prioritizes business excellence, innovation, and wellness. In crisis, however, comes opportunity. Using our mindset of continuous improvement, we identified a range of improvements to help us operate more efficiently and provide better service to you.

Here’s a rundown:

Technology and data security

• We moved all our network files into the cloud. This enabled staff to work from home from the get-go and has created a nearly paperless workflow at REBGV.
• We moved to an AI-augmented cyber security platform to protect against cyber threats. This service operates 24 hours a day using AI learning to detect, identify, and remediate unusual activity.
• We implemented our first entirely cloud-hosted project, an online PID generator for broker load offices to issue temporary PIDS. This has saved 10 to 15 calls a day to the MLS® department, or about 52 hours per year.
• Our month-end statements are now delivered to you online instead of by mail, saving 20,000 sheets of paper per month. Our average monthly postage costs also decreased from around $2,600 to just $120.
• We’re also accepting more payments electronically from vendors. We went from accepting zero in March 2020 to 45 the next month. We now have 78 vendors set up for electronic payments.

Professional development and member engagement

• We’ve converted 25 courses to an online format and developed 11 new courses for online education. Since the pandemic began, we’ve held over 400 courses online for over 20,000 attendees. We’re also the first real estate board in Canada to offer a dedicated new member orientation course for commercial REALTORS®.
• We created a paperless membership application form last year that’s been used to process over 2,100 member applications, saving roughly 8,500 sheets of paper.
• With live events shut down during the pandemic, we transitioned to virtual events. Through the first half of 2021, we’ve already held more virtual events (37) than we did all of last year, with an average satisfaction of level over 80 per cent.
• The Ethics Guy® has also gone virtual. Instead of visiting brokerages in person, Kim Spencer now gives presentations at brokerage sales meetings over Zoom. In 2020, Kim visited 35 brokerages virtually.

Communications

• We sent 26 COVID-19 updates to members last year with the latest breaking news. Members opened these emails 27 per cent more on average than our regular communications. Our March 23 COVID-19 update holds the record for the highest open rate of any email we’ve ever sent.
• We created and maintained an ever-changing table of every federal and provincial government initiative to support individuals and businesses during the pandemic. Over time, this list grew to nearly 70 programs.
• During the pandemic, many charities could not accept clothing and blanket donations, so we converted our annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive into an online charity drive. Realtors raised over $50,000 for local charities!

These are just some of the innovations we've been working on to serve you better. We'll share more improvement initiatives later this year.

Building client confidence with home design

We asked interior designer Annaliesse Kelly of AK Design how interior designers and REALTORS® can work together to build client confidence when buying or selling property.

Here’s what she had to say:

Want to learn more? Click here to register for our free session featuring Annaliesse on August 18!