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1. Canada added 150,000 jobs in January, exceeding most economists’ expectations
2. Unemployment rate held steady at 5%
3. Job gains were made across sectors, with wholesale and retail trade experiencing the largest gains to employment
4. Wages were up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis
5. Despite the anticipation of higher interest rates slowing the economy, employment has been on an upward trend since September
6. TD Bank Senior Economist James Orlando calls the report a “blowout jobs report”
7. Professor of economics Moshe Lander says the report runs counter to rumblings about a possible 2023 recession
8. CIBC Senior Economist Andrew Grantham says the uptick in hours worked suggests the economy isn’t on the verge of a recession
9. Bank of Montreal revised its call for a recession, now expecting “moderate growth” in GDP this quarter
10. The stronger Canada’s labour market remains, the later a recession is likely to set in, and it might be less painful if it does arrive
11. The Bank of Canada has taken a conditional pause from further interest rate hikes as it assesses the economy’s response to higher rates
12. The Bank of Canada says the tight labour market is a sign of an overheated economy and needs to ease for inflation to come down
13. The Bank of Canada says it needs an accumulation of evidence that inflation isn’t following its forecast before it would raise rates further
14. Before the jobs report, markets had been betting on a rate cut; after the report, there’s a greater probability of a rate increase.

Provincial officials say 125 applications have been received in the first four days of a new program aimed at helping first-time homebuyers.

Of those, about 70 applicants have been approved in 23 communities throughout British Columbia.

The program contributes to the amount first-time buyers have already saved for their down payment, providing up to $37,500 or up to five per cent of the purchase price.

The 25-year loan is interest-free and payment-free for the first five years. Vancouver Sun

The B.C. Real Estate Association says the province’s housing market has tumbled from record highs posted in 2016 to return to what it calls historic, long-term averages.

The association says 4,487 condos, townhomes and detached homes were sold in B.C. in January, down 23 per cent compared with the same period last year.

The total sales value also dropped 36.5 per cent over the same period to $2.79 billion, while the average home price was off 17.5 per cent to $621,093.

Figures from the real estate association show the change was most pronounced in Vancouver where fewer detached homes sold and sales of all property types made up just 35 per cent of sales across B.C., an eight per cent decrease from January 2016. Vancouver Sun

The 50-per-cent hike in the assessed value of houses expected for 2017 in Metro Vancouver is likely going to prevent increasingly more people from claiming the homeowners grant.

Regional politicians are renewing calls for changes to the provincial grant so that fewer owners whose houses worth over the $1.2 million eligibility cutoff will lose the $570 property tax break.

The province intended for 91 per cent of homeowners to be eligible for the tax break but only half that percentage in Metro Vancouver can take advantage of it, said Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore, who also chairs Metro Vancouver.

He said the inflation of house prices past $1.2 million is making it difficult for owners on fixed incomes to pay their taxes.

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Residential transactions still considerably down compared with 2015’s banner November, but totals are recovering towards 10-year norms, says board

Residential real estate transactions for the Greater Vancouver area in November were only slightly lower than October sales,although a little lower than the 10-year average for the month, according to the latest market statistics published by Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) December 2.

Home sales in the region dropped 37.2 per cent year over year, but by less than one per cent compared with October 2016, the board reported.

The report added that total transactions were 7.6 per cent below the 10-year average for November (see infographic below) – which is a recovery from the previous month’s sales dip of 15 per cent below historical norms.

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The City of Vancouver’s notoriously sluggish permitting process, which has drawn heavy criticism from councilors, builders and homeowners, and now the head of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, may be in for an overhaul.

City staff have been meeting with industry stakeholders for the past four months in a bid to improve the system, said Kaye Krishna, the city’s general manager of development, buildings, and licensing.

“I do think that we can cut our times, and I do think we can turn this around,” Krishna said, adding that improving the permitting process was one of her top priorities.

After holding four meetings, the city is now preparing recommendations on process and regulatory changes that should be ready for council consideration by next spring.

Among the things Krishna and other staff are considering are faster processes, a risk-based approach to decision making and an audit to find out where to better focus resources. They’re also trying to drive willing developers online so they can avoid long waits at the city’s new development services centre.
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Canadians are taking on too much debt, and higher down payments would both reduce that risk and lower home prices, asserts head of federal housing agency

Federal regulators should consider increasing the minimum down payment on homes to reduce economic risks, according to the head of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Federal regulators should consider increasing the minimum down payment on homes to reduce economic risks, according to the head of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

“I think the objective of supporting housing affordability demands that CMHC exploring a potential future path to higher minimum down payments,” Evan Siddall, CMHC president, and CEO, said in a speech in London last week.

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Vancouver Housing Market Report for October 2016:

Current Vancouver MLS stats indicate an average house price of $1,104,193 and 1,075 new listings in the last 28 days. As of today, Vancouver housing market report data for October 2016  shows median days on market for a home is 19 days.

Despite drops in sales and prices in Vancouver, a national report has just named the city as the top Canadian real estate market to watch in 2017 and millennials are playing a large part in that.

Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2017 suggests investors are continuing to shift from residential to mixed-use projects that combine housing with retail or commercial.

There are also predictions of more pressure on affordability over the next five years as increases in immigration keep demand for housing high.

The report, which was released jointly by PwC Canada and the Urban Land Institute, also finds Millennials are driving up Vancouver’s very tight rental market, searching for new, higher-quality units, closer to amenities and transit. It points out rental units have been in incredibly short supply for the past five years, adding that an emerging challenge is the lack of amenities from stores to schools in the downtown core.

While, nationally, the report predicts housing prices will drop about one per cent in 2017 with concerns of a bigger pullback in Vancouver and Toronto, it predicts Canada’s overall housing market is poised for a year of stability.

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The ideal storyline for new home purchases goes something like this: purchaser signs on the dotted line, plunks over a sizeable deposit, closes deal, moves in and lives happily ever after.

The flipside is not so pretty. Although certainly not the norm, worst-case scenarios do happen, as unlucky buyers found out early this year after their builder Urbancorp went belly up. This week, our post looks at what buyers can expect when a new home deal falls through and their purchase deposit hangs in the balance.

Deposits on new home builds are protected by Tarion – the province’s new home building industry watchdog and warranty backstop.

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Next month, the 2016 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards ceremony will be taking place in Berlin. During a two day span from November 16 through November 18, 20 photos that are up for the architecture photograph of the year will be on display at the World Architecture Festival.

Four categories are in turn included: Exteriors, Interiors, Sense of Place and Buildings in Use, as this year’s entries come from Peter Zumthor, Herzog & de Meuron, and Linda Bo Bardi, among other talented photographers.

The judges for the 2016 awards are executive editor Emily Booth of The Architectural Review, curator Amy Croft of Sto Werkstatt, Katy Harris of Foster + Partners, architect Kai-Uwe Bergmann of BIG, and photographers Fernando Guerra and Ulrich Müller.

After taking a look at the nominated photographs above, be sure to check out the winning entries for Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

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BC reported another record month for investment in new home construction in August, with the $1.078 billion investment the first time the province has spent more than $1 billion in a month, according to Statistics Canada data released October 21.

This investment was up 32.7 per cent compared with the previous August, and a rise of 10.5 per cent since July.

Condo-apartment construction made up more than half of the $1 billion expenditure, at just shy of $530 million, a leap of 54.5 per cent year over year and an increase of 15 per cent over July’s figures.

Single-family homes followed with nearly $426 million invested, which was a rise of 13.5 per cent since last year and 7.3 per cent month over month.

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