MARTIN MCMAHON (NEWS 1130) – Home prices are expected to drop around Metro Vancouver, but questions remain about just how bad the decline will be, and when we’ll see it happen.

We could see price declines of as much as 18 percent nationally over the next year, in the assessment of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

UBC housing economist Tom Davidoff says, given the economic shocks brought on by COVID-19, it’s surprising we haven’t seen more movement on housing prices.

“It’s hard to believe that if while employment rates and closed or barely functioning businesses persist for another year, that you wouldn’t see damage to the housing market and further damage to other asset markets,” he explains. “I think Evan Siddall made a reasonable forecast based on his guess of where the economy’s heading. It’s been remarkable to me that we haven’t seen much damage to the housing market except very few transactions.”

Davidoff notes that while there are fewer buyers, there are also fewer sellers, meaning price reductions have been limited so far.

“As time goes on, you expect that there’ll be more forced sales or people just deciding it’s time to sell,” he adds.

Meanwhile, others feel we’ll have to wait until mortgage deferrals start expiring to get a sense of the true impact.

Earlier this month, an assessment shared by credit rating agency DBRS Morningstar projected a decline of 10 to 15 percent in home prices in the Vancouver area, even under a moderate scenario.
​
The agency acknowledged there are many variables, but the big question, it noted, is how long it will take for the economy to bounce back, with the agency noting the speed of the recovery will be key in whatever happens in reality.

Opinion: Tuesday decision could bring relief for homeowners who feel they were hit unfairly with empty home tax after they missed deadlines.

DAN FUMANO (PROVINCE) - Some Vancouver homeowners previously left with no recourse after complaining they had been unfairly hit with the empty homes tax will now have another chance for justice.

Vancouver’s council voted Tuesday to approve staff recommendations for tweaks to the empty-home-tax bylaw, seeking to improve “fairness” and “alignment with the intent of the tax,” by reducing the number of homeowners stuck with the tax when they shouldn’t be. For owners whose properties were subject to the tax after they missed declaration deadlines for 2017 and/or 2018, this means they can now file complaints, and, if successful, could be eligible for refunds.

Vancouver’s empty homes tax, which came into effect for 2017 under the previous council and was described as the “first of its kind in North America,” has since generated millions of dollars for affordable housing initiatives. It was intended to encourage the conversion of underutilized properties into long-term homes, and has been recognized as a success on that front, by sources both inside and outside city hall. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s most recent rental market report for Vancouver showed almost 6,000 condo units added to the long-term rental market between 2018 and 2019, citing government policies as a likely factor in this “unprecedented shift.”

But while many supported the tax’s goals, the city has acknowledged there was also a problem with it: The bylaw, as written, did not allow for late declarations after a cut-off point. To avoid the tax, property owners need to declare their properties were either occupied, or eligible for an exemption such as major renovations or the owner’s hospitalization. And while declarations were filed for more than 99 per cent of properties, hundreds went undeclared for reasons including confusion, incorrect mailing addresses or major life events like medical issues.

Some of those owners have said that even though their home was occupied or otherwise exempt, they were still assessed the full tax because they missed the deadline to declare, and the subsequent late-declaration deadline. After that, they were told, they had no recourse, regardless of their reason for missing the deadlines.

Those aggrieved homeowners included Jason Weselowski, who told Postmedia News last month that he had missed both the initial and late-declaration deadlines in 2018 because of his hospitalization for cancer treatment. Weselowski found himself on the hook for more than $8,000, he said, with no apparent chance for remedy.

Weselowski was optimistic Tuesday that council’s decision could give him the chance for relief.
He’s still fighting cancer, he said Tuesday, “and it’s definitely been hard, with the COVID-19 restrictions, I’ve had a number of procedures that have been put off.”

“But I’m feeling the healthiest I have in years, so I guess I’m going to be alive to get my refund, hopefully.”

The tax was initially set as an extra levy of one per cent of a property’s assessed value, but, last November, Vancouver’s current council hiked the rate to 1.25 per cent for 2020.
​
In addition to allowing complaints for older cases from 2017 and 2018, council’s decision Tuesday will also extend the late-declaration deadline going forward from December to July of the following year.

KENNETH CHAN (DAILY HIVE) - A new development application calls for the single largest townhouse and rowhouse project on Vancouver’s Cambie Street Corridor to date. And it is slated to be the first major townhouse project of many for its immediate area.

Simcic Uhrich Architects is calling for nine blocks of a variety of two-storey and three-storey buildings, replacing seven single-family dwellings at 628 West 28th Avenue — between Ash Street and Heather Avenue, located immediately east of BC Children’s Hospital and one block west of Cambie Street.

The multiple structures allow the project to address the severe slope of the site. None of the buildings exceed a length of 27 metres.

This redevelopment will create a total of 62 stacked homes, with a unit mix of 24 one-bedroom units, 10 two-bedroom units, and 28 three-bedroom units.
These new homes will be arranged into five varying configurations, with some home types accessed from a large internal courtyard while others are accessed from the street.

“The individual buildings are further broken down by individually rotating each townhouse by three degrees and by allowing the ground floor level for each block to step down with the sloping site. This allows for a strong expression of distinct units which is further emphasized by the use of different shades of brick, and colour elements at the entrance canopies,” reads the design rationale.

“All units are accessed either directly from the street, or have their main entrances at the courtyard via a private patio.”

​A single underground level accessed from the laneway creates 63 vehicle parking stalls and 145 bike parking spaces.

Altogether, the project calls for 54,847 sq. ft. of total floor area, creating a floor space ratio density of 1.19 times the size of the 45,989-sq-ft lot.