Had enough of tedious tasks?

Try this challenge: Estimate how long it should take you to complete a task, then shorten your allotted time by 50%.

Set a timer and push yourself to get the task done— and get it done right— in half the time you’d normally take. Although this won’t eliminate boring tasks, you might be able to make them less dull and it leaves you with extra time to spend on something you enjoy more.

This month’s COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard shows that home sales once again set a record. While sales were strong across the province, the Fraser Valley, Thompson Okanagan, and Vancouver Island regions shattered previous sales records and pushed January sales to new heights. The rise in COVID-19 cases and enhanced health restrictions have slowed employment recovery in select sectors, particularly in hospitality. Meanwhile, the number of people employed in higher-wage positions continues to increase, encouraging housing demand. Manufacturing and trade are back to pre-pandemic levels, which bodes well for BC's economic growth going forward. For a more comprehensive overview of BC's economic recovery, click here.

About BCREA’s COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard
The BCREA Economics team has created the COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard to help REALTORS® monitor BC’s economic recovery. This dashboard focuses on the sectors and activities that have been most significantly impacted by the pandemic, including:
• Housing Markets
• Retail, Restaurant Reservations and Movement
• Jobs and Hours Worked
• Manufacturing and International Trade
• Business and Consumer Confidences
• Tourism
To monitor the province’s progress, we benchmark each indicator to February 2020, the month before the pandemic was declared. This dashboard is updated each month.

BCREA's updated COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard is available here.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Is veganism in the United States on the rise?

Although the Indiana Daily Student website reports that only 3% of Americans identify as vegan, there’s evidence that it’s becoming more and more mainstream. A Harris Poll survey found that one in five Americans sometimes eat vegan when dining out, and data from Impossible Foods shows that more than 50% of millennials and Gen Z members eat plant-based meat at least once a month, compared with one in five baby boomers.

Studies suggest that the slow rise of veganism is linked to concerns about the environment, a desire to address animal welfare, and overall health— although nutritionists point out that meatless burgers aren’t necessarily healthier than beef because they include more salt and saturated fat.

Many of us cross our fingers for good luck, but have you ever wondered how customs like that originated? The Cracked website explains the beginnings of everyday behavior we take for granted:

• Painting fingernails. Babylonian warriors in 3200 BC would paint their nails before heading off to battle to signify their social class.

• Thumbs up. English archers in the Middle Ages would use the gesture, which was the correct brace height of a longbow, as a signal that they were ready to shoot.

• Encores. Baroque audiences would demand repeat performances of songs they enjoyed, sometimes right in the middle of the piece.

• Yawning. Covering your mouth while yawning developed from an ancient belief that troublemaking spirits could enter your mouth during a yawn.

• Blowing out candles. Making a wish while blowing out birthday candles derives from cultures which thought that smoke delivered your wishes.

• High-fiving. The first recorded high-five occurred on Oct. 2, 1977, when Glenn Burke of the LA Dodgers reached up to slap the hand of teammate Dusty Baker, who had just hit a home run, and Baker slapped his hand in return.

Canadian inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 1.0% in January year-over-year. The increase was largely due to higher gasoline prices (6.1%). Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose by 1.3%, which is up from 1.0% in December. Prices rose in seven of eight components year-over-year in January. Growth in the Bank of Canada's three measures of trend inflation inched up slightly, averaging 1.5%.

Regionally, the CPI was positive in eight provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador (1.5%). In BC, CPI rose by 1.1% in January year-over-year, up from December's increase of 0.8%. Strong price growth continued for health and personal care and shelter. Home furnishings also pulled ahead in January on the heels of robust home sales. In contrast, gas prices continue to be a drag on BC's inflation.

Inflation is expected to remain weak until the vaccine rollout becomes more widespread and health regulations across the country are relaxed. In the current environment, the Bank of Canada will continue to keep interest rates low.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.
Link:https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-inflation-jan-february-17-2021

Canadian housing starts increased by 23% m/m to 282,428 units in January at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), following a 12% decrease in the previous month. Housing starts increased in 6 of 10 provinces with the strongest gains in Quebec and Ontario. January's strong performance increased the six-month moving average to a historic high of 244,963 units SAAR.

In BC, housing starts decreased by 17% m/m to 35,931 units SAAR in January, following a 12% decrease in the previous month. Building activity was down by 28% for multi-unit starts, while single-detached starts were up by 38% in January. Compared to the same time last year, housing starts were up by 24% in BC.

We can expect housing activity to continue to be supported by strong demand and historically low borrowing rates but are not expected to remain at elevated levels. The value of BC residential building permits was down by 5% in December. The good news is that after a long downward trend in the value of building permits for single-detached homes in BC, the trend started to reverse in April 2020.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Link: https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-housing-starts-jan-february-16-2021

A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. They looked harmless and gentle. They greeted her and introduced themselves by the names Wealth, Success and Love. “Well, those are interesting names," she said. "Why don't you come in and have something to eat?”

“You may only invite one of us,” they replied. “But if you will discuss with your family which of us it should be, we will be grateful for whoever it is.”

The woman went in and told her husband what they had said. Her husband was delighted. “How nice!” he said. “Since that is the case, let’s invite Wealth inside!"

His wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success? Surely that will lead to wealth and make us the envy of our neighborhood.”

Their daughter chimed in, “I would rather have Love.”

She was so sweet and the couple loved her so much, they laughed and said, “Yes, let’s invite Love to eat with us.”

The woman went out and asked the three old men, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.”

Love got up and walked toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady said: “I only invited Love. Why are you all coming?”

The old men replied together, “When you invite Love into your house, you also get both Wealth and Success.”

Do you ever wonder what happened to the lost art of writing love letters? Or what about ‘mixtapes’ that were the equivalents of musical love letters, painstakingly compiled and delivered with adoration? As Valentine’s Day approaches, I started thinking about these things.

Technology has changed the way we communicate and express love. For hundreds of years, the speed of communication stayed fairly constant. From smoke signals to the Pony Express, our ability to improve communication was based on speeding up the delivery of our message. But then in 1988, the internet was born and in the early 90's, it changed the way we communicate distinctly and significantly… forever!

Why write a love letter when we can tell someone “I Love You,” and share that sentiment anywhere in the world, in milliseconds? What used to take a sailor at sea, weeks or months to send or receive a message, can now be blasted through Facebook, Instagram or TikTok at the speed of light.

But speed will never replace heart-felt sentiments. And maybe that’s why we get excited when we get a handwritten, stamped card in the mail. Someone took the time – to select or make the card, write a note, put a stamp on it, and finally mail it – to tell you how they feel. And maybe we need more of that these days.

Happy Valentine’s Day and remember to tell the people you care about that you love them, even with the simplest technology – your words.

Gino Pezzani
Dien Realty
604-418-9366

Vancouver, BC – February, 2021. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,169 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in January 2021, an increase of 63.3 per cent over January 2020 and over a thousand sales higher than the previous record for the month of January. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $845,169, a 16.1 per cent increase from $728,269 recorded in January 2020. Total sales dollar volume was $6.1 billion, an 89.6 per cent increase from last year.

“It was once again a record-setting month for the provincial housing market,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “While sales were strong across all regions of the province, the Fraser Valley, Interior and Vancouver Island regions shattered previous sales records and pushed January sales to new heights.”

Total active residential listings were down 21.5 per cent to 20,254 units in January, the lowest level of provincial active listings on record, going back to 2000. With strong sales and so few listings, market conditions are exceptionally tight with less than three months of total supply.

“The supply of listings continues to be held back by the pandemic,” added Ogmundson. “With so few listings, markets are starved for supply and prices are under extraordinary pressure.”

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.