Balancing work and your home life has never been easy, and the pandemic made it more complicated. Whether you’re back in the office or still working from home, remember this advice from the Military.com website for staying healthy and even- keeled:

Goals. Make sure you’re focused on realistic, manageable job goals. Talk to your boss about their priorities, and discuss options so that your workload doesn’t become too much of a burden.

Breaks. Take regular breaks throughout the day. Get away from your desk and computer for a quick walk—outside, if possible. Remember to stretch.

Downtime. You may be tempted to put in longer hours if you’re working from home, finishing up tasks after dinner and continuing late into the night. Resist the urge. Spend time away from your workspace with your family, partner, pet, or just outdoors and away from whatever reminds you of work. It’ll still be there tomorrow.

Self-care. Remember to eat a healthy diet with lots of water. Visit your doctor regularly. Get enough sleep. You’ll perform better at work and at home if you’re healthy.

Perfection. Don’t be a perfectionist. Do the best you can, but learn to let go when a project is finished, even if you could do a little more on it. Most of the time what’s important is completing a task and moving on, not polishing every last detail.

Technology. Don’t stare at screens all day. Get away from social media. Turn off your devices at a specific time every night and get back into the real world for a while. You’ll sleep better.

Help. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Communicate with your boss and your team when you have a problem or hit a roadblock. Get the assistance and support you need to do a good job. Be honest to avoid surprises.

For the complete news release, including detailed statistics, click here.

Vancouver, BC – June, 2022. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,214 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) in May 2022, a decrease of 35.1 per cent from May 2021. The average MLS^® residential price in BC was $1 million, a 9.3 per cent increase from $915,392 recorded in May 2021. Total sales dollar volume was $8.2 billion, a 29.1 per cent decline from the same time last year. 

“Canadian mortgage rates continue to climb,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “The average 5-year fixed mortgage rate reached 4.49 per cent in June. That is the highest mortgage rates have been since 2009.”

Provincial active listings were 4.4 per cent higher than this time last year, the first year-over-year increase in active listings since 2019. However, active listings still remain below what is typical for a balanced market, though current market conditions have a high degree of variation across regions and product types.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 14.5 per cent to $46.7 billion, compared with the same period in 2021. Residential unit sales were down 26.3 per cent to 43,921 units, while the average MLS® residential price was up 16 per cent to $1.06 million.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Canadian employment edged up by 39,800 to 19.64 million in May. The labour market continued to tighten, with the Canadian unemployment rate declining by 0.1 to 5.1 per cent, the lowest rate on record for a second consecutive month. Average hourly wages were up 3.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis, increasing from April's 3.3 per cent. Wage gains are below the inflation rate, however, which hit 6.8 per cent year-over-year in the most-recent data. The employment rate held steady at 61.9 per cent.

Employment in BC grew by 5.1k to 2.74 million in May. Metro Vancouver's employment grew by 7.1k (0.5 per cent) month over month. The unemployment rate declined sharply in May to 4.5 per cent, approaching record lows set in the mid 2000s. Of the provinces, only Quebec currently has a lower unemployment rate. 

Link: https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-employment-may-2022

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Are you plagued by self-doubt no matter how much you accomplish? Many talented professionals in every field suffer from “imposter syndrome”—the fear that they’ll be revealed as incompetent if they make a single mistake. You can overcome it with this guidance from the Training Zone website:

Track negative thoughts. Learn to turn away from doubt in your abilities. When you think, “I can’t do this,” remember the times you rose to a challenge and succeeded. Refocus your worries into affirmations:

“I can do this.”

“I’ve done this before.” “People believe in me.”

Look for support. Surround yourself with people who are on your side. Pay attention to constructive critiques, but listen closely to people who know what you’re capable of and who value your contributions.

Focus on your purpose. Remember what you’re trying to do in your career—it's not just making money, but helping people, creating better products, building a better society, supporting your family, and so forth. This will help you make clear decisions without needless worry.

Don’t procrastinate. The longer you put off a task, the more time your doubts have to multiply. Tackle challenging jobs promptly. Completing them will reinforce your confidence.

Setting goals is vital to a long and thriving career. You can’t just discover them at random. Inc. magazine suggests asking these key questions about new goals.

When do you want to achieve the goal? Have a timeline and a deadline, although you can adapt it as circumstances change.

What resources and skills do you have? Take a look at your skill set to determine whether you have what you need to get started.

What resources and skills will you have to learn? Be prepared to take the time to master what
you don’t already know along the way.

To view the full Commercial Leading Indicator PDF, click here.   

The BCREA Commercial Leading Indicator (CLI) rose to 154 from 150 in the first quarter of 2022, recovering most of the ground lost over the prior two quarters. Compared to the same time in 2021, the index was up by 3.4 per cent. 

It is important to note that while the Canadian economy generally continues to recover strongly, the environment for commercial real estate remains highly abnormal and uncertain. Although the CLI was designed to interpret economic and office employment growth as positive indicators for commercial real estate demand, the recent strong growth of these indicators may not translate as readily into improved conditions in the commercial real estate market relative to the pre-pandemic period. 

The CLI rose in the first quarter almost entirely due to improvements in the economic activity component of the index, while the financial component contributed only slightly and the employment component was essentially flat. The economic activity index was driven upwards by rising wholesale trade and manufacturing sales, whereas retail sales, although historically elevated, were largely flat from the prior quarter. Improving manufacturing sales were concentrated among non-durable goods such as food and beverages, whereas wholesale trade was especially strong for building and machinery materials as the province continues to experience a boom in the number of projects under construction. Although COVID-19 lockdowns have eased, supply chain obstacles and the war in Ukraine continue to generate instability and rising prices which contributed to rising sales figures. 

The small increase in the financial component of the index was driven by a decrease in the spread between government and corporate borrowing rates. This spread on 3-month bonds fell from 18 to 10 basis points in the first quarter amid generally rising bond yields. The spread is important as it indicates the ease with which the private sector can borrow relative to government, which is a driver of commercial real estate activity. REIT prices fell slightly since last quarter, which dampened the financial component of the index. Finally, the employment component of the index was essentially flat with a four thousand job decline in manufacturing employment completely offsetting an equivalent increase in office (finance, insurance, and real estate) employment.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

It has been said that Fall and Winter are a time to retreat, reflect, and restore. Maybe you did some of this in your personal life, professional life, or both. Spring came, and things started to lighten up. The symbolic or perhaps real snow began to melt, and we came out of ourselves a bit.

June marks the beginning of Summer, a time to shine. It’s the time to project outwardly, be big, bold and brave. It’s the time to take risks and let loose, where the plan is not to have a plan. We spend most of the year working on ourselves or our businesses, trying to grow and be better for our family and friends, and now is the time to see how far we’ve come and celebrate the victories. Enjoy the benefits of our hard work by taking that vacation or splurging on that nice dinner.

Remember the joy you felt as a kid as June would approach? It was fueled by the relief of no school and the joy of sleeping till noon. As adults with responsibilities, Summer inherently means something different now. That said, I challenge you to approach this season with the wonder of a child. Seek adventure and excitement whenever possible, wherever possible.

The man replied, “That  woman hardly eats. This way I get her to eat one orange a day for her health.”

A merchant in a vegetable stall saw the exchange happen every day, too. One day she asked the woman, “Why do you let him get away with that? He always complains about your oranges, and you always give him extra. Why do you put up with it?”

The woman smiled. “He always pays me a little extra when I weigh his bag. That way he can feed me and pretend I don’t know what he’s doing. His love pays for the extra orange.”