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

For immediate release

Vancouver, BC – December, 2021. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 9,159 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) in November 2021, a decrease of 3.4 per cent from November 2020. The average MLS^® residential price in BC was $993,922, a 22.1 per cent increase from $814,310 recorded in November 2020. Total sales dollar volume was $9.1 billion, a 17.9 per cent increase from the same time last year. “Provincial MLS^® home sales reached a new annual record in November with still one month to go in 2021,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “Home sales have already surpassed the previous annual record of 112,425 units set in 2016.”

Total active residential listings continued to tumbler lower, falling 39 per cent year-over-year to a record low for the province. Active listings are now about half of the level reached prior to the pandemic. 

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume is up 63.6 per cent to $108.7 billion compared to the same period in 2020. Residential unit sales were up 37.7 per cent to 117,973 units, while the average MLS^® residential price was up 18.8 per cent to $921,806. 

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

If you’re planning your holiday shopping, you may have lots of competition at the mall and online. A Roku and Harris Poll survey on consumer shopping trends in 2021 found that spending could hit new records this season, as consumers expect to increase their spending for the holiday season.

The survey found that 72% of holiday shoppers feel confident the economy will improve in the next 12 months. Thirty-six percent of consumers expect to spend more this year, the highest number reported since 2018. Holiday spending is expected to reach a record $937 per person on holiday purchases - a 5% increase from 2020.

In-store shopping may be coming back as well. Forty-three percent of respondents said they plan to shop in person on Black Friday, an 11% increase from 2020, when concerns about COVID-19 kept many shoppers at home. However, online shopping isn’t going away— 57% of consumers say they plan to do most of their shopping online.

Children are naturally creative and inventive because they don’t know what’s impossible. Try checking out these inventions created by kids across the years:

1. Trampoline. Sixteen-year-old George Nissen was captivated by the sight of trapeze artists dropping into nets at the finish of their shows in the 1930s. In his parents’ garage he developed the “bouncing rig,” a metal frame with canvas stretched over it. Years later he switched out the canvas for nylon and came up with a new name— a “trampoline,” adding the letter 'e' to the Spanish word for diving board.

2. Earmuffs. At age 15, Chester Greenwood’s ears grew painfully cold while ice skating. A scarf around his head didn’t help, so he went home, built a wire frame, and asked his grandmother to sew some beaver skin pads to it. Greenwood patented his earmuffs in 1877 and eventually sold them, and they were used by soldiers fighting in World War I.

3. Popsicle. One cold night in San Francisco in 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson mixed up a concoction of soda water powder and water and left it outside all night. In the morning he looked at the frozen mixture with the stirring stick still inside and realized it might be fun to eat. He began giving them out as treats, and as an adult, he patented the product with the name “Eppsicle,” later changing it to “Popsicle” - after his own children started calling it by that name.

The bayberry candle has a lovely history that dates back to the earliest settlers. Colonials typically formed their candles from animal tallow, a useful material, but not one with an especially pleasant scent. The tallow candles were smoky, as well.

When some of the early settlers learned they could boil wild bayberries down and use their wax for candles that not only smelled good, but also had a naturally pretty green color, it quickly turned into a coveted item.

Colonial women began to give a pair of bayberry candles as a gesture of friendship, and a new tradition emerged: to burn the candles on a chosen night as soon as the first star appeared in the sky. Today, they are often purchased and shared with an accompanying tale and poem about the past and current beliefs of burning the bayberry candles.

One common verse found along with the sweet-smelling candles is as follows,

“This bayberry candle comes from a friend,

 so on a holiday burn it to the end.

For a bayberry candle burned to the socket,

will bring joy to the heart, and gold to the pocket.”

 Perhaps you want to share in the tradition and give out bayberry candles this year!

The Bank of Canada maintained its overnight rate at 0.25 per cent this morning, a level it considers its effective lower bound. The Bank reiterated what it calls "extraordinary forward guidance" in committing to leaving the overnight rate at 0.25 per cent until slack in the economy is absorbed and inflation sustainably returns to its 2 per cent target. The  Bank projects that will occur in the middle quarters of 2022. In the statement accompanying the decision, the Bank noted that recent economic indicators signal considerable momentum to end 2021, but the Omicron COVID-19 variant has injected renewed uncertainty into the global economy and flooding in British Columbia could weigh on growth in the short-term by compounding supply chain issues and reducing demand for some services. The Bank still expects inflation to ease back to its 2 per cent target by the second half of next year.

We expect the Bank will raise its overnight rate two times next year, followed by quarterly increases in 2023, bringing the overnight rate back to its pre-pandemic level by the end of 2023. It is possible that the Bank may act earlier or more aggressively next year, however the realities and uncertainties of the pandemic are still very much a presence in the global economy, particularly with the emergence of new COVID-19 variant. Consequently, it would not be surprising if the Bank of Canada had to delay its current expected schedule of rate increases.

Link:  https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/bank-of-canada-interest-rate-announcement-9kh35j8k7j

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Click here to view the December 2021 Mortgage Rate Forecast. 

Highlights:

1. Bond yields jump higher; fixed mortgage rates follow

2. Canadian economic growth still constrained by supply shortages

3. Bank of Canada – higher, faster?

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Years ago, I was invited to a local shop holding a New Year’s Eve party at noon, for young children to enjoy an early celebration. I suspect it was organized so parents could enjoy a night out later that evening, but the idea struck me as being a brilliant way everyone could celebrate the final day of December.

Consider this bit of history: Sir Isaac Newton discovered that white light, when split into a prism, actually consists of all the colors in the rainbow. There is no division between the colors: they all blend from one to the next. So do our days transition into one another. Our actions on one day lead naturally to the next, and so on. If we do not take time to celebrate all that we have accomplished, especially in this busy month, we risk never doing so. While a rainbow is beautiful, there is something to be said for savoring each color, or celebrating each day.

Try this: set aside some time on Sundays or Mondays to write down everything you accomplished the week prior, then add in at least one thing you are proud of having completed at any time during the year. Think back to the coldest months of February and March, or those hot days in August— what did you do that brought you joy? Did you create anything you want to repeat or build on this coming year? Take your time, savor the memories, and reflect on your success.

Here’s to celebrating friends and family this month… and here’s to you!

Gino Pezzani,

Your Real Estate/Mortgage Consultant For Life

This December, consider starting a wish jar. Regardless of how far you are into the month, take a decorative jar or a pretty vase and have everyone who passes through write down their wishes, hopes or goals for the year.

Let everyone know their notes can be serious and goal-oriented, or more for fun, such as saying they will learn one new recipe each week over the next year. Keep it easy and rule-free: family and friends can add as many or as few ideas as they would like to include.

Tuck the jar away and one year later, you can retrieve the jar and read the notes to see how far everyone has progressed. You might be surprised at who took the challenge seriously.

The BCREA Commercial Leading Indicator (CLI) fell from 155.4 to 150.9 in the third quarter of 2021, representing the first decline since the economy began recovering from the COVID-19-induced recession. Compared to the same time last year, the index was up by 9 per cent.

It is important to note that while the economy generally continues recovering strongly, we are still in a very abnormal and uncertain environment for commercial real estate. Therefore, the strong economic and employment growth we have seen in previous quarters may not translate directly to improved conditions in the commercial real estate market.

The CLI declined in the third quarter due to a drop in the economic activity component of the index, which was the result of lower manufacturing sales. That decline in manufacturing was primarily due to a reversal in lumber prices following their historic run-up in the first half of the year. The economic activity component of the CLI was also negatively impacted by an 8.3 per cent decrease in wholesale trade, while retail sales declined 1.5 per cent primarily due to a 5.5 per cent quarterly decline in motor vehicle sales as a result of the ongoing semiconductor chip supply shortage. These negative economic factors combined to drive the quarterly decline in the CLI.

Employment in key commercial real estate sectors such as finance, insurance, and real estate (FIRE) increased in the third quarter, rising by 2,000 across the province to a record high for the sector. As a result, for a fourth consecutive month the office employment component of the index hit an all-time high. However, the effect of this strong employment growth on the demand for office space remains unclear as many nominal “office workers” continue to work remotely. Manufacturing employment also remained essentially flat in the third quarter.

The CLI’s financial component made a positive contribution to the index for a fourth consecutive quarter, while REIT prices hit fresh records. Risk spreads between corporate and government debt remained very tight.

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

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Experts often encourage people to think outside the box when trying to be creative. According to The Creativity Post writer K.H. Kim, you should consider three distinct boxes to unleash your imagination:

1. Inside box: This box holds your expertise and knowledge, and is useful for narrowing things down, focusing on specifics, and identifying options.

2. Outside box: This box is flexible and holds all the possibilities. Let it relax your focus and explore everything, whether or not it’s related to work.

3. New box: This box lets you synthesize and refine ideas for effective implementation. Use it to connect ideas and find new ways of approaching problems.

Sometimes, you need an approach to emotional situations at work that allows you to take a breather before automatically saying “no” or insisting things go your way. Try these two little things the next time someone approaches you with an impossible-sounding request:

First, take a walk. If you’re feeling burnt out or possibly overwhelmed by emotion while at work, sometimes the most effective measure is the simplest one: take a breather. If you have the ability to leave the premises entirely, a walk sometimes can restore your energy and change your mood. Get out, enjoy some fresh air and see if the situation seems more approachable when you return to your work area.

Then, try giving people what they need, even if it is not how you would approach a situation. Ask yourself what the person is seeking and see if you can some way deliver it for them. For example, if you have a coworker who needs ideas broken down into manageable bites, it could be more effective to deconstruct a larger project than wait for them to proceed outside their comfort zone.