Economic Outlook Archives - Page 4 of 10

20Sep

James feeling optimistic despite projecting economic decline in B.C.

[Vancouver Sun - September 11, 2020] VICTORIA — Finance Minister Carole James cited grounds for optimism Thursday, even as she continues to preside over B.C.’s worst economic and financial crisis in modern times. “I don’t like to sugar-coat things — I am a realist,” James told reporters in releasing the latest economic and financial update. “I am optimistic when it is warranted. … But I am feeling optimistic about B.C.’s economic future. We have started down the road to economic recovery.” Her outlook [...]

British Columbia, Economic Outlook

20Sep

Why real estate prices continue to rise despite the pandemic

[CBC - September 20, 2020] Opinion - Mark Ting, CBC's finance columnist, on the connection between unemployment, government aid, and real estate. Last May, I wrote an opinion piece titled "Time to buy? What the pandemic means for Vancouver's real estate market" where I explained that historically for every one per cent rise in unemployment there is a four per cent decrease in housing prices. However, this is not what has happened during the last several months. Between February and August this [...]

COVID-19, Economic Outlook, Vancouver Real Estate

20Sep

Mortgage delinquencies expected to jump in latter part of the year, CMHC says

[Globe and Mail - September 10, 2020] Canada’s housing agency said there could be a “significant increase" in mortgage delinquencies later this year as banks’ loan deferrals during the COVID-19 pandemicend and alternative lenders deal with more troubled borrowers. Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs), which are alternative lenders that pool investor funds to provide loans, were already seeing a rise in delinquency rates before the pandemic struck in March, according to an annual report from the Canada Mortgage Housing Corp. Then, in the [...]

Economic Outlook

20Sep

Rental sector navigates perilous times

[Globe and Mail - September 9, 2020] It’s been a year fraught with uncertainty and challenges for landlords and tenants, and it’s far from over. The data has yet to come in on the exact vacancy rates, or the number of tenants who haven’t been able to pay rent since the pandemic began. And the landscape changes yet again as government lifts a ban on evictions and rent increases. As of Sept. 1, landlords were able to evict tenants for failure to [...]

British Columbia, COVID-19, Economic Outlook

17Sep

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart seeks to permit up to six properties on one residential lot

[Globe and Mail - September 14, 2020] Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart is launching a bold push to create cheaper forms of housing in Vancouver’s single-family neighbourhoods by calling for the city to allow up to six units on any residential lot. The catch is that two would have to be rented or sold at below-market rates permanently. That could be a first for Canada and is only outdone by Portland, Ore., which recently passed a similar policy in mid-August except that it [...]

Economic Outlook, Vancouver Real Estate

16Sep

Canadians have deferred $1B a month worth of mortgage payments since pandemic began

[CBC - September 10, 2020] Almost 1 million existing loans have been deferred and more people are taking out new loans, too More than three-quarters of a million Canadian homeowners have either deferred or skipped a mortgage payment during the COVID-19 pandemic began, to the tune of about $1 billion a month, Canada's national housing agency says. In a report on Thursday, the Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation looked at the state of the mortgage market in Canada. The report is annual [...]

Economic Outlook

08Sep

B.C.’s devastated tourism industry faces bleak outlook after summer season that never was

[CBC - September 7, 2020] Some businesses have tried to adapt, others face prospect of closure As summer winds down, tourism operators across the province are looking at staggering losses from a season constricted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Royce Chwin, the president of Tourism Vancouver, says 98 per cent of his group's members have reported a drop in revenue — at 50 per cent or more — for the first half of this year. "With the borders being shut down, either the U.S. or the [...]

British Columbia, COVID-19, Economic Outlook

31Aug

B.C.’s projected deficit soars to $320M due to COVID-19 pandemic

[News 1130 - August 31, 2020] VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – The province is looking at a $320 million deficit instead of the $200 million surplus forecast just six months ago, according to the latest financials from the B.C. government. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the province into millions of dollars worth of emergency spending to help British Columbians weather the health crisis, all while revenue from taxation, Crown corporations, and natural resources has been down. "The pandemic led to lower tax revenues, [...]

British Columbia, COVID-19, Economic Outlook

30Aug

B.C. projected to lead West in post-COVID economic recovery – under ideal circumstances

[CBC - July 16, 2020] “Numerous advantages” point to British Columba leading the West and potentially the rest of Canada in an economic recovery from COVID-19 over the next year, according to an outlook from the Conference Board of Canada. But the authors of the board’s unveven recovery – provincial outlook, released August 24,concede that if a vaccine is not found and the nation is forced into another national lockdown, all bets are off the table. “The country’s ability to avoid a [...]

British Columbia, COVID-19, Economic Outlook

30Aug

Tenants given up to July2021 to repay rent in instalments under B.C. government guidelines

[CBC - July 16, 2020] The B.C. government has released a framework for how — and when — rent that went unpaid during the pandemic is expected to be gradually repaid to landlords. In March, the province announced a freeze on evictions for unpaid rent, along with a monthly rebate for renters. The eviction freeze is set to be lifted Sept. 1, meaning tenants will have to pay full rent for September. Tenants will still owe their landlord rent that was missed [...]

British Columbia, COVID-19, Economic Outlook, Vancouver Real Estate