This year marks the 20th anniversary of the largest and longest running blanket drive in the Lower Mainland. Over two decades, the REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive has helped bring warmth to more than 250,000 residents across the Lower Mainland.

From November 17 to 24, REALTORS® across the region will work with their clients to coordinate donations of blankets, sleeping bags, warm winter clothing, and new socks and underwear for those most in need. The donations are then sorted and delivered to charities and organizations in the same area in which they were collected.

We’re asking anyone...

According to CMHC’s fourth quarter 2014 Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition¹, housing starts in 2015 will remain similar to levels observed in 2014 and in line with economic and demographic trends. By 2016, some moderation is expected.

“The trend for housing starts has been up in recent months, particularly in multi-unit structures. This has been broadly supported by key factors such as employment, disposable income and net migration, which are expected to continue to be supportive of the Canadian housing market over the 2014-2016 forecast horizon,” said Bob Dugan,...

The Bank of Canada announced on October 22nd, 2014 that it was holding its trend-setting overnight lending rate at 1 per cent.

Its most recent rate announcement and Monetary Policy Report suggest a number of reasons why interest rates aren’t going up anytime soon:

1) Recovery in exports not ready to stand on own legs. Recent growth in the U.S. has led to a weaker Canada–U.S. currency exchange rate. That is good news for Canadian exports to the U.S. , our largest trading partner. The Bank still expects that the engine for Canadian economic growth will switch from...

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 1/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 3/4 per cent.

Inflation in Canada is close to the 2 per cent target. Core inflation rose more rapidly than was expected in the Bank’s July Monetary Policy Report (MPR), mainly reflecting unexpected sector-specific factors. Total CPI inflation is evolving broadly as expected, as the pickup in core inflation was largely offset by lower energy prices. Underlying inflationary pressures are muted, given the persistent...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,636 residential sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in September, up 17.5 per cent from September 2013. Total sales dollar volume was $4.4 billion, an increase of 25.8 per cent compared to a year ago. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose to $574,641, up 7.1 per cent from the same month last year.

“Consumer demand remains robust in most BC regions,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “More homes...

Home buyers were active in Metro Vancouver last month, with home sales well exceeding the 10-year average for September

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,922 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in September 2014. This represents a 17.7 per cent increase compared to the 2,483 sales in September 2013, and a 5.4 per cent increase over the 2,771 sales in August 2014.

Last month’s sales were 16.1 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month and rank as the third...