Affluent Canadians are sitting on an average value of $1.5-million for their homes, a recent poll indicates. That compares with an average price of $448,862 for homes sold in April, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Excluding the red-hot markets for the greater Toronto and Vancouver, the average figure in April was $339,893.

Indeed, the poll published Monday by the Bank of Montreal puts the average value of an affluent homeowner’s primary residence in Vancouver at $4-million and at $1.8-million in Toronto.

High-net-worth Canadians are those with investible assets of $1-million or more, the BMO report says.

The poll also indicates that 95 per cent of affluent Canadians own their residence, as opposed to renting, and that 58 per cent state they have paid off their mortgage.

Among those carrying a mortgage, the average amount they have left to pay is $176,000, the poll shows.

“There have been substantial wealth increases in the last decade, decade-and-a-half, partly as a result of the rise in real estate values,” said David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

“If you owned a house that was paid off in 2002, then this is very good news for you. Those folks who managed to do that are going to be relatively well off,” he said. These homeowners will tend to be older, he added.

But people in their 20s, 30s and 40s who just got into the housing market or are at the halfway point of paying down their mortgage are carrying high debt levels, Mr. Macdonald said.

“My real concern isn’t so much ‘can they carry it today?,’ but 10 years from now as the cost of carrying debt rises.”

Among other findings of the BMO survey:

* 36 per cent of high-net-worth Canadians own a second or additional property
* Of those with a second or additional property, 40 per cent own two or more extra properties
* The top reason for owning a second property is to have vacation time, 47 per cent said
* Among those with an additional property, 80 per cent own one in Canada, 27 per cent in the United States and 11 per cent in Europe
* The average value of a high-net-worth primary residence in Quebec is $678,600, compared with $719,500 in Alberta

The survey results are from an online poll conducted by Pollara between Oct. 15 and Oct. 28, 2014, using a sample of 306 Canadians 18 or over who have at least $1-million in investable assets (excluding employers’ retirement plans, insurance products or their home).

Source: Bertrand Marotte, The Globe and Mail

April hottest month for B.C. real estate in a decade. $6.3 billion worth of British Columbia real estate was sold in April, making the month the hottest April for home sales in a decade.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association reported Thursday morning a 45.5 per cent increase from April 2014 in the total sales dollar volume and a 28.7 per cent increase in number of home sales.

“Last month was the strongest April for home sales in a decade,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “The elevated level of buying activity this spring is now expected to push 2015 home sales to their highest level since 2007.”

January, February, March and April of 2015 were banner months for real estate sales in B.C. with sales dollars rising over 37 per cent to $19 billion when compared to the same period in 2014.

Residential unit sales also increased by 24.5 per cent to 30,091 sold listings during the first four months of 2014. April alone saw almost 10,000 MLS® sales.

“Consumers are taking full advantage of rock bottom interest rates and are demonstrating significant confidence in the housing market,” added Muir. “However, dwindling inventories combined with competition for detached homes in the province`s large urban markets is pushing home prices higher.”

In Vancouver, B.C.’s hottest real estate market, there were 4,179 residential MLS® sales in April, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

The average MLS® residential price in B.C. in April was $631,860 while Vancouver’s remained slightly higher at $673,000.

Source: Jill Slattery, VanCityBuzz

Home real estate sales jump 37% across Metro Vancouver in April. There are more people trying to buy than there are people trying to sell their homes in Metro Vancouver. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver has found sales for all types of homes in April were 30 per cent higher than the ten-year average.

Sales of detached properties were up 37 per cent when compared to last April 2014. That breaks the record for April set only last year. Apartments and townhouses are also selling. Sales of apartments this April are up 34.7 per cent compared to last.

Demand is continuing to push prices even higher. The REBGV says the average price for all types of homes is up 8.5 per cent. The average detached home now sells for $1,078,900.

Board President Darcy McLeod says low interest rates are fueling this, coupled with a larger number of interested first time buyers. He says some are selling to take advantage of already high prices. “We’re also seeing a lot of movement around the region. For example, people that may live in North Vancouver now where we’re seeing densification might be moving out to Coquitlam or even Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge where they can still buy a detached home for a reasonable amount of money and do fairly well on selling their home in North Van or in some cases, Burnaby.”

Real Estate Board of Great Vancouver president Darcy McLeod says demand is outpacing supply. “We’re seeing a lot of frustrated buyers that have been looking for some time that just haven’t been able to find the right home or they’ve lost out in a number of multiple offer situations. So there still is quite a strong pent-up demand in the market.”

McLeod recommends coming up with a strategy with a realtor before trying to buy.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is also reporting a big sales increase for April. Sales were up 37 per cent this April compared to April 2014. It says this April is the third highest of all time for the month. A single family home in the valley now sells for $595,600 on average.

Source: Jill Drews, News1130

Metro Vancouver housing affordability continues to slide. Housing affordability in Metro Vancouver continued to slide in the first quarter, making it even more difficult for Vancouverites to own a home the country’s least affordable region, according to the latest Desjardins Affordability Index released Wednesday.

The report, which compares housing prices with income in metropolitan areas outside Atlantic Canada, shows the average property sale in Metro Vancouver is nearly $850,000, twice as high as the combined average home price ($424,000) of the other Canadian cities cited in the report.

The report only includes data from 18 metropolitan areas in Canada and excludes Atlantic Canada because Desjardins only collects information in markets where it conducts business.

That puts the average sale in Metro Vancouver 10 times higher than the average household income of around $86,000 a year.

Toronto, which is the second least affordable market, had significantly higher average salaries than Vancouver at $92,000 per household, and lower average housing prices of nearly $560,000.

Housing remains very affordable in Calgary, where the average household income is nearly $120,000 and the average cost of housing is around $445,000.

“It shows that people from Vancouver don’t have the income necessary to buy a home. Maybe the investors market is more important in Vancouver, especially for condos, and that looks like a factor,” said Hélène Bégin, Desjardins’ chief economist. “It would be really hard to buy a home without help from your family or someone else.”

Despite Vancouver’s continuous slide into an affordability crunch over the last three years, Vancouver’s resale market is growing, and is up two per cent since the start of the year and 12.9 per cent from the previous quarter, according to the index.

Vancouver’s affordability has the lowest index level in the country at nearly 70, while the index level for Canada is 117. That level indicates that Canadians on average have a salary around 17 per cent higher than the salary needed to buy a home at the average price, said Bégin.

In Quebec, the income is nearly 40 per cent higher (index level 156.5) than needed to buy a home at the average price of $275,000, according to the index. The DAI is calculated by determining the ratio between the average household disposable income and the income needed to obtain a mortgage on an average-priced home, or qualifying income. Qualifying income is calculated based on the cost of owning a home, including mortgage payments, property taxes and utility costs.

Nationally, the index shows households’ financial capacity to buy a home stayed close to the historical average, although affordability has declined since the start of the year.

Source: Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver Sun