Welcome to the first episode of The Vancouver Life Real Estate Podcast for 2025! As we kick off the new year, we start this year by reflecting on an intriguing 2024 in Greater Vancouver real estate.

Today, we’re unpacking December’s freshly released market stats, analyzing how 2024 wrapped up, and exploring what’s on the horizon for 2025.

This is a special double-header episode where we’ll revisit our 2024 real estate predictions to see where we were right, where we missed the mark, and what new trends are setting up 2025 to be a dynamic and potentially surprising year.

Highlights from December reveal some fascinating trends. Sales reached their highest December total in three years, up 32% year-over-year, though still 15% below the 10-year average. New listings surged 26% year-over-year, marking the highest December total in three years. Inventory remains elevated, with December’s levels the highest since 2018 and 25% above the 10-year average•

The Sales-to-active ratios show balanced market conditions for the eighth consecutive month, with townhomes and apartments pushing us into the upper limits of a Balanced market.

In terms of pricing, Vancouver’s housing market defied more pessimistic predictions, with all three price metrics—HPI, median, and average prices—rising year-over-year. Notably, median prices climbed 4.5%, just 2% shy of the all-time high.

As we dive deeper, we’ll also compare Vancouver’s performance to Toronto’s market and national trends. While BC lagged behind the national average home price increase of 7.4%, it still holds the title for the highest average home price in Canada. Tune into the rest of the episode and find out where we right and where we went wrong as we review the predictions we made for 2024.

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Contact Us To Book Your Private Consultation:

📆 https://calendly.com/thevancouverlife

Dan Wurtele, PREC, REIA

604.809.0834

dan@thevancouverlife.com

Ryan Dash PREC

778.898.0089
ryan@thevancouverlife.com

www.thevancouverlife.com

Welcome to a special holiday edition of The Vancouver Real Estate Podcast! As we wrap up 2024, we’re thrilled to celebrate a major milestone—our channel hitting 5,000 subscribers on Christmas Day, doubling in size over the past year! This achievement means the world to us, especially for such a niche channel, and it’s all thanks to you—our viewers who have tuned in, shared our videos, and subscribed. As we move into 2025, we’re committed to improving the channel, fostering open conversations about Vancouver real estate, and connecting 1-on-1 through our Calendly link.

Looking back, 2024 was a year of housing promises from all levels of government. Initiatives like Bill 44, which aimed to densify single-family neighborhoods, faced hurdles like municipal pushback and high taxes & community contribution fees. The federal Housing Accelerator Fund & Trudeau promised over 3.9 million homes but has yet to deliver any completed builds.

CMHC raised its mortgage insurance limit to $1.5 million, which helps buyers access more expensive homes but doesn’t address affordability. Meanwhile, policies like the anti-flipping tax are unlikely to curb rising prices but may reduce the supply of renovated properties, exacerbating the supply-demand imbalance.

The market also saw significant struggles, with pre-sale projects shelved, developer insolvencies up 36% year-over-year, and building permits near all-time lows. On the brighter side, 2024 marked the first-interest rate cuts in over four years, which has started to provide relief for buyers and developers alike.

Inflation remained below 3% throughout the year, though maintaining this stability amidst global uncertainty will be a challenge, particularly with political shifts like the return of Trump and Canada’s federal leadership changes. The Airbnb ban disrupted short-term rental markets, while stricter renters’ policies continued to deter smaller investors, limiting rental supply.

As we head into 2025, the focus must shift from adding more policies to addressing the root issue: increasing housing supply by removing red tape and, ideally, reducing government fees and taxes.

Thank you again for helping us reach 5,000 subscribers, and we look forward to continuing this journey with you. Join us next week for a recap of December’s stats, and don’t miss our 2025 predictions episode on January 11.

Happy Holidays, and we’ll see you in 2025!

_________________________________

Contact Us To Book Your Private Consultation:

📆 https://calendly.com/thevancouverlife

Dan Wurtele, PREC, REIA

604.809.0834

dan@thevancouverlife.com

Ryan Dash PREC

778.898.0089
ryan@thevancouverlife.com

www.thevancouverlife.com

You’d think the housing world would quiet down by mid-December, but this week has been packed with significant developments. Inflation data showed a continued cooling trend, with November’s rate at 1.9%, marking four consecutive months below 2%. The shelter component also eased, but rents defied expectations, rising 7.7% year-over-year nationally despite sharp declines in major cities like Vancouver, where rents are down 10%.

Rate cuts are back on the table, with the Bank of Canada expected to lower rates incrementally in early 2025, while variable-rate mortgages are regaining popularity. South of the border, the Federal Reserve cut rates by 0.25%, signaling caution amid strong GDP and persistent inflation.

The move widened the gap between Canadian and U.S. rates to levels not seen since 1997, weakening the Canadian dollar to under $0.70 USD and highlighting diverging economic paths between the two nations.

Canada’s labor market continues to struggle, with unemployment hitting a seven-year high and job vacancies plunging to a four-year low. Companies are hiring fewer workers, creating a troubling imbalance with less than one job available for every two job seekers.

This dynamic reflects a worsening economic downturn, with nearly 20% of unemployed Canadians classified as long-term unemployed. The construction sector, a key pillar of the workforce, faces additional challenges as housing starts have declined significantly over the year, despite a recent monthly uptick.

Large-scale building permits, which indicate future supply, are also falling sharply, particularly in Ontario. These trends raise concerns about the future of housing affordability and employment in an already strained economy.

Compounding these issues is political upheaval, with both Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Housing Minister Sean Fraser stepping down. Freeland’s tenure ended amidst criticism of Canada’s record deficits, with the Fall Economic Statement revealing a $62 billion shortfall—50% over budget.

Meanwhile, B.C.’s 2024-2025 budget projects a staggering $9.4 billion deficit, the largest in provincial history. Fraser, who oversaw record immigration levels that strained housing and healthcare systems, has faced sharp criticism for his policies’ long-term impacts. With mounting government debt, declining investor confidence, and slowing immigration, the outlook for 2025 appears unpredictable.

This perfect storm of economic uncertainty, housing struggles, and political shakeups underscores the challenges and potential opportunities that Canada faces heading into the new year.

_________________________________

Contact Us To Book Your Private Consultation:

📆 https://calendly.com/thevancouverlife

Dan Wurtele, PREC, REIA

604.809.0834

dan@thevancouverlife.com

Ryan Dash PREC

778.898.0089
ryan@thevancouverlife.com

www.thevancouverlife.com