MLS# R2782140

FANTASTIC south-facing, 831 sq ft, 2 bed/2 bath unit in The Fitzgerald in Brentwood Park w/2 parking stalls! This condo is bright & modern w/granite finishes, laminate flooring & tons of UPDATES incl: popcorn ceiling removal, new paint & lighting throughout, new s/s fridge & dishwasher, new full-sized washer-dryer & new blinds.

Pro-active strata & $1.8M in CRF! Fitzgerald has great amenities: party room, gym, o/d hot tub & a meeting room. EXCELLENT location w/Skytrain & Brentwood Park shopping, dining, banks, etc, within 2 blocks. 2 pets allowed (1 dog & 1 cat) & rentals allowed (no short-term). 1 locker. Dynamic neighbourhood undergoing exciting changes - the place to be in Burnaby! Showings start immediately.

FANTASTIC south-facing, 831 sq ft, 2 bed/2 bath unit in The Fitzgerald in Brentwood Park w/2 parking stalls! This condo is bright & modern w/granite finishes, laminate flooring & tons of UPDATES incl: popcorn ceiling removal, new paint & lighting throughout, new s/s fridge & dishwasher, new full-sized washer-dryer & new blinds.

Pro-active strata & $1.8M in CRF! Fitzgerald has great amenities: party room, gym, o/d hot tub & a meeting room. EXCELLENT location w/Skytrain & Brentwood Park shopping, dining, banks, etc, within 2 blocks. 2 pets allowed (1 dog & 1 cat) & rentals allowed (no short-term). 1 locker. Dynamic neighbourhood undergoing exciting changes - the place to be in Burnaby! Showings start immediately. OPEN HOUSE: Sat. June 3 & Sun. June 4, 2-4 pm.

Canadian real GDP was flat in March. Service-producing industries were unchanged from the prior month which goods producing industries edged down 0.1 per cent. Canadian real GDP is now roughly 3.6 per cent above its pre-pandemic, February 2020 level. Preliminary estimates suggest that output in the Canadian economy rose 0.2 per cent in April.

GDP grew 0.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, following roughly zero growth in the previous quarter. Almost all of this growth was concentrated in the month of January. Goods-producing sectors rose 0.1 per cent while services-producing sectors rose 0.9 per cent. The public sector (educational services, health care and social assistance, and public administration) was the largest contributor to growth for the third consecutive quarter. Exports rose 2.4 per cent in the first quarter, while imports rose just 0.2 per cent, spurring growth. Higher household spending on goods (1.5 per cent) and services (1.3 per cent) also pushed GDP upwards. Higher borrowing costs, meanwhile, caused housing investment to fall 3.9 per cent in the first quarter, with new construction (-6.0 per cent), renovations (-2.1 per cent), and ownership transfer costs (-1.5 per cent) all declining. Compensation of employees rose 1.7 per cent from the prior quarter, but disposable income nevertheless fell 1 per cent largely as a result of lower government transfers compared to last quarter. 

Canadian GDP outpaced expectations in the first quarter, expanding 3.1 per cent on an annualized basis. Following over a year of rate hikes from the Bank of Canada, the economy remains robust in many areas. A burst of economic growth at the start of the year supported a high first quarter growth rate, but April's preliminary GDP estimate shows growth continuing into the second quarter. Although housing markets swooned in the immediate aftermath of rate hikes, in recent months they have shown signs of a solid recovery. At 5 per cent, the Canadian unemployment rate remains near record lows. Meanwhile, inflation remains hot, with the year-over-year rate increasing to 4.4 per cent in April from 4.3 per cent in March. These indicators will put some pressure on the central bank to potentially change course following its 'conditional pause' on further rate hikes as of January. The Bank's rate decision next Wednesday will need to balance persistently hot numbers with the risk of overtightening given the long lags of monetary policy. 

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.

MLS R2782140

FANTASTIC south-facing, 831 sq ft, 2 bed/2 bath unit in The Fitzgerald in Brentwood Park w/2 parking stalls! This condo is bright & modern w/granite finishes, laminate flooring & tons of UPDATES incl: popcorn ceiling removal, new paint & lighting throughout, new s/s fridge & dishwasher, new full-sized washer-dryer & new blinds. Pro-active strata & 1.8M in CRF! Fitzgerald has great amenities: party room, gym, o/d hot tub area & meeting room. EXCELLENT location w/Skytrain & Brentwood Park shopping, dining, banks, etc, within 2 blocks. 2 pets allowed (1 dog & 1 cat) & rentals allowed (no short-term). 1 locker. Dynamic neighbourhood undergoing exciting changes - the place to be in Burnaby! Showings start immediately. OPEN HOUSE: Sat. June 3 & Sun. June 4, 2-4 pm.

1 Bedroom plus flex in CIRRUS - SOLO 3 built by one of Vancouver's top developers, Appia Development! This is a north-facing home featuring Bosch stainless steel appliances and gas cook-top, wide plank laminate flooring, front loading washer/dryer, Quartz Counter-tops throughout and air-conditioning. Great location in the heart of Brentwood, walking distance to Whole Foods, Amazing Brentwood Mall as well as the Brentwood skytrain station. Home comes with one parking and one locker.

Canadian employment rose slightly to 20.13 million in April, up by 41,400 (0.2 per cent). The Canadian unemployment rate held steady at 5 per cent, unchanged since December. Employment gains were concentrated in wholesale and retail trade (+24,000); transportation and warehousing (+17,000); and information, culture and recreation (+16,000). Average hourly wages were up 5.2 per cent from April of last year.

Employment in BC was little changed in April, rising 0.1 per cent to 2.78 million, while declining by 0.1 per cent in Metro Vancouver to 1.564 million. The unemployment rate rose to 5 per cent in BC and to 5.4 per cent in Metro Vancouver. The rise was driven both by a rise in labour force participation, but also an increase in the number of unemployed workers.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver* is currently $1,170,700. This represents a 2.4% increase from March 2023 and a 7.4% decrease from April 2022.

Specifically:

- The benchmark price for detached homes increased 2.9% from Mar 2023 and decreased 8.8% from Apr 2022.

- The benchmark price for townhouses increased 2.1% from Mar 2023 and decreased 6.1% from Apr 2022.

- The benchmark price for apartment/condos increased 2.0% from Mar 2023 and decreased 3.1% from Apr 2022.

*Areas covered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver include: Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, South Delta, Squamish, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Whistler.

Canadian real GDP inched up 0.1 per cent in February, following a 0.6 per cent jump in January. Both goods-producing and services-providing sectors of the economy grew 0.1 per cent. Growth was led by the public sector (+0.2 per cent), professional, scientific and technical services (+0.6 per cent), and construction activity (+0.3 per cent). Canadian real GDP is now roughly 3.4 per cent above its pre-pandemic, February 2020 level. Preliminary estimates suggest that output in the Canadian economy declined 0.1 per cent in March, implying an annualized growth rate of 2.5 per cent in the first quarter.

On the heels of unexpectedly high real GDP growth in January, February's low figure, alongside preliminary data indicating a slight contraction in March, appears more consistent with the Bank of Canada's expectations for slowing economic growth in 2023. Growth was softer than expected in the fourth quarter of 2022, supporting the Bank of Canada's 'conditional pause' on further rate hikes, and ignoring January, this slowness appears to be continuing in February and March. Due to the long lag of monetary policy, the effects of last year's tightening are still working their way through the economy, and further slowing in GDP and the labour market is anticipated in the second half of 2023. This slowing of growth is likely good news for inflation, which has been trending close to the bank's 2 per cent target in recent months. The next Bank of Canada rate announcement is on June 7th.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.

Canadian seasonally adjusted retail sales fell 0.2 per cent in February to $66.3 billion. Sales fell in 4 of 9 subsectors, but the decrease was led by lower sales at gasoline stations and fuel vendors (-5.0 per cent) and general merchandise retailers (-1.6 per cent). Core retail sales, which strips out gasoline and motor vehicle and parts dealers, rose 0.1 per cent. In volume terms, sales fell 0.7 per cent in January. 

In BC, seasonally adjusted sales fell 3.3 per cent in February. Compared to the same month last year, retail sales were down 0.3 per cent in the province. In the Greater Vancouver region, sales were down 4.4 per cent month-over-month and 2.4 per cent year-over-year. 

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.

Canadian housing starts fell 11 per cent to 213,865 units in March at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR). Starts were down 12 per cent from March of 2022. Single-detached housing starts fell 12 per cent to 56,468 units, while multi-family and others fell 11 per cent to 157,395 (SAAR). 

In British Columbia, starts rose by 35 per cent in March to 51,564 units SAAR in all areas of the province. In areas in the province with 10,000 or more residents, single-detached starts fell 10 per cent m/m to 4,814 units while multi-family starts rose 49 per cent to 43,180 units. Starts in the province were 60 per cent above the levels from March 2022. Starts were up by 18k in Vancouver and 0.3k in Victoria, while declining by 2.6k in Kelowna and 0.8k in Abbotsford. The 6-month moving average trend fell 0.7 per cent to 48.6k in BC in November. 

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Canadian prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose 4.3 per cent on a year-over-year basis in March, a decrease from the 5.2 per cent rate in February. This large drop was mostly due to base year effects; the CPI was rising quickly this month last year and fuel prices in particular are substantially down from a year ago. Grocery prices continue to rise quickly, up 9.7 per cent from last year, following seven consecutive months of double-digit increases. Mortgage interest costs were up 26.4 per cent year-over-year, the fastest pace on record, as Canadians renewed or initiated higher-rate mortgages. In contrast, the Homeowner's Replacement Cost, which tracks home prices, continued to slow, increasing 1.7 per cent year-over-year in March, down from 3.3 per cent in February. Month-over-month, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, prices were up 0.1 per cent in March. In BC, consumer prices rose 4.7 per cent year-over-year.

There continue to be encouraging signs that the bout of rapid price appreciation that began in February of last year is waning. Although food prices and mortgage interest costs continue to rise quickly, most other categories in the index are trending back toward normal price trends. Indeed, excluding mortgage costs, the year-over-year change in CPI was just 3.6 per cent. The Bank of Canada's measures of core inflation, which strip out volatile components, each ticked downwards for a fourth month in a row. The three-month annualized change in seasonally-adjusted CPI is now well within the bank's 1-3 per cent target range, hitting 2.1 per cent in March. Still, although year-over-year price appreciation may be moderating, at 4.3 per cent it is still well above the Bank of Canada's 2 per cent target. While the Bank of Canada held the overnight rate steady at 4.5 per cent for a second consecutive meeting in April, the Bank could change course if inflation does not continue to cool or if the economy dips toward recession. 

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,118 residential unit sales were recorded in Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) systems in March 2023, a decrease of 38.3 per cent from March 2022. The average MLS^® residential price in BC was 961,451 down 11.6 per cent compared to the average price of close to $1.1 million in March 2022, recorded near the market's peak. The total sales dollar volume was $6.8 billion, representing a 45.5 per cent decrease from the same time last year. 

“The BC housing market is currently characterized by slow sales but also still very low levels of listings,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “Consequently, even though home sales remain about 20 per cent below normal levels for this time of year, the average home price in BC has now risen two months in a row, reaching its highest level since May 2022 as markets tighten due to a lack of supply.”
  

Active listings in the province are up 25 per cent compared to this time last year but have fallen for the second straight month in the wake of a modest recovery in home sales and continued weak new listings activity.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.