What are the Changes to the Strata Property Act?

On November 21 Bill 44 was introduced into the BC legislature which proposed changes to the Strata Property Act regarding rental and age restriction bylaws, electronic meetings, and more.

Today I am going to go over the changes that were proposed through the bill and what the implications are for strata corps, owners and also for buyers.

Here are the main points with respect to the Rental Restrictions:

• No rental restriction bylaws would be allowed in any strata corporations in BC.

• A developer would no longer be required to issue Rental Disclosure Statements and a strata would no longer be required to keep those records.

• (Existing wording unchanged) The strata corporation would not be able to screen tenants, establish screening criteria, require the approval of tenants, require the insertion of terms in tenancy agreements or otherwise restrict the rental of a strata lot.

Ok so what does that all mean?

Basically there will no longer be any rental restrictions in strata buildings in BC. There are buildings here in Kelowna that restrict the number of units that can be used as rental units. That all goes away with this amendment to the act.

There was some concern that there would have been changes to how AirBnB’s are allowed to operate in the province, but so far there have been no changes to that. AirBnB’s will remain at the discretion of the strata corp and its owners.

In terms of the rental disclosure, right now it is required to disclose how many rental units exist in the building or development you are looking to purchase in.

That also goes away.

Why is it important as a buyer?

Well if you are buying into a development that you plan on living in, you may want to know how many units are owner occupied. 

This is why the left the provision in for strat corps to be required to track all of this information, for example a list of names of owners, tenants and landlords needs to be kept and available upon request.

Now that said, just because they aren’t required to disclose it doesn’t mean that they don’t have to, you can ask for the disclosure at which point they will have to give you that information.

The last point there I think is pretty self explanatory…strata corps won’t be able to screen tenants.

Big Changes to Age Restrictions in Condos in BC

Ok the other big changes have to do with age restrictions and they are as follows:

• Age restriction bylaws would be allowed for any ages 55 or greater.

• No other age restriction bylaws would be allowed.

• The age restriction would not apply to a caregiver who resides in the strata lot for the purpose of providing care to another person who resides in the strata lot and is dependent on caregivers for continuing assistance or direction because of disability, illness, or frailty.

Right now there are developments in Kelowna that have restrictions on age of 19 years or older, strata corps will no longer be allowed to put up this restriction or any other age restriction with the exception of 55+.

The last point there has to do with say a person that is a caregiver and is younger than 55+ but is caring for someone that is 55 years or older.

All of that said, this pertains to occupancy and NOT ownership.

Meaning, if you are 29 and want to purchase a condo unit in a building that is 55+ and then rent that unit out to someone that is 55 years of age or older, that is within the rules.

The last rule changes are much less headline grabbing but important all the same and they are:

• All strata corps would be able to hold annual and special general meetings by telephone or other electronic means without a bylaw

• Issues with voting cards and secret ballots at electronic general meetings would be resolved by:

• The electronic means must enable the chair of the meeting to identify whether a person attending by electronic means is an eligible voter.

• There would be no requirement to issue a voting card to an eligible voter attending an annual or special general meeting by electronic means.

• An eligible voter attending an annual or special general meeting by electronic means would not be entitled or required to vote by secret ballot.

So like I said, not sexy but important, as of today if you wanted to hold an AGM or special meeting over Zoom it would have to be in the bylaws of the corporation, which would mean quorum of 75% and a vote to take place at the AGM to change the bylaw if it isn’t already in there. 

This can take years to accomplish so the BC government has removed that requirement.

Some big changes are on the horizon.

 I think the changes to the rental restrictions and the age restrictions are pretty self explanatory when it comes to the why.

Will This do Anything to Solve the Housing Shortage in BC?

The BC government claims it wants to open up more units that would be available for housing.

The estimation is that there are some 300,000 units in the province that have some kind of rental restriction on them.

In another example of why the government does what it does, the lifting of these restrictions are only on buildings that were built 2010 or prior.

So I guess the big question is this, with 300,000 new units now available for rent, will this be enough to push the price of rentals down and make it a little more affordable for renters?

Or will this change in the legislation open the door for investors to increase their portfolios, further increasing the competition for these units and potentially driving prices up.

My feeling is if there were over double the amount of units under current restrictions, the supply just might outpace the demand.

I’m not 100% certain that this is going to have the desired effect that the new premier of BC is looking for.

If you are looking to purchase a condo in the Kelowna area, then we should talk. I have over 15 years of selling condos and have taken courses to increase my knowledge base that only benefits my clients. 

If you are interested in the conversation, then give me a call at 778-716-7527 or send me an email to kelley@kelleyskar.com.

The REAL Statisitics for Kelowna Real Estate Values

In today's Kelowna Real Estate blog we are going to review where the real estate market is for Kelowna, it is now November of 2022 and the sky isn’t falling!

It may be 'correcting', but it certainly isn't falling.

Now that said, are we seeing a trend in the marketplace with respect to sales and now to prices?

Yes and we will certainly get to that in just a minute.

First I am going to go over just a few generic numbers that don’t really paint a picture without context so here we go: 

Right now there are 2352 listings in the MLS for the Central Okanagan which also includes Big White as well as West Kelowna, Peachland, Ellison, Fintry and Lake Country.

The average days on market is quite a bit higher than last year, but also within what we would call a normal market at 42.

Kelowna's Benchmark Price which in the graphic above is an average of the three different property types, Single Family, Apartment Condo and Townhouses, it is sitting at $757,000.

The total number of sales year to date is sitting at 4561.

What is Pricing Like in Kelowna this November?

I will tie this data in as we go along, for right now though let’s look at some pricing in these different property types:

The Kelowna Single Family Home Benchmark Price is sitting at $981,800 for the 3rd Quarter of 2022.

Now if we look back 12 months ago the Benchmark pricing is sitting pretty close to where it is today.

It was only slightly higher at $982,400

The Townhouse Benchmark price is sitting at $771,000 where one year ago it was $709,000 which is an increase of about 8% year over year.

For a market that is supposed to be tanking, this property type seems to be pretty resilient.

Alright, the apartment strata Benchmark price this last quarter was $519,000 where last year it was $478,100 which is an increase of again, about 8%.

The numbers are just so easy to manipulate, I could just leave it there and you’d think to yourself,

“Man…it doesn’t seem like there is any kind of a pattern here, what is he even talking about. It seems like the market is going up and up and up.”

In October the benchmark price for apartment style strata was down to $490,600 which is a drop of about 5.5% from where things were at the end of the 3rd quarter.

The second quarter had the benchmark price at $522,000 and the end of the first quarter  it was at $552,900. If we look at this quarter by quarter you can see the pattern, that as sales continue to slide so do the price points.

From Q1 to Q2 there was a 6% slide in prices. From Q1 to Q3 there has been about a 6.6% slide, sales in this segment are down as we can see in this slide, 38%.

What is the Kelowna Townhouse Market Doing?

Let’s look at Townhouses and then round it out with single family in the Central Okanagan.

The townhouse benchmark price at the end of Q1 was $801,300, at the end of the second quarter it was $783,500 which was a difference of 2.3%. The benchmark price at the end of Q3 as mentioned earlier was $770,100 which is a drop of 4% overall.

It looks a little different when we actually start to compare real numbers versus just the year over year statistics, doesn’t it?

This is why I feel the average days on market is continuing to increase, it’s simply because seller’s have yet to get to a realistic point of view of the market. I see a lot of listings expire right now because the pricing strategy they are using is based on data that is upwards of 6 months old.

We have to look at numbers in the here and now and price where we know the market is going to be, not where it was.

Is the Single Family Housing Market in Kelowna Tanking?

Ok, last segment which is the single family style home.

The benchmark price in Q1 was $1.152M, in the second quarter it was $1.060M and in the Q3 report which was just released the benchmark price for Single Family homes in the Central Okanagan came in at $981,800. This is a difference over the course of a year of about 17.4%.

Now, the year isn’t over yet, October’s numbers are about 1.5% higher than the end of Q3 so we are down a total of 15.9% overall.

If I were sitting in your kitchen going over stats and I told you the market is actually up from 12 months ago, would I be wrong? 

No. But would I have given you all of the data in order for us to make a decision on your pricing?

No.

The trend is that the market is correcting, I don’t believe we are going to see any more large drops before the end of the year. Sales are going to continue to drop off as they always do at this time of year, but prices likely won’t follow.

We have probably seen the bottom of the real estate market for 2022 here in November, what happens in 2023 will really be determined by jobs numbers, interest rates, inflation, geo-political goings on and of course our own political happenings here domestically, like will there be a provincial and/or federal election in the new year?

I realize the first 15 videos on this channel have been about highlighting our community and talking about what to expect here in Kelowna when people make the move here. 

It’s always been my plan to create blog posts and videos like this one to speak to residents of Kelowna, plainly and realistically about property values. These kinds of videos will paint a picture for both buyers and sellers alike to ensure you are educated on what is happening in our local real estate market.

If you are thinking of buying your next home or selling your current one and want to chat about how we can help, then feel free to send me an email to kelley@kelleyskar.com or give me a call at 778-716-7527. 

What are the Winter's Like in Kelowna, BC?

To be honest with you, winter of 2022 is only our second winter here, so this blog post won't excatly make me look like an expert.

But what I can tell you is the differences between 2021 and 2022 are astounding.

Below you'll see a photo of November 29th, 2021 and below that you will see a photo of November 18th, 2022.

What a difference a year makes, right?

In 2021 Kelowna didn't see it's first snow fall until December 4th, it was wet and it was heavy but really fun to have snowball fights with!

That snow lasted until about the beginning of March when the temperature really started to kick up and everything started to melt away.

This year we are hoping for a Spring that will be very similar even though our winter got started quite a bit earlier than we had liked.

Is it Cloudy in Kelowna in the Winter?

This year it certainly has been and I can tell you it is hard to get used to the darkness kicking in around 4:30pm in the afternoon when it is cloudy.

The clouds sit low in the valley and don't typically move or break open in the winters that we have experienced here.

It is well known here in Kelowna that if it is Vitamin D that you seek, take the 45 minute ride out to Big White and you will get all the sunshine you need.

We have experienced that and can unequivocally state that it's true.

So be prepared, the summers are amazing, it is hot and tons of sunshine for hours and hours throughout the day. The Spring is somewhat wet and from what we saw last year, Kelowna CAN have a gorgeous fall.

Winter is the one season here that has a serious downside, that said though, it only lasts 3-4 months and it is relatively mild compared to other parts of Canada.

Does it get Cold in Kelowna in the Winter?

Last winter we saw about a weeks worth of colder temperatures where it was in the -20 celsius range.

It is nothing like what you would see in Calgary or Edmonton or Prince George where temperatures could drop down to -30 or -40 for seemingly weeks on end.

Because we are close to the water here in Kelowna and Lake Okanagan doesn't freeze, that minus 2 or minus 5 just feels different here.

It is a 'wetter' cold, more damp like Vancouver and not at all like a dry cold like what you would experience in Calgary or in Edmonton for that matter.

You can expect very consistent weather patterns in all of the seasons, in the winter you can expect a range of between minus 5 and plus 5 celsius.

Does Winter Suck in Kelowna?

I think getting snow this early certainly sucks, but if you're a teenager with a strong back, I can tell you there is plenty of opportunity to make some money before Christmas!

The amount of residents here looking to have their driveways shoveled is crazy!

Ultimately you should watch the video below and make the determination for yourself if the winter sucks here in Kelowna.

If you have any questions about the real estate market and whether it sucks, you can always email me kelley@kelleyskar.com or give me a call at 778-716-7527.