1491 replies to this topic

[spanky123]

Owners are not going to build or offer units for rent that they cannot make a decent return on. Even at today's rental rates, there is a good argument to make that without capital appreciation, owners are not making money on rental units. 

 

Add in the restrictions with rent controls and the uncertainty around future NDP moves around unit controls and I don't since much material change in the near term.

[Mike K.]

They are locked in now, to the tune of 6,600 units.

We will see less secure owners sell to pension funds and REITs.

[spanky123]

They are locked in now, to the tune of 6,600 units.

We will see less secure owners sell to pension funds and REITs.

 

Or convert to condos!

[Mike K.]

Many (most?) projects will be tethered to rental agreements, and outside of Langford under Stew Young, municipalities do not like strata titling rental buildings.

[Barrister]

He might have been referring to the large number of condo buildings where individual units are rented.

[Mike K.]

Condos being rented are not part of the 6,600 purpose-built rental units we’re talking about, though.

[Barrister]

They are not part of the 6600 rental units but the situation in terms of demand for those units will be affected if independent individual rental units are removed from the market by being sold to owner occupiers. 

[Citified.ca]

 

Decade in review: Greater Victoria added 22,000 high density rental and condo units since 2015

https://victoria.cit...its-since-2015/

[LJ]

And how many people did we add?

[Sparky]

^ I'm not sure but every last one of them was on the Pat Bay highway this morning.

[LJ]

^I will never complain about Victoria traffic again after experiencing London. If you want to go to the west side of London from the east side, maybe 2-3 miles, expect it to take 90 minutes at least.

[Victoria Watcher]

Devon Properties and Avison Young Victoria are pleased to present for sale the Lim Dat Building — a fully revitalized landmark investment opportunity located in the heart of Victoria’s historic Old Town. Comprising 24 residential units and 11 commercial units with frontage along Government Street, the Lim Dat Building seamlessly blends heritage architecture with modern upgrades. The Lim Dat Building is celebrated as the longest-standing building in Victoria’s Chinatown and has undergone nearly $1.8 million in capital improvements since 2015. The property offers a mix of stabilized and value-add tenancies, with below-market rents and renovation potential in select units, presenting a rare chance to acquire a character-rich asset with income growth potential. This is a unique opportunity to invest in one of Victoria’s most vibrant, high-traffic corridors, anchored by strong retail demand, exceptional walkability, and a rich cultural legacy.

 

 

 

https://www.realtor....ctoria-downtown

 

 

$13,500,000

 

 

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 August 2025 - 03:53 AM.

[Mike K.]

Wasn’t this already recently listed for sale?

[Victoria Watcher]

Wasn’t this already recently listed for sale?

 

I think the similar one further south was.   The one across from the theatre.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 August 2025 - 06:42 AM.

[Mike K.]

Got it, thank you.

[Mike K.]

The government, eh? They said their policies have led to fewer empty homes, but also …higher rental vacancies? Is that not counter to what the government’s goal is?:

“While some want to cancel our actions and take us back to empty homes and neighbourhoods, we know we need to keep moving forward.”

Here’s the press release:

Yesterday, Rentals.ca released a report indicating that rental asking prices in British Columbia are down 8.5% over the past two years, and 5.5% in the past year alone. Vancouver led with largest drop in the country at 16.9% in the past two years and 8.2% in the past year. Vancouver is at a 41-month low and one bedrooms are down $500 a month since 2023. The report is available here: https://rentals.ca/n...nal-rent-report

Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, has issued the following statement regarding the report released on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025:

“In the past two years, we’ve taken unprecedented action to deliver more homes for people and tackle speculation. Our housing action plan is having an impact, with vacancy rates rising and asking rents consistently dropping.

“B.C. has set a record high number of rental housing starts over the past three years, cut red tape to allow more duplexes, triplexes and townhomes, and fought speculation and reined in runaway short-term rentals, to deliver thousands of homes.

“We know there is so much more do to address housing costs for people. That is why we need to stick to our plan.

“While some want to cancel our actions and take us back to empty homes and neighbourhoods, we know we need to keep moving forward. There is still more work to do to unlock housing that people can afford.”

[Mike K.]

I mean, what empty neighbourhoods are we talking about here?

Also, BC was the only province in all of Canada to experience population decline between April and June of this year. If that has been sustained through September, that would explain the rise in vacancies.

[Victoria Watcher]

Maybe they mean air bnb s empty in the offseason.

[Mike K.]

They perpetuated the notion that speculators maintained empty homes, or wealthy people maintained empty vacation properties. That’s why they introduced the spec tax.

AirBnB units were never counted technically as empty, as they were technically occupied ‘rentals.’

Everything else aside, the sudden illegality of AirBnBs has been a massive gut punch to the food and dining industry that relied on high turnover in otherwise lower demand pockets of city centres and neighbourhoods.

[aastra]

The unoccupied units controversy was such a big thing for a while there. Remember how people used to write letters to the editor re: whether the lights were on in new buildings? Unoccupied units were painted as negative across the board: they contributed nothing to the housing crisis or to urban vibrancy or to the health of local small businesses, but they also caused traffic snarls, parking chaos, and crime and public disorder.

 

I was actually pondering it just a few nights ago while I was walking on Cook Street from View to Pandora. Suffice it to say, there were lots of lights on in those Harris Green buildings. I'm surprised anyone would still be talking about this issue.