4084 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

The zero-parking Kindred project in Vic West on Bolton, with six units, is now sold-out.

 

Belton.

 

BC Assesment has them all between $726k and $950k.

 

All in the 900's except the ground floor suites.

 

They sold for:

 

1 $599 ($740 assessment)

2 ? ($726 assessment)

3 $899 ($937 assessment)

4 ?  ($950 assessment)

5 ? ($950 assessment)

6 $849  ($938 assessment)

 

 

Original house sold for $735,000.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 January 2026 - 12:33 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The same developer (Urban Thrive) is completing Folk, nine units also without parking in Saanich on Richmond, with four units still listed as sold.

 

https://www.urbanthrive.ca/folk

 

[Mike K.]

Vancouver residents want Missing Middle to get lost.

Signs are strong that the City of Vancouver’s ambition to encourage developers to erect four-to-six-unit dwellings on single-family lots will be a hot issue in this fall’s civic elections.

Hundreds of the four-storey dwellings, which are the size of small apartment blocks, have been sprouting up throughout the city and other Metro Vancouver residential neighbourhoods.

The biggest complaint from residents, architects and some politicians is about their outsized, blocky configuration, which some have called “shocking.”

It was in September 2023, in the name of increasing density and “missing-middle” housing supply, that Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and every left, right and centre Vancouver councillor led the charge for these multi-unit buildings.

A couple of months later, the provincial NDP passed Bill 44, which mandated similar sweeping upzoning for almost all single-family lots across cities and towns in the province with a population above 5,000.

Resistance to such upzoning, however, is rising, and not just in B.C.

Notably, Calgary’s city council, which had been following a density strategy similar to Vancouver’s and the B.C. NDP’s, last month responded to mass public discontent by repealing blanket upzoning for four housing units on property previously zoned for single-detached homes.

In December, the mayors of 16 Metro municipalities also urged the B.C. government to kill the Bill 44 mandate, which among other things, required them to approve six strata units on single-family lots within 400 metres of a bus stop.

- https://vancouversun...-being-built-bc

Indeed, one of the worst architectural assaults in a century.

[Tony]

Also from the same article.

 

  “I suspect the problem is the designers most builders are working with have little experience with multiplexes. Another thing is they’re trying to maximize space and volume while reducing costs,” said Geller. “The result is these very plain, boxy and often times unadorned buildings. 

 

Geller, a retired architect, said hope for more appealing designs may be found in the building plans some governments have been making available.

Article content

“Hopefully, in the year to come, we will see more builders using these standardized plans,” he said.

Article content

The designs can, Geller said, offer good-looking alternatives to the stark, featureless buildings some developers have been throwing up.

[Mike K.]

I assume, "good-looking alternatives" are too expensive for developers to build.

 

We shall see. But my goodness, the current generation is just awful, for the most part.

[Victoria Watcher]

Controversial legislation allowing for more multi-unit housing is being primarily seen as welcome news by Greater Victoria developers, as the province attempts to remove red tape and build more “missing middle” housing. 

 

Following the passing of Bill 44 in 2023, Greater Victoria residents witnessed a plethora of new housing projects throughout the region after municipalities were required to allow more small-scale multi-unit housing on lots that were once zoned to only allow for single-family homes. 

 

According to the City of Victoria website, in early-2023 “missing-middle housing” accounted for five per cent of new home construction, with apartments, condos and detached houses making up the other 95 per cent.

 

Read more at: https://vicnews.com/...using-industry/

[Victoria Watcher]

Are these examples of the Missing Middle?

 

 

Starter homes are unaffordable for most young Victoria families. And they don’t appear to be buying from the glut of 400 condos for sale on Realtor.ca.

How about a townhouse then? Well, here’s a list of newly built townhomes in Saanich East, Victoria and Oak Bay … examples of the density that Bill 44 has encouraged in response to our so-called housing crisis.

 

• 907 Redfern: $1,350,000

• 1434 Brooke: $1,399,000

• 2590 Penrhyn: $1,799,000

• 5322 Sayward Hill: $1,832,000

• 1520 Foul Bay: $1,389,000

• 3333 Henderson: $1,525,000

• 786 St. Patrick: $1,575,000

• 3513 Henderson: $1,489,000

 

I challenge any mayor or councillor in Greater Victoria to explain how such housing will encourage young families not to move out of town. How does the “laddering effect” work for these properties? Some of the above units have gone unsold since 2024, yet Seba Construction wants to build eight, four-bedroom, three-bath townhouses at 1899 Cochrane, relatively close by.

Seba paid $1.3 million for the entire development property and will attempt to sell each of the eight units for around $1.4 million.

It’s time all mayors pushed back, as a group, against Bill 44. It’s not working, at least not for the Missing Middle.

Any mayor unwilling to join is probably too “friendly” with the development community.

One way to reduce the retail price of the townhouses being built is to cap the profit margin on developers. I say, show us the numbers.

 

 

Dave Secco

Victoria

 

 

https://www.timescol...shrunk-11805293

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 January 2026 - 10:07 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria:

The City of Victoria was ahead of the curve on missing-middle housing, passing its own policies in January 2023 to enable it. But builder interest was scarce, with city hall receiving only three applications for medium-density projects in the first six months of the new policies.

Responding to developer comments, Victoria council overhauled its missing-middle policy in December 2023. Since then, the city has received 38 applications for missing-middle projects, and issued building permits for 10, most of which were in 2025.


https://nationalpost...96-783c7d3e926e

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 February 2026 - 10:58 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

New Starter Homes Are Now Twice as Expensive as in 2004

 

Incomes rose 76%.

New starter-home prices rose 265%.

 

 

 

Highlights

 

• Starter homes have detached from middle-class incomes: Across 23 Canadian metros, newly built family-sized starter homes are now over twice as expensive relative to income as they were in 2004.

• Prices soared while incomes lagged: Since 2004, new-home prices at the lower end of the market have risen by 265% on average, while young dual-earner incomes grew just 76%.

• Affordability erosion is nationwide: Markets like London, Kingston, and St. Catharines-Niagara are now less affordable for starter homes than Vancouver was in 2004.

• Time won’t fix this on its own: Even if new-home prices stopped rising entirely, it would take the average metro 16 years to reach a 4-to-1 price-to-income ratio and roughly 25 years to restore 2004 affordability.

• Fixing affordability requires lowering building costs: Without serious action on taxes, infrastructure funding, land use, and building regulations, middle-class families will remain priced out of newly built starter homes for decades.

 

 

https://www.missingm...tm_medium=email

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 February 2026 - 04:16 AM.

[Mike K.]

And now BC is adding PST to professional services, adding further pressure to prices.

[dasmo]

Great.... More taxes. Ebay wants my SIN number now because I sold some stuff that I already paid taxes on. I'm not a business and I don't have the receipts for the storage, moving, care, and the labour of selling it. CRA probably owes me money.... 

[dasmo]

New Starter Homes Are Now Twice as Expensive as in 2004

 

Incomes rose 76%.

New starter-home prices rose 265%.

 

They got their math wrong....  

 

Victoria went from  $299,000 in 2004 to $1,170,000 in 2025 

 

That is a rise of 265% which is NOT TWICE AS MUCH. 

 

 

If something rises by 265%, that means:

You start with 100% (the original amount)

You add 265% of the original

So the new total is 365% of the original

In “times more” terms:

365% = 3.65× the original amount

 

 

Almost 4X not twice. Remember, money loses half it's value every ten years..... 

Edited by dasmo, 19 February 2026 - 09:40 AM.

[Mike K.]

What identical product went from $299k to $1.17M?

[Victoria Watcher]

Xeniya Vins, co-founder of Victoria-based Xquimalt Developments, said the decision to apply PST to professional services risks further undermining housing attainability. “Measures intended to increase supply should not simultaneously make it more expensive to deliver that supply,” said Vins, an architect.

 

Vins said professional services on a Victoria six-plex development would be about $157,000 for architectural services, geotechnical engineering, structural, mechanical and electrical engineering, code consulting, landscape architecture and energy modelling.

 

 

https://www.timescol...ousing-11895395

 

 

 

 

These professional fees seem crazy high.   All the architectural and mechanical stuff should be 5x cheaper now with automation and AI.  Plug in the blueprints/plans and the electrical or mechincal AI should be able to do in 11 seconds.  Sure, the certified guy can check it over.  But he need not spend 17 hours hand plotting out where all the outlets and circuits go.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 February 2026 - 10:00 AM.

[Mike K.]

Over $26k a unit. Now add 7% PST, plus 5% GST, bringing the sum total to just under $30k.

[dasmo]

The zero-parking Kindred project in Vic West on Belton is not full of car free families I bet. Another six cars on the street!  I used to park mine on the street as I didn't have a spot on my property. 

[Mike K.]

Just reading up more on the PST changes, and for services like architectural, the 7% PST applies to 30% of the bill.

What an odd tax. It’s just a little bit of salt in the wound, but just enough.

[lanforod]

so for a $1000 bill, add $21 for bcgov?

[Mike K.]

Yeah!

So if, say, it costs $2 million to bring a complex project to approvals, the added tax cost is $42k.

[aastra]

 

What identical product went from $299k to $1.17M?

 

The only thing I own that would be comparable would be my VV Platinum Level 5 Enhanced Elite Prime Diamond membership. I can't wait until 2036 when the probationary period ends and I finally start enjoying the perks. 10% off every third latte in the foyer cafe sounds pretty sweet. (Assuming the foyer cafe has re-opened for business by then.)