Some tenants say they can no longer afford Vancouver's high rents

By Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun

Vancouver's vacancy rates will rise slightly in 2009 after nearing a 20-year low in 2008, industry experts predict.

But that's not necessarily good news. The easing up of the rental housing market may be partially a result of renters moving out because they just can't pay their rents in the current economic climate.

David Goodman of Macdonald Commercial Real Estate Services, a longtime specialist in rental properties, said he has spoken to dozens of owners and property managers lately and has found that vacancies are unusually high.

"Suddenly [owners] are getting much higher incidents of notices than they've received for years," said Goodman, who is publishing his forecasts in next month's edition of his newsletter The Goodman Report.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's rental market report last fall also predicted "some easing" of Metro Vancouver vacancy rates in 2009 after rates hit 0.5 per cent in 2008, the lowest since 1989.

The CMHC forecasts that vacancy rates could hit one per cent this year for the first time since 2005.

Goodman thinks they could go even higher, and suspects the plummeting economy is responsible.

Read the whole story here.

By Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun

Metro Vancouver's real estate markets turned in 2008, which has meant falling sales and declining prices since late last spring.

Now, with gloomy economic developments dominating the news, uncertainty reigns over what is going to happen in real estate markets and when a recovery might be expected. The Vancouver Sun wanted to take a longer-term view.

The Sun invited to its editorial offices a panel of experts in Polygon Homes chairman Michael Audain, top realtor Patsy Hui with Re/Max Westcoast, and Tsur Somerville, director of the centre for urban economics and real estate at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.

The conclusion of their discussion: The economic turmoil will continue having an impact on markets, and prices will keep declining. But at some point they will have to “unfreeze.” Sales will pick up as people have to buy and sell property for family reasons.

In the longer run, that normal activity, coupled with Metro Vancouver’s attractiveness as a destination for immigrants, give the region a solid basis for real estate markets to grow back from.

Read the full story here.