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The challenges that plague Vancouver when it comes to housing have been well documented, and according to some, Airbnb plays a large role in the housing crisis.

While the data on licences for businesses operating in Vancouver is published by the City, up until now, the City wasn’t sharing numbers when it came to Airbnb.

Thanks to ongoing work that was done by a group of housing activists, Vancouver may soon have to disclose that information.

Rohana Rezel, a local housing activist and former Vancouver City Council candidate posted the news about the changes on his website.

Rezel argues that Airbnb should be banned in Vancouver — a city struggling to keep up with the demand for housing — completely.

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Condos are a major component of the real estate market in major cities like Toronto and Vancouver and are becoming more and more popular in other areas every year. Condos offer much more affordable prices and allow for cities to be developed much more densely, making them a popular choice for residents, developers, and city planners.

Especially as prices in other housing segments continue to grow at a rapid pace, condos are becoming more and more attractive to the average buyer. Though they have also been increasing in value, in most cases they have not appreciated to the same extent as their larger counterparts.

Two groups who are especially attracted to condos are first-time homebuyers and younger people (Millenials and Gen-Z). For them, condos offer an affordable place to begin their real estate journey and can provide other benefits like being close to the city for work.

However, if you are a first-time homebuyer or looking to be one soon, you might not know everything about the home buying process and need a little more information before you make that first big purchase. Just because condos cost less, they are no less complicated to purchase, especially as a first-time buyer.

In this article, we are going to look at down payments specifically since they are the first step of the process. We will cover how much of a downpayment you will need, first-time buyers benefits, pre-construction down payments, and more.

Vancouver housing market less intense in May but sales, listings still strong: GVREB

The super-heated housing market in Metro Vancouver cooled slightly in May but the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board says sales still remained active.

A statement from the board says 4,268 homes changed hands across the region last month, a 13 per cent drop compared with April.

While May didn’t match record-breaking activity seen earlier in the spring, the board says transactions were still 187.4 per cent higher than those recorded in May last year during the pandemic shutdown.

As of April 9, a basic SPF (spruce, pine, fir) two-by-four cost a record high of $1,132 per thousand board feet, according to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development’s weekly B.C. lumber price tracking.

This compares to an average of $532 a year ago and to $372 in pre-pandemic 2019. The price was up nearly $100 from a week earlier.

“A sheet of [4-foot by 8-foot] half-inch plywood costs $65 today. It was $51 a few days ago,” said contractor Brian Barker of Sunshine Coast Roofing Ltd. on April 12, as he prepped a roof for more than 50 sheets of plywood.