Green pilot to “reframe” renovations
The City of Vancouver is launching a five-project pilot program to “reframe” the home renovation industry to make homes “safer, more energy-efficient and less polluting.”

CMHC sticks with downbeat forecast
In mid-May, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) forecast a 9 to 18 per cent decline in average home prices stating, “Canada will see a historic recession in 2020 with significant falls in indicators of the housing market,” in a special spring edition of its Housing Market Outlook.

B.C. pushing tall wood homes
A B.C. government official is touring mass-timber residential projects and appears impressed with what he is finding.

Three of 10 largest building projects are housing
Three of the 10 biggest construction projects underway in Canada are residential, according to a survey published by Daily Commercial News, and these totalled nearly $160 million.


May home sales soared 56 per cent
Homebuyers apparently shook off pandemic restrictions in May, driving Canadian home sales up 56 per cent from April, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Private insurers won’t reflect CMHC rules
Canada’s private mortgage insurers, Genworth Canada and Canada Guaranty, have confirmed they will not be following the lead of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) in tightening underwriting policies.

More builders may rough-in rentals
An expected surge in demand for rental housing—partly due to new rules that stifle first-time homebuyers and consistently high home prices—could have more new homebuyers requesting secondary suites.

Quebec leads in job surge
Employment recovery began in May as pandemic restrictions eased, with Quebec leading the upward curve, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. Employment rose by 289,600 in May—a sign that the worst of the labour market impacts from COVID-19 is behind us.

MORE NEWS..

CURRENT ISSUE

Drones Top Roofing Tool


Flying eyes can improve safety and give birds-eye view for repairs.

Attack on Demand
Governments are gutting Canada’s housing market by stifling demand and stalling supply.

Market Report: Quebec Steps Up

La belle province has its housing groove back.

Renovator profile:
Design, build and keep the HAMMERDOWN
Despite government disruptions home builders delivered 200,000 new homes and more than one million jobs in 2017.

TOOL TALK: Renovation is Outpacing New Construction

One characteristic of renovation is that contractors are more a jack of all trades, using a wider variety of tools than new construction workers and often dabbling in fields that are not their speciality.

COMMON CENTS CONSTRUCTION:
Future-Proofing the Home Building Industry.

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