Category Archives: Housing

Airbnb to pay $6 million to settle allegations of misleading consumers on prices

Airbnb will pay $6 million to settle a case where the accommodation booking stood accused of “double ticketing,” a rarely cited criminal offence under the federal Competition Act.  Arthur Lin of Vancouver, BC has succeeded in having his claim against

$5M mansion owners pay very little income tax in Canada. Conservative candidate is fighting to protect them from BC’s speculation tax.

By Rohana Rezel Jing Bai’s family owns and lives in a $5.7 million dollar mansion in Vancouver’s tony MacKenzie Heights neighbourhood in the affluent Westside of the city. The family pays very little income taxes in Canada because the primary

A Liberal candidate is flipping properties in Vancouver. Someone got Twitter to gag me for revealing it.

By Rohana Rezel I tweeted recently about how a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the upcoming election was engaged in property flipping. This morning, less than a week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a snap election,

Vancouver City Planning Commission under fire for “one-sided” housing panel

The Vancouver City Planning Commission is being accused of pro-developer bias after the City of Vancouver advisory body set up a panel exclusively of real estate supply advocates to answer the question “is Vancouver building enough housing?” Last night’s panel

Vancouver YIMBY movement rocked by fresh racism and violence allegations

Vancouver’s Yes In My Backyard movement – which is pushing for more condos to be built in the city –  is in turmoil after a prominent member’s tweets mocking South and East Asian people and encouraging female politicians to commit

Vancouver mourns death of housing advocate Ulrike Rodrigues

Vancouver housing advocate Ulrike Rodrigues, who fought to stop Airbnb and other short-term rentals platforms displacing renters, has died at the age of 59 from neurological complications, her family announced today. Rodrigues, who founded the “Homes not Hotels” movement in

Vancouver City manager runs thriving Airbnb on island facing housing crunch

Vancouver’s City manager is running a thriving Airbnb on Cortes Island – a small island dealing with a crushing housing crisis caused by homeowners listing properties on short-term rentals instead of renting them long term to residents. Sadhu Aufochs Johnston

Townhouse prices reaching all time high as condo prices fall in Metro Vancouver

Metro Vancouver townhouse prices are projected to reach an all time high in December 2020 as condo prices slide, the early real estate data for the month show. The OpenHousing Home Price Index for townhouse properties – calculated using the

Metro Vancouver townhouse prices soar in November

Metro Vancouver townhouse prices rallied in November 2020, amid a pandemic-fueled push for somewhat affordable larger homes. The OpenHousing Home Price Index for townhouse properties – calculated using the generally-accepted and transparent repeat sales or Case-Shiller method[1]https://faculty.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Brown_2013_House_Price_Index_Methodology_1.pdf – rose 9.22%

Airbnb asked Canada for a bailout. Canada slapped Airbnb with a tax.

It’s about to get a lot more expensive to stay at short-term rentals in Canada as Ottawa announced a new tax on Airbnb and other short-term accommodation platforms. “In order to ensure that the GST/HST applies consistently and effectively with