With the surprising rally in sales came a drop in new listings, which had a “considerable” impact on Canadian real estate markets, Cathcart said.

The number of newly listed properties was down 5.1% in December compared to November, dropping down to levels Canada hasn’t seen since June 2023.

In technical terms: The sales-to-new listings ratio tightened to 57.8% compared to just 50.5%. The long-term average ratio is 55%.

In other words: Canada is currently in a balanced market but teetering on re-entering sellers’ market territory.

Sales up, new listings down—what about prices?

Before we get into pricing, three months ago we told you about the base effect—a term in the statistics world that’s used to describe how results can greatly differ depending on reference points. Take, for instance, the current actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price of $657,145. Compared to December 2022, that figure is up 5.1%—making it seem like a noteworthy gain. However, to hit the highs experienced in 2022, the average price would need a whopping 24% gain.

The Aggregate Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI)—the most accurate tool available exclusive to REALTORS® to gauge a neighbourhood’s home price levels and trends—declined 0.8% on a month-over-month basis for the third straight month. December’s drop was smaller than the 1% decrease reported in November and the 0.9% decrease in October.

“We’re seeing prices look like they’re finally starting to stabilize as well,” Cathcart explained, before hinting at where he believes home prices are heading. “With markets suddenly much tighter, watch that MLS® HPI number next month, because I suspect that these declines are closer to being in the rear view mirror.”

Quarterly forecast revisions for 2024

Using all the latest CREA data, it’s expected 489,661 properties will trade hands across Canadian MLS® Systems in 2024, representing a 10.4% increase compared to 2023. The bigger sales gains in 2024 are expected to come from provinces where housing demand is strong (Alberta in particular), along with provinces that are expected to see a rebound from historically low sales volumes (British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia).

Prices, on the other hand, aren’t expected to rise as sharply. The national average home price is forecast to climb 2.3% on an annual basis to $694,173 in 2024. Alberta, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are all forecast to see price gains in excess of the national increase. British Columbia and Ontario are forecast to see prices largely remain flat.

Remember, Canada’s real estate markets differ from province to province and region to region.

For those dreaming of a more rustic way of life, there’s an entire island for sale at less than half the average price of a home in Vancouver.

Loon Island, which sits on Pavilion Lake, just off the Sea to Sky Highway north of Lillooet,is on the market for just $599,000 However, the property’s assessed value is just under $400,000, according to BC Assessment.

The island is a four-hour drive from Vancouver, and 45 kilometres from The Village of Cache Creek.

The listing boasts 575 feet of waterfront, panoramic lake views, two small cabins that could be turned into guest houses, a storage shed and a large dock. The main house, built in 2015, has two bedrooms, a wood stove, a solar power system and propane-fueled hot water system.

The house is “thoughtfully designed and constructed on sturdy concrete piles, ensuring durability and longevity,” Scharfenberg writes.

“Access to the lake is limited so you get to enjoy it yourself. If you have never been to Pavillion Lake, you really should check out how beautiful it is,” the listing continues.

Possible catches are that the island is fully off-the-grid, and while the main house does have a bathroom, it has a composting toilet that still needs to be connected. There’s also an outhouse outside with another composting toilet.

Surprise interest rate hikes from Canada and Australia suggest larger markets may also need to tighten further 

 

The Bank of Canada‘s surprise decision to raise its benchmark interest rateJune 7 sent ripples through global bond markets and has added an extra dose of uncertainty to the upcoming June 14 rate announcement from the U.S. Federal Reser 

Both the Canadian and Australian central banks surprised markets by raising rates last week, leading to a slump in global bonds and speculation that the Fed might follow suit. The Fed, however, has been vocal in signalling that it will hold this week, with markets placing odds of a hold at 75 per cent. That looked even more likely after May inflation checked in Tuesday at four per cent, the lowest level in two years.

But the Bank of Canada’s 25-basis-point hike to 4.75 per cent ended what had been a five-month pause, suggesting to some that the economic winds were changing, and increasing the potential the Fed isn’t done raising rates.

What happened?

Following the Bank of Canada’s announcement, the yield on two-year Canadian bonds tacked on more than 20 basis points.

Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank, said the central bank’s decision “blew a foul stench over world bond markets.”

Avery Shenfeld, chief economist of CIBC Capital Markets, said that by not waiting until July and appearing to be less patient, the Bank of Canada had also made another move upward more likely.

“Bond yields in both countries could see further upward pressure from here to September, as markets will price in risks of subsequent hikes for a while, and will also feel the impact of a rush of U.S. Treasury supply as the government replenishes its cash position with the debt ceiling deal now achieved,” he said.

What did the Canadian hike signal?

Though the direct impact was limited, ending the pause launched in January gave markets something of a reality check in terms of the risks surrounding the outlook for major central banks such as the Fed, said Royce Mendes, head of macro strategy at Desjardins Capital Markets.

Canada, however, did not act alone. Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said the Reserve Bank of Australia hiking last week against consensus expectations of a hold was also a major part of the reaction from global markets.

“It’s this sort of accumulation of evidence that maybe central banks across the world are going to have to do a bit more in order to get inflation under control, which has had this effect on global markets,” Brown said.

Mendes said it’s somewhat unusual for markets to be reacting so strongly to developments here in Canada. However, he said the Bank of Canada has been at times a leader in terms of changing the global narrative surrounding monetary policy and this could be one of those times.

The Bank of Canada was certainly seen as leading the selloff in global developed markets’ sovereign bonds immediately after the announcement of a rate hike, he added.

“Canada is typically a relatively small jurisdiction and so it doesn’t take up too much space in the minds of investors, but given that the decision by the Bank of Canada could have implications for other central banks, it is being seen by traders as a potential turning point in central bank policy,” Mendes said.

While normally unusual for relatively small central banks to be dictating global market moves to this extent, the Bank of Canada was one of the most aggressive central banks among advanced economies in terms of hiking last year, he said. The Bank of Canada hiking 100 basis point hike in July last year sent shockwaves through global markets as well because it suggested that all central banks would have to follow similar aggressive strategies, Brown added.

“There’s not been a major effect but it certainly has pushed the investor consensus more towards this idea that the Fed will probably need to hike again in July and certainly that rate cuts will probably come a bit later than previously expected,” he said.

After reaching its peak of $816,720 in February, the average price of a home in Canada has dropped by more than $170,000. According to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average price of a residential property in October was $644,643, not seasonally adjusted.

Despite the lower price tag, most online searches among Canadian homebuyers are for properties that cost well below the national average. This is according to a new study by Point2 Homes, an online real estate search portal.

Out of five million searches performed on Point2 Homes in 2022, more than 75 per cent targeted properties with a price of $600,000 or less.

This Vancouver residence at 115 West Woodstock Avenue asked $1,999,000, and it sold after eight days on May 3 for $2,370,000.

Home prices in Metro Vancouver have managed to stay up in the face of declining sales.

Moreover, a report by Vancouver-based realty agency expects prices to generally hold steady.

Dexter Realty stated that the “issue of supply will continue to dictate price and how much pressure there will be to come off the highs that have been achieved in the last 18 months”.

The company noted that listings have yet to produce a balanced market, which currently remains in favour of sellers.

“We might even see prices for some areas and types of homes just hover around those highs as opposed to showing much correction at all. Why would home owners sell for less if they don’t have to?”

Moreover, “We must remember, there will continue to be more people moving to British Columbia, and specifically Metro Vancouver. So, any temporary decrease in demand will eventually be replaced by more people looking to buy in the region.”

The report was written by Dexter Realty partner and managing broker Kevin Skipworth, who looked into sales as of mid-May this year.

Skipworth predicts that total sales for the month of May will come to less than 3,000 homes.

This level of activity will be comparable to 2019 and 2018, when 2,638 and 2,833 sales were made, respectively, for the months of May during those years.

However, the anticipated volume of sales for May 2022 of less than 3,000 is significantly below the 4,268 sales in May 2021.

The expected sales this month also falls below the 3,232 sales reported by the real-estate board for Greater Vancouver for the month of April 2022.

Sales in April 2022 marked a 34.1 percent decrease from the 4,908 sales recorded in April 2021, and a 25.6 percent decline from the 4,344 homes sold in March 2022.

However, prices remain firm.

The real-estate board noted that the benchmark price in the region for all types of properties rose in April 2022 to $1,374,500.

This means an 18.9 percent increase over April 2021, and a one percent increase from March 2022.

The board covers Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, South Delta, Squamish, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Whistler.

It does not include Surrey and other neighbouring markets.

In the Dexter Realty report, Skipworth noted that total active home listings totalled 9,770 in mid-May compared to 11,198 during the same period in 2021, and 8,515 mid-month in April 2022.

Skipworth explained that there are “two parts to the real estate market: activity and prices”.

He stated that a “change in activity doesn’t necessarily correlate to a dramatic change in prices”.

“Be prepared for words like ‘plunged, steep declines, slump’ when really, we should be saying ‘average, balancing and expected’,” Skipworth suggested.

The realty executive continued, “Many are dusting off their adjectives to try and put a label on current market trends, when in fact this market is really doing what we expected it to do in the face of rising interest rates and global challenges – and more so incredible activity in the last year and a half.”

Trudeau promised transparent bidding if re-elected for another term. Here’s what it means for housing prices if he follows through 

Kelly Medeiros has been bidding on houses for months. So far, the 31-year-old has made five offers on homes in the Durham region since July and has lost every time to a higher offer, falling short anywhere from $20,000 all the way up to $110,000.  

The problem, the Toronto-based media professional says, is that she hasn’t known how far off her offers have been from winning until the houses sold and the sale price was made public.

  

 

“If there are 10 offers around [the same amount] and somebody learns that there are 10 offers, they often panic and offer way more than they need to,” she says. “Like maybe you could have had that house by offering an extra $10,000, but instead, you’ve offered $100,000 more.”

Canadians like Medeiros are experiencing the frustrating side of “blind bidding” — a common real estate practice, also known as sealed or closed bidding — that prevents hopeful buyers from knowing what others are offering for the property. The tactic is hotly debated and often blamed as a contributing factor in Toronto’s overinflated market. Leading up to the 2021 federal election, the Liberals made the promise that if re-elected they would ban blind bidding nationally, by implementing a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights , to help cool housing prices and make the process of buying a home more “fair, open and transparent.”

But experts have mixed opinions about whether a flat-out ban is the solution to bidding wars. Some say it won’t bring down prices at all.

According to Murtaza Haider , a professor of real estate management at Ryerson University, there’s plenty of anecdotal data and speculation that indicates closed bidding drives up housing prices. But there isn’t raw provincial data to determine how much, exactly, the practice is jacking up sales.

In Ontario, real estate rules prevent the selling agent from telling realtors and their clients the contents — that is, the offer amount — of competing offers. All they can disclose is the number of competing offers to every hopeful buyer.

To make meaningful change to the industry, the government’s first course of action, Haider says, should be to put together a commission or an advisory group that includes all stakeholders, including representatives of buyers, sellers, the real estate industry and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. From there, amendments to real estate rules can be made to enhance the marketplace — something that can be aided with technology.

Haider says a digital platform that allows the selling agent to show bidders what others are offering, without disclosing their names, would provide more transparency and help buyers make informed decisions. There’s already efforts to change up the way people buy homes in Ontario with On the Block , for example, an online auction platform that allows registered bidders to see other offers in real-time.

“Discouraging competition is not the point,” Haider says. “The point is that when more than one prospective buyer is competing, they are not doing so in ignorance.”

Nicki Skinner , a Toronto real estate agent with Bosley Real Estate, says that because real estate regulation is a provincial issue, it would be difficult for the federal government to implement a nation-wide ban on blind bidding. It’s likely going to be up to the provinces to determine new rules.

And even if another selling option does become popularized, like auctions — which are legal in Ontario, albeit not common — Skinner doesn’t think it would stop people from “overpaying” for what they want.

“If you’ve got two people who really want [a property], they will push the price up to the same level anyway,” she says of open auctions versus closed bidding.

That jives with what we know about consumer behaviour, says Tsur Somerville , an associate professor at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business who specializes in real estate. While transparency can help people feel confident that they’re not being taken advantage of — something that’s important in competitive markets — an open auction won’t solve Canada’s affordability problems. In fact, open auctions can result in similar financial outcomes as blind bidding, especially in sought-after markets.

Somerville says in Australia, where live auctions are common and often happen on the lawn of a property, prices in major cities like Sydney and Melbourne are high. In Sydney, housing prices are up nearly 21 per cent year-over-year as of August, according to property data company CoreLogic , and prices in Melbourne are up 13 per cent.

“Blind bidding is not the main thing, or even one of the top five things, that’s responsible for Toronto’s lack of affordability,” says William Strange , a professor of economic analysis and policy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School. “I don’t know a single economist who believes that.”

As he sees it, “if blind bidding were so disadvantageous for consumers, you wouldn’t see sophisticated participants perfectly happy to jump in.”

The bigger problem, according to many experts, is a Toronto housing shortage that cannot meet demand. While the Liberals have promised to build, preserve or repair 1.4 million homes — including affordable housing — over the next four years across Canada, it’s unclear what that exactly entails, says Skinner.

“The city, the province and the federal government have to work together to figure out what assets they have that can be turned into housing, and how to do it quickly,” Skinner says. “And then, is that going to be subsidized housing, rental housing at market value? Or financially assisted housing? That part isn’t clear.”

Meanwhile, the existing stock in big cities like Toronto and Vancouver is going to remain competitive, she says, because they are central hubs and are on par with other major cities like New York. Not everyone is going to be able to buy the home they wish they had in the city they want to live in.

This is the reality Medeiros is facing. Even though she works downtown, housing prices in the city are forcing her to look in suburbs like Durham and Whitby. Both she and her fiancé work full-time, and even with dual incomes, they’re struggling to get into the market.

“When we’re putting in offers, we’re pretty much going in at our max almost every time,” Medeiros says. “So if we lose out, we know we offered our best. There’s no more money to give.”

It wasn't long ago that real estate experts were bracing for the worst.

The coronavirus pandemic had sent large parts of the world into lockdown, shuttering businesses, costing tens of millions of workers their jobs and putting the housing market into a deep freeze. The number of people asking lenders for more time on their mortgage payments surged as the global recession hit.

"This time last year we thought it was going to be 2008 all over again," said Kate Everett-Allen, the head of international residential research at real estate consultancy Knight Frank.

The fear was that house prices would collapse, as they reliably had done in past economic downturns. An increase in bankruptcies and unemployment would squeeze disposable incomes and make it difficult for highly indebted homeowners to keep up with their mortgages.

Those fortunate enough to own second homes would be forced to sell to build up cash reserves, putting even more downward pressure on prices.

"Actually, none of that happened," added Everett-Allen.

Instead, house prices soared even as the world suffered its worst slump since the Great Depression. From New Zealand to the United States, Germany, China and Peru, the same phenomenon has taken hold: home prices are skyrocketing, and many buyers are panicking.

 

 

 

 

Among the 37 wealthy countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), real house prices rose by almost 7% between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the fourth quarter of 2020 — the fastest year-on-year growth in the past two decades.

So is this a bubble about to burst? No, according to Everett-Allen. Borrowing remains cheap and, once borders reopen, foreign investors will provide even further impetus to property markets, where purchasing activity has been largely driven by domestic buyers, she said.

"That will play out over the course of the rest of this year and next, and then there might be something of a lull," she added.

The Covid effect

In an unexpected twist, the pandemic has benefited house prices.

That's because governments around the world helped homeowners by temporarily banning repossessions and providing trillions of dollars of support for workers and businesses. Interest rate cuts kept mortgage repayments affordable in many places, while temporary reductions to purchase taxes in some markets spurred home buying.

These measures cushioned the housing market from the coronavirus recession. But the pandemic itself has actually turbocharged prices.

"If you lock up the vast majority of the population for months, they [rapidly reassess] what they want from their homes," said Richard Donnell, research director at UK property platform Zoopla.

As people were forced to transform houses into offices and classrooms, it didn't take long for a "race for space" to take hold.

Wealthier individuals in several countries have fled cities for larger suburban homes with more outdoor space in the anticipation that they won't need to commute into central offices as much even after the pandemic ends.

Many of them are financially in a better position than they were before the pandemic hit, since they've spent less on vacations and eating out, and can therefore spend more on house purchases.

For example, in the United Kingdom, commuter towns within easy reach of London, such as Bishop's Stortford and Winchester, have seen property values surge.

"Anything with a home office within an hour train ride of London is going for 10% above market value," according to Daniel Harrington, international head of growth at upmarket estate agent Fine & Country.

 

 

New housing north of Winchester, England. UK house prices surged 8.5% in 2020, the fastest annual growth rate since 2014.

 

One trend Harrington has observed in capitals such as London and Paris sees wealthy executives trading their centrally located houses for something bigger but cheaper further out of the city, leaving them with enough cash to buy a small apartment downtown and a holiday home elsewhere.

That's heightened domestic demand for property in places such as the French Riviera, which is traditionally dominated by foreign buyers.

In the seaside resort town of Ilfracombe in southwest England, Lee Hussell, the director of estate agency Webbers, has sold two properties in recent months for £100,000 ($139,000) above the asking prices.

"In 38 years of buying and selling homes I haven't witnessed a market like it," commented Henry Pryor, a UK buying agent. "There have been stories of buyers paying £10,000 ($14,100) plus just to be able to view a property."

With inventory levels in the United Kingdom some 30% below the norm, people are "panic-buying properties," Pryor added. Transactions have been tracking above average every month since November, with March notching 180,000 sales, almost double the average for the same month over the past 20 years.

 

In 38 years of buying and selling homes, I haven't witnessed a market like it."

HENRY PRYOR, BUYING AGENT, UK

 

"Twelve months ago, people were panic buying toilet paper for fear they might run out. That's very much the sensation we have today [in the housing market]," he said.

House prices in Britain surged 8.5% in 2020 despite the worst recession in more than three centuries. That's the highest annual growth rate since 2014, according to the Office for National Statistics.

And it's not just the United Kingdom. In the United States, the number of sales of existing homes reached the highest level in 2020 since 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors.

House prices rose 9% in 2020 and have continued to climb, with the median price of an existing home hitting a historic high of $329,100 in March.

In one staggering example of how frenzied the market has become, realtor Ellen Coleman received 76 all-cash offers on a $275,000 fixer-upper in suburban Washington D.C. within three days of listing the property. The four-bedroom, 1,800 square-foot home sold for $460,000, a 70% increase on the asking price.

From Auckland to Shanghai, Munich and Miami, house prices appear to be defying gravity.

In Germany, properties are selling within two weeks of being listed and brokers are struggling to secure listings, according to Michael Heming, master licensee for Fine & Country in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. "It's a very strong market and prices are going higher and higher," Heming told CNN Business.

 

 

Cascais, Portugal. Prices in the country jumped 6% in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the prior year, according to Knight Frank.

 

In Portugal, foreigners have been snapping up houses despite not being able to view the properties they're buying. Prices there jumped 6% in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Knight Frank data.

Despite having no visitors from traditionally strong buyer markets, such as Brazil, Britain, France and Belgium, the first three months of 2021 has already broken sales records, according to Charles Roberts, Fine & Country Portugal's managing partner. "We have sold quite a lot of that blind," Roberts said, adding that foreign buyers want fresh air, open space and a picturesque bolthole to escape to for the next pandemic. "When travel opens up, I think we're in for three months of pandemonium."

He recently sold an apartment in coastal Cascais, just west of Lisbon, for €3.5 million ($4.2 million) to a South African who has never visited the town.

In India, prices have declined following a 6.9% slump in GDP last year, but transactions surged following the end of the first lockdown.

"Covid led to activity coming back into the market," said Hitesh Oberoi, the CEO of Info Edge, which owns India's largest property portal, 99acres.com. "A lot of people want bigger homes," he added. "Many people felt that because the economy was tanking they would get good deals."

Oberoi said that falling interest rates and lower duties on transactions in some parts of the country have also helped, but that the market is slowing down once again as India battles a devastating second wave of the virus.

Governments move to cool markets

In several countries, governments are already looking at ways to prevent their housing markets from overheating.

In New Zealand — where median prices for residential property increased by more than 24% over the year to March to a record high — the government is under pressure to stabilize the market, according to Wendy Alexander, the acting CEO of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

In March, the government announced a string of measures that they hope will "cool demand from investors" and slow the pace of price growth, Alexander said. For example, tax loopholes have been tightened and ministers are considering clamping down on interest-only loans to speculators.

 

 

Houses in Auckland, New Zealand.

 

In China, where house prices in "tier-1 cities" including Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Guangzhou rose by 12% on average year-on-year in March, "Beijing is more determined than ever to rein in property leverage," analysts at Societe Generale said in a note last week.

"Over 30 cities, accounting for one-fifth of national sales in 2019, have rolled out major tightening measures," said Michelle Lam, Societe Generale's greater China economist.

"These include buying and selling restrictions, credit restrictions, increasing the holding period for tax exemptions and fixing loopholes via fake divorces," she added. In the past, some couples have filed for divorce to get around caps that limit property ownership for families.

 

 

Residential buildings under construction in Shenzhen, China.

 

But even with greater curbs in place, Societe Generale analysts expect the correction in house prices in China to be modest given that lending conditions will remain favorable and because of sound demand for urban property, limited supply in top-tier cities and persistent interest in property investment.

Banking regulators elsewhere could also tighten mortgage lending rules in order to cool markets, according to Matthias Holzhey, head of Swiss real estate investments at UBS, who points to regulation more broadly as a possible threat to house price growth.

For example, policymakers could increase taxes on land and transactions, particularly as governments seek to repair public finances following the pandemic.

Why the boom is unlikely to bust

But even as governments train their sights on the housing market, analysts are not predicting a house price correction.

Global economic growth is projected to be much stronger this year, as vaccines are rolled out and lockdown restrictions ease, which will be supportive of housing markets.

Crucially, interest rates are expected to remain low. "Historically, periods of weak house prices have been triggered by rising interest rates," said Holzhey.

 

Mortgage rates are falling again

 

Rock bottom rates have been a key driver of prices, particularly in the United States and Europe, because they make borrowing more affordable. Mortgage rates across the 19 countries that use the euro averaged just 1.3% in March, according to official statistics.

Even with inflation edging higher, policymakers are expected to keep interest rates low to secure the recovery. They may have to change tack if prices keep rising and hold steady at higher levels, but major central bankers have been at pains to stress they're comfortable to let their economies run hotter than normal if it will help juice growth and create jobs.

"Mortgage rates will remain structurally low and supportive of market growth for the next couple of years," said Adam Challis, Jones Lang LaSalle's executive director for research and strategy across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In other words, don't expect this boom to bust any time soon.

Crown Life Building

1. Crown Life Building
1500 West Georgia Street
By Rhone and Iredale (Peter Cardew)
Completed 1977

The Crown Life building is a 20-story glass office tower that still looks as clean and contemporary now as it did when it was built back in the 70s. Its wedge-shaped floor plates and tall slender columns make it a graceful character on the Georgia stretch. The annex retail space across the reflecting pool from the tower was originally intended to act as the base of a pedestrian bridge that would stretch across Georgia Street – unfortunately, that feature of the building never made it to construction. The sloping brick bank along the street side water feature has become an unexpected landmark for skateboard films in the city.

Evergreen Building

2. Evergreen Building
1285 West Pender Street
By Arthur Erickson
Completed 1978

Sitting amongst the blue glass towers of Coal Harbour is Arthur Erikson’s Evergreen building. From its most photogenic angle, it is a pyramid of overflowing concrete gardens, the windows of offices just barely peaking through the greenery. The terraced face of the building is cut on a diagonal across the site, ensuring a choice view for tenants towards Stanley Park and the North Shore Mountains. Thanks to its fans, the project has managed to resist pressures to convert or demolish the structure to make way for condominiums.

Marine Building

3. Marine Building
355 Burrard Street
By McCarter Nairne and Partners
Completed 1930

You may recognize the Marine Building as the Daily Planet Headquarters from the popular TV show, Smallville, or you may just know it as that big old Art Deco building on West Hastings. Back when this tower was built, it enjoyed almost a decade of being the tallest building in the British Empire. It may no longer be the tallest but it is definitely the most impressive example of Art Deco architecture in the city and maybe even the country. From the interior fixtures to the carved stone, all of the buildings details showcase marine symbols. I strongly recommend lingering in front of the impressive brass doors of the main entry and admiring the illustrative carvings in the surrounding stonework.

Vancouver Convention Centre West

4. Vancouver Convention Centre West
1055 Canada Place
By LMN Architects (Lead Design Architects) MCM Architects and DA Architects + Planners (Local Architects)
Completed 2009

I can’t help but mention the Vancouver Convention Centre’s West Building, when talking about architectural landmarks in the city. The extensive project has been one of the largest projects to take place in the city in the last decade and the city has gained some valuable public space in the process. The green roof unfolds and climbs upwards from Coal Harbour towards Canada Place, peeling back in places to allow for an outdoor program and views towards the North Shore. The sloping glass façade is definitely an impressive addition to Vancouver’s waterfront, especially when experienced from The Seawall along the building’s lower level. I can easily spend a whole afternoon exploring the different kinds of public space created by the Vancouver Convention Centre. Not all of these spaces are necessarily successful but the project is an ambitious one and an important cultural landmark in the city.

Jameson House

5. Jameson House
838 West Hastings Street
By Foster + Partners
Completed 2004

Vancouver really wouldn’t be the same without Coal Harbour. The glass towers here have become a symbol of our local urban vernacular. It is the kind of place in Vancouver that you would only expect to find a tower designed by the renowned UK firm, Foster + Partners. The Jameson House, with its flamboyant curved glass façade and condominium units worthy of a James Bond scene, is the epitome of high-end living.

Odlum Drive Live/Work Studio

6. Odlum Drive Live/Work Studio
1332 & 1334 Odlum Drive
By Peter Cardew
Completed 1998

As lots are subdivided in lower density neighborhoods of the city, a narrow and streamlined residential building type is gaining popularity. The most notable examples of this typology are Peter Cardew’s live/work units on East Vancouver’s Odlum drive. Four live/work dwellings – two facing Odlum drive and two facing an interior courtyard – sit shoulder-to-shoulder on a small lot. The project is characterized by vertical concrete block walls and robust seismic bracing on the front face. It is a real gem on a street of old houses and run down industrial buildings. If you are on Commercial Drive, I strongly encourage walking a few blocks west to check this project out.

Waterfall Building

7. Waterfall Building
1540 West 2nd Avenue
By Arthur Erickson with Nick Milkovich Architects
Completed 1998

A later and lesser-known Erickson project, the Waterfall Building near Granville Island is a beautiful mixed-use residential project. The building consists of concrete and glass live/work units arranged around a bright courtyard and sky-lit gallery. An opening along West 2nd street provides views of the gallery behind a veil of water and invites those wondering by to enter the central courtyard.

2386 Cornwall Avenue

8. 2386 Cornwall Avenue
By Battersby Howat (Designer), Hancock Brückner Eng & Wright Architects (Architect)
Completed 2006

Another beautiful residential project I always enjoy passing by is the Battersby + Howat designed four-storey apartment at 2268 Cornwall Ave. Much like Cardew’s Odlum Drive Live/Work Units, this four-unit building maximizes space on a narrow lot with its simple block typology. It’s a refreshingly minimal project with beautiful concrete work wrapping the sides of the building leaving the front and back face fully glazed.

UBC
Click on Map to Expand

Making your way out of the downtown core to the University of British Columbia is a bit of a trek, especially if you are already familiar with some of the campus’s landmark buildings like Erickson’s Museum of Anthropolgy or Cardew designed Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. However, if you haven’t been on campus in the last 4 years, I strongly recommend you head out there to check out these projects:

Beaty Biodiversity Centre

9. Beaty Biodiversity Centre
2212 Main Mall, University of British Columbia
By Patkau Architects
Completed 2009

The Beaty Biodiversity Centre shows a great deal of restraint while still keeping consistent with the Patkau’s famous attention to detail and design rigor. The museum component of the building proudly displays its enormous Blue Whale Skeleton from behind fully glazed walls while the buildings behind host laboratory and research program behind screened facades. Over the years since its completion, the naturalistic landscape has grown in, providing a fantastic contrast to the rawness of the building.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Building

10. Pharmaceutical Sciences Building
2405 Wesbrook Mall
By Saucier + Perrotte Architectes and Hughes Condon Marler Architects
Completed 2012

This building is unlike anything Vancouver has seen before. Dark, reflective glass and a staggered block façade give this building its high impact aesthetic while still keeping a clean and restrained form. At the base of the building, stunning board formed concrete folds into the building, giving way to an impressive wood-clad lobby.