The Condo "Bailout" Finally Has a Plan: Rent-to-Own, No Down Payment

Two weeks after Carney and Eby announced the plan to buy 2,200 unsold BC condos, the premier filled in the blank everyone was asking about. The converted units will be offered as rent-to-own homes with no down payment, aimed at renters who can cover a monthly payment but cannot save the lump sum. Eby says government will buy distressed buildings at or below the cost of construction, with developers taking losses and earning no profit, which is his case for why it is not a bailout. Ottawa covers roughly 10% of the $1.45 billion, BC puts in the next half, and the rest is financing. The catch he admitted himself: the numbers work in the Fraser Valley, on Vancouver Island, and in the Okanagan, but not in the City of Vancouver.

BC Now Leads the Country in Falling Rents

The province is the national leader on the way down. Purpose-built apartment and condo rents fell 5.7% year over year in BC, a full point better than the Canadian average, and BC no longer holds the title of most expensive rents in the country. Vancouver rents have now dropped for 30 straight months and sit about a fifth below their September 2023 peak. Six BC cities landed among the country's 15 biggest annual decreases: Burnaby down 10.5%, Abbotsford 10%, Richmond and New Westminster 9.7%, Coquitlam 9%, and North Vancouver 8.8%. For renters, that is real money back every month. For investors underwriting on rent growth, the ground is still moving.

The Bay Building Sold for $112.5M, Half Its Asking Guidance

The number is finally public. Onni Group bought the former Hudson's Bay flagship at 674 Granville Street for $112.5 million, according to a June 24 land-transfer document, with the deal closing at the end of the month. That is roughly half the $225 million guidance floated back in December, and well under the property's $171 million BC Assessment value. The 1913 Edwardian landmark, one of the Bay's original six flagship stores, sold out of the RioCan-HBC receivership after the retailer collapsed last year. Onni has not shown its hand, but the heritage facade has to stay and a large mixed-use redevelopment is the obvious play. Another downtown department store, about to become something else entirely.