A new domain name suffix will be opened up to all in November following a pre-registration period for Realtors.

The .realtor designation will be available through around 20 domain registrars including GoDaddy and get.realestate and unlike the .realtor top level domain it is available to anyone from November 26.

As an international recognized and descriptive term, the .realestate domain is expected to be very popular and industry professionals and firms will want to ensure they get their name before the ‘cybersquatters’ get busy.

The pre-registration period closes 10 days before the general release and is exclsuively for real estate professionals who already hold an active .realtor name – only available to members of the National Association of Realtors and associated organizations such as CREA.

“The real estate market is always pushing innovation, from virtual reality walkthroughs to leveraging the cloud for transactions and now domain name extensions,” said GoDaddy Senior Director of Product Marketing, Paul Bindel. “The beauty of .realestate is that it tells visitors exactly what to expect when they visit the site. It’s memorable, easy to spell and descriptive, all great traits for a domain name.”

A new scheme aims to create affordable rental housing in Alberta with plans for similar projects nationwide.

The Alberta Rural Development Network’s (ARDN) Sustainable Housing Initiative (SHI) will see the development of at least 8 energy-efficient affordable housing shipping container projects with the first phase seeking to create up to 467 rental units over the next two years.

Funding will come from the National Housing Strategy’s Affordable Housing Innovation Fund which will provide $10 million for the initiative.

“If you don’t have a home, it’s very difficult to build a life. Investment in affordable housing is critical to ensuring that Canadian communities continue to thrive,” said Kent Hehr, Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre. “Our Government is proud to support innovative organizations like ARDN as they work to design efficient, forward-thinking housing solutions that not only work here in Alberta, but could easily be replicated in rural communities across the country. Cultivating bold new ideas like this is exactly what the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund is all about.”

The YWCA Banff Courtyard Project is the first under this new initiative to be announced. The 33 unit, 3-story cost effective project will meet net-zero targets for energy efficiency and provide affordable rental housing for up to 78 residents who face barriers to finding suitable accommodation. The Courtyard will be ideal for women, new and extended families, individuals, and with a least four suites that are barrier free, people with accessibility needs.

“I believe the YWCA Banff Courtyard project will act as a landmark development that will redefine how affordable housing is built in rural communities across Canada,” said Joshua Bénard, Director, Sustainable Housing Initiative ARDN.

The new trilateral trade deal between Canada, the US, and Mexico has prompted a rise in confidence among Canadian consumers.

The weekly Bloomberg/Nanos Research Canadian Confidence Index has increased to 57.43 compared to 55.65 four weeks ago and is up more than a point from last week.

The sub-index tracking sentiment surrounding personal finances and job security edged lower (60.85 vs. 61.45 four weeks ago) but there was a sharp rise for the sub-index which tracks expectations for the economy and real estate prices (54.01 vs. 49.86 four weeks ago).

“Positive sentiment on the future strength of the Canadian economy has increased five points in the last four weeks,” said Nanos Research, Chief Data Scientist, Nik Nanos. “Also of note, sentiment on real estate values has registered an increase in positive views.”

The share of respondents who are positive about real estate prices increased from 39.20% last week and 37.76% four weeks ago, to 41.41 this week. That beats both the 2018 average of 40.45% and the 10-year average of 37.86%.

On personal finances, the share of respondents who say they are worse off than a year ago (23.31%) is larger than those who say they are better off (19.95%) but most (55.74%) say there has been no change.

Almost half say they are confident about their job security.

Sentiment overall increased for all provinces and age groups, and all income groups apart from those earning $75,000 and above.

Homeowners’ sentiment grew more than renters.

Two internationally renowned and recognized experts on money laundering have joined the panel investigation illicit activity in British Columbia’s real estate market.

Tsur Somerville – from the University of British Columbia’s Sauder school of business – and Brigitte Unger – from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands – have been appointed to join the Province’s Expert Panel on Money Laundering.

Both are experts on real estate finance, public economics, and money laundering.

They join the panel headed by Maureen Maloney, a public policy and dispute resolution professor from Simon Fraser University and former B.C. deputy attorney general, which will look at gaps in compliance and enforcement of existing laws, consumer protection, financial services regulations, regulation of real estate professionals and jurisdictional gaps between B.C. and the federal government.

“Our overheated housing market is vulnerable to those looking to exploit loopholes and engage in illicit activity, while families are being priced out,” said Carole James, Minister of Finance. “This is an unacceptable situation and we are moving to ensure that B.C. has world-leading protections against money laundering, and that fairness is returned to our real estate sector.”

The panel’s final report and recommendations is due in March 2019.

Homebuilder stocks fell after Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut its recommendation to neutral from buy on three of the biggest companies — Toll Brothers, PulteGroup and NVR — and RBC offered fresh skepticism about growth and affordability. Toll Brothers is paring a decline of as much as 3.1 percent in early trading; PulteGroup is off by 2.5 percent, and NVR, which also reported disappointing third-quarter results, is down as much as 7.8 percent to the lowest intraday since April 2017.

BofA Merrill Lynch’s stock downgrades come as its U.S. economics team lowered forecasts for 2018-2019 housing starts and new home sales, analyst John Lovallo writes in a note. Lovallo says his call on NVR isn’t based on third-quarter results, but is instead due to likely below-peer order growth in 2019; he cuts Toll Brothers as the high-end of the market is moderating, and downgrades PulteGroup as it may try to drive gross margin by “pushing price over pace.”

Lovallo adds that builders focused on affordable homes for entry-level and first time homes may yet offer value, and notes public homebuilder order growth usually outpaces the broader market.

Separately, RBC’s Mike Dahl cuts his order growth forecasts and price targets after an analysis suggests “affordability is more stretched in areas that matter most to builders, even extending beyond the commonly-cited coastal markets.” That may keep dampening growth rates in coming quarters. PulteGroup and DR Horton may have less exposure to the most stretched markets, while KB Home and TRI Pointe Group are most exposed.

Thursday’s fresh negativity follows Zelman advising the market to “buckle up for a rocky builder earnings season”; Credit Suisse downgrading three stocks; and BTIG cutting earnings estimates and price targets, while warning of a continued slowdown in housing demand. That helped keep the S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index near its lowest levels since May 2017.

Jefferies is offering a rare bit of housing optimism, as analysts led by Steven DeSanctis write that 2018 headwinds probably won’t get worse in 2019, while demographic factors are set to improve. Post-tax overhaul price adjustments will be in place, while millennials will continue to age, spurring household formation. Jefferies flags opportunities in multifamily REITs, companies providing affordable housing and vendors selling into that market, and repair and remodel stocks like Home Depot and Lowe’s.

In its latest House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast, Royal LePage reported that lower housing costs observed in the third quarter could be attributed to a general guardedness among the Edmonton market’s would-be buyers.

“It’s a buyer’s market as economic uncertainty in Alberta and the new mortgage rules have eliminated some of the competition. Buyers have a lot of choice, and they are taking their time to find the right property,” Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate broker and owner Tom Shearer explained.

Lower employment numbers in the oil and petrochemical industries are also biting into the public’s purchasing power and keeping wary individuals from dipping into the market.

However, Shearer went on to say that “sales activity has remained healthy in Edmonton, despite high inventory and declining prices.”

The average sale price of an Edmonton home moved down by a modest 0.9% year-over-year in Q3 2018, reaching $380,295.

By housing type, condos declined by 0.6% to $234,017, while two-storey homes had a more noticeable 1.9% drop to $432,789. Only bungalows benefited from median price increase, growing by 0.9% during the same time frame to reach to $379,782.

In Royal LePage’s forecast, the aggregate price of an Edmonton residential purchase will go up by 1.1% quarter-over-quarter by the end of December, reaching $384,486.

Quicken Loans, the largest home mortgage lender in the US, is to open a new office in Canada.

The firm including its ‘Family of Companies’ is leasing more than 9,000 square feet of office space in the Old Fish Market Building in Windsor, ON, and intends to employ around 100.

While it does not currently offer mortgages in Canada, it has stated previously that it wants to understand more about the Canadian mortgage market.

A firm owned by Quicken’s parent firm Rock Holdings Inc., Rocket Homes, entered the Canadian real estate market in 2016 when it acquired Toronto property tech firm OpenHouse Realty.

“We learned a lot more about Ontario’s deep technology talent pool over the past couple of years as we explored pitching the international border of Windsor/Detroit to various companies,” said Jay Farner, CEO of Quicken Loans. “As Quicken Loans continues to grow and set the standard for innovation, we remain focused on recruiting additional technology talent to our brainforce. With our headquarters located in downtown Detroit, we have a tremendous opportunity to tap into the rich technology pipeline both stateside and in Canada.”

Welcomed by the mayor
The company closed more than $400 billion of mortgage volume across all 50 states from 2013 through 2017 and has been top 30 in Fortune Magazine’s top companies to work for over the past 15 years.

Windsor Mayor, Drew Dilkens, has welcomed Quicken’s decision to open an office in the city.

“The relationship we developed recently with them as we jointly pursued various technology companies to our international border cities helped us share the strong value proposition of Windsor,” he said . “Quicken Loans is an amazing company with a great work culture. We look forward to working closely with them in the months and years ahead as they grow their presence in our city.”

Canada’s economy is in for a few years of reduced growth according to a new report from Deloitte.

The outlook shows a slump in economic growth from 3% in 2017 to 2% this year and to 1.4% by 2020.

It cites high household debt, rising interest rates, flat real estate markets, and weaker employment growth, for a predicted slowdown in consumer spending.

There is also the impact of external factors including a slower global economy, US protectionism, and tighter monetary policy in North America and Europe.

“The signs that the North American economy is in the late stages of a business cycle are all around us, from a record long bull market in US equities to low unemployment rates and rising central bank rates,” says Deloitte Canada’s Chief Economist, Craig Alexander. “The negotiation of USMCA reduces the downside risks to the Canadian economy, and economic growth should persist. However, businesses should still prepare for more moderate domestic demand growth and a weaker US economy over the medium term.”

The global economy is expected to deliver strong growth of close to 4% in 2018, but the pace of expansion will drop to 3.2% in 2020.

Home sales in British Columbia remain weak following the past few years of growth.

Across the province there was a 33.2% decrease in sales in September compared to a year earlier with a total of 5,573 units according to the latest data from the British Columbia Real Estate Association.

“BC home sales continue at a slower pace compared to last year,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “The impact on affordability and purchasing power caused by the mortgage stress test and moderately higher interest rates are negating the effect of the extraordinarily strong performance of BC’s economy over the last five years.”

The weaker sales impacted prices with the average selling price falling 1.1% to $685,749. Total dollar volume of sales was $3.8 billion, down 34% year-over-year.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 21.3% to $45 billion, compared with the same period in 2017. Residential unit sales decreased 22.5% to 63,251 units, while the average MLS residential price was up 1.5% to $716,096.