Real Estate Anxiety hits B.C. Divorce Court

High-end West Van Realtor worries family lifestyle is now unsustainable, judgment reveals

A real estate agent from West Vancouver has brought housing market uncertainty into his divorce proceedings, arguing a slowdown caused by government policies has made his family’s jet-setting lifestyle unsustainable.

Jason Soprovich’s realty company, of which he is the sole shareholder, has raked in more than $13 million in the last seven years, according to a B.C. Supreme Court judgment posted online last week.

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But as he hashes out a divorce agreement with his ex, his legal team is arguing that the future of the real estate market is so hazy, the firm’s past performance isn’t a great indicator of what he can afford to pay in spousal and child support.

Soprovich argued “that it would be devastating to him if his income for support purposes is based on an average of the realty company’s past three years’ net income,” Master Leslie Muir wrote in the judgment.

“He says that the real estate market slowed down from 2016 to 2017 and is likely to slow further down in 2018.”

The causes of that decline, Soprovich told the court, include the foreign buyers’ tax, tightened mortgage rules and rising interest rates. He argued that anticipation of more measures from the NDP government is also affecting the market.