Thursday, February 17, 2011 Olympic Village Condos UpdateI am getting a TON of questions about the new pricing being launched at the Olympic Village (now just 'The Village') condos today. WIth price drops ranging from as little as 5% on some of the smaller, less expensive units, to reductions pushing 50% on some of the higher end units, Bob Rennie is doing his best to create a buzz around a product that has gone stagnant and lost much of the consumer interest. All in all, the average price reduction is rumoured to be about 30%. The big questions that remains is... "Are the price reductions enough?" My initial thoughts are, quite simply, no. I still believe that the condos at 'The Village' represent a poor value in today's market. Most of the available units are still being sold at $700/square foot and higher, and a great majority of the units being sold are interior units with no views of any kind. Comparable units the neighbouring Wall Centre at False Creek and the Exchange are being sold for as much as $150-$200/square foot less. As an investor, there is no way the rental income here makes up for the premium you have to pay to buy in. There are SOOOOO many better options available. And for those who are looking for a new home for themselves, you would have to REALLY love the area, as I suspect it will be at least 3-4 years before you will see any appreciation on property values here. With the premium already being charged (yes, even with the discounts) and the pending release of still more condos in The Village once this batch of 230 units is sold, I really struggle to come up with any justification as to why now would be a good time to buy here. If you have any thoughts or questions, please feel free to fire away... Monday, August 23, 2010 There are two million reasons for high prices in VancouverCity’s housing affordability problem boils down to too many people on too little land Monday, June 14, 2010 Home Buyers Facing Less CompetionCategories:Buyers,General,Housing,Market Statistics,Market Stats,Sellers,Vancouver,Vancouver Real Estate Vancouver, BC – June 14, 2010. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province declined 4 per cent to 7,950 units in May compared to the same month last year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, MLS® residential unit sales in the province declined 11 per cent in May from April 2010. The average MLS® residential price climbed 7 per cent to $498,294 in May compared to the same month last year. 
“A slower pace of home sales combined with an increase in the inventory of homes for sale has quelled upward pressure on home prices,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. A total of 54,362 MLS® residential listings were recorded in May, up 26 per cent from January on a seasonally adjusted basis. “Moderating market conditions in Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Victoria are reducing the number of multiple offers as a greater selection of homes for sale lessons competition amongst home buyers,” added Muir. Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 50 per cent to $17.5 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales rose 31 per cent to 34,619 year-to-date, while the average MLS® residential price climbed 14 per cent to $505,468 over the same period. For the complete news release, including detailed statistics, follow this link:www.bcrea.bc.ca/news_room/2010-05.pdf. Monday, June 7, 2010 Housing Market Push and Pull: Economic Growth Versus AffordabilityVancouver, BC – June 7, 2010. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its Housing Forecast for the second quarter of 2010 today.
“Eroding affordability will trim home sales by 3 per cent this year despite improving economic conditions and related employment growth,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “The push and pull of positive economic growth versus rising mortgage interest rates is expected to keep BC home sales near their 10-year average of 85,569 units both this year and next.” The average MLS® residential price is forecast to climb 6 per cent to $494,600 this year and remain relatively unchanged in 2011, albeit increasing by 1 per cent to $499,700. "Strong consumer demand in Vancouver, Victoria and the Fraser Valley was largely responsible for driving the average home price in the province higher over the last three quarters,” added Muir. “However, demand has moderated in those markets and a larger inventory of homes for sale has pulled market conditions into balanced territory, providing less upward pressure on home prices" Friday, June 4, 2010 May market offers buyers greater selectionCategories:Buyers,Buyers. Sellers,General,Market Stats,Market Update,News,Vancouver,Vancouver Real Estate May Statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver...
The number of properties listed for sale in Greater Vancouver continued to rise in May, while the number of sales showed a year-over-year decrease.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 3,156 in May 2010, a decline of 10.4 per cent compared to the 3,524 sales in May 2009; 5.1 per cent more than the 3,002 sales in May 2008; and 27.1 per cent less than the 4,331 sales in May 2007. May 2010 sales also represent a 10.1 per cent decline compared to last month’s sales. In terms of number of property listings, last month marked the third consecutive month during which more than 7,000 homes were listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in Greater Vancouver.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties totalled 7,014 in May 2010, a 48.2 per cent increase compared to May 2009 when 4,733 new units were listed, and an 8.3 per cent decline compared to April 2010 when 7,648 properties were added to the MLS®.
At 17,492, the total number of property listings on the MLS® increased 10 per cent in May compared to last month, and is up 28.2 per cent compared to this time last year.
"Prospective home buyers in today’s market have a broad selection to choose from in every property type. REALTORS® are telling us they’re working with buyers who are not feeling as rushed to make a decision as they did late last year and earlier in the year," Jake Moldowan, REBGV president said.
Over the last 12 months, the overall MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 16.7 per cent to $590,662 from $506,201 in May 2009.
"It’s important for those looking to buy or sell a home to remember that real estate is local and wise real estate decisions are made by those who understand current market conditions at the neighbourhood level," Moldowan said.
Sales of detached properties in May 2010 reached 1,256, a decrease of 10.4 per cent from the 1,402 detached sales recorded in May 2009 and a 4.4 per cent increase from the 1,203 units sold in May 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 19.1 per cent from May 2009 to $810,175.
Sales of apartment properties reached 1,354 in May 2010, a decline of 7.1 per cent compared to the 1,458 sales in May 2009 and an increase of 8.8 per cent compared to the 1,244 sales in May 2008.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 13.9 per cent from May 2009 to $398,783.
Attached property sales in May 2010 totalled 546, a decline of 17.8 per cent compared to the 664 sales in May 2009 and a 1.6 per cent decline from the 555 attached properties sold in May 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 14.8 per cent between May 2009 and 2010 to $500,339. Monday, May 31, 2010 Making the most of a small space - Focus on refitting your flexspaceIt’s the space that’s supposed to be a bonus in condominiums: the one marked "flex" or "storage" or even "multi-purpose" on the floor plans. The problem is, the space is often so small, it hardly serves any purpose at all.
Designer Erik Lauzon of Konstruk Design has seen how much of a disaster these rooms can be. "The flex room becomes a dump. People throw in stuff that they don’t know where else to put, or maybe they’re simply not ready to throw that stuff away."
If it’s something that hasn’t been used for more than a year, it’s time to get rid of it, according to Lauzon. He also says that identifying a purpose for the space is the first step to getting junk under control.
"If you’re going to use it as a storage room, that’s fine," Lauzon says. "But don’t try and use it as a workspace, too; there isn’t enough room for that. If you’re going to do work there, get rid of unnecessary clutter, and make it minimalist and usable."
Lauzon is applying his strategies to two condos where the flex spaces are completely inflexible. Joelle Guerin knew space would be a challenge two years ago when she moved from her two-bedroom apartment in Burnaby, B.C., to a condo in downtown Vancouver.
"I must have looked at more than 30 places listed as being one-bedroom-and-dens, or one-bedrooms-plus-flex," she says with a laugh. "I pretty much drove my realtor crazy!"
Guerin ended up with a home close to her workplace, but had to make a lot of adjustments during the transition. She bought all new furniture, including a storage bed that holds a lot of household items. She also bought a six-by-two-foot desk, which dominates the storage room.
"It (the room) has become a catch-all for random things. I put paperwork down, and it piles up until I clean it out every few months. I’ve tried to decorate, but there’s no point. I don’t even go into it unless I’m throwing something in, and when people come over, I make sure I pull the door closed."
The small size of the space has forced Guerin to pare down how much paperwork she keeps around, and Lauzon says that’s a good start.
He also says Guerin should start using the large, black, framed pegboard over the desk to better display keepsakes or lists of tasks she has to tackle. Lauzon says it would be a better use of space to centre the desk and pegboard in the room. That would then leave enough room on the right hand side to put up six brightly coloured wall-hung folders to deal with paperwork, with titles like "not so important", "important", and "do this right now".
On the opposite wall, Lauzon suggests creating a photo wall with black and white photos, matted in white, to up the chic factor. He would paint the entire room in a soft grey tinged with green, which goes well with the existing carpet. Designers are increasingly using grey as a neutral colour.
"If she doesn’t need the door, she should take it off, especially since it’s such a small space," says Lauzon. "Making the interior of the room visible is an incentive to keep it organized and you get rid of the dead space. You could also put a little bit of overhead shelving in." He estimates the total cost at between $300 and $500.
Don Genova’s flex space will likely cost more, and be more of a challenge to rehabilitate. The freelance journalist also teaches food and travel writing, and has all of the accoutrements to match.
"I’m a pack rat when it comes to magazines and newspaper articles and cookbooks, because it’s nice to show a hard copy to my students," Genova says. "Then there’s all of the photography and audio equipment, and regular office stuff like a printer, an external hard drive, and a modem."
He needs all of the table surface he can get for marking and his various projects, which means his wife is exiled to work on either the dining table or a small side table in the living room.
Genova says there is definitely some stuff he can get rid of, but his wish list for the flex room includes better shelving, better lighting, and two workspaces. The room also gets hot, so he needs a fan, and he’s tired of tripping over electrical cables and accidentally unplugging equipment.
Lauzon says the first thing he would do is to have Genova consider taking advantage of digital technology to store his CDs, or to archive more of the magazines and newspapers."The books are fine. In fact, they’re quite nice, if they’re displayed properly," says Lauzon.
To fulfil Genova’s wish list, Lauzon would build a long, L-shaped table along the left and centre walls of the room, with storage drawers underneath. Genova would have the long portion, which would be close to nine feet of table surface. The short portion of the ’L’ would be a little thinner, and be designated for his wife. The table would also include small niches to corral all of the equipment cables.
Lauzon says he likes overhead fans, but believes it’s difficult to find a stylish one that also incorporates good lighting. Instead, he suggests that Genova use a slim and quiet tower fan in the corner of the room where there is no table surface.
All of the books and knick-knacks could go into overhead cabinets extending right to the ceiling, taking advantage of the nearly nine-foot ceiling height in the room. Recessed pot lights could be tucked into the underside of the cabinets, with additional task lighting above the defined workspaces.
Lauzon says Genova could either go with custom cabinets, or some very stylish and inexpensive high gloss white shelving from Ikea. Adding in or removing doors would also affect the cost. Lauzon says the room could be completely revamped for $3,000 to $6,000.
Article written by Claudia Kwan, Vancouver Sun Monday, May 17, 2010 B.C. real estate shows signs of stability in AprilCategories:Market Update,Vancouver Real Estate Interesting article fromm the Vancouver Sun by Derrick Penner...
VANCOUVER — Expect British Columbia's property prices to remain flat for the balance of the year, which will be good news for buyers again being squeezed by the province's sky-high values, according to the B.C. Real Estate Association.
Cameron Muir, the association's chief economist, said sales have stabilized while inventories of unsold homes have risen, which is keeping pressure off prices.
Provincially, realtors processed some 8,385 units through the Multiple Listing Service in April, 21 per cent higher than the same month a year ago, but when figures are adjusted to account for seasonality, April sales were four per cent below March, according to Muir.
At the same time, provincial inventories hit 54,029 in April, some nine per cent more than in April of 2009.
"Overall there is more balance in the Lower Mainland and Victoria markets going forward and much less upward pressure on prices," Muir said in an interview.
"I anticipate prices will remain fairly flat for the rest of the year as a result of the countervailing forces of improving economy and job growth [offset] by affordability."
And as it had become before the recession and downturn, Muir said buyers' constricted ability to pay for real estate will be "the single biggest constraint in the market over the next few years."
Muir expects banks' prime lending rate, currently resting at 2.25 per cent, to rise to the range of 4.5 per cent to five per cent by this time next year, if the economy keeps improving.
Carol Frketich, regional economist for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said economic fundamentals, such as the addition in April of 13,000 new jobs to the economy, and an unemployment rate of 7.3 per cent versus 7.5 per cent in Alberta, look good for the real estate market.
"B.C.'s unemployment rate is now below Alberta's, so that bodes well for migration," Frketich said. "Employment opportunities are supportive of housing demand."
Frketich noted that property prices have rebounded more strongly in the Lower Mainland and Victoria than they have in interior markets. The provincial average home price in April hit $514,820, which was almost 15 per cent higher than the same month a year ago, but that average was driven in part by steep price increases in Metro Vancouver, which accounted for more than 40 per cent of provincial sales.
In Metro Vancouver, average prices have reached new highs with the overall average home price up some 19 per cent to $673,561 in April.
By contrast, the Kamloops region has seen year-over-year price growth of 6.3 per cent to hit an average of $316,520 in April. Okanagan Mainline, which includes Kelowna, saw price growth of almost 10 per cent to an average of $394,516.
Paul Fabri, a CMHC market analyst in the Okanagan, said the region's markets have been hampered by a decline in the recreational real-estate market during the recession, when "Alberta [buyers] stayed home."
"We did see some price recovery in the latter half of 2009, but certainly not to the extent that was seen in the Lower Mainland," Fabri said.
For the year to date, residential sales totalled 26,669 units at the end of April, up 47 per cent from the same point a year ago, and the total value of properties sold came to $13.5 billion, some 73 per cent higher than for the same months of 2009. Tuesday, May 11, 2010 Laneway Housing Takes Form In VancouverTuesday, April 20, 2010 Vancouver slashes Olympic Village social housingArticle from CBC News about the Olympic Social Housing ...
The City of Vancouver is slashing the number of social housing units in the Olympic Village in order to raise more cash from the troubled project, Mayor Gregor Robertson is expected announce Tuesday afternoon.
The $1 billion dollar luxury condominium complex on the south shore of False Creek was supposed to include 252 social housing units.
But a city staff report has recommended that the number be cut in half because of the huge cost overruns for the social housing component of the development, CBC News has learned. The original budget for the social housing units was $64 million dollars, but the construction ended up costing $110 million.
A staff reports says selling the units doesn't make sense, because the city would have to spend millions to upgrade them to market standards, and the development already contains hundreds of units that are being sold to the public.
So instead of selling them off, the other 126 units will be rented out at market rates, with preference being given to essential service workers, such as police and fire crews who work in the city, and want to continue living close to downtown.
The city took over the entire project after its New York-based financiers pulled out during the financial crisis of 2008.
City staff are cautiously optimistic they will break even on the complete project once the units are sold and rented, and taxpayers won't be on the hook for any losses. Friday, April 16, 2010 Protecting your privacy while listing homeArticle by Anna Vozza in the Vancouver Sun...
Selling your home may be difficult, considering that you must open your doors to potential buyers. Your privacy and security may become an issue when showing your home to buyers, so it is important to consider all your options before you welcome someone into your home.
For many individuals, it is very important for them to protect their privacy, while others are simply concerned that buyers will make assumptions about them and judge them instead of simply judging their home. However, the importance of protecting your privacy is all the same and that goes for anything personal from financial information, such as check books to banks statements and personal letters. Private documents: Is it snooping to open a drawer? Not if the drawer is part of a built-in such as a kitchen cabinet or a dining room china cabinet. Buyers can innocently tug on a drawer to inspect its construction or depth and find important documents that you might not intend for anyone to see. If you have a lock on your file cabinet or desk drawer, now is the time to use it.
Don't leave mail where anybody can find it. Lots of sellers leave piles of opened mail neatly stacked on the kitchen counter. Buyers could find out how much you owe department stores or other credit cards. They can tell if you're late on your mortgage payments or other bills.
Remove diplomas and wedding photos from walls: Remove personal effects from your walls. From diplomas and religious artifacts to wedding certificates and personal photos, don't provide buyers with any personal information about yourself or your family. De-personalizing is also an important move to make when staging your home for sale anyway, so you can actually accomplish two things by removing the personal effects from your home.
Wedding photos might give away the seller's religion, as do certain religious artifacts left in the home. Buyers can be prejudiced. Don't give buyers a way to form any opinion about you at all. Don't let buyers form ideas about you from the type of music you like or the literature you read.
Don't leave your computer up and running during showings. Gaining personal information from your computer takes only moments for a professional hacker or thief, so be proactive and shut your computer down before your guests arrive.
Before you put your home in the market, prep it, empty out drawers, stage closets and pack up anything remotely personal including medications. Disassociate yourself with your home - remind yourself that it is a house - a product to be sold on an open market that is bound to see plenty of new faces throughout the term of the selling process. Categories: | Buyers | Buyers. Sellers | General | Housing | Market Statistics | Market Stats | Market Update | Mortgage | Mortgages | News | Olympics | Sellers | Vancouver | Vancouver East Real Estate | Vancouver Real Estate | Video
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BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to ease back 3 per cent from 85,028 units in 2009 to 82,350 units this year, before increasing 4 per cent to 85,900 units in 2011.
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