Vancouver buttons down shirt, iron its
ties
I prefer that my socks and trousers not match precisely. I'm happy to wear
grey socks with a grey flannel suit, as long as the socks have light blue
polka dots to pick up my blue shirt, or a green and yellow check to riff
dashingly off my tie.
Alas, this will offend the city of Vancouver.
On the eve of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics have issued a 141-page Protocol Manual that tells Vancouverites how to shake
hands, smile, point, sit, stand, think, talk, dress and behave. The message
is crystal: We don't want our fancy visitors to think we're hicks. To
judge from the protocol guide, the authorities consider the city's residents
as sophisticated as a band of damp gorillas.
Please do not misunderstand me: I am not about to do the
eastern-Canadian, passive-aggressive, Toronto thing that Vancouverites hate,
which is to decry Vancouver as a beautiful but empty-headed woman you long
to sleep with and then can't wait to ditch so that you can talk about
something other than the muscle tone of her thighs.
Vancouver has always been unspeakably beautiful, but the Olympics stand
to launch it into the global stratosphere.
At that point the city will completely replace Toronto and Montreal and
(really?) Ottawa, which actually has more residents than Vancouver, as the
go-to city in the mind of the world, when the mind of the world thinks of
Canada - especially the mind of Asia, which is going to control most of
the money on the planet for the next 200 years.
Vancouver's manners, on the other hand, reveal the blemishes of
insecurity that still be-zit an adolescent city, for all the covering hype.
When a local website published the protocol rules this week, hundreds of
online Vancouverites spat in the face of being told how to behave. This is
vintage Vancouver whining, harking back to its working-class past. But this
time the whiners have cause.
Clothes (in Vancouver, where you can go for days without seeing a tie or
a crease) are suddenly crucial: "A neat appearance isn't enough. You must
be exemplary all the time. Others will infer qualities of your [city] from
your appearance and behaviour."
The tone is hectoring and demands complete submission: Faced with a
helpless visitor, “there is nothing too demeaning, too demanding or just
plain beneath you.”
The binder offers instructions on how to listen ("Lean forward slightly
and look directly at the person who is speaking"), how to smile
("gently' and with sincerity"), and how to point politely (section
7.3, Using Proper Hand Signals: "Use an open hand").
"Try not to be too chatty," the guide suggests, lest one be
confronted with (section 5.8) Embarrassing Situations. "Try to move the
individual out of hearing range of others, and quietly let them know 'Your
trousers zipper is open.'"
No wonder an online Vancouverite dryly responded, "So ... I guess
farting is out of the question."
Questions of etiquette always pop up when prosperity and social mobility
threaten the comfortable stability of a city. The Vancouver Olympics will be
many things to Vancouver, and one of them is a two-week-long, globally
televised, real-estate ad. The city pooh-bahs want to ensure the natives
don't scare away prospective buyers.
"We've become the Geneva of the North Pacific," a well-connected
Vancouver businessman explained the other day. He has been watching this
happen since Expo 86. "People from Asia come to educate their kids, to
have operations and cosmetic surgery, and in general have an experience that
is non-Asian."
The Olympics, he insists, will lure more Asians, and mainland Chinese and
Americans and everyone else to boot.
Vancouverites are aware of this. A fortnight ago, when I was last in
Vancouver, it rained for two-and-a-half days straight – and I do mean
non-stop, hard, day-and-night, without a single ray of sunshine, for more
than 50 hours.
There was so much rain the city had a baggy, amniotic feel, as if we were
all waiting to be born. People were cranky: The first ten locals I met
derided the Olympics and their conforming presence. When the sun finally
broke, the men and women of Vancouver streamed for the light like shad to a
screen door.
To beat the rain I decided to take a ride on the brand-new Canada Line
subway that connects the downtown, via the west side and the Olympic
Village, to the front door of Vancouver's international airport – door to
door in 22 minutes, for $3.75. Brilliant.
The Canada Line is a pretty subway – clean, with that new-subway smell.
The corridor of each subway car sports vertical stanchions for standing
passengers to hold onto. They're shaped like the wire frame of a paint
roller on end, except they're citrus yellow and stand out like blossoms.
There were 20 people on the platform in front of me, waiting to climb on.
A car slid to a stop. The doors opened. The crowd took a single step in and
then stopped, blocking the entrance. They were still learning how to ride
the underground. It was kind of sweet.
"Could you move in, please?" I said in what I considered to be a
friendly-but-authoritative, big-city voice. "So the rest of us can get
on?" Every face in the car turned to me in shock. A man in the crowd had
spoken out loud!
That's when I realized how quiet the streets of Vancouver still are, how
little its residents kibitz in public. Their minds are elsewhere, possibly
contemplating the beauty around them, and wondering how much the rules will
change now that their city is renting out Paradise. - 2010
January 29
GLOBE
& MAIL
太太 hopes that there will be enough
cars on Translink to 'move people' like they do in Asia and Europe because
it could be that the Canadians have put in a nice system but they may not
have prepared details like extra cars - from YVR to Downtown, instead of
long waits and queuing. Our visitors from overseas might not be
used to this when they arrive here for Olympics. Hmmm...logistics
did not go so smoothly for Winter Olympics 2010 at initial stages.
Vancouver
tops in liveability
The delicious but surprising trades of
two institutional-grade Downtown office buildings in Vancouver reflect
global investment strategies and opportunities.
-
Bentall IV on Burrard Street at
centre ice sold for $515 per sq ft by the Caisse to a German
group. It was an unsolicited offer.
-
Who ever thought the Duke of
Westminster, London's largest private landowner would feel squeezed,
like the rest of us?! The Grosvenor building at 1038-1070 West
Georgia traded for $84 million reflecting $412 per sq ft.
Both these Class A buildings were
purchased at below replacement cost. Hmm...
Overall values especially in Westside
residential remain strong as a new
strain of rich Chinese, People's Republic of China based new
wealth is repeating a pattern exhibited by Hong Konger-er's in the
late 90's and Taiwanese and Koreans. Simply put, the education
in Canada is excellent and the cost of living easily affordable.
Most view their time in Canada as opportunity to 'polish'
themselves. Etiquette schools and golf lessons are in
demand. These are high-end Chinese with lots of ca$h
although not necessarily class to match Hong Kong-ers like to complain.
Private bankers are having a field day.
Greater Vancouver is bounded by the
mountains to the north, the border to the south. The Pacific is
just west and the Fraser Valley has already exhibited growth in more heady
times. Still though, demand outstrips supply and that's what
keeps prices strong. Plus current tax law penalizes owners for
sale or trades so there is no incentive to sell. As a result,
apartment buildings en bloc, can yield as low as 3.5%, barely higher than a
term deposit, albeit asset backed. We do not expect capital
values to decrease significantly overall because of the strong fundamentals
- demand exceeds supply. -
Tai
Tai 太太
8 September 2009
PRO's
Now THIS is a city to aim for balance in life. Accessible to any
global financial capital within an 15-hour flight to anywhere in the world. Fresh air is
one of its most attractive features and all those morning jogs along the
seawall and yoga classes on the waterfront! And real estate is
totally affordable although locals like to complain.
"Vancouver remains the nation's strongest
luxury market with sales over $2 million up by 48 per cent over last year.
In Vancouver, some purchasers have paid more than $9 million for standard
50-foot lots on the water."
"Vancouver's marketplace continues to be an
international scene, drawing interest from across Europe and Asia as well as
the U.S. Purchasers from Alberta are also on the rise"
- 2007 September 6 TORONTO
STAR
And why not? when one can wake up
next to thousand acre park in the city like this for a
reasonable price compared to say, London, New York or Hong
Kong. And the people and the place is like San Francisco twenty
years ago.
Vancouver is rated the most liveable in the world
according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
With low crime, little threat from instability or
terrorism and a highly developed transport and communications
infrastructure, Canada and Australia are home to the most liveable
destinations in the world, the Economist Intelligence Unit says.
Four of the ten most liveable cities surveyed by the Economist Intelligence
Unit are in Australia, and two of the top five are Canadian. Toronto is the
other Canadian city in the top 10, while Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and
Sydney were the Australian picks.
- VANCOUVER
SUN 23 August 2007
This graph compare real property assets
to the performance of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
MARKET
FUNDAMENTALS
The Vancouver real estate investment market remains
generally recession-proof on the high end because of continuing growing demand and
limited supply. There are also barriers to entry in this
sophisticated real estate market where dominant players remain
strong.
The city continues to have international and multicultural audience with
continued in-migration. Aging demographics and trend
towards Lifestyle trends suggest this trend shall continue in the long term
and if anything, this financial tsunami reinforces the same.
Vancouver's Chinatown district, in
particular, has potential for exponential returns on investment as it is
located at the centre of the city adjacent to a downtown that has exploded
with development in the last ten years.
REAL
ESTATE
Property Woes Slam Cities Across
Continent, But Not Vancouver
The
picturesque city of Vancouver, Canada, has turned into an unexpected oasis
in the bleak desert of the commercial real-estate market.
In
most cities in the U.S. and Canada, sales activity has frozen to a
standstill. Would-be sellers are unwilling to accept the steep drops in
value of office buildings, shopping centers and other commercial property.
Even if they were, buyers can't get financing.
But
then there's Vancouver, a city of about 578,000 people with views of the
Pacific Ocean and the Coast Mountain range. Its office market has logged
seven building transactions this year capped off by Germany-based Deka
Immobilien's recent $263 million purchase of Bentall V, a 33-story tower in
the heart of the city's district. Just as impressive, prices have held up
well. By contrast, only five office properties valued at $5 million or more
have sold in Manhattan in the first two quarters of this year, and average
prices paid are off 32%, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New
York-based real-estate research firm.
So
what gives?
First
of all, Vancouver's office market hasn't suffered the sharp increase in
vacancies seen in most other cities. Vacancies are ticking up and putting
pressure on rents. But the diversified economy, driven by a mix of companies
that include mining, lumber and port-related businesses, and a lack of
significant new construction leave it better positioned to weather the
stormy global economy, brokers say. The first-quarter office vacancy in
downtown Vancouver was 4.2%, below downtown Toronto's 5.7% and downtown
Calgary's 6.9%, according to CB Richard Ellis. "It's quite incredible
compared to the rest of the country," says David Eger, senior director
with the Toronto-based Altus Group.
Such
a high volume of sales is unusual for Vancouver, a city where small
investors and pension funds are known for buying and holding properties. The
seven office transactions that took place this year through May in downtown
Vancouver, a city with a total of about 21 million square feet of office
space, compared with two transactions in the year-earlier period, according
to CB Richard Ellis.
But
amid the global financial crisis, institutions have looked first at
properties that have retained value as a less painful means of unlocking
equity in their portfolios. The seller of Bentall V was SITQ Vancouver Inc.,
a real-estate subsidiary of Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et
placement du Québec. SITQ says it wasn't under pressure to sell the
building and only did so after getting an unsolicited bid. "We made a
profit. That's why we sold it," says Amelie Plante, an SITQ
spokeswoman. "It was very satisfying."
Buyers
in Vancouver have included Canadian pension funds and private investors, CB
Richard Ellis says. Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH is a real-estate asset
manager and a subsidiary of the DekaBank Group. The seven deals this year
have had a total value of C$502 million (US$449 million).
By
contrast, Manhattan, with some 1.6 million residents and about 366 million
square feet of office space, saw the number of large office transactions
this year through May slip to just five deals valued at a total of $984
million, from 45 sales in the year-earlier period, according to Real Capital
Analytics. The average price paid per square foot in Vancouver this year
fell just 2% to C$355 from the year-earlier period, compared with a 32% drop
in Manhattan to $451.
The
Bentall property sale price also has given hope to area sellers worried by
deep discounting seen elsewhere. The nearly 100%-occupied building sold for
a price that equates to a capitalization rate in the 6% range, just slightly
higher than the 5.5% range it might have traded at during the height of the
market a year or so ago, according to Jim Szabo, executive vice president
with CB Richard Ellis, which represented Deka Immobilien in the transaction.
Cap rates are closely watched valuation metrics in the commercial
real-estate industry derived by dividing a building's net operating income
by the price paid. - 2009 June
10 WALL
ST. JOURNAL
B.C. neighbourhoods among Canada's
hottest real estate markets
In its recent
study focused on finding the 21 hottest neighbourhoods, Richmond, Langley
and Coal Harbour in downtown Vancouver were among the best real estate
markets in Canada for realizing real estate price increases in the past
year.
Richmond was ranked Canada's third hottest neighborhood.
It recorded a 16% increase in its average real estate price between March
and April 2009 and a 3% increase in average prices since April 2008.
The Township of Langley
was the fourth hottest neighborhood with a 15% increase in average prices
between March and April and a 12% increase since April 2008.
Vancouver's downtown West
Side/Coal Harbour area was the sixth hottest neighborhood (15% increase
between March and April and a 0.3% increase since April 2008).
Don Lawby, president of
Century 21 Canada, said, "Although most markets have been impacted by
the recession, some have neighborhoods in which prices are resilient and
stronger today than a year ago."
The country's two hottest
neighborhoods were Etobicoke (4% increase) and Pickering (7% increase), both
in Metro Toronto.
In the Lower Mainland, in
addition to Richmond, Langley and Coal Harbour, Kitsilano, Port Moody, the
Dear Lake area in Burnaby, Abbotsford, Mission and Port Coquitlam were among
the best performing neighbourhoods between March and April.
The B.C. Real Estate
Association reported Thursday that residential sales rose 3% to 8,270 units
in May. It was the first year-over-year increase since December 2007.
May also posted the
highest number of residential sales since April 2008 and is the fourth
consecutive month of rising home sales.
Overall, however, the
sales volume of multiple listing service residential sales is down 31% to
$11.7 billion over the same period last year. A total of 26,359 units were
sold in the first five months of 2009, down 26% from 2008
- 2009 June 11 BUSINESS
IN VANCOUVER
NEWS
ARCHIVES
Credit:
Vancouver Sun photo
Downtown Vancouver condos command top premium in Canada
People in Canada's luxury housing
market are paying a premium of more than $500 per square foot to live in
downtown Vancouver, [Editor notes more like $1,800 per sq ft for Coal
Harbour now] according to a survey released Thursday by Century 21.
In the study, Canadian brokers
from the international real estate firm scoured Vancouver, Toronto,
Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton to find the best deals for an executive home
in the $1 million range, looking both at exclusive inner-city and suburban
locations.
The most dramatic variations
turned up in Greater Vancouver -- which already boasts the country's highest
residential property prices -- where purchasers could choose between a
two-bedroom, 1,760-square-foot downtown waterfront condominium for $1.175
million, or a 6,600-square-foot, eight-bedroom house in Surrey for $999,000.
The downtown condo, attractive
because of its urban conveniences, costs $671 per square foot, compared with
the Surrey home's $150 -- among the best dollar values in the country -- a
difference of $521.
"The much larger differential
for the Vancouver property is probably attributable to the premium that
investors are willing to pay for the big West Coast view -- that water and
mountain vista that isn't available in any other Canadian centre," said
Don Lawby, president of Vancouver-based Century 21 Canada Limited
Partnership.
For the survey, Century 21 brokers
selected representative executive homes located within 30 minutes of a
city's downtown core, based on the home's neighbourhood, amenities and
square footage. Premiums were calculated by subtracting the per-square-foot
value of the commuter home from the per-square-foot value of the downtown
residence.
The $1.175-million downtown
Vancouver property chosen was located close to the library, theatre, General
Motors Place and Robson Street shopping. The condo unit offers a spacious
layout on two levels, with views of the North Shore mountains and Vancouver
harbour.
Along with secured entry, this
home has marble and hardwood flooring, rooftop deck, gourmet kitchen,
granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, gas cook top and gas
fireplace.
The $999,000 Surrey home is in
Panorama Ridge, one of the city's finer areas, located about 30 minutes to
an hour's driving distance to downtown Vancouver, depending on traffic.
This residence offers eight
bedrooms and five bathrooms, including a rental suite as a mortgage helper.
Among Canada's other four major
cities surveyed, the per-square-foot differential between a
centrally-located property and a suburban home is $351 in Toronto, $179 in
Montreal, $172 in Calgary, and $118 in Edmonton.
For executives who don't mind
commuting from an out-of-the-way location, Century 21 found a 22-room,
7,100-square-foot Tudor-style mansion, situated on a double lot in the
prestigious Brighton area, on the North River in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Features
include formal living and dining rooms, two fireplaces, large pool, a
built-in gymnasium and solarium with water views. The price: $800,000, or
just $115 per square foot.
- 30 Apr 2004 Vancouver
Sun
SINGLE
FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
STATISTICAL ARCHIVE
P
roperty Millionaires
The number of properties assessed by BC Assessment
as worth more than $1 million almost doubled in 2006. Homeowners were the
biggest group of new paper millionaires.
Properties assessed at more than $1 million:
Total 2006: 26,557 +92.3%
2007: 51,059
Single-family homes
2006: 19,568 +94.3%
2007: 38,027
Condominiums
2006: 1,893 +72.2%
2007: 3,260
Source: - VANCOUVER
SUN 4 January 2007
|
Top
Assessed Residences in British Columbia
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| '07 |
'06 |
'05 |
'04 |
|
Address
|
City
|
Assessemt
|
| 1 |
12 |
- |
- |
|
4787
Drummond Drive |
Vancouver |
$22,478,000 |
| 2 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
|
130
Oxley Street South |
West
Vancouver |
$20,822,000 |
| 3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
3330
Radcliffe Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$18,508,000 |
| 4 |
3 |
8 |
10 |
|
2815
Point Grey Road |
Vancouver |
$18,006,000 |
| 5 |
4 |
4 |
23 |
|
3350
Radcliffe Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$15,564,000 |
| 6 |
10 |
7 |
4 |
|
4719
Belmont Avenue |
Vancouver |
$15,560,000 |
| 7 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
|
6151
St. Georges Crescent |
West
Vancouver |
$14,985,000 |
| 8 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
|
3489
Osler Street |
Vancouver |
$14,805,000 |
| 9 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
|
3110
Travers Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$14,557,000 |
| 10 |
11 |
11 |
15 |
|
5695
Newton Wynd |
Vancouver |
$14,067,000 |
| 11 |
9 |
10 |
2 |
|
2588
Bellevue Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$13,864,000 |
| 12 |
14 |
13 |
13 |
|
670
Lands End Road |
North
Saanich |
$13,725,000 |
| 13 |
7 |
3 |
- |
|
2177
Lake Placid Road |
Whistler |
$13,459,000 |
| 14 |
39 |
- |
- |
|
3003
Point Grey Road |
Vancouver |
$12,843,000 |
| 15 |
12 |
14 |
8 |
|
4351
Erwin Drive |
West
Vancouver |
$12,807,000 |
| 16 |
15 |
15 |
22 |
|
2531
Point Grey Road |
Vancouver |
$12,689,000 |
| 17 |
30 |
31 |
33 |
|
4857
Belmont Avenue |
Vancouver |
$12,305,000 |
| 18 |
18 |
17 |
17 |
|
4743
Belmont Avenue |
Vancouver |
$12,078,000 |
| 19 |
16 |
25 |
29 |
|
3639
Osler Street |
Vancouver |
$11,988,000 |
| 20 |
17 |
16 |
16 |
|
4371
Erwin Drive |
West
Vancouver |
$11,655,000 |
| 21 |
22 |
22 |
20 |
|
1388
The Crescent |
Vancouver |
$11,636,000 |
| 22 |
71 |
- |
- |
|
3195
Humber Road |
Oak
Bay |
$11,612,000 |
| 23 |
19 |
- |
- |
|
3344
Radcliffe Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$11,479,000 |
| 24 |
80 |
- |
- |
|
17146
20th Avenue |
Surrey |
$11,407,000 |
| 25 |
21 |
21 |
42 |
|
5240
Marine Drive |
West
Vancouver |
$11,406,000 |
| 26 |
20 |
20 |
18 |
|
4147
Ferndale Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$11,378,000 |
| 27 |
35 |
- |
- |
|
3425
Point Grey Road |
Vancouver |
$11,285,000 |
| 28 |
48 |
46 |
- |
|
4707
Belmont Avenue |
Vancouver |
$10,812,000 |
| 29 |
25 |
26 |
30 |
|
4343
Erwin Drive |
West
Vancouver |
$10,594,000 |
| 30 |
38 |
35 |
47 |
|
3125
Beach Drive |
Oak
Bay |
$10,489,000 |
| 31 |
36 |
41 |
- |
|
3019
Point Grey Road |
Vancouver |
$10,407,000 |
| 32 |
46 |
- |
- |
|
8100
McPhail Road |
Central
Saanich |
$10,403,800 |
| 33 |
67 |
- |
- |
|
4851
Belmont Avenue |
Vancouver |
$10,375,000 |
| 34 |
32 |
45 |
- |
|
1450
Blanca Street |
Vancouver |
$10,355,000 |
| 35 |
24 |
23 |
14 |
|
5365
Seaside Place |
West
Vancouver |
$10,231,000 |
| 36 |
170 |
- |
- |
|
2816
Bellevue Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$10,207,000 |
| 37 |
143 |
- |
- |
|
3455
Marpole Avenue |
Vancouver |
$10,056,000 |
| 38 |
26 |
24 |
43 |
|
3190
Travers Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$10,054,000 |
| 39 |
34 |
27 |
40 |
|
1599
Angus Drive |
Vancouver |
$10,033,000 |
| 40 |
29 |
28 |
26 |
|
4140
Ferndale Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$10,027,000 |
| 41 |
- |
- |
- |
|
PH
- 430 Beach Crescent |
Vancouver |
$9,959,000 |
| 42 |
23 |
37 |
- |
|
1365
Dorcas Point Road |
Nanoose
Bay |
$9,939,000 |
| 43 |
87 |
- |
- |
|
4883
Belmont Avenue |
Vancouver |
$9,928,800 |
| 44 |
- |
- |
- |
|
PH
- 1169 W. Cordova Street |
Vancouver |
$9,820,000 |
| 45 |
- |
- |
- |
|
2781
Point Grey Road |
Vancouver |
$9,795,000 |
| 46 |
76 |
- |
- |
|
4833
Belmont Avenue |
Vancouver |
$9,791,000 |
| 47 |
86 |
- |
- |
|
2021
Indian Fort Drive |
White
Rock |
$9,686,000 |
| 48 |
44 |
- |
- |
|
1188
West 55th Avenue |
Vancouver |
$9,486 |
| 49 |
52 |
- |
- |
|
3005
Point Grey Road |
Vancouver |
$9,458,000 |
| 50 |
37 |
- |
- |
|
3130
Travers Avenue |
West
Vancouver |
$9,448,000 |
| West
side story: House prices soar
|
|
The benchmark price of a detached house
on the west side of Vancouver rose by more than 23% from November of
2006 to the same month of this year, according to the Real Estate Board of
Greater Vancouver. That was the biggest percentage increase of any area in
the board's region. -
2007 December 12 VANCOUVER SUN |
Housing market remained surprisingly
robust in 2007
Prices in
some areas have doubled since 2002
Greater Vancouver benchmark price (Dec. 2007)
Detached homes $730,399
+13.5% since Dec. 2006
+95.5% since Dec. 2002Townhouses
$456,941
+11.4% since Dec. 2006
+100.8% since Dec. 2002
Apartments
$377,579
+14.5% since Dec. 2006
+111.5% since Dec. 2002
Fraser Valley average price (Dec. 2007)
Detached homes $520,317
+11.4% since Dec. 2006
+91.7% since Dec. 2002
Townhouses
$322,578
+12.7% since Dec. 2006
+74.6% since Dec. 2002
Apartments
$216,990
+14.9% since Dec. 2006
+93.2% since Dec. 2002
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Real
Estate Board use different standards for setting their pricing
figures. REBGV defines a "benchmark" home as a "typical property"
sold within Metro Vancouver, whereas FVREB calculates an "average"
price from all sales in North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford
and Mission.
West Side Leads Gains
Typical sales price reported by the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board
for Dec. 2007, and percentage increase from a year earlier:
| MUNICIPALITY |
AVERAGE
PRICE |
ANNUAL
INCREASE |
|
| Burnaby |
$745,160 |
+12.8% |
|
| Coquitlam |
$614,075 |
+8.4% |
|
| South Delta |
$654,500 |
+13.5% |
|
| Maple Ridge |
$437,131 |
+4.8% |
|
| New West |
$557,016 |
+13.2% |
|
| North Vancouver |
$871,191 |
+18.1% |
|
| Pitt Meadows |
$467,514 |
+2.9% |
|
| Port Coquitlam |
$551,469 |
+17.1% |
|
| Port Moody |
$620,193 |
-8.7% |
|
| Richmond |
$722,316 |
+13.2% |
|
| Squamish |
$505,208 |
+20.6% |
|
| Sunshine Coast |
$406,146 |
+3.0% |
|
| Vancouver East |
$678,179 |
+14.3% |
|
| Vancouver West |
$1,396,490 |
+27.1% |
|
| West Vancouver |
$1,339,990 |
+10.5% |
|
| Metro Vancouver |
$730,399 |
+13.5% |
Source:
GVREB
2007
|
Forecasters who had expected Lower Mainland real estate markets to
moderate during 2007 instead saw sales rebound and price increases continue
at rates that have doubled values in many markets over the past five years.
Greater Vancouver realtors processed 38,050 sales through the Multiple
Listing Service in 2007, a figure 7.2 per cent higher than the previous
year, but still 6.1 per cent off the record in 2005.
Prices were also up between 11.4 per cent on single-family homes for the
year, and 14.4 per cent on condominiums.
Across the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver's territory, the so-calledbenchmark"
the price for a typical single-family home hit $730,399 by December, almost 96 per cent higher than five years ago.
The benchmark townhouse price of $456,941 is slightly more than double
what it was five years ago, and condominiums, with a $377,579 benchmark in
December, are up 111 per cent.
Fraser Valley realtors processed 16,547 MLS sales in 2007, three per cent
more than in 2006. Prices for single-family homes were up 11.4 per cent, and
condos were up 14.9 per cent.
In the past five years, the average single-family house price in the
valley has increased almost 92 per cent to $520,317. The average Fraser
Valley townhouse price has risen almost 75 per cent to hit $322,578, and
average condominium prices are up 93 per cent to $216,990.
Higher prices keep pushing buyers into smaller or more suburban
properties. First-time buyers are going for condominiums, while people
looking for more space are buying further away from Vancouver's core.
Banker Jeff Starchuk was among the latter, opting to trade an ordinary
bungalow in Burnaby and a miserable commute to North Vancouver for a job
transfer and an executive-style house in east Abbotsford.
"It was pretty well a straight-across trade," Starchuk said of
the new, 4,000-square-foot $650,000 house in a gated community he and his
husband Grant Berjian were able to pick up.
The couple was perhaps disappointed to move out of Greater Vancouver,
"but when you look at what you get [for housing] in relation, it's
probably not that big a sacrifice, unless I wanted to be downtown every
day."
Since taking possession two weeks ago, Starchuk has noticed that many
other people are making the same trade. When he walks his dog at 6 a.m., he
sees a stream of cars from his neighbourhood heading for the freeway.
- 2008 January 4 VANCOUVER
SUN
NEWS:
MARKET
UNRAVEL
>>
MORE
Ritz
Carlton 'stalled'
Real
Estate Price Drops Signals Cycle Change
Building
Boom Cools
Housing
slump stalks Western Canada
COMMENTARY
When its sunny in Vancouver its hard to beat this
place. Disciplined yoga teacher entice us to 7:00 a.m.
yoga classes so we can be baited to move to more advanced positions like
shoulder stand and headstand. So back to gardening by 8:30 when
its bright + perfect. Ahhh...perhaps a walk at the end of the
day by the beach. Some days we are lucky to be
on the boat.
Downtown Vancouver is walking distance to a 1,000
acre park and some of the world's most spectacular scenery.
Clean air. Where else can one have top grade housing at
incredibly affordable prices, by world-class standards? And good
food. Good Asian food to boot. Operating costs
for similar lifestyle is a fraction of the cost. Canadians have
no idea they have it so good. The market is adapting to its ever
changing audience.
One of the best buys available in today's market
is a furnished two-bedroom unit adjacent to Stanley Park with the city's
most spectacular 360-degree view. Check out Presidio
Penthouse 
.
The city continues to evolve with international
players coming into the marketplace but one of the most interesting growth
areas of the city is at the centre of the city.
EMPLOYMENT
TRENDS : Tech
More consistent employment and better
work schedules in the video gaming industry are draining the pool of film
and television digital animation talent, as some Vancouver-based video game
developers ramp up recruiting efforts -
2008 October 28 BUSINESS
IN VANCOUVER
Microsoft
announces plans for Vancouver software centre
Greater Vancouver will be home to
Microsoft's first software development centre to be opened in Canada, the
company announced today.
The facility, to open in the fall, will
have about 200 employees, a number that could as high as 800. It will draw
on software developers from the around the world and join a small number of
development centres outside the software giant's Redmond, Wash.,
headquarters.
"This is an exciting announcement
for us," said Phil Sorgen, president of Microsoft Canada, which
currently has 940 employees across the country with about 60 based in
Vancouver
It is a first for Microsoft Canada. To
put this in perspective there are probably no more than a handful of these
around the world."
Sorgen said while Microsoft hasn't yet
confirmed the location of the new centre, the company is exploring sites in
Richmond, Vancouver and Burnaby.
Sorgen said the ability to attract top
technology talent was a major factor in Microsoft's decision to locate its
newest development centre here, with Vancouver's proximity to the Redmond
headquarters an added bonus.
"Vancouver is such an international
gateway with a diverse population and a reach that gives us access to the
best and brightest population, that is what I would say is the No. 1
interest in the Vancouver market," said Sorgen.
He said employees are looking for not
just compensation but also work-life balance, access to education, the arts
and recreation and other factors that influence their career decisions.
"Vancouver has a lot to offer in
that area," he said. "Vancouver is a very appealing market and
when you are competing for the best and the brightest talent, we want to
ensure we have a work environment in a location people want to work and live
in. We think Vancouver is going to help us attract talent."
Sorgen said the company will be hiring
developers from around the world to staff the new facility and job offers
have already started to go out, with the opening expected for September or
October.
The Microsoft expansion here is seen not
only as a coup for the province but as good news for a country that is
struggling to see its technology sector compete on the world stage.
"It is great news not just for
Vancouver but for Canada," said Anne Golden, president of the
Conference Board of Canada. "Initially they are trying to create about
200 jobs; ultimately I think they hope to have in the category of 800 jobs.
"It is important not just in the
short term; ultimately they will be attracting skilled software developers
to Canada. It is the kind of investment that those of us who are concerned
about promoting innovation in Canada have called for."
The Microsoft Canada Development Centre
joins others outside the Redmond headquarters, including ones located in
North Carolina, Ireland, Denmark, and Israel.
The company also has full research and
development centres in the United Kingdom, India, China, and the Silicon
Valley.
The Canadian announcement follows
on the heels of recently announced expansions to Boston and Bellevue, Wash.
- VANCOUVER
SUN 5 July 2007
Sensing a change in the wind
Vancouver housing seems to be on the
cusp of a radical realignment, not just in prices, but in the type of homes
being built
The Vancouver chapter of the
international developer lobby and educational group named the Urban
Development Institute delivers a monthly luncheon with speaker. Serving as
desserts to the first courses of saffron chicken in cream sauce or halibut
primavera, some of these talks are technical affairs, where investors and
designers rise to the podium to hash out their latest proposals through
pictures and numbers.
More intense buzz at UDI is generated
when local experts speak of subjects near and dear to any local developer's
heart: the direction of Vancouver's housing market, the prices actually paid
for condos and houses, and the supply of new units about to go on sale.
These are the crucial factoids that will shape our housing marketplace in
months and years to come.
Remember, developers need to think in the
future tense, as it now takes years for new housing projects to go through
planning approvals, finance, design, construction and marketing. All this
means developers need to know when a housing boom is over long before anyone
else - their businesses are on the line.
Realtor Bob Rennie has a track record as
the hero of these UDI sessions, getting hundreds of developers up on their
feet with rafter-shaking cheers. His 2006 talk was nothing short of
tumultuous, land investors hearing what they had clearly come to hear: the
Vancouver boom was on, it would go on indefinitely, and all was right in the
world. His spring talk this year was somewhat more subdued, but it was still
a defiantly feel-good affair, with quiet assurance spread around the room as
deep and delicious as the mousse au chocolat.
Things may be changing.
Just as the seasons clicked over on June
21, the mood in the Four Seasons convention hall much, much more sober. You
could hear a pin drop there throughout a talk by housing market observer
Jennifer Podmore, scion of Vancouver's leading development industry clan
(her dad is president of union-owned housing developer Concert Properties,
her mother the promoter of the annual fundraiser which has architects and
builders creating castles of canned-goods for the food bank.)
Sensitive to the sensibilities, careers
and investment fortunes on the line in the room, Ms. Podmore put a positive
spin on things for UDI. But hers was a savvy audience, and their
un-characteristic silence was induced by recent events more than her talk.
Over the past few weeks local developers have watched the American housing
market tank, mortgage interest rates creep up, the bond market send out
worrisome tremors of more increases to come, and perhaps most disturbing of
all, a marked rise in the housing un-affordability index - it now requires
70 per cent of the average Vancouver income to pay for the average Vancouver
house.
Average.
Hey, average buyer, just try eating,
drinking, breeding and saving for your retirement on that remaining 30
points! Consequently, most are agreed that Vancouver's housing market is
poised at a turning point.
Just where it is headed is the source of
disagreement these days. Could it be a mere levelling off, our vaulting
housing boom parachuting down to a soft landing? Or will this be a market
turn of a shorter radius, doing harm solely to low-level speculators who
borrowed too heavily in search of quick profits? Or is Vancouver headed
towards a 180 degree reverse in housing price trends - like the one we saw
here in the 1980's - where inflation-adjusted prices took a dozen years to
recover?
Jennifer Podmore's take on all this is
simple, but simply ominous for developers: "The consumer is taking a
collective pause." Her graphs and verbal summaries tell the story,
which is more sobering news for Vancouver than it is for Surrey and other
south-of-the-Fraser communities.
To start, construction costs have risen
out of sight: Ms. Podmore reported that housing now retails at an average of
$800 per square foot in Vancouver; $500 per square foot in Fraser
Valley communities. In response, she sees developers turning to wood frame
over more expensive concrete construction, and literally down-sizing their
product, in consort with a marketplace where the average household size has
dropped to 2.6 people (the big family Surrey figure is 2.8 per household.)
Those 2.6 people are increasingly living in smaller spaces, and an
environment of high construction costs means that Vancouver's average
physical size of houses and apartments drops by a few percentage points each
year. By way of comparison, figures from the American Institute of
Architects indicate that apartment sizes -whether studio, ones, twos or
threes - are on average one quarter larger in the Miami market than in
Vancouver, and lucky them, they get to hang out on roomy beaches for twelve
instead of two months per year.
There are some positive implications in
all of this murk. Ms. Podmore observes that Vancouver's is now a market
driven by, "innovative design for the smart consumer." Gone are
the days of condominiums-as-commodities, where buyers bought by the square
metre, hardly looking at generic space that could be quickly flipped, sight
un-seen, for an instant profit.
Interpreting the data collected by her
firm, MPC Intelligence Inc., Ms. Podmore proposes that for the first time in
years, Vancouver buyers are now interested in "exterior detailing,
architectural finishes, interior features, and building/neighbourhood
character." This means 'Yeah' for architects and buyers with an eye,
'Oh-oh' for bottom-end developers and remote-control purchasers.
Given her analysis, developers about to
go to market with sausage-style condos-by-the-yard should be very worried,
especially downtown. Her year-end real estate figures indicate that just
over four high rise apartments were sold in 2006 for every Vancouver area
single family house. But that ratio is about to change, since her data
tables indicate that 4,335 new high rise condo apartments are "coming
soon" to market, compared to a mere 559 single family houses. This
means the ratio will soon be ten-to-one.
This ratio is worrisome, as Ms. Podmore
reports that prices are holding better in affordability areas (think places
with a commute of one hour or more, or selling at less than that killing 70
per cent of average income annualized price) and for single family houses
than they are for mid- to high-rises in the strato-housing-sphere around our
downtown peninsula. Yes, Ms. Podmore indicates that not everyone can afford
a luxury condominium, and yes again, a few builders are about to learn a
hard lesson.
Design now matters and prices will
not rise like they have - it is easy for this architecture critic to find
some silver linings in Vancouver housing's newly-arrived dark clouds.
-- by Trevor Boddy GLOBE
& MAIL 2007 June 29
Lower Mainland's economy soars
Construction sites will continue to dominate the
Lower Mainland next year, making it the fastest growing metropolitan economy
in the country, says a report released yesterday by the Conference Board of
Canada.
Non-residential construction, including
Olympics-related projects, will have another strong year, bringing more
jobs, more people and more spending to the municipalities that make up the
Greater Vancouver region, the report said.
Although residential-housing starts have slipped
and are expected to slow further next year, non-residential construction
will continue to increase in 2006, with forecasted growth of 7.9 per cent.
Overall, construction activity in B.C. increased
by about 9.4 per cent this year and is expected to grow by another 7.6 per
cent in 2006. Non-residential construction spending increased by 12.2 per
cent in 2005 and is forecast to increase 8.9 per cent next year.
"We have had a very busy 2005 -- a phenomenal
change from what we experienced a few years ago," said Keith Sashaw,
president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association.
"B.C. and the Lower Mainland have gone
through incredible growth in non-residential construction, and we anticipate
it will continue in 2006 probably at the same blistering pace as we had in
2005."
Sashaw said the provincial government maintains a
major-projects inventory which now lists more than $82 billion in
construction currently under way. Two years ago, the inventory was worth $44
billion.
He said the Olympics projects represent about $600
million of the inventory.
"The job growth in the Lower Mainland has
been huge," Sashaw said. "In June, 2004, there were about 60,000
people employed in the industry; this year, there are more than 80,000 --
and that's just in the Lower Mainland.
"We're looking forward to a number of years
of good, solid growth, at least until 2009, 2010."
Overall, the Lower Mainland's economy showed
steady growth this year, which is expected to continue in 2006, the report
said. Almost 31,000 new jobs will be open in the region, meaning more
consumer spending and continued vigorous activity in both goods and services
industries.
"I certainly agree 2006 will be a good year
for Greater Vancouver, and construction is the biggest driver, no
question," said Jock Finlayson, executive vice-president of the
Business Council of B.C.
"Residential, non-residential, infrastructure
and transportation -- construction is very strong across the board."
Abbotsford's economy has seen strength, with the
construction industry leading the growth this year and continuing in 2006.
Non-residential projects, including the next phase of the $24-million Mt.
Lehman Road interchange upgrade and the $355-million Regional Hospital and
Cancer Centre, will more than make up for an anticipated decline in housing
starts in the area.
The region's economy is forecast to increase by
another 3.1 per cent in 2006 and employment is expected to grow by 2.9 per
cent.
Victoria's strong gains in both the goods and
services sectors improved employment, and along with healthy consumer
spending, a strong housing market and improved tourism activity, provided
the region with solid growth this year, the report said.
Next year is forecasted to bring a 1.1-per-cent
decline in employment; however, the region will continue to enjoy moderate
growth, according to the report. - by
Wendy McLellan
The
Province 21 Dec 2005
Everything right for B.C. economy in
'05
A massive run-up in real estate. Billions in
deals. Commodities skyrocket. What is 2005? The year of the boom. BusinessBC
looks at the forces shaping B.C.'s economy. -
- -
It was the year of the perfect storm in the
British Columbia economy, except everything was going right.
"This was the year . . . in which everything
all came together simultaneously for the B.C. economy," said Derek
Holt, RBC Financial Group's assistant chief economist.
"A strong high-tech sector, gas in the
northeast, a turnaround in the fiscal position of the B.C. government [and]
shifting of trade patterns toward booming opportunities with China -- boy,
you really come up with a list of about half-a-dozen items that have turned
around the B.C. economy in recent years," Holt said in an interview.
Jock Finlayson, executive vice-president of policy
for the Business Council of B.C., used similar words.
"Almost everything has been in alignment for
a very positive picture in B.C. economically," Finlayson said.
"Commodity markets were probably the biggest
development that filtered through to influence our economy, particularly
energy, mineral and metals markets, which were exceedingly buoyant and
played a big role in the government's better-than- predicted fiscal
performance," Finlayson said in an interview.
The long blustery summer, with hurricanes Katrina
and Rita threatening oil refineries, saw the price of a barrel of oil hit
$70 US and gasoline prices ping-pong throughout the year, with weekly
average pump prices in Vancouver as high as $1.14 a litre in September and
as low as $0.80 in January according to statistics provided by M.J. Ervin
and Associates. Prices for gas were even lower in other areas of the
province.
The price of gold rose as high as $536.50 US and
prices for zinc and copper were also up.
These higher commodity prices, coupled with
increased demand, led to an eight- or nine- per-cent increase in the value
of B.C. exports, Finlayson said, proving pundits -- who had predicted zero
export growth a year ago -- wrong.
The B.C. economy generally performed better than
expected, said Helmut Pastrick, chief economist with Credit Union Central of
B.C. But what he found surprising was the continued decline in three-, five-
and seven-year mortgage rates when short- term rates were rising.
Usually, when prime rates go up, so do long-term
mortgage rates, Pastrick said. But the lower mortgage rates pushed the
housing market to be stronger than expected, he said.
Another big story in the economy was a surge in
non-residential construction, with the value of building permits increasing
by 70 per cent in the first nine months of 2005 over 2004, Finlayson said.
"We've had strong housing starts and
expenditures on renovations in the residential marketplace. But
non-residential investment was softer over the preceding years,"
Finlayson said. "But it seems to have caught on fire in 2005 and the
outlook for 2006 is pretty good as well."
The one bad apple in the storm was the Canadian
dollar, which continued to be strong in 2005.
"That has really put the squeeze on some
parts of the B.C. economy, particularly secondary manufacturing,"
Finlayson said.
The pulp and paper industry, which sells its goods
in U.S. dollars but pays costs in Canadian dollars, has been the hardest
hit, he said. And unlike minerals and metals, pulp and paper producers have
not enjoyed any run-up in prices to offset the higher costs.
Tourism has also been hurt by the higher dollar,
Finlayson said.
And there are things to look out for, even when
things are going so well, Holt said.
One downside of a booming economy is the potential
for inflationary bottlenecks. With labour markets tight, there could be
accelerating wages, a skilled- labour shortage and difficulty finding new
employees, Holt said. Migration is helping ease the stress with more people
moving to B.C., but Alberta is also booming and that means the two provinces
may start fighting over the same workers.
A second downside that Holt warns of is an
infrastructure shortfall. Port capacity has to be expanded to deal with the
growing trade with China and there are also infrastructure needs in the
run-up to the Olympics, Holt said.
The trick is to create this infrastructure without
crowding out other types of activity in the economy by bidding up wages and
prices too aggressively, Holt said.
"We are not seeing clear evidence of those
sorts of threats emerging yet and [the B.C. economy] is still a positive
news story, but if you had to point out a risk in the years going ahead it
would be that in a very, very tight economy wages and prices start to
accelerate in a little bit of a dangerous way," Holt said.
All three economists see continued growth for B.C.
in the year to come. Pastrick is the most optimistic, with growth in B.C.'s
real gross domestic product pegged to be 4.1 per cent. Holt follows close
behind with an estimate of 4.0 per cent and Finlayson believes growth will
be a slightly more subdued 3.8 per cent. -
by Fiona Anderson VANCOUVER
SUN 21 Dec 2005
Vancouver economy tops next year,
board says
Conference Board predicts construction will power a surge in real gross
domestic product
Vancouver will have the fastest growing economy in
the country next year with the white-hot construction sector leading the
way, the Conference Board of Canada says.
Abbotsford will come in fourth, according to a
cross-Canada survey of 20 metropolitan areas.
Almost 31,000 new jobs are expected to be created
in Vancouver in 2006, allowing consumer spending to double to 5.6 per cent,
the board said Monday.
Real gross domestic product is expected to grow
from 3.3 per cent to 4.0 per cent, aided by a rebound in the transportation
and communications sector.
The board credits the Olympics for paving the way
to another year of exceptional growth in the construction sector, although
the 2010 Winter Games account for barely 10 per cent of non-residential
development projected over the next five years.
"There are a lot of things putting us on top
and it is not only the Olympics," said Dave Park, chief economist at
the Vancouver Board of Trade. He cited immigration, residential
construction, widespread prosperity, relatively low borrowing costs, and the
city's well-publicized "most livable city" status.
"We have a quite a number of people from the
U.S. and elsewhere investing in Vancouver condominiums and then you look at
the initiatives coming from the announced Pacific Gateway strategy and the
trade potential is tremendous."
Some of the Olympic projects expected to get
underway in 2006 are the $155-million Richmond speed skating oval and the
$70-million expansion of the Cypress Mountain Ski Resort.
Also contributing to the healthy non-residential
construction outlook next year are projects such as the $565-million
expansion of the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Park cautioned that a housing slowdown in the U.S.
could hurt demand for B.C.'s commodities in both the U.S. and China, but
offsetting that risk to the economy is the "multiplier effect" of
spending generated as a result of strong commodity markets in 2005, and the
potential for surging tourism from China.
Strong job creation throughout B.C. and a healthy
economy are pointing Vancouver to the top of the heap, said Cameron Muir,
senior market analyst with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
"Yes, the Olympics are having an impact in
some local construction markets, particularly on the supply of skilled
tradespeople as well as material supplies and over-call costs, but the
economy itself is very robust despite the looming Olympics on the
horizon."
According to the Conference Board's quarterly
Metropolitan Outlook, Abbotsford was the province's fastest growing centre
this year with 4.4 per cent GDP, placing it third in Canada behind Edmonton
and Saskatoon, and the city slips a notch to 3.1 per cent GDP next year.
However, 2006 will be Abbotsford's third
consecutive year of sound growth, supported by continued strong population
growth.
"Abbotsford benefits from having a pretty
diverse economy," Muir said. "In addition to agriculture, there is
a lot of commercial and industrial usage of land and the city is keenly
served for transportation with both the freeway and close access and
proximity to the U.S. border."
Western Canadian cities boasted eight of the nine
fastest growing metropolitan economies in 2005 and four out of the top five
will be in the West in 2006, Conference Board director Mario Lefebvre said
in a release.
Calgary's real GDP is expected to grow by 3.8 per
cent in 2006, a slightly slower pace of activity than in 2005. Strong
non-residential construction and services sector activity will support
employment growth and, in turn, domestic demand.
After a relatively modest performance in 2005,
real GDP in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area is forecast to expand by a
robust 3.7 per cent in 2006, its fastest growth rate in four years.
Manufacturing activity is expected to pick up, as the sector completes its
adjustment to the stronger dollar. - by
Michael Kane VANCOUVER
SUN 21 Dec 2005
Trends That Count
Vancouver
worst for business property tax, study says
Vancouver has become
the worst place in Canada to do business from a property tax perspective,
according to a study released Wednesday by the Real Property Association of
Canada, an advocacy group for owners and managers of investment real estate.
With a commercial to
residential property tax ratio of five-to-one, Vancouver has replaced
Toronto as the “most over-taxed business jurisdiction in Canada,”
according to the study.
“Part of the
problem in Vancouver is high house prices. They think they can ameliorate
the hit by in essence keeping property tax increases for residential
homeowners low. The problem is they're going to drive away business,”
Michael Brooks, the association's executive director, said in an interview.
Of the 19 cities
included in the study, Vancouver has had one of the biggest jumps in the
amount of municipal property tax shouldered by businesses compared with
residences between 2004 and 2006.
- 2007 November 28 THE
GLOBE & MAIL
Expensive homes and affordability survey
The Royal Bank of Canada reports that
housing is becoming less affordable in B.C., and that's probably not
surprising when you consider some of the recent sales.
The month started with news that a renowned Polish
photographer had paid $11.2 million for a home in Whistler, setting a new
price record. That sale was followed by news that Aspac Developments Ltd.
had sold 65 of the 72 units in the second of three towers it's developing at
Harbour Green in Coal Harbour. Buyers are spending an average of $2.5
million apiece for the suites.
Offers on the final seven units, including the
tower's $7.25 million penthouse, are being accepted until late June to
ensure as many people as possible have a chance to become a proud owner.
While these sales aren't typical of the B.C.
housing market, they reflect the general appreciation in prices the Royal
Bank's recent housing affordability survey noted when it reported that it
now takes 53.7 per cent of pre-tax household income to own a detached
bungalow in B.C. For those desiring a standard two-storey home, it'll
require 61.3 per cent of household income.
The situation was worse in Vancouver, where
bungalows require 56.2 per cent of pre-tax income and a two-storey home 62.1
per cent of pre-tax income.
Condos remain the best bet, requiring just 29 per
cent of household income in Vancouver. That's less than the 32-per-cent
threshold beyond which housing is considered unaffordable. - Business
in Vancouver June 14-20, 2005; issue 816
Population growth predicted to
double
Vancouver rate to hit two per cent by 2009 with immigration
fuelled by 2010 Games, Conference Board says
Vancouver's population growth will double over the
next five years with the 2010 Olympics fuelling strong immigration, the
Conference Board of Canada predicts.
And growth could be even stronger if the pace of
inter provincial migration picks up more than expected, said Mario Lefebvre,
director of the non-profit research organization's metropolitan outlook
service.
Vancouver's population growth is expected to reach
two per cent by 2009, up from 0.9 per cent in 2004, boding well for the
economy, retail sales and housing starts.
The economy is forecast to grow by three per cent
this year and by an average of 3.3 per cent per year over the medium term,
according to the spring edition of the board's metropolitan outlook released
Wednesday. As a result of Olympic-related projects,
non-residential construction will remain healthy over the next several
years, and employment growth is expected to come in at a robust 1.8 per cent
per year.
"Vancouver was losing people to Alberta, the
land of opportunity. But Vancouver has turned that around by creating
roughly 55,000 new jobs over the past three years," Lefebvre said in a
telephone interview from Ottawa.
"You're heading into net migration gains now
because once you create those opportunities, it snowballs on you. You have
in-migration and immigration."
The board's forecast was characterized as "on
the optimistic side" by Andrew Ramlo, director of Vancouver's Urban
Futures Institute, which anticipates slower growth rates.
For example, the conference board expects
Vancouver's population to grow by 46,000, or 2.0 per cent, in 2009, while
the Urban Futures Institute anticipates 31,000, about 1.5-per-cent growth
that year. BC Stats is even more conservative, at 26,000 people, or
1.3-per-cent growth.
Migration to Vancouver is now relatively steady,
but the Olympics are expected to lead to very strong immigration figures
over the medium term, the board says.
"I don't think we are being optimistic,"
Lefebvre said. "I think there could be room for more because we are not
so big on inter-provincial migration and we could turn out to be wrong on
that. It could be stronger."
High international immigration and an economy that
is outperforming the national average are both contributing to population
growth, said Jock Finlayson, executive-vice president of the Business
Council of B.C.
However, he does not expect the Lower Mainland to
return to the growth rates of three per cent recorded in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, when the pending handover of Hong Kong to China and a brutal
recession in central Canada sent people fleeing to Vancouver.
He noted that population growth is not an
unalloyed good, although the business community tends to like it because it
means the market is expanding.
"It will put more stress on the living
environment. On the other hand, the Vancouver area is viewed internationally
as a place that has been very successful in managing growth, and presumably
that will continue."
- by Michael Kane VANCOUVER SUN
14 Apr 2005
FAST PACE:
Vancouver's population growth rate is expected to
nearly double by 2009.
| Population: |
2005 |
2009 |
| Projected |
2,184,000 |
2,343,000 |
Source: Conference Board of Canada
Growth
Forecasts:
| |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
| Forecasted
Growth |
2.2% |
3.0% |
3.2%
|
- Scotia Economics' forecasts for GDP growth in British
Columbia
Note: Additional
historical information towards end
of this page.
Data is 12 months ending
September each year.
Source: Clayton Research based on Statistics Canada Data
ARCHIVED
ARTICLES Sorry about the formatting, just learning
Construction turnover
Construction activity should stay strong across the province through the
next seven years, according to Vancouver Regional Construction
Association president in an article reported BUSINESS
IN VANCOUVER (October 26 -November 1, 2004; issue 783)
"When you take a look at
major projects only, which are projects over $40 million, we're looking at
about $16 billion in construction between now and 2011," he said.
These include infrastructure
projects such as highways ($5 billion), rapid transit ($3 billion) and the
airport ($1 billion), as well as $680 million in construction for the 2010
Winter Olympics.
"It's going to be a busy
time," "It's going to be a pretty exciting town to be
in."
The Association is counting on the
excitement to draw 45,000 to 50,000 trades to B.C. Half the
required workforce is needed to replace retiring workers; the others will
meet the demands of the boom. If all goes well, he expects the number of
construction workers in the province will rise from 130,000 to 160,000 in
the years ahead.
B.C. is expected to be
the only province in Canada to record increases in housing starts both this
year and in 2005
CREDIT: Vancouver
Sun Graphic
British
Columbi
a will lead the country in the growth of new home construction this year and
next, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation predicts.
Housing
starts will grow 21.1 per cent to 31,700 in 2004 and a further 2.2 per cent
to 32,400 in 2005, the federal agency said in its third-quarter Housing
Outlook, released Wednesday. That compares with a projected Canada-wide
increase of just 3.3 per cent this year and a decline next year. It also
represents the highest new home numbers seen on the West Coast in a decade.
B.C.
housing starts peaked at 42,807 in 1993, when new arrivals were flocking to
the province from Alberta, Ontario, and Hong Kong. Since the late 1990s more
new homes have been built in Alberta than B.C., but CMHC is predicting that
B.C. will once again overtake its neighbour beginning in 2005.
The
province is also expected to set a new record of 100,000 sales of existing
homes this year -- more than one in every five homes sold in Canada -- and
to lead all provinces in the growth of renovation spending. B.C. residents
will spend $4.6 billion on home improvement this year, a 10.3-per-cent
increase over 2003.
CMHC's
regional economist, Carol Frketich, attributed B.C.'s leading position to
strong employment growth and rising consumer confidence, in addition to the
historically low interest rates that are sustaining construction and real
estate sales across the country. She also noted that B.C. is playing
catch-up.
"We're
still coming off those very low numbers in 2000 and 2001," she said.
B.C. had been underperforming the rest of Canada since the "Asian
flu" -- the economic downturn in Asia -- struck in 1997. As a result,
the housing market here had more room to grow than elsewhere in Canada.
"This
will be the third straight year of more than 20-per-cent growth" in new
home construction, she said.
Though
the 2005 projections are still dependent on a number of factors, Frketich
said the 2004 forecast is pretty solid.
"For
2004 we've got a lot under our belt already," she said. "It would
take a lot to throw that forecast off."
Greater
Vancouver accounts for more than 60 per cent of the new apartments,
townhouses and houses being built, but the positive direction is spread
around B.C., Frketich said. Victoria is seeing a substantial increase in
condominium construction, as is Kelowna. The fastest percentage increase in
all housing categories is coming in Kamloops , she added.
Higher
interest rates will likely push resale activity down to a still-robust
95,000 transactions next year, CMHC predicts. But prices will keep climbing,
faster than the Canadian average. The average price of a home in B.C. will
grow 12 per cent to $292,000 this year and another 5.5 per cent to $308,000
in 2005.
Canada-wide,
the average price should rise 9.2 per cent to $226,200 this year and 4.6 per
cent to $236,500 in 2005.
B.C.
will see higher renovation spending again in 2005, growing another 8.9 per
cent to $5 billion, CMHC said. That contrasts with six-per-cent growth
nationwide, to $38.5 billion.
Across
Canada , CMHC expects 225,700 housing starts this year, the most since 1987.
"As
mortgage rates continue to rise next year, demand for new homes will cool
and starts will slow to 204,200 units," CHMC chief economist Bob Dugan
said in a news release. Ontario and Alberta starts have already begun to
decline.
Though
B.C.'s housing market indicators appear to be trailing the market trend in
the rest of the country, the province won't necessarily follow other
provinces into a downturn in 2006 and beyond, Frketich said.
"B.C.'s
in a different cycle," she said, noting that the approach of the 2010
Olympics and trends in the energy sector bode well for long-term growth in
real estate.
Even
today's frenetic pace of new home construction is not keeping pace with the
demand, said Michael Ferreira, president of the research and consulting firm
Urban Analytics Inc. Just 76 of the 7,420 new multi-family homes put on the
market in Greater Vancouver between January and July remained on the market
at the end of the period, he noted.
"Most
of the stuff that's being started is already sold," he said. He added
that municipal halls are swamped with development proposals, so many
projects are taking longer than expected to go through the approval process.
Like
CMHC, Ferreira does not foresee any softening in the market any time soon.
Construction activity will increase and prices will rise -- both because labour
and material costs are rising and because of underlying land values are,
too.
"I
don't really see much of a change over the next 18 to 24 months," he
said. "There's always a fear of the bubble bursting, but I don't see
any letdown in the near future."
In
the Vancouver area, sales volume dropped by a quarter to 3,017 units, the
Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported Wednesday. Single-family
houses saw the biggest decline, to 1,211 from 1,819 in July 2003.
Still,
year-to-date sales are running nine per cent ahead of 2003 and average home
prices continued to increase at a torrid pace, with townhouses at a new
all-time high of $324,193 and detached houses and condominiums slightly off
their spring peaks at $521,782 and $246,765, respectively.
The
average price of 60 houses sold in toney West Vancouver in July reached a
stratospheric $978,700. The benchmark price, representing a typical home in
the Greater Vancouver marketplace, rose 15.4 for houses, 19.3 per cent for
townhouses and 19.6 per cent for apartment properties, year over year, the
board said.
- by Michael Mcullough VANCOUVER
SUN
5 Aug 2004
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
article:
Spring
in pricing as Canadians step out
The average price of a two- storey
home in Vancouver has increased 14.6 per cent over the past year, and the
cost of a detached bungalow has risen by 13.2 per cent.
The survey of housing prices in major centres across Canada was reported by
Royal LePage Real Estate, a leading firm in the country.
Housing analysts agree that
Canadians tend to buy their homes in April and May, as the winter ends. When
the snow and the ice disappear, Canadians emerge from their homes and start
looking for a different shelter.
The housing market slumps most
dramatically in December and January, as Canadians take shelter from the
weather and leave the big capital decisions until spring.
... For those who are intimidated
by the constantly rising prices of the housing market, a consolation of
sorts came in the news that a waterfront property in West Vancouver sold for
C$1 million (HK$5.9 million) less than the owners had asked.
Instead of $18 million, the
11,000-square-foot house with 200 feet of shoreline sold for a mere $17
million.
As well as a view that stretched
from Vancouver's Lions Gate bridge to Vancouver Island, the property has
five full bedroom suites, a separate guest suite and maid's quarters, an
office, a wine cellar and a boathouse, as well as a four-car garage, a
swimming pool and a waterfall.
The concern for the neighbours in
West Vancouver, and the curiosity for the citizens of Vancouver, is that
they do not know who spent the $17 million for the property on Radcliffe
Avenue.
One rumour is that the new owner
is Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, himself a Vancouver boy, but Adams is living
in London and has given no indication that he is eager to leave.
Throughout Canada the average
price increase for a detached bungalow rose 6.8 per cent to $249,200 and the
price of a two-storey home increased by 8.5 per cent to $311,509. -
by John Gray SOUTH
CHINA MORNING POST 14 July 2004
Reuters
photo
The sunny shores of west Vancouver. A
study shows that 22 per cent of immigrants expect to buy their own homes in
the next year.
Settlers drive
Vancouver home boom
Speculators
make way for owner-occupiers as low interest rates encourage Asian
immigrants to enter the housing market
Asian homebuyers are still driving
Vancouver's booming housing market, with condominiums and houses being
snapped up almost as soon as they are completed.
But unlike the boom times of a
decade ago, when the spectre of uncertainty in Hong Kong was the main force
in the market, the push today is coming from Asians who are living in
Vancouver rather than speculators who arrive from Asia.
Although immigrants and those born
in Canada aspire equally to owning their own homes, a survey conducted
across Canada suggests immigrants are much more likely to buy their own
homes within the next year.
The survey by CIBC, the
second-largest residential mortgage provider in the country, discovered that
22 per cent of immigrants questioned expected to buy their own homes in the
next year, compared to just 14 per cent of Canadian-born respondents.
The conclusions are reinforced by
real estate agents in Vancouver who have recently seen a revival of the
1990s boom times. The difference between now and the earlier boom is that
most of the purchases now are by buyers who want a house or a condominium to
live in. In earlier years purchases were made as investments.
As David Campbell of ReMax
described it, investors from Hong Kong and Taiwan "would fly across and
buy six or 12 places all in one afternoon". When concerns about the
future of Hong Kong settled down after 1997, many of those investors decided
to sell, which had the dual effect of flooding the housing market and
pushing prices down.
In Vancouver, as in many cities
around the world, the terrorist attacks in the United States in September
2001 further depressed an already flat market.
Mr Campbell said: "Our phones
went very quiet for about a month; everybody was really nervous that perhaps
some further catastrophes would happen and they didn't want to make a big
investment."
A decade ago, about 70 per cent of
real estate purchases were made by overseas investors, mainly from Hong
Kong. Real estate agents like Bob Rennie would set up shop in large Hong
Kong hotels when they had major sales.
No longer. Overseas buyers now
make up less than 10 per cent of all purchasers, Mr Rennie estimated.
But whatever slack there was in
the market has been made up for by Asian immigrants who have settled in
Vancouver and have set out to buy themselves a home.
Mr Rennie pointed to a number of
recent condominium developments in which hundreds of units were sold within
hours of going on the market. A large proportion of the buyers were Asian.
In all cases the condominiums had been available for preview inspection a
month or two before going on sale. "It's not a frenzy, it's an informed
frenzy," Mr Rennie said.
This was in contrast to the 1990s,
when investors seemed to be guided by the idea that "I'll buy 10 and
figure it out", he said.
Grace Kwok, co-owner of Anson
Realty, said that for immigrants and Canadian-born homebuyers, the market
had been helped by low interest rates that fell most dramatically after
September 11, 2001. That had opened the way for a lot of first-time
homebuyers. But she said a different story might emerge should interest
rates begin to rise.
One unexpected result of the
buying of condominiums as investments is that condominium owners are the
main supplier of apartments for rent in Vancouver. A survey by Central
Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed that 47 per cent of condos were
bought by investors who intended to rent them as apartments.
Mr Rennie said the surplus of condos for rent probably
meant there would not be a rental tower built in Vancouver for at least
another decade
- by John Gray in Toronto SOUTH
CHINA MORNING POST 9 June 2004
The key factors driving
affordability are house prices, mortgage interest rates and household
incomes. Declines in interest rates since the early 1990s have been a key
factor behind enhanced affordability for first-time buyers. Back in 1990,
published mortgage rates for a 5-year term averaged over 13% - and these
rates were nonnegotiable. In late February, the typical published 5-year
rate was less than half this level (5.8%), and discounts are the norm.
Estimates by Canadian consultants Clayton Research suggest that presently,
just over 1 million renters in Canada under the age of 50, representing
about 40% of the market, could afford to purchase the average priced starter
home.
The following statitistics are
relevant for the prudent investor in Vancouver's residential market:
Scotia Economics' forecasts for GDP growth in
British Columbia:
The Lower
Mainland of Vancouver accounts for more than half of British Columbia's GDP
Property
values will 'explode' in runup to 2010 -
Vancouver
Sun
Housing Starts in Vancouver
January - May 2002 Month versus New Construction
- Vancouver
Province
Retail spending, increased by 5.3% last
year, showing positive signs in the retail sector. In the office sector, the
pending completion of 3 new projects will add some 800,000 sq. ft. to the
downtown market. As a result, the 9% vacancy is expected to come under
further pressure. The industrial sector continues to march along, enhanced
by the overall scarcity of land and industrial supply. Vancouver's net rents
at $6 per sq. ft. continue to be among the highest in Canada, fuelled by the
tech sector that favours flex space in Burnaby and Richmond
>> MARKET
REPORTS
Vancouver
tops for Quality of Life
Americans
Love Vancouver
Vancouver - Most
Livable & Asian Food capital - New York Times
articles
Retail
roundup - Robson Rules
Sellers
market for product $400,000 and below
Boutique
hotel opened in Yaletown
Vancouver
real estate mogul passed on
Big
boat berths selling for $300,000 each
BC
Retirement Province
Time
for Change
Market
Reports
Development
Cost Charges - Greater Vancouver
City
encourages Car Share
Urban
Sprawl
New
Westminster
