#103- 371 Ellesmere Ave, Burnaby BC, British Columbia SOLD for $185,000
Metro Vancouver’s hot real estate market is being largely driven by Chinese immigrants, not mainland Chinese investors, according to a survey released by a local real estate and marketing firm.
The report by MAC Marketing Solutions is the latest indication that a growing belief that offshore Asian investors are the main force behind the region’s surge in sales is largely a misconception.
“Virtually all [the] sales to people of Asian descent are people integrated into our community,” company president Cameron McNeill said in an interview Monday of their survey’s findings. “The people we’re selling to live here and have bank accounts here.
“There’s a misconception that people think [mainland Chinese] are travelling here [to purchase] or are buying off-site. It’s the opposite. Very few people are buying that don’t reside in Vancouver.”
McNeill said that while the Vancouver market has seen a lot of investment by the Asian communities, there’s confusion as to where they’re from or why they’re buying.
“These are buyers who are part of our community. Their children are in a school here. They work here and reside here. It’s a healthy part of our real estate industry.”
McNeill said MAC accumulated raw samples of 500 buyer profiles, comprehensive data collected from each purchaser at the time contracts are written, and analyzed each for ethnicity and residency.
The profiles included 25 questions to learn more about the profile of the buyers and identify trends in contracts, mostly for presale highrise condominiums, but also low-rise condos, townhouses and detached single family homes.
From Jan. 1 to June 1, MAC reported that of 500 buyers spread over 17 of their projects in Metro Vancouver, 330, or 66 per cent, are of Chinese descent.
The survey concluded that just three buyers, or 0.6 per cent, have their primary residence in China.
McNeill noted that foreign buyers were also from the Middle East, the U.S. and Europe.
The MAC survey follows other reports suggesting buyers are mainly Canadian citizens, immigrants or new residents in Canada — many with strong links to mainland China and many residing and working in China while their families establish roots in B.C.
Jennifer Podmore, real estate advisory leader for accounting giant Deloitte, recently told The Vancouver Sun that investors are not the main drivers of the market. “There are certainly a lot more Asian purchasers, but not Asian investors coming to purchase a condo and then leaving.
“Most [buyers] have strong ties to Vancouver, meaning they’re Canadians, immigrants or live here,” added Podmore.
McNeill’s and Podmore’s comments follow a surge in investment, largely by ethnic Asian buyers with links to mainland China, that’s branching out from Richmond and Vancouver’s west side as buyers look to other communities.
Meanwhile, a recent MarketShare report by Colliers International concluded that Metro Vancouver real estate is now in the same category as New York, London and other major global cities.
“These cities attract the world for a variety of reasons,” Greg Ashley, president and managing partner, Colliers International residential marketing, said in the report.
“It could be business, it could be culture, and it could be “the people” … whatever the reason we are now experiencing what other world-class cities have experienced for years.
“There also seems to be more myths than facts about mainland Chinese investing. This trend is certainly impacting single-family housing values in Vancouver [the west side] and Richmond. However, it is not the driving force behind all sales. For example, a number of the recent launches reported large numbers of Asian buyers. Yet a significant portion of these buyers are actually local residents not foreigners.”
SOURCE: Newswire.com
Monday, 29 November 2010 10:27
Last week, CAAMP’s international mortgage panel provided a glimpse into the U.S. and Australian markets. It underlined just how strong Canada’s mortgage industry is in comparison.
Here are some key points that stuck out. (CMT notes in italics).
Australian market report (Facts provided by Phil Naylor, CEO, Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia)
The front desk agent was great, but what company only has one person on shift on a saturday morning at uhual? I came early for my reservation and the wait was over an hour, I will never use this location again.... Errrr
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
Find out what the average monthly rents are in Canada's major cities according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.'s April 2011 Rental Market Survey.
OTTAWA — Demand is outstripping supply in the country’s apartment rental market, pushing the national vacancy rate lower and making it more difficult for renters to find accommodations, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported Thursday.
The vacancy rate fell to 2.5% in April from 2.9% a year earlier, the national housing agency said.
“Immigration continues to be a factor in supporting rental housing demand. Recent immigrants tend to rent first before becoming homeowners,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist.
“In addition, condominium completions moved lower in the past months, while rental apartment unit completions remained relatively stable. As a result, the overall demand for rental apartment units increased faster than supply for this type of housing. Accordingly, this pushed Canada’s vacancy rate downward.”
The average monthly rent in Vancouver is $1,181.
RightPricedRealty.com is very proud and honoured to donate nearly 2% of all our transaction proceeds to several different non-profit organizations, including:
·The Ride to Conquor Cancer
·Canadian Cancer Society
·Prince of Wales High School
·SPCA
·Theatre Terrific
·Festival Du Printemps- FrancoFun
·Canadian Red Cross Red Carpet Soiree
·Volunteer Burnaby Organization
·Volunteer Grandparents Organization At RightPricedRealty.com we work hard to help our clients with their buying or selling goals. We hope at RightPricedRealty.com that this small token of our appreciation will assist these great non-profit programs and show you how much their hard work is appreciated in the community.
I am just about to host an open house for a great new family house in West Vancouver, 83 Bonnymuir Drive (V900305) and I am cold, even with my sweater!
However, the city views through the mist from this homes large wrap-around patio are awesome! We are open now until 5pm, swing by.
But a staff report going to the city services and budgets committee today (June 30) claims that upzoning yields significant positive outcomes for the community.
Written by the director of planning, Brent Toderian, the “2010 Annual Report on Public Benefits Achieved Through Approvals of Additional Density” states that 23 approvals of additional density last year generated nearly $27 million toward public benefits.
Approximately half related to the on-site preservation of heritage or the purchase of density, which enables property owners to preserve the historic character of their buildings.
Another 17 percent of the benefits have not yet been assigned to Southeast False Creek and the East Fraserlands areas. Public art and affordable housing each received 11 percent of the benefits, with the rest going to public realm and greenway improvements, parks and open spaces, and cultural and child-care facilities.
The 23 rezonings last year will result in 2.2 million square feet of additional density.
Of course, this will eventually lead to more residents using city services, such as policing and fire protection, as well as community facilities, including libraries and community centres.
According to Toderian’s report, the rezonings will add 249 units of social housing, 141 units of supportive housing, and 15 units of low-income seniors housing. In addition, there will be improvements to one neighbourhood house and two youth-resource centres.
In return for land being rezoned, a developer is often required to make community-amenity contributions to the city, which take the form of cash or in-kind contributions.
Toderian’s report notes that council approved 116,000 square feet of density last year for not-for-profit projects. This is in addition to the $27 million in public benefits achieved through the community-amenity contributions.
The annual document touting the benefits of rezoning is coming forward on the same day that council will vote on staff recommendations to refer three proposals to public hearings.
The first is an application by the Wolverton Foundation to change the designation of its site at 138 East 7th Avenue from industrial to CD-1, which is a site-specific zoning. This would allow for increased office use and the creation of a music school run by the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach program.
A city staff report states that the applicant “may have future intentions to pursue construction of an additional floor on the building”. Because there is no additional floor area being requested over what’s permitted under current zoning, staff have concluded that a community-amenity contribution is “not economically feasible”.
The second rezoning application concerns the controversial Marine Gateway project at 8440 Cambie Street. Perkins + Will Architects wants to rezone this site by the Marine Drive Canada Line station from industrial use to CD-1 to allow for 26- and 35-storey residential towers. In addition, the applicant wants to build a 14-storey tower and podium for office, retail, service, and entertainment uses.
If approved, this mixed-use project would include 418 strata units and 46 affordable-market-rental units. Public benefits would include a budget of nearly $1.6 million for public art and a 4,600-square-foot bicycle-mobility centre—valued at $834,000—below the Marine Drive station. In addition, the developer could contribute $6.6 million in a community-amenity contribution, according to a staff report.
Council will also deal with a staff recommendation to refer a Perkins + Will Architects rezoning application regarding Shannon Mews to a public hearing. Wall Financial Corp. hopes to increase the number of housing units from 162 to 735 on this four-hectare site west of Granville Street and north of West 57th Avenue.
According to a staff report, public benefits associated with this proposal include nearly $1.2 million in public art, a possible cash community-amenity contribution of $20 million, and $9.4 million worth of heritage upgrades for this historic property, which was developed in the early 20th century by sugar magnate Ben Rogers.
The Marine Gateway and Shannon Mews proposals have attracted intense opposition from neighbours. While Toderian is certain to emphasize the benefits in his presentations to council at the two public hearings, don’t be surprised if the nearby residents focus most of their attention on the costs—most notably regarding traffic, the scale of the projects, and the impact of higher density on community facilities and services.
Measurements are approximate, to be verified by buyer. Pictures & further information on this listing can be obtained from www.rightpricedrealty.com or http://rightpricedrealty.posterous.com
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties reached 3,262 in June, a 9.8 per cent increase compared to the 2,972 sales in June 2010 and a 3.4 per cent decline compared to the 3,377 sales in May 2011.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 5,793 in June. This represents a 4.5 per cent increase compared to June 2010 when 5,544 properties were listed for sale on the MLS® and a 2.3 per cent decline compared to the 5,931 new listings reported in May 2011.
Last month’s new listing total was 9.8 per cent higher than the 10-year average for June, while residential sales were 7.3 per cent below the ten-year average for sales in June.
“With sales below the 10-year average and home listings above what’s typical for the month, activity in June brought closer alignment between supply and demand in our marketplace,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said. “With a sales-to-active-listings ratio of nearly 22 per cent, it looks like we’re in the upper end of a balanced market.”
At 15,106, the total number of residential property listings on the MLS® increased 3.1 per cent in June compared to last month and declined 14 per cent from this time last year.
The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 8.7 per cent to $630,921 in June 2011 from $580,237 in June 2010.
“The largest price increases continue to be in the detached home market on the westside of Vancouver and in West Vancouver,” Setticasi said. “Since the end of May, the benchmark price of a detached home rose more than $147,000 on the westside of Vancouver and over $80,000 in West Vancouver. Detached home prices in Richmond, however, levelled off slightly, declining $25,000 in June.”
Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in June 2011 reached 1,471, an increase of 29.1 per cent from the 1,139 detached sales recorded in June 2010, and an 11.8 per cent decrease from the 1,667 units sold in June 2009. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 13.4 per cent from June 2010 to $901,680.
Sales of apartment properties reached 1,266 in June 2011, a 0.6 per cent increase compared to the 1,258 sales in June 2010, and a decrease of 29.3 per cent compared to the 1,790 sales in June 2009. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 3.5 per cent from June 2010 to $405,200.
Attached property sales in June 2011 totalled 525, an 8.7 per cent decrease compared to the 575 sales in June 2010, and a 34.5 per cent decrease from the 802 attached properties sold in June 2009. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 6 per cent between June 2010 and 2011 to $522,424.
As a Notary Public a big part of my job involves advising homeowners on the different legal aspects of their property ownership. Whenever more than one person shares title to a property they must decide on the type of co ownership they are going to have. The two major types are joint tenancy and tenancy in common. There is indeed a rich historically relevant set of legal differences between the two but most of that is not relevant to the average homeowner.
There are, however, two main differences that should be be considered when making the decision. The first and most key of the differences is that joint tenancy operates with the right of survivorship. This means upon the passing away of one of the owners, their share in the home ceases to exist and is passed equally into the remaining owners’ shares. As an example, if there were 3 joint owners of one property in equal shares and one of them passed away, the remaining two owners would then be joint owners with a 50:50 split of the property. This is called a transmission and it keeps the property out of the deceased person’s estate. Upon the passing away of a tenant in common, however, their share of the property would be considered part of their estate and be split up according to their will. The bigger estate planning implications of this will be described in a future article on estates.
The next main difference between the types of tenancies is with percentage of interests. In joint tenancy all the co-owners must have an equal share in the property, such as 50:50, or 25:25:25:25 etc..., whereas tenants in common can share in differing percentages such as 80:20, 10:20:70 and so on.
Joint tenancy is often used by spouses, close family members where as tenants in common might by more common in business partnerships, blended families or friends.
Hassan El Masri B.Sc. M.A.(ALS)
Notary Public, W. Masri Notary Corporation
Who is your agent and what are their obligations?
The real estate brokerage where your REALTOR® is licensed is your agent. All real estate agents are licensed under the Real Estate Services Act.
Your REALTOR® represents that brokerage and has legal obligations to you including, loyalty, confidentiality and disclosure. REALTORS® are legally obligated to:
Roland, I just want to thank you for your time and energy that you put in to helping my mom buy her new apartment. She was so happy with your services and her new apartment. Your professionalism was outstanding. You took all the stress out of it for her and she enjoyed the whole experience. I can't wait till she moves in. Thanks again and I will happily refer you again.
Anita Alberto
While the Canada Post service disruption has ended, there is still a danger that a mailed tax payment may not be received by the City before the July 5 due date. Property tax payers should consider the possibility that even when Canada Post is back to work, there may be a mail delivery backlog experienced.
All property owners are reminded that there are other payment options available to ensure that payments and home owner grants are received by the City or financial institutions by the July 5 due date.
The City of Vancouver does not accept Canada Post postmarks as a proof of on-time payment. If remittances are sent by mail but do not arrive at the City by the deadline, regardless of whether the delay is due to slow postal service, a 5 per cent penalty is applied to the unpaid balance after the due date.
If you are sending your tax payment from outside of Canada, in the event of a postal disruption, please courier your payments to:
Vancouver City Hall
453 W 12 Ave
Vancouver BC V5Y 1V4
Canada
We are proud to announce that this Jul 9th, 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 2028 11TH Ave W in the Kitsilano neighborhood, Vancouver West. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Condo for sale in beautiful Kitsilano.
Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Kitsilano Condo for sale.
As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-737-8865 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.
--Sincerely, your friend in the real estate business,
We are proud to announce that this Jul 9th, 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 2173 6TH Ave W in the Kitsilano neighborhood, Vancouver West. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Condo for sale in beautiful Kitsilano.
Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Kitsilano Condo for sale.
As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-737-8865 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.
-Sincerely, your friend in the real estate business,
Roland Kym
Remax Select Properties
Cell : 604 970-0393
Reuters Jun 24, 2011 – 11:25 AM ET
Canada’s central bank may need to keep interest rates low as the economy faces “substantial headwinds,” Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said in an interview published on Friday.
“Monetary policy may still need to be stimulative in order to close the output gap and in order to get inflation back to target,” Carney is quoted as saying in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
The bank has kept its key interest rate on hold at 1 percent since last September, after lifting the it from a rock-bottom 0.25%. Its next rate decision is July 19.
Most market players surveyed by Reuters on May 31 forecast the bank would resume rate increases in September, but some have since pushed their forecasts even further out.
Carney named the U.S. economic slowdown and the strong Canadian dollar as two major factors that could hinder Canada’s economic expansion.
“We see the headwinds both in our export performance and in the inflation data,” he said, referring to the currency.
The Canadian dollar is currently trading around $0.98 to the U.S. dollar, or US$1.02.
Carney said the bank may not need to raise rates to a “neutral” level just as the economy reaches its production capacity, and repeated the idea that the neutral rate, which he declined to specify, might be lower than it was before the global financial crisis.
Carney has raised concerns in recent comments about possible overheating in the Canadian housing market, where prices in some cities, such as Vancouver, have skyrocketed.
Higher short-term interest rates could be a tool to curb high housing prices, he said, but he added that regulatory action should be the first option.
© Thomson Reuters 2011
According to the B.C. Real Estate Association, B.C. home prices will rise an average 13 percent to $571,000 this year before edging back 2.5 percent to 557,000 in 2012. They also predicted moderate increase in housing sale for this year and the next.
BCREA chief economist Cameron Muir said that the 13 percent increase is misleading. “The average price in the province is being skewed very high because of a higher proportion of single-detached homes selling in the pricier markets of Vancouver. The average price in the Greater Vancouver area rose 26 percent in May compared to last year, but the benchmark price- the price of a typical home in the region rose only about 5 percent over the same period. “This is a recent phenomenon, the average price used to track the benchmark price pretty well”
The average price in Vancouver area is forecast to rise 17.6 percent in 2011 to $795,000 and then drop three percent in 2012 to $770,000
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