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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 29 April 2007 |
Housing prices continue to climb
The Greater Vancouver housing market is humming to such an extent that realtors now won't even hazard a guess at where it might end up this year.
"This is a crazy market. No one out there can predict what is going to happen except to say that so far it is as strong as it has ever been," Les Twarog, a downtown and city real-estate specialist with RE/Max, said yesterday.
Most pundits predicted a slight calming of the market this year with increases in the seven- to nine-per-cent range, but they continue to race along at a double-digit pace and, in some instances, buyers are paying above the listing price. That situation has existed for the past two or three years.
"I have to admit this market is surprising every realtor," said Twarog.
"The buying demand remains strong, resulting in double-digit increases and yet it is being 90 per cent driven by local buyer demand."
Many buyers are also making hefty down payments and it appears buying is being driven by baby boomers who are helping out their children.
Twarog said sellers are also keenly aware of the market and are prepared to sit on their property until they get their price.
"Anything under $500,000 sells right away, especially downtown. Higher-priced properties take a little longer, but they do sell," he said.
Twarog said a good measure of interest is that his website, www.6717000.com, receives 150,000 hits a day.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported yesterday that multiple-listing residential sales last month of 3,582 units actually decreased 11.2 per cent compared to 4,033 sales in March 2006.
"Consumer demand for property in the Greater Vancouver area is still very, very high and the market is heating up as a result," said board president Brian Naphtali.
"With year-over-year, double-digit price increases pushing the average price for a single-family home to near record levels, sellers are continuing to get excellent value for their homes throughout Greater Vancouver. Despite these price increases, buyers are still not shying away from this market, either," he said.
And even an increase in the total housing inventory won't curb price rises as it simply opens new opportunities for buyers to get into the market, especially in the highly active condo and apartment sector.
The benchmark price of an apartment property in Greater Vancouver stood at $349,373 in March, up 14.5 per cent from a year ago.
The benchmark price of an attached unit was $428,299, up 13.9 per cent, while a detached unit was $682,173, up 11.8 per cent from March 2006.
(prepared by Ashley Ford/Vancouver Province)
MARCH HOME PRICES
Detached house Townhouse Apartment
March '07 March '06 change March '07 March '06 change March '07 March '06 change
ABBOTSFORD $399,000 $346,000 15% $280,750 $255,000 10% $167,500 $141,850 18%
BURNABY $680,000 $612,000 11% $400,000 $344,400 16% $300,000 $260,500 15%
COQUITLAM $582,500 $519,000 12% $455,000 $369,800 23% $248,000 $230,950 7%
DELTA-NORTH $456,000 $382,000 19% $263,000 $240,000 10% $134,000 $88,000 52%
DELTA-SOUTH $587,000 $512,500 15% n/a n/a - $325,000 $223,300 46%
LANGLEY $494,900 $412,000 20% $300,000 $268,000 12% $218,000 $182,000 20%
MAPLE RIDGE/PITT MEADOWS $455,900 $382,000 19% $288,000 $260,000 11% $208,000 $182,900 14%
MISSION $352,000 $280,000 26% $246,000 $209,000 18% $179,000 $132,000 36%
NEW WESTMINSTER $505,500 $510,000 -1% n/a n/a - $267,000 $234,950 14%
NORTH VANCOUVER $787,500 $715,500 10% $552,500 $477,400 16% $332,000 $299,000 11%
PORT COQUITLAM $479,900 $431,250 11% $348,500 $317,950 10% $223,750 $185,000 21%
PORT MOODY/BELCLARA $615,000 $654,000 -6% $375,000 $320,000 17% $304,950 $272,700 12%
RICHMOND $644,500 $548,000 18% $409,900 $370,000 11% $283,000 $300,450 -6%
SQUAMISH $448,000 $368,000 22% n/a $268,000 - $274,900 n/a -
SUNSHINE COAST $361,135 $365,000 -1% n/a n/a - n/a n/a -
SURREY $481,000 $442,000 9% $306,676 $274,000 12% $183,000 $155,000 18%
VANCOUVER EAST $620000 $548350 13% $465500 $428500 9% $276000 $244533 13%
VANCOUVER WEST $1227500 $1110000 11% $629000 $599900 5% $410000 $369900 11%
WEST VANCOUVER/HOWE SOUND $1333500 $1332000 0% n/a n/a - n/a $542000 -
WHITEROCK $630,000 $590,000 7% $445,000 $326,000 37% $265,000 $244,000 9%
(Sources: fraser valley real estate board, real estate board of greater vancouver)
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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 11 February 2007 |
BC a haven for priciest homes
Forbes, the magazine obsessed with lists for the rich and famous, has come up with the top 10 priciest pads in Canada.
And while Ontario lays claim to the top two most expensive homes in the country -- mansions worth $45 million and $22 million in Oakville and Toronto -- it's B.C. that has the highest concentration of luxury homes.
Seven of the top 10 luxury pads on the Forbes list are in B.C.
The properties are, not surprisingly, located in West Vancouver, Whistler and on Vancouver Island, with the "cheapest" on the list being a $12.8-million West Van mansion.
Malcolm Hasman, the top selling realtor in West Vancouver, sold 10 waterfront properties in 2006, netting him sales of more than $200 million.
That's up from his 2005 sales of $140 million and 2004 sales of $97 million.
So what is it that keeps drawing people back to B.C. when they could be buying anywhere in the world?
"It's the same reason all the time," says Hasman. "The clients I'm dealing with in West Vancouver find it a wonderful, safe community to raise kids. Many of these people are coming from London, the U.S. or parts of the world where the security and geopolitical problems today are [worse than] what they used to be."
Hasman says buyers in West Vancouver are split 50-50 local and foreign, with international buyers hailing from China, Korea, Iran and Europe.
Compared to major cities such as London, Paris and New York, prices in B.C. are still a relative bargain.
"I just sold the most expensive condo in Victoria ever -- a penthouse for $4.2 million," says Victoria realtor Peter Nash. "That was from someone from the United Kingdom where prices are much higher. To them, it was good value."
The most expensive property for sale in B.C. is a $20-million steel and concrete mansion on Whistler Mountain, where the 2010 Olympics can be viewed from the back yard.
The home is listed with realtor Ann Chiasson of Sea to Sky Premier Properties, who says compared to Vail or Aspen in the U.S., Whistler offers good value.
"I think the people who discover us, quite frankly, don't want to let their friends know because they really like it here and find it refreshing," says Chiasson.
According to the Royal LePage Carriage Trade Luxury Property Report, one-third (37 per cent) of Canadians aged 18 and over either live in a luxury home, plan to buy a luxury home soon or aspire to one day live in one.
The report says Greater Vancouver saw a 57- per-cent increase in the number of $1-million homes from the third quarter of 2005 to the third quarter of '06.
(prepared by Lena Sin/Vancouver Province)
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 08 January 2007 |
Hot market: B.C. property values up 23%
A record amount of new construction and the sixth year of a hot real estate market pushed the value of British Columbia real estate to $808 billion, according to BC Assessment's 2007 property roll.
That is a 23-per-cent increase from 2006.
New construction added 106,734 new properties to the roll and pumped $19 billion into assessments, the authority reported Tuesday.
However, $131 billion of the $150-billion gain was driven by hot property markets in communities around the province.
"It's crazy in B.C. all over the place," said Bill Levis, BC Assessment's manager of audit and research.
"[Assessment increases] are not just isolated to the Lower Mainland or Victoria. We've had increases in Dawson Creek, Prince George, Terrace: Places that historically are more level.
"B.C. seems to be the place people want to live."
The Vernon assessment region, which includes Vernon, Armstrong, Salmon Arm and surrounding communities, had the biggest assessment gain at just over 30 per cent to $21.3 billion.
The Penticton assessment area was another big gainer, with its roll increasing just more than 27 per cent to almost $18 billion.
The Vancouver assessment area's property roll increased 25.5 per cent to almost $164 billion. Most of that was within the city of Vancouver itself.
Whistler is the only municipality to buck the trend. Although the resort community's assessment is up 0.9 per cent to just over $10 billion, area assessor Jason Grant said many homes on the 2007 roll are worth a little less than they were in 2006.
Levis added that even commercial property markets have seen more significant gains than they have in previous years, which served to give 2007 assessment increases an additional push.
Helmut Pastrick, Credit Union Central B.C.'s chief economist, said the dramatic increase in assessments is "fairly consistent with what we've seen in price [increases]."
With the pace of new development that the province has seen, Pastrick added that the dramatic rise in assessed values was no surprise.
Generally, Pastrick said that low mortgage interest rates, as well as stronger economic growth and income growth, continued to fuel real estate markets -- especially in communities outside the Lower Mainland that lagged behind Greater Vancouver's economic boom.
The caveat, however, is that the authority's assessment period is from July 1 to July 1. So the 2007 property assessments are based on values as of July 1, 2006, compared with the same date a year ago.
Pastrick said that period certainly captures the hottest part of 2006 real estate markets, but markets have cooled and sales have slowed since then.
He still expects to see increases in 2008 property assessments, but nowhere near the 23-per-cent increase this year.
The dramatic rise in assessments makes setting tax rates a challenge for municipalities, which use the assessed value of property to set property tax rates.
However, Richard Taylor, executive director of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, said homeowners shouldn't automatically assume a big assessment will translate into an equally large tax increase
"Municipalities are not in the habit of attempting to capitalize on increases in assessment," Taylor said.
He added that typically when there are large assessment increases, municipal governments will reduce rates by the average increase for each property class.
So, as long as a property owner's assessment increase falls within the average, he shouldn't pay a tax increase that is any larger than the general tax increase his city or town levies with its 2007 budget.
However, property owners whose assessments increase by more than the average will see their taxes go up.
Owners whose assessments rise by less than the average for their class will see tax cuts.
The province is also considering whether to increase the threshold for the provincial homeowner's grant, the B.C. government's main tax assistance plan.
Finance Ministry spokesman Robert Pauliszyn said the program was designed so that 95 per cent of homeowners would qualify for the $570 homeowner's grant to offset property taxes. Seniors, veterans and other pensioners qualify for a further $275 in assistance.
The current threshold to qualify for the grant is $780,000. Pauliszyn added that the threshold has been increased over the past several years, and in 2006 Finance Minister Carole Taylor increased the grant by $100. That, he added, cost $95 million.
"The Ministry of Finance reviews [the homeowner's grant] every year as part of the budget process," Pauliszyn said.
(prepared by Derrick Penner/Vancouver Sun)
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