This is the area in front of 111 West Georgia Street in Downtown Vancouver 09/08/2008

It's no secret that Vancouver's condo market prices have soften and overall the media news is negative but I have a different opinion based on my experiences in the market over the last two months, which have kept me hopping and left less time to blog! Whilst housing sales have dropped, new construction picked up slightly in July, according to CMHC's latest report. Starts in metropolitan Vancouver last month were up 24% above July 2007, boosting starts for the first 7 months of the year to a gain over same period last year.  The largest gains were in Vancouver, Surrey and Delta. Are the developers turning positive again? Read the rest of this post 09/05/2008

So it may be a wet long Labour Day weekend in Vancouver and you're looking for something to do. What about a walking tour through Vancouver's oldest parts? Explore the early (and roguish) history of our city. Covering ten city blocks, the tour visits numerous locations, including the site of one of Vancouver's oldest brothel districts, the location of the city's first saloon as well as the first police station (and jail). Opium dens, gambling houses and beer parlours are also featured topics of the tour. Tour runs every Wednesday at 2pm and Friday and Saturday at 4pm Read the rest of this post 09/05/2008

So says the President of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association. Developers expect higher costs for concrete, steel and all petroleum based products for the foreseeable future. Keith Sashaw says projected annual increases of 8% to 10%pr year in the cost of construction for the coming years. Perhaps this is part of the reason some of Vancouver's developers revert to the buyers, asking for more money in order to finish the project, after it has pre-sold. Read the rest of this post 09/05/2008

Bank of Canada keeps overnight rate target at 3 per cent OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 3 per cent. The operating band for the overnight rate is unchanged, and the Bank Rate remains at 3 1/4 per cent. The three global developments highlighted in the July Monetary Policy Report Update continue to have a major influence on the Canadian economy. Two of them - the course of the U.S. economy and the ongoing turbulence in global financial markets - have evolved broadly in line with the Bank's expectations. However, there is an increased risk of a more pronounced interplay between weakness in the U.S. economy and tightness in credit conditions that could affect the U.S. outlook for 2009. Read the rest of this post 09/05/2008

VANCOUVER WEST  STATISTICS for August 2008 are not as gloomy as the media is reporting. Yes, sales are down (but after the last five years this is to be expected, as the market catches its breath), but so are listings down - substantially, and the average price is flat for condos and up for townhomes and homes. Average days on market is up. Rather than lump Greater Vancouver stats into one package, check the individual municipality stats - Vancouver west side is doing fine thank you!                                        Aug2008     Aug2007    Jul2008   YTD2008   YTD2007    Units Sold       317             746                437          4088              6004 Median Selling PriceCondos:   $425,000    $438,000   $425,000     $443,000    $412,000 Attached: $767,000    $713,000    $725,0... 09/05/2008

If you have young children and are looking to purchase a condo or townhouse one amenity you may want to consider looking for is a playground in a secure courtyard. As you see in this vlog we can pop outside for fifteen or twenty minutes of outside play time without having to leave the property. We get down to the large playground at False Creek Elementary when we can but time does not always allow that to happen. It is a great feature that you might not think much of until you start to take advantage of. 09/05/2008

I spent some time at my Grandmother's helping get her house ready for sale. What an amazing amount of work it is prepping an older home for sale. The two 'easier' actions you can take are painting the interior and pressure washing the exterior areas. These are two tasks that will drastically improve the impression your home makes on buyers and will cost very little compared to the return they will bring. 09/04/2008

    Selling your home privately comes with challenges that you may not be ready for. In this vlog I discuss the difficulty of negotiating as a private seller directly with the buyer and how that may be difficult. People become very attached to certain things in their life and no doubt money and their home are two of them. If you don't think you can be told your is not worth that you think it is or as nice as you think it is and remain constructive then perhaps dealing directly with the buyer is not for you. Odds are you think your house is nicer or worth more than you think it is, and better odds are the buyer will think the opposite. 08/29/2008

The False Creek Watershed Society is hosting the Salmon Celebration as part of BC Rivers Day on Spetember 28th. The Salmon Celebration BC Rivers Day The event is set to take place from 12:00 - 4:30pm at Vanier Park and promises to great fun, and educational too.There is even a parade at 1:00pm. I haven't been to one of these events for a few years, but the last one we went to was great. There will be "Entertainment, Crafts, Food, Storytelling, Environmental Fair, Local Musicians, Wooden Boat Building, Stilt Walking, Exhibits and First Nations Participation." You can read all about The Salmon Celebration and all the other events the Society puts on their website. It is always good for us city dwellers to realize what was here before they paved this paradise. This post originally appeared... 08/29/2008

So late getting this out, but I wanted to get these numbers done so we can have something to compare to next month. The market continues to see more inventory and lower sales. Here in False Creek all the numbers are quite low and so the month-to-month numbers vary quite dramatically. I will have to start doing a quarterly re-cap I think so we can get a better idea of what is really happening in False Creek real estate. Nonetheless here are July's numbers. August's are coming soon. LISTED IN FALSE CREEK IN JULY (last 2 month's numbers in brackets) Freehold Strata Units Listed: 28 (14,22)Pre-paid Leasehold Strata Units Listed: 2 (7,9)Non Pre-paid Leasehold Strata Units Listed: 1 (2,2) Total Units Listed: 31 (23,33) Median list price: $599,000 Total Listings Available as of July 30th: 65 (... 08/29/2008

Considering everything, would you say that your family is better or worse off financially than six months ago? This is the first question the Conference Board of Canada asks in its survey of consumer confidence. With gas prices at $1.50 a litre in many communities, who could provide a positive response? Rising fuel prices hit home fast. They have an immediate and negative impact on household finances. This report was published by BCREA's Chief Economist - Cameron Muir More than 2000 Canadian households participate in the monthly survey, which forms the foundation of the Consumer Confidence Index. In late June the index for British Columbia fell below 100 for the first time in five years, to 94.3. The index for Canada was worse, falling to a 13 year low of 79.6. Just 32.6% of those surve... 08/28/2008

How do you know if the marketing your Realtor is using is actually drawing people to your home? Your Realtor can use Listingnumber.com to track the effectiveness of the various forms of marketing. The real estate industry is full of perceptions regarding what marketing is effective and what isn't. Well now a Realtor is able to collect their own data specific to their efforts and know what works to sell their clients properties. I am looking forward to using this tool and will share my data over time through my blog. Update: Listingnumber.com adds a three character code to the end of the url not five as I state. 08/28/2008

Vancouver's False Creek North neighbourhood saw listings up from 210 in June to 237 and sales drop substantially from 17 to 9. The average $ pr sq ft dropped from $733 to $688. Aaverage price was down from $713 in June to $550. The days on the market dropped from 59 to 46. Market run out of steam? Listings - 237.  82 False Creek North condos had a price reduction and one increased their price. 33 are listed under $500,000. 136 are listed between $500,000 and $1 million.  46 are listed between $1 and 2 million. 11 between $2 and 3 million and 5 between $3 and 4 million and the Penthouse at 1000 Beach at $14,800 for nearly 8000 sq.ft. Read the rest of this post 08/27/2008

Vancouver's Kitsilano condo neighbourhood saw sales for the month of July increase to 38 from 35 in June and listings at 159 versus 157 in June. Average $ pr sq ft and average price for sold condos were both up. Days on the market 43, up from June. Market bottoming? Listings - 159. 46 of those Kitsilano listings had list price reductions (vs. 57 in June). 99 are listed under $500,000 and 52 listed between $500,000 and $1 million. 6 are listed between $1 and 2 million and 1 listed over $2 million. Sales - 38. 14 Kitsilano condos had list price reductions (vs. 13 in June). 26 sold under $500,000 and 12 sold between $500,000 and $1 million. There is a 3.8 month supply of Kitsilano condos under $500K and a 4.3 month supply for condos between $500K and $1 million. No market for Kitsilano con... 08/27/2008

Vancouver's Downtown market in July saw listings level off (745 vs 740 in June). The sales were down to 65 from 102 in June.  The average days on market was up to 39, from 32.  The average price was down to $403,000 from $460,000. 80% of the sales were under $500,000 ( vs 75% in June) and no sales over $800,000....very much a bottom end market. Listings - 745 Read the rsst of this post 08/27/2008

  Maclean's recently published this article on the most notorious slum in Canada getting a millionaire makeover - Vancouver's Skid Row in Downtown Eastside. The Pacific Hotel on Main Street is coming down. Next door Ginger the new condo building is selling for as high as $900,000. The unthinkable is happening....Vancouver's Downtown Eastside is quietly disappearing. The sold signs are everywhere - most along Hastings Street, ground zero of the city's drug and homelessness crises. In the past 24 months hundreds of lots have changed hands as developers and speculators snap up deeds to the Vancouver's so-called final frontier.  And some of Vancouver's biggest players have bought in, including Holborn, the group behind the $500 million Residences at Ritz-Carlton: Westbank Projects, develope... 08/26/2008

The first graph above shows the average price for Vancouver houses, townhouses and condos from 1977 to present. The average price of a home back then was less than $100,000, compared to over $800,000 now. The REBGV split the townhome and condo average in 1984, at which time the average townhome price was just over $100,000 and the average condo price just under. The townhome price is now $500,000 and condos are $400,000. Houses the next graph shows the number of house listings now flat and the monthly new listings dropping, as are the monthly sales, now lower than a year ago. Average and median price also dropping. The average price of a Vancouver west side home went from $500,000 in 2001 to over $900,000 at the end of last year and is lower than a year ago. Read the rest of this post 08/26/2008

Concord Pacific have just released "Cosmo" on West Georgia Street in Downtown Vancouver. Featuring Miele appliances, quartz stone countertops, hardwood flooring and wood carpeting. Club Cosmo on the rooftop features a lounge, terrace, outdoor spa and wellness facility. The lobby is furnished by Armani Casa. This will be one of the final pre-sales in Vanocouver's Downtown as there are few lots left. Read the rest of this post 08/26/2008

BC Hydro introduces ESTAR windows, which keeps the heat out and allows the homeowner to stay cooler inside, whilst saving money. Homeowners can save up to 7% on energy costs or about $127 a year by replacing their windows and doors with ESTAR qualified products. ESTAR windows are also PST exempt, saving consumers an additional 7%. If just 10% of Greater Vancouver's households replaced all of their windows with ESTAR, there would be an energy saving of more than $10.4 million a year. Read the rest of this post 08/26/2008