Vancouver, BC – July 15, 2009. A new survey of BC homeowners and renters on housing affordability and green housing issues suggests consumer confidence concerning real estate purchases may be improving.

Sponsored by the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA), the May 2009 Mustel Group survey tracked several key measures asked in a January 2009 BCREA survey, including top affordability barriers and how provincial taxes impact BC homebuyers. It also uncovered new primary data on buyer intentions and energy-efficiency practices at home.

Findings revealed that four-in-ten British Columbians plan or hope to purchase homes or properties within the next five years, with about half of these potential buyers expecting to do so in the next two years. A higher proportion plan to purchase in Metro Vancouver (46 per cent) than elsewhere (35 per cent), which may indicate that consumer confidence is now higher in the urban area. In the January 2009 survey, findings did not vary by region.   

“We’ve had five consecutive months of increasing home sales, which may suggest that the optimism uncovered in this survey is being reflected in provincial home sales,” explains BCREA president John Tillie. “The May 2009 survey also revealed that people’s perception of the barriers to home ownership have also changed, which is good news for homebuyers, sellers and renters.”

Although affordability continues to be the key barrier to purchase, along with concerns about job security, lowering market values and general concerns about the economy, a slightly higher proportion of BC residents in the May 2009 measure indicated they did not have any purchase barriers at all. There was also a decrease in the number of people concerned about depreciating property values and less mention of general financial barriers.

The survey findings also revealed that making smart green choices at home is still top of mind for most British Columbians. When asked if they were more likely, less likely or about as likely to make green improvements to their homes compared to this time in 2008, one out of every two BC residents answered that they were more likely now to green their home than they were approximately one year ago.

“It’s important to remember that all of us can take part in reducing household greenhouse gas emissions by improving the overall energy efficiency of our homes,” says Tillie. “Green choices are smart choices, and they help improve the Quality of Life in our communities.”

Survey findings suggest the majority of British Columbians (65 per cent) would be willing to pay more for an energy efficient home.

“Because this survey immediately followed the provincial election, we also asked British Columbians whether they were happy with the attention paid to housing issues during the campaign,” says Tillie. “Only one in four were satisfied, which is something BCREA plans to address looking toward the next provincial election in 2013.”

To obtain a full copy of the survey results from the May 2009 and January 2009 surveys, please visit www.qualityoflife.bcrea.bc.ca/research.htm.

Vancouver, BC – July 13, 2009. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province rose 40 per cent to 9,970 units in June 2009 compared to the same month last year. Activity in the month of June marked the fifth consecutive month of rising sales and the highest level of activity since January 2008, on a seasonally adjusted basis. 

“Housing markets around BC continued to post higher sales in June, fuelled by attractive mortgage rates and lower prices,” said Bryan Yu, BCREA Economist. “The larger urban regions of Greater Vancouver and Victoria exhibited balanced market conditions in June, while others have recorded improved market stability. Stronger demand and a decline in home listings are stabilizing home prices in many BC markets.”

Year-to-date, MLS® residential sales dollar volume was down 20 per cent to $16.3 billion over the same period last year. A total of 36,329 units were sold in the first six months of 2009, down 15 per cent from 2008, while the average MLS® price declined 5 per cent to $448,381.

Buyers returned to the market in droves last month, as the total number of property sales in Greater Victoria hit the fifth-highest monthly level since 1991. June saw 946 sales through the Greater Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service. The sales represented mostly capital region residential properties, but also included some out-of-town properties and a dozen commercial sales.

Everything from single-family homes to lots and manufactured homes is included.

“I was quite astounded,” Michael Holmes, Pemberton Holmes managing broker, said yesterday.

The robust market, where multiple offers are showing up again, likely reflects pent-up demand and low interest rates, Holmes said, adding strong sales in other parts of the country translate into sales in the capital region when people move to Greater Victoria.

In the capital region’s most recent real estate boom, in May 2007, sales hit 963, followed by June of that year at 949.

The previous high was set in May 1991 with 1,083 sales, while April 1991 saw 1,003 sales, said Chris Markham, Victoria Real Estate Board president.

“We’re on fire,” Markham said.

The total value of all June sales was $447.6 million.

“This takes me right back to 2006-2007,” he said, referring to years when the local market was hot.

June sales reflect a 31 per cent increase from 723 in June 2008, and are up by seven per cent from May 2009, when 879 properties changed hands.

Markham said the market has been growing stronger for the past couple of months as many people who were waiting to see which direction the market would move have decided it’s time to buy.

“Housing that we didn’t sell last year, we are seeing multiples [offers] at the same price level.”

This isn’t a market of speculators, Markham said. Normally, 75 per cent of buyers are from within the region, but he believes that number is higher now.

After a “brutal” January and February, sales numbers have been steadily climbing.

The strongest part of the market is in the $600,000-and-lower price range, Markham said.

Many condominium projects were built in the capital region and inventory is “clearing out nicely,” Markham said.

The average price of a single-family house sold through the board’s Multiple Listing Service increased to $588,186 last month, up from $573,442 in May. The median in June was $529,900.

Saanich East led the region in the number of total single-family sales, at 94, followed by Langford at 60, and Victoria at 42.

The average price for condominiums edged down to $298,200 in June. May’s average was $306,971. The median in June was $275,000.

Victoria had the highest number of condo sales, at 99, followed by Langford at 40.

Townhomes saw an average price increase, rising to $413,218 in June, up from $400,788 in May. The median remained the same month-over-month at $375,000.

Last month brought 26 sales of more than $1 million, including one Uplands home sold for more than $5 million, the board said.

Inventory has tightened up since June of last year, helping drive demand. Last month, there were 3,794 properties for sale, a decrease of 16 per cent from the 4,513 on the market in June 2008.

“The drop in available inventory is also reflected in the price increases for single-family homes and townhomes that we saw

last month,” Markham said.

cjwilson@tc.canwest.com

: Carla Wilson
Source: Times Colonist

After months of workingon our site we are up and running, we still have a few bugs to work out but we are really happy with Kevin’s work on our site.

TERRENCE BELFORD

From Friday’s Globe and Mail

November 28, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST

You could easily pardon anyone looking for a new condominium today for having a case of the jitters. Every day we are bombarded by U.S. reports of a housing market meltdown. CNN headlines a survey that shows one of every 452 homes in the United States is in foreclosure.

The media is chock-a-block with stories about a credit crunch, banks reluctant to lend to other banks, let alone new-home buyers.

Now take a deep breath, sit down and listen up. To paraphrase Dorothy’s line in The Wizard of Oz: This isn’t Kansas any more.

The simple fact is that any comparison between the Greater Toronto Area condo market and what is happening in the United States is about as valuable as discussing whether Batman or Spiderman would come out on top in a fight. It has no relationship to reality.

Yes, sales are down, but then again, last year was a blip, an anomaly, a Yukon gold rush. The market, experts say, is returning to the levels of more normal times.

That is probably good news. It may mean the rise in prices will slow or, even better, stall. It also means buyers will have an enormous range of choice. There are more than 330 different projects on sale in the GTA right now — the most ever.

And, as a shiny red cherry on top, mortgage money is still available for most buyers and at reassuringly low rates.

Granted, lenders are unlikely to offer the discounts on rates across the board that they did last year in the frenzy to do business. First-time buyers with anything less than 5 per cent cash to put down may face a tough time. New Canadians with no credit history in this country can expect to face challenges, and the 40-year amortization period is as dead as Sarah Palin’s hopes of being a heart beat away from power.

Jim Murphy, president of the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals, which represents brokers, lenders and mortgage insurers, says it is, in fact, business as usual.

“There is a plentiful supply at reasonable rates for any borrower who can qualify,” he points out. “Condos have taken over from single-family housing as the major force in the residential market and the industry has recognized that.

“There is no issue with supply, and those lenders that focused on subprime mortgages have left the market.”

Five-year, fixed-rate mortgages are available starting at 5.55 per cent and variable-rate mortgages are in plentiful supply at about one percentage point above prime.

“You can occasionally negotiate a discount on fixed-rate mortgages if you have great credit, but discounts on variable-rate mortgages have disappeared,” Mr. Murphy says.

At the Royal Bank of Canada, a spokesperson says it is business as usual in the mortgage department.

“RBC has not seen a decline in mortgage applications in the last four months,” the spokesperson says in an e-mail. “We continue to guarantee rates on new purchases for 90 days, and mortgage rates over the last four months have remained relatively steady.”

At HSBC Bank Canada, Loree Gray, vice-president branch banking for Toronto, says lending to condo buyers continues as strong as ever — to those who meet credit requirements.

“We look for strong employment, enough income to service the debt (between 32 and 45 per cent of income), an acceptable down payment and a strong credit history,” she explains. Buyers who meet all of those tests and can plunk down 20 per cent of the purchase price as their down payment will be welcomed with open arms by lenders, the bankers say.

Less than that 20 per cent down, however, means you likely will have to seek an insured mortgage from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. In that case, the federal government, acting through third-party insurers, guarantees the mortgage will be repaid if the borrower defaults.

These insurers charge between 2 and 3 per cent on top of the mortgage interest rate, and, this fall, CMHC set out new rules for mortgage insurance.

As Mr. Murphy explains, there are three basic guidelines borrowers should be aware of.

First, condo buyers must be able to make a down payment of at least 5 per cent of the purchase price, but at the same time, they can borrow that if they can find a lender willing to take the risk.

Second, CMHC says no more 40-year amortization periods. Now, 35 years is as long as it is willing to go.

Finally, borrowers must have a credit score higher than 600. (This score is a statistical analysis of a person’s credit file.)

HSBC’s Ms. Gray offers a tip to new Canadians. If, in their country of origin, they were customers of a bank with offices in Canada, such as her own, that credit score may not prove to be a hurdle.

“If we know you and if you have been a good customer in the past, even if you have no credit history in Canada, our comfort level rises,” she says.

In fact, establishing a track record with a bank in anticipation of some day needing a mortgage is a great idea for anyone, she adds.

“Not only does it give us the level of comfort we need to make that loan, … it also gives insight into which product might best suit your needs.”

Real estate markets in 2009 will be mired in the economic slowdown and their performance will depend on how government stimulus affects consumer confidence, the realty firm Re/Max said Wednesday.

In its 2009 outlook, Re/Max said the threat of global recession will weigh on markets, and estimated that half of the 22 major Canadian cities it surveys will see market declines, with B.C. markets seeing some of the steepest drops.

Elton Ash, Re/Max regional executive vice-president for Western Canada, said the beginning of 2009 will look a lot like the end of 2008.

“The confidence issue, certainly from our perspective, [will be key] when we look at 2009,” Ash said in an interview. “The first quarter of 2009 will certainly be a continuation of the trend we’re seeing now, with reduced transactions and average prices coming down in Vancouver and throughout British Columbia.”

Ash said consumers should have a better idea after the first quarter of 2009 what kinds of stimuli governments plan to inject into the economy, which should bolster confidence through the rest of 2009.

“The good news, from the first-time homebuyer’s perspective, is that homes will become slightly more affordable, provided they have the confidence to buy,” Ash said.

Re/Max said Metro Vancouver will have experienced a 33-per-cent drop in sales by the end of 2008, and 2009 sales should end at the same level. Vancouver’s average price at the end of 2009 should be seven per cent below 2008’s average price.

Victoria and Kelowna, after experiencing 23-per-cent and 37-per-cent declines in sales, should see sales decline a further 11 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. The 2009 average prices in those cities, in Re/Max’s assessment, will dip 10 per cent from 2008.

Nationally, Re/Max expects sales to decline 15 per cent by the end of 2008 to 440,000 units and stay at that level for 2009. It believes the national average price will decrease three per cent to $300,000 in 2008, and a further two per cent to $293,000 in 2009.

Re/Max’s assessment is the latest of the fall forecasts tracking B.C. and Canadian real estate markets. Not all came to the same conclusions.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s 2009 forecast is for B.C.’s average price to decline nine per cent in 2009 and provincial sales to fall just under one per cent.

Central 1 Credit Union’s forecast calls for 13-per-cent declines in B.C.’s average price for 2009 and a further five per cent in 2010, when it expects the market to recover. It expects sales to drop 17 per cent in 2009.

Other analysts have estimated that prices in B.C.’s markets overshot their equilibrium on the up-cycle, such as Carl Gomez, vice-president of research at Bentall Investment Management, who believes prices might have spiked as much as 30 per cent over equilibrium.

However, Ash said B.C.’s markets have geography and demographics going for them in the long run. Over time, the province will continue to be the place where baby boomers move in retirement.

“There’s no reason for British Columbians to be overly concerned about the value of the real estate they’re holding today,” Ash said. “It will come back in a big way.”

depenner@vancouversun.com

The “Meadows” is a 33 lot residential subdivision located off Lazo Rd. in Comox. These lots are fully serviced & range is size from 5575-9612 sq. ft. There will be building guidelines in place plus the zoning will allow for a secondary suite within the home. This quality development will appeal to those looking to live in a neighborhood with a semi-rural feel but still want to be close to all amenities. The beach is only a short distance away make this a very desirable location.

Well this weekend the lot selection will be done on or registerd buyers, if you are interested please call Dave today so you can get in on your lot selection. This is a wonderful subdivision on the East side of Comox only a very short stroll to Radfords Beach, the lots are fully serviced with some mature vegitation on a number of the lots. There are two cul-de-sacs which are great lots for familys.