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Regardless of whether local and/or foreign investors are to blame for BC’s astronomical housing prices, anyone living in the province who’s managed to buy into the market appears to be benefiting from the price of ownership.

Over the past year, inflation tied to owned accommodation in B.C. has fallen 2.25% and dropped 1.7% in Metro Vancouver as of February 2013, according to Statistics Canada.

In the meantime, the cost of rental accommodation has risen 1.8% on average in B.C. and 3.2% in Metro Vancouver. Near-record-low mortgage rates and heightened competition between Canada’s financial institutions have undoubtedly played a role in falling housing-related costs. For at least the past year, interest rates have remained highly affordable across the financing spectrum, especially for would-be homeowners (and “hated” real-estate investors). Many homeowners with mortgages up for renewal in the past few years have likely seen their rates drop and had the option of reducing their monthly payments.

While mainstream media pounced on Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s apparent displeasure with Manulife posting a 2.89% five-year mortgage rate to match BMO’s rate at the time, insiders note that most financial institutions have been flirting around such a rate for months.

Until central banks start raising interest rates as the economy improves, financial institutions will continue to give rock-bottom interest rates to gain (or retain) market share.

Rising rates will likely erode the financial benefits of ownership eventually. But they won’t come right away for mortgage holders who’ve locked in low rates for the next five to 10 years. Statistics Canada data shows that inflation tied to owned accommodation has risen 10.8% since January 2000, compared with a 15.2% increase for rented accommodation.

Of course, getting into the market in the first place has become increasingly challenging. In its latest study, StatsCan noted that home ownership among lower income families in Canada has fallen to 35% from 47% between 1981 and 2006. Although, ownership among single low-income people has risen to 17% from 9%.

That might help explain the flood of one-bedroom condos being built in Metro Vancouver.

© 2013 Real Estate Weekly

Hip new highrise condos by Vancouver’s trendiest developers. A sophisticated new waterfront park and refurbished quay. A retooled town centre labelled “cool” by the Georgia Straight – and a city so confident, it’s building 137,000 square feet of office space on spec.

New Westminster, where building permits spiked to more than $323 million last year, is much more than just a suburb in Metro Vancouver – it is a new urban destination combining century-old heritage with contemporary architecture.

Plus outright – but likely not misplaced – courage.

The Royal City, once the capital of British Columbia, remains proudly protective of its heritage. Columbia Street, the main thoroughfare, is flanked by buildings dating back to the 1800s, which today are attracting chic new shops, restaurants and homes.

“New Westminster is not like other suburb,” said Sharon DeClaire, who is among the Vancouver gen-Xers looking for a home in the Royal City. “It has great older buildings and a cool urban vibe. It’s more like a city than a suburb.”

In the five years leading up to 2011, New Westminster’s population increased by 12.7 per cent to 65,976, according to Census Canada. This is among the fastest growth rates in suburban Metro Vancouver – higher even than Burnaby or Richmond.

SkyTrain

The arrival of SkyTrain – there are five stations in New Westminster – has helped to both attract newcomers and spur the current development boom that has seen at least $500 million invested in the downtown alone in the past decade.

Last year the city opened a new $33 million park on the Fraser River just east of the River Market at Westminster Quay, a waterfront retail village concept that has also been revived.

The market, which opened in 2010, has been recognized by the Real Estate Foundation of BC Land Awards for its food-centric and sustainable development. On the second floor, tenants include a shared-space office tenant and the Vancouver Circus School.

Office sector

New Westminster is also proceeding with the construction of Merchant Square, a 14-storey office tower that’s being built without any pre-leases signed. The tower is part of the city’s new civic centre, which will anchor the first four floors. The nine floors of office space cover 137,000 square feet.

Merchant Square is expected to complete by the end of this year. The city decided to proceed with the office component after a private developer pulled out. The city plans to eventually sell the office tower.

“There has been no preleasing to date but we are in the midst of several negotiations,” said Darrel Hurst, New Westminster’s leasing agent with Avison Young of Vancouver.

There is reason for the city to be confident in leasing the Class A tower, despite a 20 per cent office vacancy rate in New Westminster: Merchant Square is close to SkyTrain, which is a trump card in the office leasing market.

According to a survey by Jones Lang LaSalle, the office vacancy rate in the Royal City for property close to SkyTrain is just 7.4 per cent, with gross rents up to 32 per cent higher than in buildings further away from transit.

“The lone Class A building [near SkyTrain] is fully occupied, while the rest of New Westminster Class A space is 21 per cent vacant,” the 2012 survey found.

The city is not alone in betting on an office market uptrend.

Wesgroup Properties is completing the Brewery District with 230,000 square feet of office space next to the Sapperton SkyTrain station. Translink and transit police have already taken most of the space. Wesgroup has also had success selling strata office space in the Brewery District, mostly to the medical community.

Meanwhile, Uptown Property Group is finishing a mixed-used four-storey office and retail tower in uptown New Westminster with 20,000 square feet of offices that opens this April.

As well, Bentall Kennedy has proposed a giant mixed-use development next to the Baird Street SkyTrain station that would total about 400,000 square feet in office and retail space.

Downtown, the $350 million Plaza 88 project – a heady mix of retail and residential – is already complete. Developer Michael Degelder says the first two towers in Plaza 88′s residential complex sold out quickly, and the 40-storey third tower had only four of its 234 suites available as of press time. Prices are in the range of $500 per square foot.

Plaza 88 also boasts 200,000 square feet of retail, including Safeway, Shoppers Drug Mart and the first multi-screen move theatre in New Westminster. Degelder is currently in talks with the city on a planned fourth tower at Plaza 88.

Condos

Close by, on Columbia Street, Vancouver developer Robert Fung of Salient Group, well known for pioneering heritage condo-loft projects in Gastown, is selling Trapp+Holbrook – a condo project ascending from a namesake Royal City heritage building.

The new T+H will stand 20 storeys and feature panoramic views of the Fraser River. Prices for homes start at $219,900, and Fung says that 100 of the 196 condos are priced under $300,000.

“New Westminster has been overlooked for years,” Fung told the Western Investor. “This neighbourhood is now hot again.”

from Western Investor April 2013

On Monday, April 1, the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) will be replaced by the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the BC Provincial Sales Tax (PST).

What this means to you:

As we move back to the GST and PST tax structure, it’s important to remember that:

• sales tax on a new home will be reduced to 5% GST plus 2% BC Transition Tax (total 7%) from the current 12%; and
• tax on real estate commissions will be reduced to 5% from the current 12%.

These reduced tax rates apply to all transactions that are payable on or after April 1.

Available Resources

The Board has prepared two fact sheets:

• GST and the 2% BC Transition Tax on new homes; and
• information about the HST/PST new housing transitional rules.

Visit: www.realtorlink.ca and under Latest News you will see both fact sheets.

The BC Real Estate Association has developed a PST transition site at: www.bcrea.bc.ca/government-relations/hst-pst-resources/pst-transition-rules

The BC Ministry of Finance has prepared bulletins, seminars, videos, webinars, and registration information for the return to the PST. Visit: www.gov.bc.ca/pst

WEBForms revised to reflect the change back to the GST

On April 2, the following forms will have the HST replaced with GST. Please do not use the previous version.

• Authority to Lease
• Assignment of Contract of Purchase and Sale – New Development
• Assignment of Contract of Purchase and Sale – Non Developer
• Contract of Purchase and Sale
• Contract of Purchase and Sale For Commercial Real Estate
• Contract of Purchase and Sale of a Leasehold Interest in Indian Reserve Lands
• Contract of Purchase and Sale of a Manufactured Home on a Rental Pad
• Exclusive Authority to Lease
• Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Contract
• Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Contract – Large Print
• Exclusive Tenant’s Agency Contract
• Fee Agreements (all 4 agreements)
• Lease Report and Payout Instructions
• Multiple Listing Contract
• Multiple Listing Contract – Large Print
• Offer to Lease

Other

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When it comes to diversity in Vancouver, the neighbourhood of Killarney is about as mixed as it comes, likely due to its geography.

Killarney, which also includes the small community of Champlain Heights, begins at East 41st Avenue and Kingsway to the north, Boundary to the east, Elliott Street and Vivian Drive to the west, and is bounded by the Fraser River to the south.

Killarney was one of the last sections of the city to be developed and, until after the Second World War, was still mostly second-growth forest. It wasn’t until 1878 when British surveyor William Rowling was given a land grant that included much of the southern portion of Killarney that it began to be settled. That new development was due mostly to the expansion of the interurban streetcar line north of Kingsway.

A walk or drive along Kingsway today demonstrates the melting pot Killarney has become, with small businesses catering to a variety of ethnic Canadian communities ranging from Chinese to Korean, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Japanese, South Asian, Caribbean, Filipino and more.

Directly across the neighbourhood, one of the highlights of Killarney is its proximity to the Fraser River, a working waterway linking municipalities along its shores. A stroll along the Fraser River walkway allows for sweeping views of the water, Mitchell Island, the Knight Street Bridge and the steady stream of barges, tug and fishing boats that traverse the river. Eagles and seals are a common site in and around the river, as are the many species of waterfowl that nest upon its shores.

According to the City of Vancouver, the total adult population of Killarney is 28,455, of which 57.2 per cent are immigrants. Of that 57.2 per cent, 18.1 per cent are from China, 10.4 per cent are from Hong Kong, 3.7 per cent are from the Philippines and 1.6 are from India. As well, 51 per cent are married, 30.4 per cent are single, 62.3 per cent own their home and 37.7 per cent rent. The total labour force in 2006 was 13,970 and the average annual household income is $64,189.

© Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier

Les, is the Market going Up or Down??.. can you seriously answer this question with some real facts! Please do not use the MLS Home Price Index or any other Index until you have looked at the real numbers!

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