Archive for August, 2008
Sins of the City Guided Walking Tours in Vancouver
August 30th, 2008 Categories: Vancouver Events
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.
$15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors. 24 hours advanced reservation required.
Venue: Vancouver Police Museum, 240 Cordova Street East. 604-665-3346 from July l to October l, 2008. Visit their website.
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Is Vancouver’s Condo Market Bottoming?
August 29th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, Vancouver Real Estate
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?
CMHC note that British Columbia is still experiencing population and job growth, though the economy has slowed a bit, and new home starts will move back to their long term average by 2009. A tight labour market and robust income growth will partially offset the dampening effect of rising mortgage carrying costs (though some analysts are anticipating the Bank of Canada to drop rates by year end) . They project 31,500 new housing starts in 2009, down from 39,195 in 2007.
CMHC also predict the average MLS price in B.C. will grow by 7.6% in 2008 and 3.5% in 2009. Are they right? Leave a comment. Read the rest of this entry »
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Consumers Re-evaluate Risk
August 28th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, Vancouver Real Estate
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 surveyed said now was a good time to make a major purchase, more than half (54.9%) said now is not a good time to make a major purchase. Read the rest of this entry »
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Wordless Wednesdays
August 27th, 2008 Categories: Vancouver Real Estate, Wordless Wednesdays
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It’s Getting Hot in Here
August 26th, 2008 Categories: Green Condos, Vancouver Real Estate
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.
Visit Natural Resources Canada’s website to find model numbers of all Energy Star labelled windows qualified under the Canadian criteria. Look for the Energy Star label.
For more info about renovations to green homes and buildings, visit BCREA’s Green Tool Kit for REALTORS.
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Downtown Vancouver’s Newest Pre-Sale “Cosmo”
August 22nd, 2008 Categories: Downtown, Vancouver Housing Market, Vancouver Real Estate
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.
Pre-register here of fill out my contact form for other Downtown Vancouver presales or resale condos.
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Vancouver Property Graphs July 2008
August 21st, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, Vancouver Real Estate
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Wordless Wednesdays
August 20th, 2008 Categories: Vancouver Real Estate, Wordless Wednesdays
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Hitting Gold on Vancouver’s Skid Row
August 19th, 2008 Categories: Downtown, Vancouver Housing Market, Vancouver Real Estate
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, developers of the Shangri-La, the city’s tallest tower and Macdonald Development Corp, which hopes to erect the Downtown Eastside’s first high rise. Concord Pacific is building a glass tower along Hasting’s seediest stretch. Then there’s Salt, a chic charcuterie in Blood Alley. Read the rest of this entry »
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Vancouver Condo Neighbourhood Sales for 2008
August 18th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News
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