Metro Vancouver and BC Housing Market [Archive]

Yellow Fever

December 29th, 2010, 08:51 PM

Canadian home prices decline in October, Vancouver prices steady

Postmedia News December 29, 2010 8:25 AM

OTTAWA — Home prices fell in October, the second straight monthly decline, led lower by Toronto and Calgary, according to a national survey released Wednesday. In Vancouver, however, prices were roughly unchanged.

The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index eased 0.45 per cent during the month to a reading of 137.32. That followed a 1.07 per cent drop in September.

Year-over-year, the index was up 6.02 per cent —the smallest 12-month rise since the beginning of 2010.

“Despite the last two months’ declines, home prices are still five per cent above their pre-recession peak at the national level, a situation that contrasts sharply with the one prevailing in the U.S., where prices are down 29 per cent from their peak dating four years ago,” said Marc Pinsonneault, senior economist at National Bank Financial Group.

“We do not think that home prices are bound to a sharp fall” in Canada, he said.

“With a record home ownership rate in Canada and with heavily indebted households that are likely to take account of eventual higher interest rates, home prices are likely to decline five per cent over the next two years.”

Whereas in September prices were down uniformly across the six major markets covered, the October data were more mixed on a local basis. Calgary (-1.0% M/M) and Toronto (-0.9% M/M) led the decline. Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the price index was roughly unchanged in Montreal and Vancouver and higher in Halifax (+0.7% M/M).

The Teranet-National Bank index tracks homes that have been sold at least twice.

© The Financial Post

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Canadian+home+prices+continue+decline+October+Vancouver+prices+stay/4036647/story.html#ixzz19X3JclOg

Yellow Fever

January 5th, 2011, 05:46 AM

Metro Vancouver property values jump, especially in Richmond

B.C. property assessments online, see evaluations of your homes and others

By Scott Simpson and Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun January 4, 2011

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4053400.bin?size=620x400

Market values for residential property in Richmond jumped 17.14 per cent over the past year, largest of any B.C. municipality with a population greater than 5,000, according to B.C. Assessment estimates posted on its website.

Elsewhere in the region, B.C. Assessment estimates the residential market value increased 12.17 per cent in Vancouver, 7.58 per cent in Surrey, 6.02 per cent in White Rock, 9.22 per cent in Delta, 12.07 per cent in Burnaby, 9.12 per cent in Coquitlam, 9.11 per cent in New Westminster, 8.84 per cent in North Vancouver district, Langley township 6.55 per cent, and 13.03 per cent in West Vancouver.

Even the winter Olympics, however, couldn't stop residential values in Whistler from sliding an estimated 2.06 per cent.

If a property's assessment goes up, that does not always mean municipal taxes will increase. What typically makes the difference is if an assessment rises or falls beyond the average.

Re/Max Westcoast realtor Anne Marie Kirkpatrick, a lifelong Richmond resident, suggested Monday that the commencement of service of the Canada Line rapid transit route to downtown Vancouver was a factor -- along with the community's ongoing popularity with buyers from Asia.

"That has made some difference -- the transportation," Kirkpatrick said in a phone interview.

"It seems that there is a lot of mainland China buyers and a lot of immigration from Asia, and Richmond seems to be one of their favorite spots. Other than that, it's great place to live. It's close to Vancouver, and the airport is here."

Kirkpatrick said she noticed a jump in demand for property in Richmond that coincided with the opening of the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver transit line.

Lower-priced, "investment"-type condos in the Lansdowne Mall area "were normally lower than similar condos more over in the Brighouse- Richmond Centre area. As soon as that line came in they increased [in price] instantly and it became the hot area.

"I had people say, "Oh, that's where I want to be, I want to use the RAV line."

Kelowna Century 21 realtor Jason Neumann said it's no surprise that Kelowna's assessments remained flat -- barely an average of one per cent, based on the B.C. Assessment estimate of the residential market value.

"The Alberta market has dried up for us," said Neumann, who noted that the number of residential units sold in the central Okanagan are off six per cent so far this year to the end of November compared to last year, from 3,687 to 3,463.

"It's a lot slower than what we're used to. That [the latest assessments] doesn't surprise me in the least."

Neumann said unit sales in the month of November totaled 210, 36 per cent lower than the 326 units sold in November 2009.

He also noted that the average residential price in November was $440,123, compared to $451,311 in November 2009.

Owners of the 1.9 million properties in B.C. can check online for the latest figures. Notices with expanded information were given to Canada Post on Dec. 31 and will be arriving in the mail this week.

Online users can go to www.bcassessment.bc.ca and click on the box for "e-valueBC" to see the new figure for their own and neighbouring properties. B.C. Assessment's website will also show the value of sales in the surrounding area in 2010.

For most properties, B.C. Assessment shows the assessed value as of July 1 of the previous year. Their actual value depends on the market at a particular time.

B.C. Assessment appraisers takes into account criteria such as size, age, quality, condition and location of individual properties.

This year's deadline to appeal assessments is Jan. 31. If you don't agree with the assessment, B.C. Assessment encourages you to call or visit their office to try to resolve the matter.

The Crown corporation's office was closed Monday and reopens Tuesday.

While individual property values are now online, further details on regional and provincial statistics and graphs will be coming out Tuesday. That information will include the total value of the provincial assessment roll, year-over-year changes in assessment values in municipalities, and new construction.

Provincially, the assessment roll reached $969 billion in January 2010.

with files from the Victoria Times-Colonist

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Metro+Vancouver+property+values+jump+especially+Richmond/4053541/story.html#ixzz1A8J0OFEK

Yellow Fever

January 7th, 2011, 06:08 AM

Average Vancouver house price hits $1 million, expected to rise further: Report

By Derek Abma, Financial Post January 6, 2011

OTTAWA — Home prices will continue a "moderate and steady climb" this year, helped along by an improving economy and low interest rates, according to a report released Thursday.

Real estate services firm Royal LePage said the average price of a home in Canada will rise three per cent to $348,600, even as the number of transactions falls two per cent.

In Vancouver, the average price of a two-storey home is now more than $1 million, Royal LePage said, up 9.8 per cent over the last year. The report predicts an increase of 3.7 per cent for Vancouver house prices in 2011. The report says inventory is expected to grow 8 per cent, while interest rates will continue to be the most important factor, followed by employment levels.

It said that after a "lacklustre" third quarter in 2010, home prices were up between 3.9 and 4.6 per cent, year over year, in the year's fourth quarter. This marked a return to growth more typical of trends since the end of the recession, Royal LePage said.

The report said, similar to last year, sales will be more robust in the first half of the year as homebuyers take advantage of low interest rates that could be on the rise in the near future.

"Canadians realize that interest rates are unsustainably low and that homes will become effectively more expensive when mortgage rates return to normal levels," said Phil Soper, CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate Services. "We will likely see more price appreciation early in 2011 as some buyers complete transactions in advance of anticipated higher borrowing costs."

The report said the strongest price gains will happen in mid-sized cities where homes are priced below the national average. It noted places like Winnipeg, St. John's and Fredericton, where single two-storey homes are still widely available for less than $300,000.

Alberta's housing market is also expected to be strong in the coming year, as the energy sector helps fuel a strong hiring climate.

However, cities such as Calgary and Edmonton were among the few major centres showing price declines, year to year, as of the end of last year. Edmonton now has lower-priced homes than Saskatoon, according to the Royal LePage report. The average price for a two-storey home in Edmonton was $334,286 in last year's fourth quarter, down 2.3 per cent from a year earlier. It was $359,250 in Saskatoon, up 6.1 per cent.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Average+Vancouver+house+price+hits+million+expected+rise+further+Report/4068694/story.html#ixzz1AK5ehafJ

Yellow Fever

January 7th, 2011, 06:10 AM

Average prices for two-story homes as of Q4 2010 (change from year earlier):

Halifax $291,000 (9.7%)

St. John's $327,627 (9.6%)

Montreal $375,222 (8.7%)

Ottawa $354,083 (6.7%)

Toronto $594,231 (5.6%)

Winnipeg $296,750 (6.4%)

Regina $282,500 (9.1%)

Saskatoon $359,250 (6.1%)

Calgary $404,622 (-5.3%)

Edmonton $334,286 (-2.3%)

Vancouver $1 million (9.8%)

Victoria $480,000 (6.9%)

Source: Royal LePage

© The Financial Post

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Average+Vancouver+house+price+hits+million+expected+rise+further+Report/4068694/story.html#ixzz1AK6HSdFP

Spoolmak

January 7th, 2011, 12:07 PM

That is absolutely disgusting.

ACT7

January 7th, 2011, 04:35 PM

That's what you get for living in the world's biggest resort. It's always baffled me how a city with virtually no decernable economy, rain for 6 months of the year and the worst heroine problem in North America would have real estate anywhere near that price. Aside from that, it would be more appropriate to compare metro areas to metro areas. While the average two storey house price in the city of Vancouver is $1,000,000, the city of Vancouver itself is quite small so taking into account all house prices in the Greater Vancouver Area, you're looking at closer to $650K...still pretty ridiculous but not $1MM. This makes it look like Vancouver is more expensive than Tokyo, so it's a little decieving in my opinion.

Jonesy55

January 7th, 2011, 05:38 PM

ACT7

January 7th, 2011, 08:32 PM

Wow, that is expensive :( I seem to remember seeing that BC doesn't have particularly high average incomes either compared to other Canadian provinces, higher than the Maritimes, similar or just above Quebec, below everywhere else I think.

What's the average for an apartment or rowhome (if you have them :dunno: ) in Vancouver city or metro?
Average row home in metro is about $500K and average condo about $370K. The city itself is about $675K for as row home and about $480K for a condo.

Yellow Fever

January 8th, 2011, 07:50 AM

What's the average for an apartment or rowhome (if you have them :dunno: ) in Vancouver city or metro?

http://www.vancouversun.com/4075286.bin?size=620x400
one of the most expensive condo on market in Vancouver, 41st floor of Shaw Tower - #4101 - 1077 West Cordova Street,, being put up for sale for $12.88 million.

http://www.vancouversun.com/4075261.bin?size=620x400
3702 -1111 Alberni. The apartment sold for $1.388 million, after 65 days on the market. The list price was $1.499 million.

Yellow Fever

January 8th, 2011, 10:22 AM

The most expensive homes on the market in Metro Vancouver

From just short of $40 million to a value price of $10 million, here are the most expensive homes for sale in Metro Vancouver, according to MLS.

January 6, 2011

http://www.vancouversun.com/4069387.bin?size=620x400
$39,900,000: 2190 CAMELOT RD. West Vancouver, BC

http://www.vancouversun.com/4069401.bin?size=620x400r
$24,800,000: 5240 MARINE DR, West Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/4069395.bin?size=620x400
$16,980,000: 4778 DRUMMOND DR, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/4069402.bin?size=620x400
$19,800,000: 2888 PANORAMA DR, North Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/4069403.bin?size=620x400
$16,800,000: 4798 DRUMMOND DR, Vancouver

Huhu

January 8th, 2011, 10:37 AM

Sigh... :ohno:

Jonesy55

January 8th, 2011, 10:41 AM

Hmmmm, nice but slightly out of my range. What could I get for say $250-300k?

Elnerico

January 8th, 2011, 11:23 AM

In the city maybe a studio/bachelor condo in the burbs about a 1 or maybe 2 bedroom condo. All around 400-750 sqft.

Jonesy55

January 8th, 2011, 08:28 PM

Thanks, so pretty damn expensive all round!

Elnerico

January 8th, 2011, 10:37 PM

So I looked up some prices and would like to refine my previous statement. $250K-350K CAD will get you a 1 bedroom condo in the city (starting at 400sqft) but still nothing Downtown. On the outskirts of the city you can get up to 2 bedrooms and up to 700 sqft. In the burbs you can get 2-3 bedrooms and there are a few rowhomes even up to 1200 sqft.

ssiguy2

January 9th, 2011, 07:46 AM

You know what makes it even more obscene?...............very few houses in BC have basements. You get half the square footage for triple the price.
Yes, Vancouver is not a high income city. These prices are due, almost exclusively, due to Chinese money.
You can bet 99.9% of Vancouverites can afford a million dollar home or even half a million.
The Hong Kong money caused the soar in prices in the 1990s and this century it's money from the Chinese mainland.
Vancouver has Canada's lowest rate of home ownership and a huge gap between the rich and the poor. BC is Canada's resort province and the province and cities encourage it.
Look at BC's other cities and almost all the condos, especially on waterfronts, are time shares. In other words they are built for foreigners by the developers and real estate agents with the blessing of the province and cities who want the tax revenue.
Outside of Greater Vancouver and Victoria, 5% of the population live in mobile homes.
BC is Canada's have/have not province.

spongeg

January 10th, 2011, 12:00 AM

are you on crack?

most houses in BC have basements - i have yet to go to a house in BC that doesn't have a basement

where I grew up you had to have a basement because of the frost level

people who bought in the 80's 90's are doing fine and can afford the prices they just sell and move up - i worked with someone who started out in the late 90's in a $200,000 townhouse and is now in a $700,000 house - moving up the property ladder - her income hasn't changed just you buy and move up

like i've used the example before of friends they bought a heritage house near commercial drive in the 80's for $125,000 - they sold it for just over $200,000 when they left BC around 1990 had they stayed the house today would sell for $900,000 or more - thats a pretty decent amount and more than enough to come up with a down payment on any house in the city and thats what people are able to do not just wealthy investors

another person i knew through work - he bought his condo in yaletown in the late 90's for $170,000 and sold it in the 2000's for about $290,000 thats a nice increase in about 5 years more than enought money to move up the property ladder

spongeg

January 10th, 2011, 12:03 AM

Huhu

January 10th, 2011, 05:55 AM

Prices of single-family dwellings have increased in part due to the Chinese fixation on land, but the prices of condos have been driven up by out-of-town buyers from Alberta and the US who consider Vancouver a resort town or something.

boschb

January 10th, 2011, 06:06 AM

dleung

January 10th, 2011, 06:52 AM

Lol i'm pretty sure ssiguy has a macro for making that post. He's also probably referring to only Richmond wrt the no-basements thing (almost everywhere else in Vancouver there would be basements).

I agree BC is a land of extremes, relative to the rest of the country, like with all those trailer hippies ssiguy's referring to, juxtaposed with Chinese money, lol. Another way to look at it is we have less mediocrity... ie: middle-class exurban drones who shop at power centres and live in subdivisions full of vinyl boxes...

Elnerico

January 10th, 2011, 07:01 AM

It's bad for those who want to get into the housing market but can't afford to due to high prices. Its bad because incomes have not kept up with the rate of the housing price increase.

spongeg

January 10th, 2011, 09:22 AM

you can still get a condo in vancouver for under $200,000

in marpole there are often condos in the $160,000's if you can believe it

Xusein

January 10th, 2011, 09:24 AM

Elnerico

January 10th, 2011, 05:41 PM

^Just 2 story homes in the city. Rowhouses/townhomes and condo are quite a bit less.

@spongeg, In marpole? Interesting. Well he was asking what he could get in the 250-300K range and while you can still get condos for under 200k (mostly in the burbs) 250-300K still won't get you much more than a condo and gets you close to a rowhouse/townhome.

ACT7

January 10th, 2011, 06:18 PM

i don't know where you get your ideas of the city from but they are wrong
Which idea exactly? Are you denying that Vancouver has the worst heroine problem in North America, or denying that it's not even in the top 3 head office cities in the country? Or that for most of winter and spring it rains nons-stop? It's a resort lifestyle in Vancouver for the most part. Fair-enough, it's not a criticism, it's a fact.

Jonesy55

January 10th, 2011, 06:52 PM

the people saying this is a bad thing dont make sence
acting like high house prising is a bad thing?!
cause they must also think its nicer to buy a house in Detroit or phoenix or something, it doesn't make sense
cause it would be better if the house prises were falling :lol:

High and rising house prices aren't good for most people, if you are young and trying to get your first place or wanting to trade up to somewhere bigger or better then it means taking out a bigger mortgage and chucking more money in interest down the drain each month. It means less money in pockets to spend in shops, restaurants, on travel or whatever.

It widens the difference between those with well-off homeowning parents who can help them out with the money they've got from rising house prices and those who are not so lucky. Not good for social mobility if your own talent and work means less and less while mom and pops status and wealth makes more and more difference.

It also encourages a get rich quick mentality when people see others making more by taking out as much debt as possible to gamble on rising home prices than most people do by working all year. That isn't good for the economy in the longer term imo.

The only people who really benefit are those looking to sell up and retire somewhere cheap or at least downsize locally.

With all the Chinese money Vancouver sounds a bit like London here in the UK. Wealthy Russians, Arabs and Indians with incomes unconnected to local labour market conditions pump money into the luxury end of the market pushing up prices there which in turn drags up prices further down for local buyers. It doesn't happen to anywhere near the same extent in other UK cities and regions which is one reason why London price/earnings multiples are so much higher than elsewhere.

From the examples given it seems that Vancouver and London have pretty similar prices.

koolio

January 11th, 2011, 12:05 AM

dleung

January 11th, 2011, 03:26 AM

No doubt investors are a factor, but if people only look at income levels in Vancouver, as ssiguy2 always loves referring to, it would be a terrible indicator of the amount of wealth that actually exists in the city relative to other places. Yes, the overseas income is one hidden factor. Plus one must consider the fact that a lot of people don't come to Vancouver to make money; they've already made all that somewhere else. Pretty much all my friends' parents in their mid-50's are at least semi-retired. Some cities serve as a stepping stone - a means to an end; for many, Vancouver is the end. A better indicator of wealth relative to housing prices is to look at savings and other assets, minus liabilities.

spongeg

January 11th, 2011, 03:26 AM

Which idea exactly? Are you denying that Vancouver has the worst heroine problem in North America, or denying that it's not even in the top 3 head office cities in the country? Or that for most of winter and spring it rains nons-stop? It's a resort lifestyle in Vancouver for the most part. Fair-enough, it's not a criticism, it's a fact.

yes yes and yes :lol:

we do have many headquarters here just not the type out east

we will never be and never have been a city for that type of office culture we are a not a white collar city like toronto or montreal and never will be but we do pretty well

finance investment is a big industry here as is research and development

we do alright

ACT7

January 11th, 2011, 04:19 AM

yes yes and yes :lol:

we do have many headquarters here just not the type out east

we will never be and never have been a city for that type of office culture we are a not a white collar city like toronto or montreal and never will be but we do pretty well

finance investment is a big industry here as is research and development

we do alright
Agreed that there are some head offices out there, and as you mentioned you do alright, but 'doing alright' is not consistent with those kind of house prices...that was my point. Makes no sense. Most 'non-white collar' cities do not have those kind of house prices unless their very resort-like. Hawaii is a good example, but at least you can chalk that up to great weather and actual beaches. Don't take it personally, dude, I actually enjoy being in Vancouver but looking at it objectively, the house prices there are a complete anomaly when compared to just about everywhere else.

Yellow Fever

January 11th, 2011, 07:13 AM

only two hours away from downtown vancouver there is whistler, the best winter resort in the world, is also one of the most expensive homes market regions in BC.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/4085605.bin?size=620x400s
$23,000,000: 8988 HIGHWAY 99 HY, Whistler

http://www.calgaryherald.com/4085612.bin?size=620x400s
$14,990,000: 6805 CRABAPPLE DR, Whistler

http://www.calgaryherald.com/4085606.bin?size=620x400s
$12,500,000: 3820 SUNRIDGE DR, Whistler

http://www.calgaryherald.com/4085601.bin?size=620x400s
$10,999,999: 5448 STONEBRIDGE PL, Whistler

http://www.calgaryherald.com/4085608.bin?size=620x400s
$10,500,000: 2257 NORDIC DR, Whistler

http://www.calgaryherald.com/4085611.bin?size=620x400s
$9,990,000: 6801 CRABAPPLE DR, Whistler

http://www.calgaryherald.com/4085604.bin?size=620x400s
$7,899,000 : 3802 SUNRIDGE PL, Whistler

ACT7

January 12th, 2011, 03:22 AM

"the best winter resort in the world" is a pretty bold claim. It's great but there are places in Switzerland and Austria (just as one example) that match Whistler in every way. Besides, proximity to a ski resort don't make for non-sensical house prices.

realtor9991

January 12th, 2011, 03:30 AM

you can still get a condo in vancouver for under $200,000

in marpole there are often condos in the $160,000's if you can believe it

i dont think you can find a condo in marpole right now that is priced below $200k! the cheapest one is listed starting at $225k and it is only a 1 bedroom apartment, built in 1975.

yes vancouver's house prices is ridiculously expensive.. i hope there is a rapid commuter railways out to the fraser valley(a system similar to that in sydney, australia) so people can start living out of metro vancouver.

because right now the lower mainland is too tight already (except surrey, which unfortunately is not so popular to some).

Elnerico

January 12th, 2011, 04:22 AM

Yellow Fever

January 12th, 2011, 09:38 PM

spongeg

January 12th, 2011, 11:11 PM

Agreed that there are some head offices out there, and as you mentioned you do alright, but 'doing alright' is not consistent with those kind of house prices...that was my point. Makes no sense. Most 'non-white collar' cities do not have those kind of house prices unless their very resort-like. Hawaii is a good example, but at least you can chalk that up to great weather and actual beaches. Don't take it personally, dude, I actually enjoy being in Vancouver but looking at it objectively, the house prices there are a complete anomaly when compared to just about everywhere else.

it is crazy but once you're on a rung its not so bad

you move form you starter condo to a townhouse to a house gaining a bit more money each time

and wages aren't too bad i don't know how so many people make their money but a lot do make over $10,000 a month somehow i felt poor amongst a lot of people especially on here how on earth do y'all make your money

spongeg

January 12th, 2011, 11:13 PM

i dont think you can find a condo in marpole right now that is priced below $200k! the cheapest one is listed starting at $225k and it is only a 1 bedroom apartment, built in 1975.

yes vancouver's house prices is ridiculously expensive.. i hope there is a rapid commuter railways out to the fraser valley(a system similar to that in sydney, australia) so people can start living out of metro vancouver.

because right now the lower mainland is too tight already (except surrey, which unfortunately is not so popular to some).

there was a studio in my friends building not too long ago and it was $168,000

spongeg

January 12th, 2011, 11:16 PM

I heard the swiss alps haven't been as a good lately, however Whistler is definitely a Top-tier ski resort if not one of the best in the world.

The high house prices is a double edged sword. On the one hand if you bought your place before the boom then you will be fairly well off however if you are like me and want to get into the housing the market there are definitely better alternatives to entry across the country (for those able to relocate).

whistler has actually taken a hit recently and its housing market is doing poorly but that level of real estate is different from everyday houses, these kinds can sit for months or years on the market without affecting owners the way it does if it was your day to day home

i think whistler's problem is it really pushed and marketed itself to americans

Huhu

January 13th, 2011, 12:55 AM

I heard from a friend in Singapore that they were holding open houses for condos in Burnaby there! Wtf, that's just crazy! :mad2:

ssiguy2

January 13th, 2011, 06:27 AM

Vancouver housing prices are ridiculous.........that's the one thing I think we can all agree on.
I think the Chinese are the reason why they have gone so high as for money money is no object and by buying higher end places it still has an effect of raising the entire pricing levels. I do, however, think it's more than just that. I find that most of the Chinese who have immigrated to Vancouver in the last 20 years have a different view on the market. I find that Chinese, more than anyone, see housing as real estate........in other words more of an investment as opposed to a place to live for a long time.
I find most view the market as a way to make money almost like the stock market. Most caucasians. I find, tend to still see a house to put down roots as opposed to a monetary opportunity.
What I am afraid of is Vancouver being a Phoneix. No I don't mean in terms of planning put rather a relatively low income service based economy who back bone is a strong construction sector. As long as the people keep coming, the construction continues, and interest rates remain low the economy does well.
Construction is always a strong section of an economy but never should be the most important one. Yes, people will keep coming due to immigration but what's going to happen when interest rates really go up? It will hammer the BC and particularily Vancouver, economy very hard. Far worse than any other city in the country.
The problem for Vancouverites is that so many are completly over extended by the mortgages they shouldn't have gotten in thje first place that their mortgage payments may go up by as much as a $1000/month at renewal time. One thing is for certain......interest rates can only go up.
I find San Fran more like Victoria...............the prices didn't fall as dramatically in SF due to it's strong fundamental base namely IT. Victoria has high prices but still within striking range of Toronto or Calgary but it has a strong backbone namely government.
I view Vancouver as more in line with Florida or Phoneix.......... a service based economy who's strongest sector is construction built on immigration and cheap money. Yes Vancouver is a port city which also helps for airport traffic but just doesn't have the basic economic strength that will help it weather the storm.

Huhu

January 13th, 2011, 06:48 AM

Jonesy55

January 13th, 2011, 09:25 AM

and wages aren't too bad i don't know how so many people make their money but a lot do make over $10,000 a month

:? Really? What % of workers in metro Vancouver make over $10,000 a month?

Trey

January 13th, 2011, 09:36 PM

id like to know what kinda jobs pay that coin in vancouver!

Yellow Fever

January 13th, 2011, 11:32 PM

unless you are a cougar hunter or drug dealer :D, there are not too many people can make $10,000 a month in the lower mainland. That figure is more likely for the total household income.

realtor9991

January 14th, 2011, 05:04 AM

there was a studio in my friends building not too long ago and it was $168,000

wow cheap..when was that? was it a free hold or a leasehold?

because right now you cant find one below 200K there.

as to..Vancouver housing prices are ridiculous...yes we are rich, only if we believe the BC property assessment office (that is if you own your place). but our pockets are not that deep.

boschb

January 16th, 2011, 07:58 AM

^^very true but hope fully the immigrants will be able to afford it

Yellow Fever

January 20th, 2011, 12:47 AM

Metro Vancouver has firmly established itself as the most expensive housing market in Canada. But how does its average home price compare with those of top markets south of the border? We take the latest BCREA data and compare it with Coldwell Banker's fall 2010 list.

http://www.vancouversun.com/4132607.bin?size=620x400
Newport Beach, CA $1,826,348

http://www.vancouversun.com/4132634.bin?size=620x400
Palo Alto, CA $1,479.227

http://www.vancouversun.com/4132608.bin?size=620x400
Rye, NY $1,325,500

http://www.vancouversun.com/4132611.bin?size=620x400
San Francisco $1,325,103

http://www.vancouversun.com/4075204.bin?size=620x400
Vancouver (city) $1,324,000 CDN

http://www.vancouversun.com/4132618.bin?size=620x400
5. La Jolla, CA $1,210,300

http://www.vancouversun.com/4132623.bin?size=620x400
Greenwich, CT $1,195,614

http://www.vancouversun.com/4132627.bin?size=620x400
Wellesley, MA $1,080,458

http://www.vancouversun.com/4132614.bin?size=620x400
Santa Barbara, CA $1,024,661

Huhu

January 20th, 2011, 07:39 AM

Wow that mansion in Santa Barbara is so affordable! (compared to Vancouver) I guess they're real estate is still in the crapper.

dleung

January 21st, 2011, 04:40 AM

Those aren't prices for the houses, haha. Not sure why all the numbers are so high, but I'm assuming they're averages ($1.3m for Vancouver proper??), coupled with a sample pic of what the locale has to offer. I'm pretty sure most of these houses cost more than $5 mil.

Yellow Fever

January 23rd, 2011, 04:03 AM

B.C.'s most expensive island vacation homes

Even with a slowdown of the rural real estate market in B.C., some island resort properties remain well above the $2 million mark.

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144669.bin?size=620x400
$5,979,500, MLS® 286960 3 Beds, 3 Baths. 151 Parminter Rd, Salt Spring Island

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144674.bin?size=620x400
$4,650,000, MLS® 287216 5 Beds, 7 Baths, 1110 Sunset Dr, Salt Spring Island

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144676.bin?size=620x400
$3,950,000 MLS® 286387 4 Beds, 3 Baths 770 Beechwood Dr, Mayne Island

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144677.bin?size=620x400
$3,295,000 MLS® V851737 4 Beds, 5 Baths 379 DAVID RD, Bowen Island

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144683.bin?size=620x400
$2,850,000 MLS® 298917 2 Beds, 2 Baths CORTES ISLAND

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144678.bin?size=620x400
$2,750,000 MLS® V817666 3 Beds, 3 Baths 221 CHU-AN DR, Salt Spring Island

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144687.bin?size=620x400
$2,750,000 MLS® V859065 4 Beds, 3 Baths 229 REGINALD HILL RD, Salt Spring Island

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144679.bin?size=620x400
2,700,000 MLS® V824217 3 Beds, 3 Baths 1243 FAIRWEATHER RD, Bowen Island

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144686.bin?size=620x400
$2,480,000 MLS® 286810 3 Beds, 2 Baths 221 Bay Ridge Pl, Salt Spring Island

http://www.vancouversun.com/4144685.bin?size=620x400
$2,300,000 MLS® 285179 3 Beds, 3 Baths 540 Fernhill Rd, Mayne Island

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4144601/story.html

Bytson

January 23rd, 2011, 10:59 PM

The average price of a home in Vancouver is now over $1 million. So if you sold a 2,739-square-feet home in Metro Vancouver, how many homes could you buy in Newfoundland?

http://www.vancouversun.com/4097430.bin?size=620x400

This Metro Vancouver home in the Lynn Valley is listed for $1,095,000. (3267 FROMME RD North Vancouver, British Columbia. 2,739 sq. ft., 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms.) That price can get you 34 - count'em, 34 - homes in Newfoundland currently on the market, with a little extra to spare...

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4097300/story.html

Aren't this type of houses built from prefabricated parts with materials such as plywood? I know that prices are under the influnce of the local market but come on, if someone would plead for the value of materials and relating to the average value of a plot of land on a specific area, I think it will be suprised to see this common house doesn't worth more than 650k based on pure construction calculus.

ssiguy2

January 26th, 2011, 04:55 AM

Mot only are Vancouver average prices high but the median prices are too.
Yes housing in Toronto may be half the price of Vancouver but condos start at a quarter of the price. You can still get condos under 75k and most are well under 200k. The difference is that you can still get into the market in Toronto but if your family income in Vancouver is less than 50k forget it.
These new mortgage rules are an excellent idea........fewer people qualifying which results in lower demand and hence falling prices.
Housing prices rise when mortgage amortization periods are extended. As far as I'm concerned the MOST CMHC should amortorize is 25 years. 30 years ago you could afford your home to be paid back in 20 years. When i was young a 20 year mortgage was considered a long one.

ACT7

January 26th, 2011, 05:13 AM

Yellow Fever

January 26th, 2011, 08:14 AM

White Rocks home prices vs. nearby U.S. border town, Blaine

http://www.vancouversun.com/4164235.bin?size=620x400
Comparison 1: White Rock/Blaine. White Rock: $1,999,888 MLS® F1101659 5 Beds, 7 Baths 1087 FINLAY ST, White Rock
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.CA

http://www.vancouversun.com/4164073.bin?size=620x400
Blaine - 5376 Night Heron Dr Offered at $1,950,000 Residential Bed/Bath: 4/4 Sq Feet: 4640
Photograph by: Courtesy, Blaine Real Estate

http://www.vancouversun.com/4164241.bin?size=620x400
hite Rock: $1,499,000MLS® F10283985 Beds, 4 Baths15652 SEMIAHMOO AV, White Rock
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.CA

http://www.vancouversun.com/4164077.bin?size=620x400
Blaine - 4620 Dearborn Ave Offered at $1,495,000 Residential Bed/Bath: 4/4 Sq Feet: 4500
Photograph by: Courtesy, Blaine Real Estate

http://www.vancouversun.com/4164237.bin?size=620x400
White Rock: $1,398,000 MLS® F1101229 3 Beds, 4 Baths 15575 PACIFIC AV, White Rock
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.CA

http://www.vancouversun.com/4164075.bin?size=620x400
Blaine - 3905 H St Offered at $1,400,000 Residential Bed/Bath: 4/6 Sq Feet: 5002
Photograph by: Courtesy, Blaine Real Estate

http://www.vancouversun.com/4164239.bin?size=620x400
White Rock: $1,150,000 MLS® F1020129 3 Beds, 3 Baths 14783 GORDON AV, White Rock
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.CA

http://www.vancouversun.com/4164082.bin?size=620x400
Blaine - 8888 Semiahmoo Ridge Offered at $1,149,000 Residential Bed/Bath: 3/6
Photograph by: Courtesy, Blaine Real Estate

Yellow Fever

January 27th, 2011, 06:35 AM

What Halifax's average home price - $240,000 - can buy in Vancouver

Both are Canadian cities by the ocean. Both have beautiful waterfronts and dense downtowns. But what gets a buyer a full detached home in one city will only net a condo - a small one, at that - in the other.

http://www.vancouversun.com/4126536.bin?size=620x400
The average home price in Halifax, NS is $240,000 (Livingin-canada.com) in September 2010. That price can get you this home: $241,350 32 DANFORTH LOT 103A HALIFAX, Nova Scotia....
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.ca

The following is a selection of what $240,000 will buy in Vancouver and nearby areas: none surpasses 700 square feet in size. We've also included the cheapest house on the market within Vancouver city limits - which is on the market for roughly twice the price of this Halifax home.

http://www.vancouversun.com/4126523.bin?size=620x400
Closest priced house: $449,000 1017 KEEFER ST Vancouver, British Columbia. Built in 1905.
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.ca

http://www.vancouversun.com/4126531.bin?size=620x400
$242,000 # 302 1330 BURRARD ST Vancouver, British Columbia. 461 sq.ft., studio, 1 bathroom.
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.ca

http://www.vancouversun.com/4126529.bin?size=620x400
$239,999 # 515 3588 CROWLEY DR Vancouver, British Columbia, 425 sq.ft. studio, 1 bathroom.
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.ca

http://www.vancouversun.com/4126530.bin?size=620x400
$239,900 # PH8 868 KINGSWAY Vancouver, British Columbia
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.ca

http://www.vancouversun.com/4126526.bin?size=620x400
$239,000 # 7 6320 EAST BV Vancouver, British Columbia
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.ca

http://www.vancouversun.com/4126532.bin?size=620x400
$238,900 # 109 123 E 19TH ST North Vancouver, British Columbia
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.ca

http://www.vancouversun.com/4126528.bin?size=620x400
$238,800 # 208 2891 E HASTINGS ST Vancouver, British Columbia
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.ca

http://www.vancouversun.com/4126537.bin?size=620x400
$229,900 # 103 211 W 3RD ST North Vancouver, British Columbia. At 692 sq.ft., largest condo available in area for price range.
Photograph by: Courtesy, MLS.ca

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4126476/story.html

pirlo_21

January 28th, 2011, 07:01 PM

http://www.soprovich.com/

awesome vancouver house on the above!

Yellow Fever

January 30th, 2011, 12:16 AM

You won't believe how much this tear down costs.

Location, location, location is the selling point of this one-bedroom shack in Point Grey, a block from Locarno Beach

http://www.vancouversun.com/4189230.bin?size=620x400

As an example of a Vancouver real estate market that can induce gasps, consider 4541 Belmont.

It is a detached house on a 60-by-95-foot lot.

The house is 720 square feet in size. It is for sale.

It has one bedroom, size small, one bathroom, size smaller, a living room an optimist might describe as "cosy" and a kitchen decorated in the latest turn-of-the-century style, and by that I mean the 19th century.

The walls are painted in a colour best described as Custard Gone Bad, and permeating the interior is a funky smell of -- what exactly? -- mildew fighting it out with Clorox? Its basement, reached by stairs steep enough that one properly should rappel down them, has a bunker's charm. The house has gutters but, oddly, no drainpipes. Its age? Unknown. They're still waiting for the carbon-dating results.

Price?

The owner is asking $2,199,000.

It is, of course, a teardown. Belmont is one block south of N.W. Marine Drive in Point Grey, and building lots bring top dollar.

The house next door, a modest two-bedroom bungalow still standing, though probably not for many more years, sold a while ago for $2,165,000. A block away on Belmont, somebody is building a 45,000-square-foot palace for an estimated $31.5 million. Point Grey is a world with which most of us are not familiar.

"I refer to Point Grey," said Phil Gustin, the realtor handling the property, "as the land of the rich and the land of the lucky. If you're rich, you can afford to buy here. If you're born here. you're lucky. I've been doing this for about 30 years, and I remember as a kid saying to my parents, 'How can I ever afford to live in this neighbourhood?' Even so, it's still mind-numbing to me."

The owner of the property is Jim Shepherd. Shepherd, 45, used to live in the place in the 1990s, but no longer does. He inherited the place.

"It was my great-aunt's -- her name was Joan Park," Shepherd said. "She lived across the street from it as a child during the Great Depression. She and her husband were hard-working people -- they saved every penny they made -- and they bought the house, and the house behind it as well, as rental property. Then they rented them out to students and nurses and such.

"I was her favourite nephew -- she had no children of her own -- and she really wanted me to live there. She gave me the home around, I think, 1992."

Was he aware that she was bestowing upon him a fortune?

"I was not unaware of that at the time," Shepherd said, with admirable understatement. "But I really loved her, and it was some of the best times of my life, living there and just going over to visit her."

He was in his 20s at the time, and a bachelor, and need we say more? A young guy with place a block away from Locarno Beach? In a house that didn't need coddling?

"I had some of the biggest parties in that little house," Shepherd said. "People would fill up the inside and then spill out on to the front porch."

The house also served as a great pickup line for dates.

"I'd be at a party at one of my friend's and I'd say, 'I have a little shack on Belmont, and they'd think, 'Oh, yeah?' And then when they got there, they'd say, 'Oh, it really is a little shack, isn't it?' with a look of disappointment.

"It's still a standing joke with my friends."

Shepherd, who produces trade shows for a living, moved out seven or eight years ago, he said. His mother, who lived nearby, grew ill and her caregiver moved into the house. When the caregiver left recently to move in with her daughter, Shepherd decided to sell.

"It was time," he said.

Shepherd now lives in a 2,500-square-foot home. His new place is in Kitsilano, which is nice, but it's no Point Grey.

pmcmartin@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Little+house+ticket/4189229/story.html#ixzz1CT8XMbIx

realtor9991

February 1st, 2011, 07:46 AM

now..im contemplating of moving to halifax!

Yellow Fever

February 3rd, 2011, 07:51 AM

Region's housing market balanced in January, despite signs of sellers' market returning

By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun February 2, 2011

VANCOUVER -- Metro Vancouver's housing market remained in balanced market conditions in January, although there were signs of a sellers' market returning with higher levels of demand in larger communities.

“There was a healthy balance between the number of home buyers and sellers in our market in January, but there’s always variation in activity from region to region,” Jake Moldowan, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), said in a statement Wednesday. "We’re seeing strong sellers’ market conditions in areas like Richmond and the west side of Vancouver.”

According to the REBGV's latest monthly report, the number of properties listed for sale and those sold on the Multiple Listing Service last month outpaced the 10-year average in January.

Over the last 12 months, the benchmark price of detached homes increased 22.6 per cent in Richmond and 12.2 per cent in Vancouver West, according to a release. In comparison, detached home prices across the region increased 2.7 per cent over the same period.

Elsewhere in the region, the REBGV reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 1,819 in January, a 4.2-per-cent decline compared to the 1,899 sales recorded in December 2010, and a decrease of 5.4 per cent compared to the 1,923 sales in January 2010. The numbers also represented a 139-per-cent increase from the 762 home sales in January 2009.

January’s 1,819 homes sales slightly surpassed the 1,790 home sale average recorded in the region over the last ten years.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Metro Vancouver totalled 4,801 in January, a 6.7-per-cent decrease compared to January 2010 when 5,147 properties were listed.

At 10,438, the total number of property listings increased 5.8 per cent in January compared to last month and increased 2.2 per cent from this time last year.

Sales of detached properties in January reached 793, an increase of 12.5 per cent from the 705 detached sales recorded in January 2010. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 2.7 per cent from January 2010 to $810,045.

Meanwhile, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board on Wednesday reported an increase in listing activity and steady sales for the first month of 2011.

Board president Deanna Horn said: “In addition to an influx of new inventory in January, our realtors had more inquiries and increased traffic at open houses boding well for a solid spring market in the Fraser Valley.”

There were 834 sales in January, a decrease of 15 per cent compared to the 981 sales processed in January 2010 and a seven-per-cent decrease compared to the 895 sales in December.

Although the board received 11 per cent fewer new listings in January than it did during the same month last

year, it saw the typical post-holiday surge in new properties coming on stream.

Horn said there was a decrease in the average number of days to sell single family homes and townhouses in January.

“In terms of prices, overall they’re holding steady, however we are seeing variability depending on the

community and property type,” she added.

The benchmark price for Fraser Valley detached homes in January was $505,618, down 0.1 per cent compared to December and 0.9 per cent higher compared to $500,931 in January 2010.

bmorton@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Region+housing+market+balanced+January+despite+signs+sellers+market/4212643/story.html#ixzz1CsNq5Wth

large

February 3rd, 2011, 05:38 PM

Vancouver is the mother of all housing bubbles. The kind of crap people say about it...it's different here etc is the same bollocks that people have said in the middle of a bubble everywhere. Look at the average wages, look at the average price and run for cover...it's a no brainer. Sydney is going the same way, much of the UK has already begun down that road...California, Florida, they're near the end. There's only so many idiots out there who believe realtors and bank economists.

Yellow Fever

February 5th, 2011, 08:44 AM

How much has the value of your Metro Vancouver home increased in five years?

How much has the value of your Metro Vancouver detached home increased since January 2006? While every community made gains, two areas in particular saw home prices almost double in five years, according to the Real Estate Board of Metro Vancouver.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224737.bin?size=620x400
Average Metro Vancouver price index for detached homes: $810,045, up 38.7 per cent.
Photograph by: Archive, PNG

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224734.bin?size=620x400
1. Richmond: Up 80.3 per cent

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224745.bin?size=620x400
2. Vancouver West: Up 76.9 per cent

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224744.bin?size=620x400
3. Vancouver East: Up 41.7 per cent

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224736.bin?size=620x400
4. Squamish: up 39.9

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224741.bin?size=620x400
5. Burnaby: up 38

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224747.bin?size=620x400
6. Coquitlam: up 31

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4222001.bin?size=620x400
7. Pitt Meadows: up 26.1

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224746.bin?size=620x400
8. South Delta: up 25

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224738.bin?size=620x400
9. West Vancouver: up 23.9

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224740.bin?size=620x400
10. Port Coquitlam: up 22.3

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224748.bin?size=620x400
11. North Vancouver: up 22.1

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224735.bin?size=620x400
12. Port Moody: up 20.1

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224743.bin?size=620x400
13: Maple Ridge: up 20

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4046964.bin?size=620x400
14: New Westminster: up 16.9

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4224739.bin?size=620x400
15: Sunshine Coast: up 6

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/business/4224621/story.html

Yellow Fever

February 8th, 2011, 06:21 AM

The 7 most expensive neighbourhoods in Vancouver

While Vancouver's average home price itself is nothing to sneeze at, the prices in these seven city neighbourhoods really push the limits of home buyers looking for a house locally.

http://www.vancouversun.com/4236650.bin?size=620x400
1. Shaughnessy: $14,980,000 MLS® V778316 7 Beds, 8 Baths 3719 SELKIRK ST, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/4236663.bin?size=620x400
2: Quilchena - $5,488,000 MLS® V852948 6 Beds, 6 Baths 4468 PINE CR, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/4236657.bin?size=620x400
3. McKenzie Heights - $5,300,000 MLS® V854785 6 Beds, 7 Baths 2502 W 36TH AV, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/4236667.bin?size=620x400
4. South Granville - $4,800,000 MLS® V815496 6 Beds, 8 Baths 5968 ADERA ST, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/4236652.bin?size=620x400
5. Arbutus - $4,680,000 MLS® V862032 7 Beds, 7 Baths 2501 W 21ST AV, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/4236651.bin?size=620x400
6. Kerrisdale - $4,888,000 MLS® V865998 4 Beds, 5 Baths 6249 MCCLEERY ST, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/4236649.bin?size=620x400

7. Point Grey - 4,298,000 MLS® V867870 6 Beds, 5 Baths 4005 W 13TH AV, Vancouver

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4236596/story.html#ixzz1DLFjYJqU

ssiguy2

February 9th, 2011, 10:28 PM

Vancouver prices will fall significantly this year due to tightening of mortgage rates and rules, higher interest rates, an unemployment rate above the national average in BC.
The Westside of Vancouver won't see much decline because most of the people who live in very wealthy areas don't have mortgages.
It's the people with mortgages from Main all the way to Langley who will really start hurting.
Prices in Metro have fallen for 5 months in a row. Kelowna's average price for housing lost 5.5%.............just in Jan'11! That is a massive lose in one month and Victoria SFD average price lost a staggering $50,000 just last month.
This all before rates rise, and mortgage rules tighten.

Yellow Fever

February 12th, 2011, 07:14 AM

Olympic village condo prices to be slashed by an average of one-third

Over 100 suites slated to rent while $1-million units shelved to sell later. Mayor says he hopes to break even

By Tracy Sherlock and Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun; With Files From Andrea Woo February 11,

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/3570685.bin?size=620x400
Condo prices at the troubled Olympic village project will be reduced by an average of 30 per cent from May 2010 levels, according to Ernst & Young, the project's receiver. The following is a look at how much Olympic Village units are going for on the market. (Photos may not represent actual unit or building described in market listings.)

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/3045224.bin?size=620x400
$589,000: 1 Beds, 1 Baths - # 405 1633 ONTARIO ST.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/3045201.bin?size=620x400
$469,000: 1 Beds, 1 Baths - # 703 123 W 1ST AV

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/3045210.bin?size=620x400
$469,500: 1 Beds, 1 Baths - # 405 123 W 1ST AV

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/3045212.bin?size=620x400
$760,000: 2 Beds, 1 Baths - # 710 123 W 1ST AV

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/2614051.bin?size=620x400
$998,800: 2 Beds, 2 Baths - # 804 123 W 1ST AV

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/3045207.bin?size=620x400
$498,000: 1 Beds, 1 Baths -# 201 181 W 1ST AV

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/3045205.bin?size=620x400
$539,980: 1 Beds, 1 Baths - # 502 181 W 1ST AV

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/3570686.bin?size=620x400
$1,238,000: 2 Beds, 2 Baths - # 607 181 W 1ST AV

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/3570682.bin?size=620x400
$1,259,000: 2 Beds, 2 Baths - # 909 181 W 1ST AV

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Olympic+village+condo+prices+slashed+average+third/4263975/story.html?tab=PHOT&cid=hot_photo#ixzz1DirLwsc7

ssiguy2

February 13th, 2011, 08:13 PM

Must be nice to be able to afford prices like that especially knowing that the tax payers of Vancouver are subsidizing the prices by up to half a million bucks. Remember this complex came out to an average of $1,000,000 per unit. If those units when sold come to less than $300,000,000 as there are 3 hundred units then Vancouverites are subsidizing them. This why the city had stated that unless the total units come out to that price or the province decides to come in and save the day the city has publicaly stated that it will have no choice but to declare bankruptcy. Even the province has to come up with the difference then all BCers will pay for these "at market" units.

Yellow Fever

February 14th, 2011, 09:00 PM

Vancouver's 7 most affordable neighbourhoods

Despite Vancouver's high real estate price, there are still several neighbourhoods where detached homes can be found for well below the $1 million mark.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4265226.bin?size=620x400
Strathcona- $488,000: 737 PRIOR ST, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4265213.bin?size=620x400
Mount Pleasant - $599,000: 1077 E 15TH AV, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4265215.bin?size=620x400
Renfrew-Collingwood - $595,000: 2644 DUKE ST, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4265220.bin?size=620x400
Hasting-Sunrise - $579,000: 2814 E BROADWAY, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4265211.bin?size=620x400
Kensington-Cedar Cottage - $578,000: 4464 KNIGHT ST, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4265212.bin?size=620x400
Sunset - $599,000: 804 E 64TH AV, Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4265219.bin?size=620x400
Grandview-Woodland - $609,800: 2537 ADANAC ST, Vancouver

Yellow Fever

February 16th, 2011, 05:38 AM

Metro Vancouver, rest of B.C. show sharp differences in housing price changes

BY BRIAN MORTON, VANCOUVER SUN FEBRUARY 15, 2011

What does an "average-priced" home in B.C. look like? It depends where you are - whether in Vancouver, the suburbs or beyond. Take a look.

B.C.’s real estate market appears to be morphing into two categories: Metro Vancouver and the rest of the province.

While Metro Vancouver saw a strong increase in the average home price over the past year – up 19.6 per cent in January compared to January 2010, from $638,000 to $763,000 — that’s not the case for most other regions of B.C., according to a survey released Monday by the B.C. Real Estate Association, which represents 11 real estate board across the province and 18,000 realtors.

Except for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and – for this month, at least – the Kootenays, the province has seen average prices fall, in some cases substantially, in every region in January compared to the same month last year.

“There’s certainly a divergence in the market [between] the south coast and the rest of the province,” BCREA chief economist Cameron Muir said in an interview Monday. “There’s very strong market activity in parts of Vancouver. And that’s skewing the average price higher.”

Despite the difference between Metro Vancouver and the rest of the province, Muir said the numbers can be misleading because the huge increase in Metro Vancouver’s average price was largely because of a surge in purchases of luxury, executive homes in Richmond and the west side of Vancouver.

He said the “benchmark” price — the price of a typical home in Vancouver — actually rose just a bit more than two per cent over the year. He did not have information on benchmark prices for elsewhere in the province.

According to the BCREA survey, the average price of a home in B.C. rose 11.5 per cent, to $548,183, in January compared to January, 2010.

The BCREA also said that Multiple Listing Service sales climbed seven per cent in January from December 2010, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Compared to January of last year, home sales were down 10 per cent, to 4,137 units.

The survey noted that the inventory of homes for sale remained below 47,000 units for the third consecutive month in January, down 14 per cent from the spring of last year.

While the south Okanagan saw prices drop 8.9 per cent, from $310,000 to $283,000, the Okanagan Mainline (from Kelowna north) saw prices drop 2.9 per cent, from $387,000 to $376,000.

Vancouver Island prices dropped 5.7 per cent, from $328,000 to $309,000, while Victoria prices fell 4.5 per cent, from $510,000 to $486,000.

B.C. Northern prices fell 4.6 per cent, from $215,000 to $205,000, Chilliwack dropped five per cent, from $289,000 to $275,000, and Kamloops prices dropped 1.5 per cent from $314,000 to $309,000.

Powell River saw the steepest drop in the province, 29.6 per cent, from $301,000 to $212,000, while Kootenay bucked the trend in January with a 4.7-per-cent increase, from $264,000 to $276,000.

Muir said Vancouver is doing better because its economy is more diversified that the rest of B.C. and also has the advantage of significantly more immigrants, many of whom are in the investor class and typically buy a house upon arrival.

Muir noted that the Okanagan is in buyers’ market conditions, with 22 months of housing supply, meaning that it would normally take 22 months to use up the existing inventory.

“In Vancouver, it’s 6.1 months of supply. A balanced market is typically five to seven months.”

As well, he noted, one of the Okanagan’s main source of buyers – Alberta investors – has dried up, with many looking south of the border for cheaper recreational properties.

Carol Frketich, B.C. regional economist for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said in an interview that while a one-month snapshot doesn’t tell the whole story, Metro Vancouver has generally done better than the rest of the province.

“And Vancouver’s employment has been stronger than the provincial average. That provides a solid basis for the housing demand.”

Frketich noted that housing starts in the Vancouver CMA (census metropolitan area) saw a 57-per-cent hike in January to 1,436 from 917 in January 2010, with the Abbotsford and Kamloops CMAs also saw increases.

On average, urban centres saw a 15-per-cent rise over that period, although Frketich cautioned that one month doesn’t indicate a trend.

Meanwhile, Muir said he expects home sales to moderate this year as higher interest rates push mortgages up, impacting affordability.

He said there should be a “moderate improvement” in interior home prices in 2011.

bmorton@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Average+price+home+jumps+cent+January+compared+year/4278542/story.html#ixzz1E5rD90xR

Yellow Fever

February 27th, 2011, 11:49 PM

Chinese investment surge hits Metro Vancouver housing market

Stable Canadian economy and good quality of life is luring 'planeloads' of overseas buyers eager to invest

BY BRIAN MORTON, VANCOUVER SUN FEBRUARY 26, 2011

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4352747.bin?size=620x400

When real estate entrepreneur Cam Good hosted a group of predominantly mainland Chinese investors this Wednesday at a White Rock condo showing, he was tapping into a market that's surging across much of Metro Vancouver.

Good, president of The Key, a Vancouver-based sales and marketing firm that's focusing on a new wave of Chinese buyers, figures he's sold more than 500 homes to mainland Chinese investors and immigrants in January and February in Vancouver and Toronto.

He's also opened an office in Beijing's business district -The Key China -where Chinese buyers can purchase Canadian condos from a presentation centre and view videos that showcase various condo developments and the virtues of Canada.

"[Chinese investors] have really picked up a lot of steam in the last two or three months," Good said in an interview. "And I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. There's an über-wealthy upper class forming and there's a strong middle class growing in China. This massive middle class is now getting to a point where they can afford international real estate. And Canada is viewed by the Chinese as a very stable place to put their money.

"There are literally planeloads of Chinese coming here to buy real estate."

Wednesday's attraction was Avra, a 17-storey condominium tower that's slated to be built over the next two years, and Good took along a busload of investors -some from China and some already living here -and their agents to view the plans.

But it's not just condos that are attracting Chinese buyers, with single-family homes and large lots topping the list.

Across the Lower Mainland, especially Richmond and Vancouver's west side, mainland Chinese buyers and immigrants are becoming a major part of the market, in some cases competing with each other through multiple offers.

But the phenomenon is starting to spread to other areas including Burnaby, West Vancouver, White Rock and beyond.

"We predict that this will be a dominant trend for a long time," Scott Brown, senior vicepresident, Western Canada for Colliers International residential marketing, said in an interview. "Some of the most expensive [Vancouver] real estate is only being marketed to Chinese buyers. And Vancouver and Toronto are very popular."

According to a report on new multi-family home sales in the Lower Mainland by Colliers, which recently opened a dedicated office in Shanghai to deal with the increasing demand, a total of 2,711 new multi-family units were sold in the region in the fourth quarter of 2010, making it the most active quarter of the past year.

"As in each quarter in 2010, the health of the market is expected to continue to be positively impacted by increasing Asian immigrant and investment demand," the report, prepared by Colliers and Urban Analytics, concluded.

Scott said the expected offshore demand will continue to be "the dominant story in 2011 that it was in every quarter of 2010 especially in Vancouver-west, Metrotown and Richmond."

The demand for Vancouver properties appears to be fuelled by many factors -including, ironically, a crackdown on property purchases in mainland China that may be moving much of that investment overseas, particularly to Canada.

Local real estate companies are tapping into the demand, which realtors say is also partly fuelled by an easing of travel restrictions by China with the granting of approved destination status to Canada.

As well, local Vancouver area Chinese-language newspapers are being used by realtors and agents to specifically target mainland Chinese buyers, citing Canada and Vancouver's stability and strong local real estate returns.

A recent report in the China Daily, a state-run publication based in Beijing, said Canada was "the most popular choice" for overseas investors while "growing restrictions on property purchases in major Chinese cities [are driving] the country's nouveau riche to look overseas for investment opportunities."

The newspaper noted that most overseas property purchases are motivated by a combination of factors including immigration, education and investment, with Canada, Australia and the U.K. topping the list of destinations.

The China Daily report also said buyers from the Chinese mainland represent between 40 and 50 per cent of the current market for pre-sale projects in Vancouver.

But China's effort to cool an overheating market is just one reason investment is pouring into Canada.

Brown believes there are many factors, especially Canada's image as a great country to live in and a safe place to invest money. "There's no one easy answer, but one of the main drivers is [they] believe that having their children educated in Canada [is good]. The other driver is that Vancouver is a beautiful, livable city and they want to buy their own piece of it."

One recent buyer is former Beijing resident Yang Yang, who moved to B.C. with her husband and young daughter last summer, purchased a detached house in Surrey, and accompanied Good to the White Rock condo showing.

"We prefer the peaceful life here," Yang said in an interview. "Beijing is very crowded and the air pollution is bad there."

Yang said that she and her husband, an IT engineer, are considering a condo at Avra as a place to retire when they no longer need their larger home.

Yang's realtor, Hong Lui, with Interlink Realty in Richmond, said she first noticed a surge in mainland Chinese interest last spring and it's grown increasingly stronger, with a mix of investors, including those who want to immigrate to Canada and others who are looking here after the Chinese government restricted their ability to own several homes.

Richmond MacDonald Realty realtor David Lindsay said: "January and February has been almost exclusively mainland Chinese buyers of big lots, with a house of little value on it. And we're getting multiple offers."

He said, for example, that a typical lot in the Seafair area, which sold for $800,000 in October, is now selling in the $1.2-million range. "I sold one last Sunday and we had four offers. The winning bid was $1.03 million. It was on the market for $968,000." Lindsay believes there's speculation is going on, because some buyers are getting an accepted contract with a clause that allows them to assign the contract to a third party before the sale is completed. "One buyer didn't even set foot on the property."

Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president Jake Moldowan said he believes lifestyle is the core reason for the interest. "Vancouver is an extremely desirable place to be."

He said that Richmond lots are now going for $1 million to $1.3 million. "And I know that there have been realtors from Hong Kong and mainland China, who fly over there, put packages together, and then bring people over."

Meanwhile, Bosa Properties announced this week that its 34-storey Sovereign tower in Burnaby's Metrotown sold out immediately, surpassing the single day sales record in the Burnaby market by selling $98-million worth of real estate.

bmorton@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Chinese+investment+surge+hits+Metro+Vancouver+housing+market/4352746/story.html#ixzz1FCbglkJK

Yellow Fever

March 3rd, 2011, 07:43 AM

Richmond, Vancouver's west side big sellers' markets: housing report

By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun March 2, 2011

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4374153.bin?size=620x400

VANCOUVER — Richmond and Vancouver's west side housing markets are red hot, according to a monthly real estate report released Wednesday.

“It’s a huge sellers’ market, the strongest in those areas I’ve ever seen,” Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president Jake Moldowan said in an interview. “And there’s no question that it’s the offshore market that’s focused on these two areas.”

According to reports by the REBGV and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, demand for detached homes remains strong across the region, with particularly high sales volumes and price increases in Richmond and Vancouver’s west side.

The REBGV report indicated that February’s 3,097 homes sales outpaced the 2,742 home-sale average recorded in the region over the last 10 years.

But Moldowan said that it's single detached homes in Richmond and Vancouver’s west side that are the most sought after properties in the marketplace.

The report noted that between November 2010 and February 2011, the benchmark price of a detached home in Richmond increased $190,739 to $1,099,679; and in Vancouver west side, detached home prices increased $222,185 to $1,850,072.

By comparison, detached home prices across Greater Vancouver increased $51,762 between November 2010 and February 2011 to $848,645.

The report said that sales of all residential properties in Greater Vancouver reached 3,097 in February 2011, an increase of 25.2 per cent from the 2,473 sales in February 2010.

Meanwhile, the FVREB processed 1,279 sales in February, an increase of six per cent compared with 1,204 sold during February 2010.

Board president Sukh Sidhu said the market is more active earlier than expected, with 659 homes sold last month compared to 398 in January.

In February, the benchmark price for Fraser Valley detached homes was $514,161, an increase of 1.2 per cent from the February 2010 price of $508,136.

bmorton@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Richmond+Vancouver+west+side+sellers+markets+housing+report/4374135/story.html#ixzz1FW4Si9Rh

Yellow Fever

March 7th, 2011, 11:25 PM

Vancouver iconic mansion Casa Mia on the market for $10.5M

Home listed for sale for $10.5 million in 2008

By Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun March 7, 2011

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/4396957.bin?size=620x400

VANCOUVER - If you’re in the market for an eight-bedroom, eight-bathroom Spanish Revival heritage mansion overlooking the Fraser River, Vancouver’s iconic Casa Mia is for sale once again.

The Southwest Marine Drive home was listed for sale in 2008 for $10.5 million and 2007 for $12 million, and realtor Manyee Lui has the $10.5-million listing again.

The 20,782-square-foot home was built in 1932 for George Reifel, a liquor magnate and rum runner during Prohibition who opened the Commodore Ballroom around the same time.

In 2007, Vancouver Sun reporter John Mackie had a tour of the house, and the following description comes from a profile article he wrote.

The house has an entrance hall with a dramatic vaulted ceiling that curves from one end of the house to the other, and in the middle is a grand staircase, that swoops around a two-storey high rotunda. At the top is a coffered Elizabethan ceiling, which includes small portraits of people. The rotunda is lit by an amazing five-foot-tall chandelier that blends the art deco and arts and crafts styles.

Casa Mia has its own ballroom in the basement, complete with a sprung dance floor, men’s and women’s washrooms and a stage. The Casa Mia ballroom was done in the art deco style, and is virtually unchanged. The walls are golden, and there are subtle deco bas relief sculptures on the walls. The bathrooms are simply dazzling — the walls in the men’s washroom are painted black, and are decorated with a golden Indian chief shooting a golden arrow at a golden stag.

Many of the rooms have wood panelled walls, are a very large. There are several fireplaces in the home, including one that is intricately carved and bears the name MacLean, after a doctor who owned the house in the late 1960s.

The real showpiece is up in the third floor tower. Originally a storage space, when Jane Reifel was born in 1938 her dad brought some artists up from Walt Disney’s studios in California to remake it into “Dopey’s Room,” a playroom featuring murals of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

George Reifel died in 1958, and his wife sold the house, at 1920 SW Marine Dr., in the late 1960s to Ross MacLean. Nelson Skalbania owned it for a while in the 1980s, and the house has been extensively renovated and updated twice. In 1998, it was put on the market for $20 million, but the house went into foreclosure and sold for $4.2 million in 2000. A year later it was sold again for $5 million.

According to BC Assessment, the 2011 assessment is for $3,339,000 and the land is worth $8,384,000, for a total assessed value of $11,723,000. These are up from the $9,830,000 assessed value for 2010. The owner is listed as Maria D. De Lando.

Lui responded to a call on Sunday, saying the owners were not seeking publicity at this time.

With files from John Mackie

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Vancouver+iconic+mansion+Casa+market/4396848/story.html#ixzz1FxHQj4fl

ssiguy2

March 11th, 2011, 08:03 PM

As I stated on the Canada thread.........another example of illogi in real estate in BC which is driven strickly by the Chines. Unemployment in BC is now well over the national average and prices in Metro continue to rise.

Yellow Fever

March 12th, 2011, 09:01 AM

B.C. cities are world-class in their lack of affordability

Vancouver, Victoria, Abbotsford and Kelowna all rank high on a global list of 'severely unaffordable' communities

By Don Cayo, Vancouver Sun January 26, 2011

VANCOUVER - Homes are "severely unaffordable" in all four of the B.C. cities that were included in a 325-city international survey of housing costs, and Vancouver's affordability score was the third-worst of all.

The average home in Vancouver, according to data from the third quarter of last year, cost $602,000 -- or 9.5. times the $63,100 median income of households in the city, according to the survey results released Monday by the Winnipeg-based Frontier Centre of Public Policy. Only Sydney, Australia, at 9.6 times the median income, and Hong Kong, at 11.4 times, scored worse.

With their housing prices quite a bit lower but their incomes a little lower, too, Victoria, Abbotsford and Kelowna were -- in that order -- uncomfortably close to Vancouver's 323rd-place finish in the international rankings.

Victoria's average price of $430,000 was 7.1 times the median household income of $60,900, resulting in a ranking of 309th out of 325. Abbotsford's $402,000 average price made it 6.5 times the median household income of $62,300 and 297th in the rankings. And Kelowna finished 283rd with a median income of $57,500 that was 5.9 times the median price of $338,000.

The study pins the "severely unaffordable" label on any city with a multiplier of more than five -- about 75 of the 325 studied, including Montreal and Toronto, but nowhere else in any part of Canada except B.C.

For a housing market to be rated as "affordable" the ratio of price to income can't exceed three times. And in nearly half the 35 Canadian cities surveyed, it is either lower or very close to that mark. In Edmonton, for example, the multiplier is just 3.5, although its low figure is in part thanks to the very high median income of $88,800. And in Winnipeg, where people earn just a little less than in Vancouver, it's 3.2.

The researchers who conducted the survey point out that you can't blame things such as interest rates, or the federal mortgage rules that have recently been in the news for B.C.'s worrisomely high score. These factors are the same everywhere across Canada, yet many other Canadian cities remain affordable. For example, it costs just 2.3 times the median income to buy an average home in Fredericton, a small government-dependent provincial capital where incomes are nearly equal to those in unaffordable Victoria.

So the policy factors that drive prices too high in relation to residents' incomes must be closer to home.

David Seymour, a senior policy analyst for the Frontier Centre, and his collaborator on the study, consulting demographer Wendell Cox of St. Louis, finger "politically inflated land costs."

"These land prices include the cost increasing influence of land supply restrictions (such as urban growth boundaries), excessive infrastructure fees and other overly strict land use regulations," they write.

In other words, the problem is not only in Vancouver, where everybody knows housing costs too much, but also in Victoria, Abbotsford, Kelowna and, almost certainly, in all of the other Lower Mainland cities that weren't surveyed. And this problem is world-class, worse here than in most cities in many other developed countries.

But the solution, we ought not forget, can only be local.

dcayo@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/cities+world+class+their+lack+affordability/4161484/story.html#ixzz1GN0wXze9

Yellow Fever

March 17th, 2011, 06:27 AM

Vancouver's luxury home sales surge, largely due to influx of offshore money

Mainland Chinese buyers a major factor, but European, U.S. purchasers also attracted to city

BY BRIAN MORTON, VANCOUVER SUN MARCH 14, 2011

VANCOUVER - If you think Vancouver's housing prices are overdue for a major price adjustment, tell that to the surging number of luxury home buyers.

According to MLS statistics provided by Macdonald Realty, a record 375 homes -including nearly 50 condos -sold for over $3 million in 2010, breaking the record of 209 set in 2009 and more than double the 167 sold in 2008.

Of those, 73 homes sold for over $5 million.

The sales were primarily, but not exclusively, on Vancouver's west side, with the priciest home going for $17.5 million at 3489 Osler.

The second and third priciest homes -the second also on Osler and the third on Point Grey Road -both sold for about $11 million.

As well, Macdonald Realty says, if current patterns hold, the number of $3-million-plus homes is expected to reach 550 this year, raising the spectre that in some neighbourhoods a $3-million home may no longer be considered particularly exclusive.

In 2000, just 10 properties in Metro Vancouver sold for over $3 million, none of them condominiums.

The market for luxury homes is now "insanely hot," with mainland Chinese buyers -who are also impacting the Richmond market in a big way -the primary purchasers, said Dan Scarrow, Macdonald Realty vice-president of corporate strategy.

"Ninety-per-cent [of the luxury home purchases] are on the west side, probably some in West Vancouver," he said in an interview. "But it's incredibly striking, when you think what the prices were 10 years ago."

Scarrow said that while a $3-million house has always been categorized as "luxury," he no longer knows if that's the case in key West Side neighbourhoods, including Shaughnessy and Point Grey.

"We're part of a global luxury market by the ultra-wealthy," he said. "And from the buyers' perspective, prices here are cheap for what you get."

Tsur Somerville, director at the centre for urban economics and real estate, Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C., said in an interview that just because there are more homes selling for over $3 million doesn't mean they're not luxury homes.

"It's pretty subjective," he said. "But $3 million is an expensive home. And just because it's on a small lot doesn't mean it's not a luxury house.

"And the fact that there's a whole lot more [$3-million homes] than a decade ago, with the price increases, there'd better be."

Somerville also said that China is a huge source of immigrants to B.C. and that mainland Chinese immigrants tend to be investors and entrepreneurs.

"Clearly, there's a very targeted demand for higher-end properties that many associate with the mainland Chinese market."

But he said there's an absence of clear data on the specifics of those buyers, whether it's primarily immigrants or investor money from China. As an indication of how the luxury condominium market has grown, Scarrow said that last year a total of 49 condos sold for over $3 million - including seven for over $5 million - with the top three closing in on $6 million each, the priciest at Two Harbour Green, 1139 West Cordova, in Coal Harbour, for $5.8 million and the other two at the Shangri-La in downtown Vancouver.

Scarrow said many more properties are crossing the $3-million threshold, which now buys a new or newer house in the 2,500-to 3,000-square-foot range on a smaller west side lot.

"Now, you see multiple $3-millionplus homes on every block. I'd say $5-million is now where you're going for that luxury range."

'CHINA IS MORE EXPENSIVE'

Alice Zhang, who moved from Hangzhou, China, to Vancouver two years ago, now lives in one of six properties that she and her husband have purchased in Vancouver since moving here.

Zhang, who has two children, is waiting to move into a new home they're constructing on a Shaughnessy lot that they bought for about $3.1 million. The house is expected to cost another $3 million, which Zhang believes is a good deal.

"We moved from the most beautiful city in China to Vancouver, which we consider more beautiful," said Zhang, whose family owns hotels and a real estate development company in China.

"I think that compared to other Canadian cities, Vancouver is expensive. But, China is more expensive [than Vancouver].

"And the air is very fresh here and it's very green. You feel like you're in a garden."

Scarrow cited another client who purchased a 2,600-square-foot condo in Coal Harbour for about $1,600 a square foot.

"[She and her family] has homes all around the world. In Knightsbridge, London, a flat was sold to her for $8,000 [Cdn] per square foot. Their flat in London was 3,000 square feet and they paid $24 million for it."

She also has two homes in Hong Kong, one in Lake Tahoe, one in San Francisco, one in New York and one in Madrid, Spain, Scarrow said. "They all say their Vancouver property is their favourite home. They think it's the best value."

Macdonald Realty manager Matthew Lee, whose firm sold the three most expensive homes in Vancouver in 2009 and two of the five most expensive homes in 2010, believes that it's not just mainland Chinese who are fuelling the luxury market, "but buyers from Europe and the U.S. are willing to pay these prices as well. Globally, Vancouver is still seen as a relatively good bargain."

While the west side of Vancouver had the largest number of luxury homes sold, other areas in B.C. have also seen some very expensive sales, including the Fraser Valley's top three sales between $5.3 million and $6.1 million, the Okanagan, from $5.4 million to $10.7 million, and Victoria, from $3.9 million to $6.8 million.

And while Vancouver has seen some very expensive homes sold over the past decade, including one for $17.5 million in 2008 and one for $17 million as far back as 2004, it's the sheer numbers that are striking. In 2000, just 10 homes sold for over $3 million, and 78 in 2005.

bmorton@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Vancouver+luxury+home+sales+surge+largely+influx+offshore+money/4434646/story.html#ixzz1GpN9l6XD

Yellow Fever

March 17th, 2011, 06:28 AM

The 20 most expensive houses in Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435902.bin?size=620x400
20. $13,652,000 - 1450 BLANCA ST Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435901.bin?size=620x400
19. $14,124,000 - 3019 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435899.bin?size=620x400
18. $14,164,000 - 2875 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435900.bin?size=620x400
17. $14,521,000 - 4833 BELMONT AVE Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435895.bin?size=620x400
16. $14,668,900 - 4883 BELMONT AVE Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435785.bin?size=620x400
15. $14,679,000 - 2781 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435903.bin?size=620x400
14. $14,753,000 - 2715 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435898.bin?size=620x400
13. $15,506,000 - 2531 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435897.bin?size=620x400
12. $15,738,000 - 3425 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435792.bin?size=620x400
11. $15,754,000 - 4787 DRUMMOND DR Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435788.bin?size=620x400
10. $15,840,000 - 3003 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435793.bin?size=620x400
9. $16,377,000 - 2999 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435786.bin?size=620x400
8. $16,393,000 - 1388 THE CRESCENT Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435784.bin?size=620x400
7. $16,646,000 - 3085 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435790.bin?size=620x400
6. $17,068,000 - 4743 BELMONT AVE Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435787.bin?size=620x400
5. $17,163,000 - 4857 BELMONT AVE Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435783.bin?size=620x400
4. $17,299,000 - 3489 OSLER ST Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435791.bin?size=620x400
3. $20,236,000 - 4719 BELMONT AVE Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435896.bin?size=620x400
2. $21,300,000 - 2815 POINT GREY RD Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/4435782.bin?size=620x400
1. $21,745,000 - 4707 BELMONT AVE Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Vancouver+luxury+home+sales+surge+largely+offshore+money/4434646/story.html?tab=PHOT

Yellow Fever

April 16th, 2011, 05:54 AM

Home buyers value price, location over resale value: BMO survey

Vancouver Sun April 15, 2011

VANCOUVER - A Leger Marketing survey done for BMO Bank of Montreal shows that the majority of B.C. residents planning to buy a home in the next two years value the price and location of the property (94 per cent and 91 per cent respectively) over resale value (66 per cent).

That's close to the national averages. The figures show that the majority of Canadians planning to buy a home in the next two years value price and location (92 per cent and 91 per cent respectively) over resale value (60 per cent), BMO said in a news release this morning.

The report also revealed that intuition plays a key role, with 67 per cent claiming a "good feeling" towards the home is an important factor in the decision-making process.

As well, women are more likely than men to make a purchase based on resale value (63 per cent versus 57 per cent).

The survey also revealed that 81 per cent cite the age of the home to be the main factor when deciding to buy.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Home+buyers+value+price+location+over+resale+value+survey/4621842/story.html#ixzz1JefDcUfT

Yellow Fever

June 23rd, 2011, 09:06 AM

Metro's luxury home market appears set to climb to new heights

Number of sales of houses worth more than $3 million projected to be more than double that of last year: survey

BY BRIAN MORTON, VANCOUVER SUN JUNE 21, 2011

Metro Vancouver's luxury homes appear to be more popular than ever.

A survey by Macdonald Realty has concluded that Metro Vancouver is set to break all records for a fourth consecutive year, with a projected 792 sales this year of homes valued at more than $3 million -up from the 550 luxury sales predicted earlier this year.

The 792 sales would be more than double the 375 sold in 2010 -itself a record -and nearly four times the 2009 sales number of 209.

The 2010 total has already been surpassed, with 384 homes over the $3-million price point sold so far in 2011, according to Macdonald Realty.

There have also been 66 homes over $5 million sold so far, and a predicted 132 over $5 million by the end of the year.

A total of 40 condos over $3 million have so far been sold, including seven over $5 million.

However, the trend partly reflects price increases that have pushed previously cheaper homes over the $3-million luxury home threshold.

"Price points are moving up," Macdonald Realty vice-president, strategy, Dan Scarrow said in an interview Monday. "Last year, [many] weren't classified as luxury. They sold for $2.5 million, but now sell for $3.5 million."

The most expensive home sold so far this year, according to Macdonald Realty, is a Point Grey house at 4791 Belmont that went for $16.8 million, the third most expensive home ever sold in the region.

Scarrow said that while average prices across the region have not risen sharply over last year, that's not the case for areas greatly impacted by sales of luxury homes, citing Richmond's 25-per-cent increase over last year.

He said sales of luxury homes are largely driven by Chinese immigrants and investors with plenty of money.

Scarrow said a rapid runup in prices has some experts warning that it may be unsustainable.

"Historically, price growth has been driven by a combination of higher wages and lower interest rates, but rates are already at historic lows and wage growth is relatively stagnant," Scarrow said.

He said a new dynamic might be at play, with the luxury market trend looking more like that in Hong Kong or Shanghai, than Toronto or Seattle.

Scarrow said the trend is most obvious in the sharp rise in condo prices, noting that 10 years ago not a single condo sold for over $3 million. This year, the number is projected to rise to 80.

Meanwhile, Tsur Somerville, director, centre for urban economics and real estate, Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C., said it's difficult to imagine that the run-up in luxury home sales is a longterm trend.

"There seems to be a lot of immigration of people from China with a lot of wealth," said Somerville.

"It's hard to imagine that we'll have an ever-increasing number of people from China immigrating with an ever-increasing amount of wealth."

Somerville said there are other factors at play including, as Sparrow noted, rising prices that push some homes into the luxury market.

As well, Somerville said, the luxury market tends to strengthen in up-markets and drop in down-markets.

"Relative to 2009, we'd expect the numbers to be up as the housing market strengthens."

Macdonald Realty Vancouver manager Matthew Lee noted that buyers from Europe and the U.S. are willing to pay the high prices as well.

"Globally, Vancouver is still seen as a relatively good bargain."

Scarrow said that luxury condos in Coal Harbour are increasingly being compared with similar units in London or Hong Kong by international buyers.

Despite the surge in luxury property sales in Metro Vancouver, Macdonald Realty said that isn't the case for the interior and Vancouver Island, where non-local buyers are generally from Metro Vancouver or Alberta.

bmorton@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Metro+luxury+home+market+appears+climb+heights/4979143/story.html#ixzz1Q53L4yWQ

ssiguy2

June 25th, 2011, 02:14 AM

"Globally, Vancouver is still seen as a relatively good bargain"............spoken like a true Vancouver real estate agent.
Vancouver is massively overpriced. This is a low income city with an unemployment rate above the national average. It has the highest child and overall poverty rate in the country as well as the largest gap between the rich and the poor.
The real estate prices and agents are destroying both the quality of life and economic future of the city.
BCs population growth in the last quarter of 2010 was statistically zero and only NS & NFLD had worse due to population decline. People aren't coming to BC from other provinces anymore due to low wages and extreme costs of living.
Business in Vancouver magazine recently did a front page story on how it has resulted in not being able to skilled workers in the city, stopping them from leaving, and ditto for businesses who wish to expand but can't due to extreme real estate prices.
My sister and brother in law recently moved back to Ontario as they didn't qualify for a mortgage for a 2 bedroom apt despite their 90k a year income.
How do you entice a person who can easily get a well paying job anywhere in the country to come here where their $90k anywhere else in the country {including Toronto} qualifies them for a nice house and in Vancouver not even a bachelor apt?
The Vancouver {and all of BC} real estate is so out of wack.
Almost anywhere else in the country a $300,000k house is considered a a mansion and in Vancouver even suggesting you could get a house for that price is a bad joke.
The real estate ponsi scheme is killing BC's economic future.

Vince

June 29th, 2011, 08:01 AM

^^ Why do you still live in Vancouver then?

Yellow Fever

June 30th, 2011, 05:59 AM

Bubble talk re-ignites debate about what's next for Vancouver housing market

Current home prices said not sustainable as they are ‘out of whack’ with income

By Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun June 29, 2011 7:02 PM

The London-based research firm Capital Economics Ltd. has added a new spark to Canada’s housing debate with its assessment that the country’s real estate market is a bubble that is about to pop.

The boom in Canadian real estate has “resulted in the largest rises in house prices ever seen in Canada,” the firm says. “And the trigger of an increase in the Bank of Canada’s trendsetting interest rates could result in a 25-per-cent drop in property values.”

The organization released the research earlier this year in a report for its subscribers, and it received new currency with Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney’s statement earlier this week warning Canadians that they should expect real estate prices to moderate.

However, while Carney did not use the word bubble, Capital markets wasn’t shy about doing so.

“We think [a bubble] exists and we expect a major correction in Canada’s housing market of up to 25 per cent over the next three years,” Capital Economics wrote June 15 in its response to Carney’s remarks. “The decline in prices is likely to be most severe in Vancouver.”

Capital Economics’ report hasn’t generated a consensus, but it does add fuel to the discussion about what is likely to happen next, particularly in markets such as high-priced Metro Vancouver, which has well-known problems with real estate being unaffordable for many.

Affordability is the crux of Capital Economics’ argument.

It found that housing values rose seven per cent per year on average between 1999 and 2010, triple the rate of income growth over the same period.

By 2010, the average price for a two-storey home on a national basis hit $314,000, which was roughly five times the $58,347 average disposable income per person. That is well above the long-term historical average of prices equalling 3.5 times average disposable income.

The monthly cost of home ownership compared with rent payments for similar properties has also reached the highest level since the peak of Canada’s last housing boom.

With both measures so high, Capital Economics argues prices are “probably unsustainable,” and should lead to a period where housing inflation slows or turns negative.

“In theory, the house-price-to-income ratio could adjust through a long period of stagnant house prices coupled with continued income growth,” Paul Ashworth, a Capital Economics’ economist wrote in a note to The Sun.

“But when the ratio gets this out of whack, that’s not how it happens in practice.”

However, some other analysts do not concur that the imbalance of prices to income will necessarily lead to a sudden correction, particularly for a city like Metro Vancouver.

Housing markets can diverge from a balance between prices and incomes and remain out of balance for a long time, argues housing economist Tsur Somerville, director of the centre for urban economics and real estate in the Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C.

“The fact they’re out of balance, in an economic sense, doesn’t mean they’re going to get back into balance on anybody’s particular timeline,” Somerville said.

Somerville argues that for Metro Vancouver in particular, using the price for a two-storey house — which would be more than double the national average — isn’t indicative of the kinds of housing people are living in and the decisions they make about where they live.

And while Canada and Metro Vancouver continue to deal with problems of housing unaffordability, Helmut Pastrick, chief economist for Central 1 Credit Union, argues long-term demographic trends indicate those problems will continue to persist long into the future, and not just in Canada.

“The world population is seven billion, climbing to 10 billion, and the planet isn’t growing,” Pastrick said.

“Something has to give,” he added, which is the price of land.

Over the long run, Pastrick said he expects people will have to spend larger portions of their income for shelter in an increasingly crowded world.

depenner@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Bubble+talk+ignites+debate+about+what+next+Vancouver+housing+market/5026729/story.html#ixzz1QjDuerZ4

Yellow Fever

July 6th, 2011, 08:17 AM

'Balanced’ housing market takes root in Metro Vancouver

Benchmark price for all homes increases 8.7 per cent in the year to $631,000

By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun July 5, 2011

METRO VANCOUVER -- If there’s one word that describes Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley’s current housing market, it’s balanced.

“Right now we’re at 22 per cent [sales-to-listings ratio], which means 22 per cent of the homes for sale are selling,” Real Estate Board of Vancouver president Rosario Setticasi said in an interview Tuesday. “So, it’s balanced at the upper end and favours sellers, just barely.”

Setticasi noted that sales are below the 10-year average and home listings above what’s typical for June, and that means a closer alignment between supply and demand in the marketplace.

He said the sales-to-listings ratio is falling — and with it, upward pressure on prices.

“We were at 26 to 29 per cent when the market was really moving [and] last month it was at 24 per cent, so it’s dropped a bit. If it drops further it will be more to the buyers’ advantage because there’s more listings, and vendors are competing for buyers.”

In the Fraser Valley, the percentage of properties sold compared to those available for purchase — 1,588 sales out of 9,758 listings in June — was constant over the past three months at 16 per cent, also reflecting balanced conditions more in favour of the buyer, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board said.

“When supply and demand remain as consistent as they have since April, it indicates a stable market,” board president Sukh Sidhu said, adding that the numbers vary in each community.

Tsur Somerville, director, centre for urban economics and real estate, Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C., said in an interview that he senses a slight “step back” in sales following sharp increases earlier in the year.

As well, he said, sellers are responding to the higher prices through increased listings.

“If listings are growing faster than sales, it’s a lower sales-to-listings ration, which is more favourable to buyers,” he added.

The REBGV reported that sales of detached, attached and apartment properties reached 3,262 in June, a 9.8-per-cent increase compared to the 2,972 sales in June 2010 but a 3.4-per-cent decline compared to the 3,377 sales in May 2011.

New listings totalled 5,793 in June, a 4.5-per-cent increase compared to June 2010 and 9.8 per cent higher than the 10-year average for June, while residential sales were 7.3 per cent below the ten-year average for sales in June.

The benchmark price for all residential properties (the price of a typical home) in Metro Vancouver increased 8.7 per cent to $630,921 in June 2011 from $580,237 in June 2010, with the largest price increases on the west side of Vancouver and West Vancouver.

“Since the end of May, the benchmark price of a detached home rose more than $147,000 on the west side of Vancouver and over $80,000 in West Vancouver,” Setticasi said. “Detached home prices in Richmond, however, levelled off slightly, declining $25,000 in June.”

Sales of detached homes in June 2011 reached 1,471, an increase of 29.1 per cent from the 1,139 detached sales recorded in June 2010, while the benchmark price for detached properties increased 13.4 per cent from June 2010 to $901,680.

The benchmark price for a detached home on the west side of Vancouver was $2,068,000 in June and in West Vancouver, $1,793,000.

The Fraser Valley board said it received 2,762 new listings in June, a decrease of 12 per cent compared to the 3,153 new listings in June 2010. Total sales declined about one per cent since May, and 12.5 per cent since June 2010.

In June, the benchmark price for Fraser Valley detached homes was $528,060, an increase of 1.9 per cent compared to $518,355 in June 2010 and a slight drop from May.

Meanwhile, detached single family home sales on Vancouver Island north of Victoria are holding steady, with a one-per-cent decline in June compared to June 2010 and a 1.45 per cent decrease from May.

The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board said in a survey that the average price of a detached home was $343,422 in June, down one per cent from $345,269 in June 2010 and down 3.6 per cent from $356,403 in May.

In Victoria, a total of 618 homes were sold in June, up from 572 sales in May and close to the 625 sales in June of last year.

The average price for single-family homes sold in Greater Victoria in June was $629,292, with 23 single family home sales of over $1 million. The average price in June 2010 was $649,280.

bmorton@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Balanced+housing+market+takes+root+Metro+Vancouver/5054474/story.html#ixzz1RIrt4wHp

Yellow Fever

August 23rd, 2011, 02:50 AM

Vancouver's pricey market ‘in dangerous territory,’ makes home ownership a dream: report

RBC survey indicates city's 'sky-high valuations' drives buyers out of the market, and has the highest risk of a downturn

By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun August 22, 2011 2:14 PM

METRO VANCOUVER — Metro Vancouver's lofty home prices have made it virtually impossible for a typical family to purchase a detached bungalow with a standard down payment, according to a report by the Royal Bank of Canada released Monday.

That is one of many conclusions contained in a survey that says housing in Canada became harder to afford in the second quarter, with Vancouver's hefty price increases playing a major role in the deterioration of affordability for both B.C. and the rest of Canada.

“Since the start of this year, Vancouver directly accounted for between one-sixth and one-third of the national measures' increases,” the report says.

“It [Vancouver] is unaffordable,” RBC senior economist Robert Hogue said in an interview of the latest quarterly Housing Trends and Affordability report by RBC Economics Research.

“It means that a typical household in Vancouver could not be anywhere close to buying a two-storey home when buying the conventional way with 25 per cent down at the current posted [mortgage] rates. And that's why we're flagging Vancouver as a market that's in dangerous territory.”

Hogue said that Vancouver has long been a very expensive market, but it's gotten much more expensive since the beginning the year. “Now, it's in a class by itself and it's reached a level that we think suggests high stress and high risk.”

Hogue said that measures for all housing types in B.C. are hovering at or near their worst levels on record, adding that “we expect this to weigh on housing demand and pressure prices downward in the coming year."

He said that sales and prices should drop anywhere from three per cent to a “much more precipitous decline” in 2012, adding that buyers should be “very, very careful” when buying a Vancouver house strictly for investment purposes.

The RBC index measures the proportion of pretax household income needed to service the cost of owning a home. A rise in the measure indicates a loss of affordability.

The higher the reading, the more costly it is to afford a home based on the market values. For example, an affordability reading of 50 per cent means that home ownership costs, including mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes, take up to 50 per cent of a typical household's monthly pre-tax income.

Across B.C., the measure for the benchmark detached bungalow rose significantly in the second quarter of 2011 to 71.3 per cent (an increase of 5.7 percentage points from the previous quarter), the standard condominium to 36.8 per cent (up 1.0 percentage points) and the standard two-storey home to 76.6 per cent (a gain of 2.5 percentage points).

Nationally, for a detached bungalow, the measure rose 1.7 percentage points to 43.3 per cent. For a standard condominium, it edged up 0.8 percentage points to 29.2 per cent, and for a standard two-storey home it climbed 1.8 percentage points to 49.3 per cent.

But it was in Metro Vancouver where the index was most striking for detached bungalows, with Vancouver's measure at 92.5 per cent (up 10.4 percentage points from the previous quarter and based on a median household income of approximately $55,000), compared to Toronto's 51.0 per cent, Montreal's 42.6 per cent, Ottawa' 41.2 per cent, Calgary's 37.1 and Edmonton's 33.8 per cent.

The report says that the average price for that Vancouver bungalow was $822,000, a 19.4-per-cent increase year-over-year, requiring a qualifying household income of $158,000.

For B.C., the average price was $622,000, up 10.9 per cent in a year, requiring a qualifying income of $122,000.

For Canada, the average price was $348,000, up 5.2 per cent in a year, requiring an income of $77,000.

The report says there is growing evidence that unaffordable housing in the Metro Vancouver market is driving local buyers away from the market.

“Since mid-winter, home resales fell and availability of homes for sale improved,” the report says. “This moderation in housing activity, however, did not translate to weaker prices. In fact, it was quite the opposite; provincial bungalow values experienced a double-digit surge. This marked the strongest increase among Canada's major cities.”

"Lofty home prices in higher-end Vancouver neighbourhoods have put tremendous stress on the local housing market, which sets local demand up for a significant potential downturn," added Hogue.

Other local housing markets were reasonably affordable or slightly unaffordable, the report says.

Housing sector observers generally see the overall pace of housing activity, from starts to resales, slowing in the coming months, partly due to tighter mortgage regulations introduced earlier in the year and as pent-up demand gets absorbed.

bmorton@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Vancouver+pricey+market+dangerous+territory+makes+home+ownership+dream+report/5288819/story.html#ixzz1VoCZz2NA

Yellow Fever

November 8th, 2011, 05:02 AM

Shaughnessy mansion lists for a whopping $31.9 million

'Villa Russe' mansion, located on a park-like, one-acre property at 3390 The Crescent, has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and 10,516 square feet of living space. The luxury home, built in 1921, boasts Beaux Arts inspired architecture and a swimming pool. Yearly taxes are estimated at $41,817.

November 7, 2011

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/5670572.bin?size=620x400
The exterior of the 'Villa Russe' mansion in Vancouver's up-scale Shaughnessy neighbourhood.

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/5670573.bin?size=620x400

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/5670571.bin?size=620x400

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/5670570.bin?size=620x400

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/5670568.bin?size=620x400

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/5670567.bin?size=620x400

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/5670566.bin?size=620x400

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/5670565.bin?size=620x400

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/5670564.bin?size=620x400

http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/homes/5670506/story.html?tab=PHOT&cid=hot_photo

Yellow Fever

January 5th, 2012, 08:55 AM

$37.2-million Point Grey palace linked to yoga-royalty Lululemon named most expensive home

By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun January 4, 2012 9:06 PM

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/5948030.bin?size=620x400
A mansion under construction, at 3085 Point Grey Rd., has the highest assessed value in Metro Vancouver at $37.2 million.
Photograph by: NICK PROCAYLO, PNG

A palatial mansion in Point Grey with views of the Strait of Georgia and Bowen Island was predicted in 2009 to be Vancouver’s most expensive home when it was completed.

But despite being valued at about $31.6 million this year, the home, built on a 1.7-acre property once owned by Nelson Skalbania at 4707 Belmont Ave., ranks only as the second highest assessed single-family home in Metro Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler.

The most expensive home in the region is at 3085 Point Grey Rd., which is assessed at $37.2 million, according to BC Assessment rolls.

Not much is known about the mansion, which is registered to a numbered company in Vancouver with Dennis James Wilson listed as the sole director.

Wilson, who is also the company’s president and secretary, is founder of Vancouver’s Lululemon Athletica Inc.

Meanwhile, a house a few blocks away, at 2815 Point Grey Rd., was the third most expensive home in the region, with an assessed value of $25.6 million, followed by a property at 5695 Newton Wynd ($25.3 million), and two more homes on Belmont — at 4719 and 4857 — valued at about $24.2 million each...

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/million+Point+Grey+palace+linked+yoga+royalty+Lululemon+named+most+expensive+home/5948028/story.html#ixzz1iZICPx2Q

hkskyline

February 13th, 2012, 06:34 AM

Analysis: Vancouver sky-high home prices set to fizzle not pop
Thu, Feb 9, 2012

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Emily Yao admits to disappointment when her bid on a three-bedroom condominium in this desirable West Coast city was turned down last October.

But a month later the systems programmer, who moved to Vancouver from mainland China six years ago, snapped up the still-unsold condominium on Vancouver's East Side for C$550,000 ($550,000), C$9,000 less than the original price tag.

It's a pattern being replicated across the Pacific port city, in a dramatic turnaround from the bidding wars, show day stampedes, and above-market offers that long dominated North America's costliest property market.

"Since October, it was like someone turned off the tap. It became absolutely dead," said long-time realtor Pam Allen.

What's taking the sizzle out of Vancouver prices and putting the brakes on sales are expectations that rock-bottom Canadian mortgage rates will stay low, so there is no rush to buy.

At the same time, Chinese investors, who have long helped to underpin the city's red-hot market, are holding back because property market curbs back home means they have less cash available.

But with immigrants still streaming in from China and elsewhere, and the city frequently rated one of the most livable on the planet, most experts see prices fizzling rather than imploding with a bang.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Hemmed in by mountains on one side, and the Pacific Ocean on the other, land-scarce Vancouver can't build homes fast enough to cope with demand from locals, immigrants and Chinese investors, who see Canada as a perfect place to park their cash.

In a report published last month, Demographia, a consultancy on urban development, tagged Vancouver as the second most unaffordable of the housing markets it surveyed, with median house prices at 10.6 times income levels. No. 1 is Hong Kong at 12.6 times.

The average price for a residential property in Vancouver in December was C$734,766, more than double the national average of C$358,480, according to Canadian Real Estate Association data.

A single family home in Honolulu, the most expensive U.S. metropolitan market in data from the National Association of Realtors, fetched a median $597,000 in the fourth quarter, while Detroit homes were worth a paltry $50,800.

Nearly one-fifth of Greater Vancouver's 2.1 million people are ethnic Chinese, according to 2006 census data, by far the highest proportion for any city in Canada.

No official figures are available on the percentage of Vancouver home sales to investors from mainland China or Chinese immigrants. But local realtor Tom Gradecak says that in popular areas such as the West Side, a leafy block of land flanking the university, it could be 50 percent, rising to up to 75 percent for homes selling for more than C$3 million.

"Chinese money is a big factor ... today as it was in the period after 1986," said David Ley, author of the book "Millionaire Migrants", which examines the impact immigrants had on Vancouver's housing market.

"House prices in greater Vancouver bear no relationship to the local labor market. Prices are kept high by offshore capital arriving from immigrants and from foreign investors."

HOME FROM HOME

Money from Hong Kong investors, who were edgy ahead of the city's handover to Chinese control in 1997, is credited with changing Vancouver's skyline as immigrants streamed into Canada and funds poured into new condo towers that now dominate the waterfront.

The factors that tempted immigrants then remain today: the chance to learn English in a city that is a virtual "home from home" with Chinese eateries, TV channels and newspapers. Beijing is 11 hours away, versus 14 hours from Toronto or New York.

"I can see more and more people in the coming years going to Canada, and Vancouver is the No. 1 city they want to go to," said Derek Lai, director of international property at real estate consultancy Colliers in Shanghai, who specializes in helping Chinese clients buy houses in Vancouver.

Despite a mid-recession dip around 2008, Canada's housing market has remained resilient for the past decade, and the Vancouver market has outperformed the rest of the country for seven of the last 10 years.

Vancouver price rises peaked at a stunning 19.8 percent in 2006, dipped in 2009, and came roaring back with double-digit growth in both 2010 and 2011.

A house bought for C$500,000 in 2001 would have fetched about C$1.2 million a decade later, based on average price changes.

But the latest month-to-month figures show Vancouver prices fell in five of seven months from last June to December, including drops of more than 5 percent in November and December.

In the United States, the Case-Shiller index shows home prices are back at 2003 levels after a steep slump in 2008.

STEADY SLOWDOWN

There is always talk of bubbles, of course, but experts don't see the Vancouver market crashing as the U.S. one did.

Mortgage rates are at near record lows just above 3 percent, but Canadian borrowing rules are tougher and the sub-prime market that downed the U.S. housing sector is tiny. With inflation muted and the economy recovering only slowly from recession, interest rates will likely stay low for years.

"I would anticipate Vancouver house prices falling further. We don't know by how much," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at Bank of Montreal, co-author of a report entitled "Will Canada's Housing Boom Forge On, Fizzle Out, or Flame Out?".

"But that is one area that appears ripe for some sort of correction, though we are not anticipating a severe correction.

Chinese investment is still the wildcard. Reliable statistics are hard to find, but analysts expect Beijing's moves to cool its own property market may hurt Vancouver.

Beijing has taken measures to rein in its property market - including raising mortgage rates and minimum downpayments - to ease public discontent with rocketing home prices. It has vowed to continue to thwart property speculation in 2012.

"In China, people put all their money into property. So with the market stagnant, their cash on hand is on hold and their investment all over the world is not as strong as it was last year or the year before," said Collier's Lai.

Realtor Tom Gradecak, who specializes in property in Vancouver's pricey West Side, says it is too early to see any impact here, though he expects there will be some domino effect. In the business for the past 20 years, he remains sanguine about Vancouver's real estate prospects.

"We will see ups and downs, but I think five years from now the prices will be higher than they are today," he said.

($1=$1 Canadian)