Real Estate News & Articles

Proposed CPP changes could affect your golden years

2009-05-30

Craig McInnes Sun Pension changes include a carrot to continue working beyond 65 and a stick to discourage retiring at 60. Photograph by: Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun Has the rally in the stock markets rekindled your dream of early retirement…

Dell netbook for students of all ages

2009-05-30

Gillian Shaw Sun Latitude 2100, Dell Aspire One AO751h netbook, Acer iFrogz EarPollution earphones, iFrogz Photo Shower Curtain, PhotoShowerCurtain.com Latitude 2100, Dell, from $495 A netbook on every school desk. Already, university and c…

Dunbar townhouses a start-to-finish addition

2009-05-30

Older households have an 'aging in place' choice, younger a chance at a west-side address, Stirling developer hopes Sun ‘West-side, romantic, garden architecture’ is the Stirling developoer’s dexcription of the new-home pr…

Discount pricing in the Okanagan

2009-05-30

Supply has caught up with demand after years of go-go growth in the second-home market Steven Threndyle Sun Six of the Cottages at Secret Point remain unsold at Okanagan Lake. Two years ago, $829,000 was the top selling price. Today, the la…

Millennium Water is a "Eco-friendly" development on the south side of False Creek & socially sustainable too

2009-05-30

Residents will interact as an environmentally friendly community, rather than exist in isolation inside the towers DERRICK PENNER Sun The Millennium Water development on the south bank of False Creek, which will serve as the Vancouver Olymp…

Microsoft lifts lid on search engine

2009-05-29

Glenn Chapman Province Microsoft yesterday unveiled a new search engine, Bing, designed to intuitively understand what people are searching for on the Internet and challenge online king Google. The U.S. software colossus refers to Bing as a…

Google's "Wave" and Microsoft's "Bing" are 2 new competing search engines

2009-05-29

Software giant's product is a challenge to Google's popular search engine Gillian Shaw Sun Bing is causing a buzz as software giant Microsoft takes on the Google Goliath with a new decision search engine that promises to make online searche…

Recessionary renos

2009-05-29

How to spruce up your home on a budget James Careless Sun A coat of paint can work wonders to revive a tired-looking room You want to renovate, but cash is scarce? No problem. You've got a number of "recessionary renos " to choose from to m…

First-time homebuyers can get short-term loans for $8,000 tax credit

2009-05-29

Alan Zibel USA Today WASHINGTON — Thousands of first-time homebuyers will be able to get short-term loans so they can quickly make use of a new $8,000 tax credit. The Federal Housing Administration on Friday released details of a plan…

Google 411

2009-05-29

Other Here's a number worth putting in your cell phone and your home phone speed dial:       1-800-GOOG411. (1-800-466-4411) This is a terrific service from Google,   and it's free . Don't   waste you…

Two Bank of Montreal mortgage brokers are charged with fraud

2009-05-29

Not so, says bank's former top mortgage specialist and 2 other defendants Susan Lazaruk Province The Bank of Montreal Brentwood Centre branch, where Josephine Tortora allegedly split commissions with her manager Shenaz Poonja to become a de…

Vancouver lLeads country with nine consecutive monthly house-price declines

2009-05-28

Province The Vancouver area appears determined to do its bit for the Canadian housing slump as the region leads the country in year-over-year price declines, a national price index released yesterday said. The Vancouver metropolitan area sa…

Province's property tax meddling yields predictable unfairness

2009-05-28

Don Cayo Sun Property tax bills have begun arriving, and in Vancouver -- as I predicted in columns last winter -- the amounts that businesses owe have shot way up or down for totally arbitrary reasons. Now, I predict, the province will blam…

Vancouver housing prices in further decline

2009-05-28

Metro house prices dipped 1.7 per cent in March from February on the Teranet house price index, the ninth consecutive month of decline Derrick Penner Sun On the question of where house prices are going compared with where they've come from,…

Women lead first-time homebuyers

2009-05-28

Sun Women led the charge of first-time buyers jumping back into British Columbia 's real estate markets, according to a recent report from real-estate firm Royal LePage . Royal Lepage said new buyers, spurred on by rock-bottom mortgage rate…

A unique dining experience

2009-05-28

Shuraku provides a little more polish than the typical izakaya-style of many Japanese restaurants Mia Stainsby Sun Chef Masahiro Omori of Shuraku Sake Bar and Bistro holds a tempting tray. SHURAKU SAKE BAR AND BISTRO 833 Granville St. , 604…

Condo market fights to recover as prices remain down

2009-05-28

Julie Schmit USA Today Manhattan West, a stalled condominium project, stands unfinished in Las Vegas, not an uncommon sight across the USA. By Jae C. Hong, AP Paul Herstein is in a good spot. The Seattle oncologist has shopped condominiums …

Women responsible for 60% of first-time home sales in B.C.

2009-05-27

Province Taking advantage of falling prices, women are the majority of first-time buyers in B.C., targeting condominiums, townhomes and some ‘fixer-uppers.’ — NATIONAL POST Women in British Columbia are leading a trend tha…

Free HDTV: All you need is an antenna

2009-05-27

Consumers misled into believing paying only way to get the service, advocate says Rebecca Tebrake Sun Jon LeBlanc on the roof of his Delta home with one of the antennas he uses to receive HDTV signals.Photograph by: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver S…

B.C. housing prices stabilizing

2009-05-27

Conditions are improving more rapidly than expected with three consecutive months of double-digit increases in sales Brian Morton Sun Housing market conditions are improving more rapidly than expected, with the average price for a home in B…

Existing home sales rise as low prices lure buyers

2009-05-27

USA Today A buyer visits a condominium for sale in Massachusetts last month. By Brian Snyder, Reuters WASHINGTON (AP) — Previously occupied homes rose modestly from March to April as buyers swooped in to take advantage of prices that …

Many homes have air quality problems

2009-05-26

Spring is a bad time for allergy sufferers, especially when allergens have invaded their homes Rachel Naud Sun Art Robinson, president of Sick Building Solutions in Toronto, is seen here with a spore trap, which collects air samples that wi…

Home prices fall a record 19.1% in year; declines slowing

2009-05-26

USA Today NEW YORK (AP) — Home prices fell at the sharpest rate ever in the first quarter compared to 2008, but the pace of month-to-month declines continues to slow, a closely watched housing index showed Tuesday. The Standard & …

Twitter has millions tweeting in public communication service

2009-05-26

Jon Swartz USA Today Twitter's founders, from left, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. By Jessica B. Lifland for USA TODAY   SAN FRANCISCO — It's tea time at Twitter. While that may evoke images of courtly discussion over …