Real Estate News & Articles

Vancouver house prices make it top city for personal net worth

2009-03-25

Most of Canada's wealth is in the hands of the highest-earning families Fiona Anderson Sun Metro Vancouver households were the wealthiest in Canada in 2007. But with falling house prices, the gap between Metro and other cities is getting sm…

Neighbours want impound yard gone

2009-03-23

Ian Austin Province Bob Chapman and Louise Labuda, who overlook the city's vehicle impoundment yard at Pacific and Granville, say they hate the late-night noise the yard creates. Impatient residents claim there have been plans for years to …

February home sales rise 5.1%, biggest jump since 2003

2009-03-23

USA Today WASHINGTON (AP) — A real estate group says sales of existing homes rose from January to February in an unexpected boost for the slumping U.S housing market as buyers took advantage of deep discounts on foreclosures. The Nati…

Alteration to lot can void strata insurance

2009-03-22

Tony Gioventu Province Dear Condo Smarts: We live on the upper part of Vancouver Island . Our townhouse strata was informed by a new owner about a leak in their living room. The council inspected the home to discover that the previous owner…

Condo Presales do your homework or be sued by developer

2009-03-21

Walking away from contract can lead to a costly lawsuit Derrick Penner Sun When British Columbia 's real estate cycle was on the upswing, many condominium buyers reaped the rewards of buying so-called pre-sale condominiums which, in many ca…

January home building lowest in four years

2009-03-21

Derrick Penner Sun Spending on residential construction in British Columbia in January fell to its lowest level in a single month in at least four years, figures released Friday by Statistics Canada show. The federal agency reported that bu…

BC Place land available for development

2009-03-21

PavCo tests the waters, would use proceeds to help pay for stadium upgrade Bruce Constantineau Sun BC Place operator PavCo is testing the city's recession-challenged market to see if anyone wants to develop land next to the stadium and help…

Yaletown builder drops list prices 22% at The Beasley 399 Smithe

2009-03-21

Sun The Amacon development company has negotiated enough lower costs with its contractors and suppliers to permit it to re-price a Yaletown tower it began selling last year. The Beasley price reductions will amount to ''a minimum of 22 per …

Landcor's latest

2009-03-21

Sun Spring has sprung - what has the market done? Since January, and monthly, Landcor Data Corp. has passed nearly 466,000 residential addresses in the Lower Mainland through its proprietary property-valuation software, to help Vancouver Su…

Office vacancy rate jumps to 7.3 per cent

2009-03-20

First quarter of 2009 sees decline in B.C. resource sector, Olympic capital spending dwindles Derrick Penner Sun With British Columbia 's resource sector in decline and capital spending related to the 2010 Olympics dwindling, Metro Vancouve…

City property tax bills set to skyrocket in 2010

2009-03-20

Don Cayo Sun The bad news is that city hall's portion of residential tax bills in Vancouver will likely go up eight per cent this year. Worse, a plan put forward by city staff -- almost certain to be the blueprint for what council decides n…

Novus 'rolls out' digital service

2009-03-19

Malcolm Parry Sun Donna Robertson is co-president and chief legal officer as Novus Entertainment seeks more cable-TV, Internet and digital-phone accounts. FINER TUNING: City lawyer Donna Robertson is helping mount a contest against cable-TV…

The forgotten restaurant in the Shangri-La

2009-03-19

Market Cafe makes a casual, but equally satisfying, alternative to its plusher cohort Mia Stainsby Sun Shangri-La Hotel executive chef David Foot in front of fireplace in the Market Cafe at the Shangri-La hotel complex. Photograph by: Bill …

Foreclosures - Subprime mess comes home to B.C.

2009-03-18

Hundreds of property owners hit by foreclosures as real estate slumps Kent Spencer Province Tamara and Matt pirilio and family are moving out of their Port Alberni home after being unable to refinance the $140,000 they owe to a U.S.-based s…

Rebound in housing offers a ray of hope to depressed U.S.

2009-03-18

Lucia Mutikani Province WASHINGTON -- U.S. housing starts and permits rebounded in February from record lows, rising for the first time in 10 months, according to data yesterday that gave a glimmer of hope for the recession-hit economy. Ana…

With 30-year rate at 4.89%, mortgage applications rise

2009-03-18

USA Today WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage applications jumped last week, as low interest rates fueled refinancing activity. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday its weekly application index climbed 21.2% for the week ended March…

Real estate slump leads to lawsuits, big discounts

2009-03-18

Developers slash prices for some condo buyers while suing others who try to back out of deals Derrick Penner Sun The number of developers suing pre-sale condo buyers for attempting to back out of their contracts is mounting in the fallout f…

How a small cabal of bankers controls the world

2009-03-16

... And what they must do to set it right James Bagnall Sun Liaquat Ahamed, author of Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, finds comparisons with the Great Depression. Photograph by: Reuters, Canwest News Service In September …

Canpages launches "Streetview" in Canada - a direct competitor to Google Street View

2009-03-16

Kris Abel Other A pedestrian walkway in fullscreen mode within CanPages' Street View To access the technology you’ll need to first perform a basic search from Canpages.ca within Vancouver, Whistler, or Squamish in British Columbia, th…

The critical issue of vanishing cash

2009-03-15

Here's what you do to find out if they're safe Tony Gioventu Province Dear Condo Smarts: When our strata hired a new strata management company last year, we were told by the manager at our first meeting that it was best for the company to h…

Gringo Gazette Current Online Issue

2009-03-15

Other

Metro vancouver housing starts over the past 25 years

2009-03-14

Sun A reminder for builders and their customers: It was worse at the start of the decade In the 25 years before this one, metropolitan Vancouver builders started about 16,000 homes on average and annually. (The average number of starts from…

25-year builder is selling new homes for less than used

2009-03-14

'This has never happened before' Michael Sasges Sun Dale Barron of Morningstar Homes says new home prices have adjusted to the new realities of the market faster than used home prices. –RON JOYCE/MORNINGSTAR HOMES During a quarter of …

B.C. property sales half what they were a year ago

2009-03-14

Recreation-oriented markets are seeing the steepest declines Derrick Penner Sun Sales in British Columbia's real estate market so far in 2009 are about half of what they were a year ago, although the pace has risen from a particularly disma…