Real Estate News & Articles

Is the Ritz-Carlton tower up in the air?

2008-10-22

Redesign, not money flow, is responsible, developer says Wendy Mclellan Province The 60-storey hotel and condo project was set to open in 2011 It was supposed to bring Manhattan to downtown Vancouver : a luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel with a twi…

Construction halted on Ritz-Carlton site

2008-10-22

Developer is considering a change in design, condo marketer says Bruce Constantineau Sun Construction of the $500-million-plus downtown Vancouver Ritz-Carlton hotel-condo project has been suspended so the developer can consider redesigning …

Right documents are vital

2008-10-19

Tony Gioventu Province Dear Condo Smarts: In July, we bought an investment condo to rent out. We contacted the property manager and obtained a Form B (Information Certificate) before we decided to go ahead with the purchase. At the time, ou…

Watch your home TV at cottage

2008-10-19

Enjoy your computer on big screen or your TV in distant spots Jim Jamieson Province What is it? SlingCatcher Price: $329.99 Why you need it: You want to one-up your techie friends who already have a SlingBox . Why you don't: You're still tr…

Paradise in Los Cabos

2008-10-18

White sand, impossibly blue skies and hot weather: it's all a tourist could want Janet Vlieg Sun The west coast of Mexico, bordering the Pacific Ocean, offers sweeping vistas. Tourists on a retired America’s cup sailboat flide past th…

Rainy-day photography is in the bag

2008-10-18

Tech toys Sun Seattle Sling, Camera Armor DCP851 docking entertainment system, Philips SlingCatcher, Slingbox Seattle Sling, Camera Armor, $150 US Keep your camera dry even if it gets completely immersed in water with the Seattle Sling wate…

The Sleep Performance Sleep Bracelet, a sleep-monitoring device

2008-10-17

Latest technology will allow players to put their biological clock at the optimum setting IAIN MacIntyre Sun The Sleep Performance Sleep Bracelet, a sleep-monitoring device that the Vancouver Canucks are wearing. DETROIT -- The Vancouver Ca…

Housing starts, consumer confidence both test their lows

2008-10-17

USA Today In this file photo, a construction worker nails plywood to the roof of a new home in Richmond, Va. WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Construction of new homes fell to a 17-1/2 year low in September and consumer confidence suffered its …

Tongue-Thai'd in paradise

2008-10-16

I discover a new spirituality, licking sauce splatter off my shirt Mark Laba Province Wisarn, Keaw and Alexpisan Sahawatthanachai serve up dishes such as chicken cashew nut (right), green curry with chicken (front) and Tom Yum prawn soups. …

B.C. homes market feels the chill from jittery consumers

2008-10-16

Paul Luke Province Consumer jitters are putting a chill into the B.C. housing market. The average home price across the province slumped 7.4 per cent between last month and September 2007, the B.C. Real Estate Association said yesterday. Av…

Big drop in B.C. prices pulls down average cost of Canadian home prices across the country

2008-10-16

Derrick Penner Sun Falling sales and declining prices in British Columbia 's high-priced Vancouver , Kelowna and Fraser Valley markets helped cut the national average home price by 6.2 per cent in September compared with the same month a ye…

Banks try to get homeowners to lock in their mortgage rates

2008-10-16

More than 20% of home loans are unprofitable Garry Marr Sun TORONTO -- Canadian banks are trying to convince consumers to lock in their mortgage rates because more than 20 per cent of the home loans they have negotiated have become unprofit…

T-Mobile's Google phone heralds Android invasion

2008-10-16

Is new Google phone an Apple adversary? Edward C. Baig USA Today Google's G1 phone in GPS mode at the corner of 54th Street and Park Avenue in New York City. It shows a 360-degree view as you move your hand. Will the first Google   pho…

Mega-project runs out of cash

2008-10-16

Infinity development set to showcase tallest buildings between Vancouver, Calgary Katie Mercer, The Province; with files from Staff Reporter Glenda Lyumes and from Canwest News Servi Province An artist’s depiction of the five-tower In…

Travel Insurance buys peace of mind - Some Credit cards may already have the coverage

2008-10-14

Rosemary McCracken Sun In April 2008, Ed Doucet was biking down a mountain in Majorca , Spain , at 50 km/h when a tire became caught in a rut in the road. He flipped over the handlebars, landing on his pelvis. The damage: three pelvic fract…

Markets will rebound, but it may be a long wait

2008-10-14

Keith Woolhouse Sun For years, we've been led to believe that economies couldn't crash and stock markets couldn't plunge, because our political and financial leaders had plentiful fail-safe options they could use to circumnavigate the econo…

Waterfront Stadium could be dramatic, beautiful, spectacular

2008-10-13

Whitecaps win sets off sellout crowd Ian Austin Province We are the champions of the (USL soccer) world. The Vancouver Whitecaps sent a sellout Swangard Stadium crowd home deliriously happy last night, delivering the hard-fought championshi…

Prices up in Vancouver, down in Victoria from year earlier

2008-10-12

Province OTTAWA -- New housing prices continued to cool in August, posting no increase from July and leaving them just 2.3 per cent higher than a year earlier, down from 2.7 per cent a month earlier, Statistics Canada reported Friday. In B.…

Selling caretaker's suite a complex issue

2008-10-12

Many technicalities need to be addressed first Tony Gioventu Province Dear Condo Smarts: Our strata corporation is a 147- unit apartment complex on south Vancouver Island . We have been planning re-roofing and a major re-piping for some tim…

Condos boost building pace

2008-10-09

First nine months see rise in Vancouver area housing Province Year-over-year homebuilding activity in Abbotsford soared by 120.3 per cent last month. Photograph by : Gerry Kahrmann, The Province, file Increases in condo construction led to …

Old favourites, new flavours

2008-10-09

A strangely comforting eatery, much like its dishes Mark Laba Province Dishes once familiar, get a much more interesting treatment. Photograph by : Arlen Redekop, The Province BAREFOOT KITCHEN Where: 1725 Davie St. , Vancouver Payment/reser…

Apartment and condo construction lift housing starts

2008-10-09

Sun Housing construction starts edged up last month to an annual seasonally adjusted pace of 217,400, thanks to increased apartment and condominium building activity, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Wednesday. "Housing starts rem…

New touch-screen BlackBerry called 'sexy meets smart'

2008-10-09

Steve Makris Sun The Storm is RIM's first foray into the touchscreen market. Research in Motion Ltd.'s first touch-screen BlackBerry , the 9530 Storm, will be available to Canadians with Telus before the holiday season. It carries all of th…

Metro Vancouver offers up stunning variety of food in its multicultural restaurants

2008-10-09

Mia Stainsby Sun Bao Biag Chen spins dough for noodles at the Sha Lin Noodle House. Photograph by : Ian Smith/Vancouver Sun VANCOUVER - They're the bling of our cultural diversity. Ethnic restaurants also are the doorway into our multicultu…