Real Estate News & Articles

Critic's Picks - Restaurants In December

2005-12-22

Sun Aurora Bistro The first fine dining room on Main St. Inventive food, hip spot. 2420 Main St., 604-873-9944. $$ Bishop's Consistently one of the city's best. Almost 100 per cent organic foods. 2183 West Fourth Ave., 604-738-2025. $$$ Bin…

Restaurant listings December 22, 2005

2005-12-22

Sun WEST COAST Aurora Bistro The first fine dining room on Main St. Inventive food, hip spot. 2420 Main St., 604-873-9944. $$ Bishop's Consistently one of the city's best. Almost 100 per cent organic foods. 2183 West Fourth Ave., 604-738-20…

New parking meters allow grace period

2005-12-21

Peter Wilson Sun MARK VAN MANEN/VANCOUVER SUN Company president Fred Mitschele displays his new high-tech parking meter, which he has on display near UBC. Motorist-friendly, designed-in-B.C. parking meters that make it easy to pay fees and …

Staggered dog licence systems will translate to higher fees first time around

2005-12-21

Sun VANCOUVER - Dog owners should be prepared to shell out extra cash when they license their pets for 2006. New licences sold in the city have staggered expiry dates, and dog owners in different parts of the city must license their dogs at…

Downtown office vacancy rate drops

2005-12-21

Fiona Anderson Sun A report released by CB Richard Ellis says the office vacancy rate for downtown Vancouver fell to 7.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2005. Businesses are having more and more trouble finding good office space in downto…

B.C. home sales in 2005 easily surpass last year's total

2005-12-21

The hottest areas were Chilliwack, Fraser Valley, Greater Vancouver and the Okanagan Michael Kane Sun Home sales across the province have surpassed last year's record total with a month to spare, the B.C. Real Estate Association reported Tu…

Lower Mainland's economy soars

2005-12-20

Construction credited for region's fast-growing pace Wendy McLellan Province Expansion of the Vancouver Convention Centre is only one of many new projects. Photograph by : Jon Murray, The Province Construction sites will continue to dominat…

Woodwards redevelpment - 1200 register for 500 units

2005-12-19

Sun A record number of would-be buyers have signed up for a condo at the site of the former Woodward's store in the Downtown Eastside. Since the sales website was launched three weeks ago, 1,200 people have registered for a chance to buy on…

A hallelujah at UBC: Developer prices Theological Neighbourhood duplexes below competing product

2005-12-17

Divine inspiration from UBC theological school Michael Sasges Sun The centrepiece of the front room in the eight Chancellor Row homes will be the gas fireplace, across from Intracorp's Carla Bury, enclosed by a concrete surround and mantel …

Developers come to the aid of BC Children's Hospital

2005-12-17

Sun The local real-estate and development fraternity has started a campaign to help children at BC Children's Hospital. Organizers call the undertaking Building For Kids and want you to know that if you see the logo above on a new-home proj…

Unique homes at affordable prices

2005-12-16

Book shows that with a little thought, it is possible to build a one-of-a-kind house for a reasonable amount Kim Pemberton Sun The book Good House Cheap House: Adventures in Creating an Extraordinary Home at an Everyday Price (Taunton Press…

MARKET VALUE: Following the fortunes of real estate

2005-12-16

Sun +95% +43% +12.5% 307-2256 West 7th Ave. , Vancouver Two-bedroom and den, one-bath top corner suite in Kitsilano . Bought: Nov. 1998, $202,500 Listed: Nov. 7, $379,900 Sold: Nov. 20, $395,000 Listing agent:    Frank Zomar …

Apartment vacancy rate up slightly over last year

2005-12-16

Vigorous economy, migration and hot job picture credited Derrick Penner Sun Greater Vancouver's apartment vacancy rate edged up to 1.4 per cent in October, compared with 1.3 per cent a year ago, as the region's rental market stayed in a del…

Economy set for bumpy ride, soft landing in '06

2005-12-16

Eric Beauchesne Sun Fasten your seatbelts: the Canadian and U.S. economies are in for some ups and downs, but aren't about to crash, according to a new forecast Thursday. The two economies, which have enjoyed surprisingly strong growth thro…

Here's what's involved in being the executor of someone's will

2005-12-16

Sun In a continuing series on consumer decisions, Michael Kane looks at what's involved in being the executor of a will An executor is the person named in a will to carry out the will's directions. You may be honoured to be invited to serve…

Telecommunicating set to take off

2005-12-14

Quadruple play of TV, high-speed Net, land-line and mobile phone for 2006 Jim Ja Province Telus's Fred Di Blasio sees excitement in merging Internet with cable television. Photograph by : Gerry Kahrmann, The Province Imagine you're watching…

Criminals bump up their scams for the season

2005-12-14

People who Christmas shop on the Internet need to protect themselves as criminals bump up their scams for the season Peter Wilson Sun An e-commerce clerk takes a call from an online customer. Cyber criminals have created websites that dupli…

Pair nears $1 billion in condo sales for year

2005-12-14

But the practice of announcing rankings has been stopped Derrick Penner Sun Two of Vancouver's top real estate marketers have racked up a combined total of close to $1 billion in condominium sales so far this year, but whether those results…

Telus markets digital television aimed at luring cable viewers from Shaw

2005-12-14

Traditional phone and cable companies battle it out for business as they offer more services in common Gillian Shaw Sun Fred Di Blasio, vice-president of consumer product marketing for Telus with some of the equipment used in the company's …

Nintendo software, hardware sales strong

2005-12-13

Company says it's looking like an incredibly successful Christmas, which accounts for 55% of sales Marke Andrews Sun Nintendo DS is enjoying extremely strong Christmas sales. The DS (Dual Screen) is a handheld system. Richmond-based Nintend…

Phone-line TV quietly arrives in B.C. and Alberta

2005-12-13

Telus taking it slow to ensure it's done right Paul Marck Sun Television, your future is calling -- by phone. After years of planning and testing, Telus TV is finally bringing TV to viewers over phone lines in Alberta and B.C., using techno…

How do I shield my fixed-income portfolio?

2005-12-12

Chris Carter Province I know I should be allocating a greater portion of my investments to fixed-income securities like bonds, but I'm worried about interest rates rising after I've locked in my funds. Is there any way a regular investor li…

A peek at next RRSP season

2005-12-12

Marketing will focus on what's been hot Ray Turchansky Province Mutual-fund companies are marketing machines, says Michael Lee-Chin. Photograph by : Bruce Stotesbury, Times Colonist EDMONTON -- Recent visits from financial-institution execu…

Twinning worries GVRD

2005-12-12

New regional board questions bridge plan Kent Spencer Province A new GVRD board will look at provincial government plans to twin the heavily travelled Port Mann Bridge. PROVINCE FILE PHOTO The province's plan to twin the Port Mann Bridge wi…