I am pleased to announce the listing of
# 802 - 4380 Halifax Street.
The Buchanan North. This beautiful 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit's many outstanding features include: maple kitchen cabinets and granite kitchen countertops, large master bedroom and ensuite featuring a large soaker tub, gas fireplace, insuite laundry and a large south-facing balcony. This unit has 1 parking stall and an extra large storage locker. This building has many outstanding amenities including an exercise centre, whirlpool, steam room, sauna and a beautiful outdoor courtyard. The Buchanan North is centrally located within walking distance to Brentwood Mall, Save-On Foods, restaurants, day-care, banking and Skytrain & transit.
Swollen Inventories Favour Homebuyers.
Vancouver, BC – August 15, 2008.
British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports residential sales dollar volume on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in BC declined 38 per cent to $2.9 billion in July, compared to July 2007. Residential unit sales fell 37 per cent to 6,541 units during the same period. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $444,358, down 0.5 per cent from July 2007.
“Home sales have slowed to a level not seen since the beginning of the decade,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “BC households are now cautious about making major purchases in light of uncertainty around fuel prices and other inflationary pressures.”
“The slowdown in housing demand has swollen the inventory of homes for sale, putting downward pressure on home prices in some markets,” added Muir. A total of 60,008 homes were for sale on the MLS® in July, an increase of 63 per cent from the previous year.
“While this inventory is expected to decline in the coming months, most BC regions will remain in buyers’ market territory for the remainder of 2008.”
Year-to-date MLS® residential sales dollar volume in the province declined 18 per cent to $23.2 billion compared to the same period last year. Sales transactions fell 24 per cent to 49,448 units, while the average residential price increased 8.2 per cent to $469,676 over the same period.
Metro housing starts up, Canada down.
Derrick Penner
Vancouver Sun
Monday, August 11, 2008
To the end of July, Metro Vancouver starts of 12,082 outpaces the building that took place in 2007 by 11 per cent. The biggest jumps were in Vancouver and Surrey. Housing starts across Metro Vancouver took a big jump in July as builders continued banging up new homes at a faster clip than in 2007, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Monday.
Builders started work on 1,904 new homes in Metro Vancouver in July, a 25-per-cent increase from the same month a year ago. The gain was entirely in multi-family projects, which offset a three-per-cent decline in single-family-home starts. To the end of July, Metro Vancouver starts of 12,082 outpaces the building that took place in 2007 by 11 per cent. The biggest jumps were in Vancouver and Surrey.
"Despite more homes being available on the resale market throughout the year, developers have moved forward and begun construction on projects that have been in the planning stage," Richard Sam, a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. analyst said in a press release. "With a number of multiple family-projects still in the pending stage, expect housing starts to be at high levels for the rest of the year."
Housing starts in Abbotsford, however, plummeted 55 per cent in July compared with the same month a year ago to 38 units. The biggest part of the drop was in multi-family projects where builders started on just six units compared with 36 in July 2007.
The July dip softened Abbotsford's results for the year to date, which saw builders start work on 953 units to the end of last month, up 24 per cent from the year previous.
Annualized housing starts plunged 13.6 per cent in July, dropping to 186,500 units from 215,900 units in June, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Monday.
Urban starts fell 14.8 per cent in July compared to June. Multiple housing starts dropped 20.2 per cent to 91,600 units while single starts cooled 6.6 per cent to 69,800 units.
Since the departure of the immensely popular Vancouver Molson Indy, local race fans have been starving for a Professional-style event providing them with the sights, sounds and thrills that go along with Motorsport Entertainment.
The Children’s Charities Grand Prix is the most exciting Motorsport news in British Columbia since the Champ Cars last graced the streets of Downtown Vancouver in 2004.
The first CCGP will take place September 20th and 21st at the new and improved, River’s Edge Raceway. The CCGP concept was derived from the ultra-successful fan-favorite SCCBC Invitational that ran along with the Vancouver Indy from 1990 through 2004.
The SCCBC Invitational thrilled the Vancouver Indy crowds with its wheel-towheel racing action and fan-friendly format. Huge grids of up to 60 cars kept fans on the edge of their seats with lots of passing, close calls and diverse grids.
The CCGP will continue to feed the fans need-for-speed by featuring a vast array of beautiful P1 and P2 class, big-horsepower cars and amazing driving talent from all over Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest racing for a $10,000 prize purse.
The CCGP race will take place during round 4 of the Pacific Region CACC Championship. The weekend will also feature a variety of exciting classes from Open Wheel Formula Cars right through to Vintage and everything in between.
The Children’s Charities Grand Prix will benefit the BC Children’s Hospital and Children’s Wish Foundation. Partial proceeds from gate will go to both charities as well as funds raised from a silent auction and the infamous ‘Hot Laps 4 Kidz’. This unique offering will give fans the opportunity to go for a ride on the newly configured 9-turn 1.3 mile race track in a variety of Supercars and Race cars with Professional Drivers at the wheel.
This concept offers a fantastic opportunity to all those involved in Motorsports (and beyond) to come together to benefit sick children and demonstrate on a grand scale that great road racing action is alive and well in BC.
I am pleased to annouce that the Anduccis/RE/MAX racing car # 49, Panoz GTS will be competing in this event.
For further information please visit: http://www.sccbc.net/ 
Month-over-month housing prices retreat from record highs.
VANCOUVER, B.C.
August 5, 2008
As property listings continue to outpace sales, Greater Vancouver housing prices have drawn back, the last two months, from the record highs experienced in early 2008.
Since May 2008, housing prices, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, across each residential category have declined. Detached properties in Greater Vancouver declined 2.3 per cent through June and July 2008, while attached were down 1 per cent and apartment properties 2 per cent over the same period.
The overall benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver has declined 2.1 per cent since the end of May 2008, from $568,411 to $556,605 in July 2008. “We’re seeing more price reductions in properties listed on the market, which is having a levelling impact on the housing price increases experienced at the end of last year and into the first quarter of 2008,”said Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) president, Dave Watt. “There was a slight decline in the total active listings on the market in July compared to June, which is a welcomed departure
from recent trends.”
Residential property sales in Greater Vancouver declined 43.9 per cent in July 2008 to 2,174 from the 3,873 sales recorded in July 2007. New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties increased 24 per cent to 6,104 in July 2008 compared to July 2007, when 4,924 new units were listed.
Sales of detached properties in July 2008 declined 44.2 per cent to 827 from the 1,483 units sold during the same period in 20070. The benchmark price for detached properties is up 5.4 per cent from July 2007 to $753,165.
Sales of apartment properties declined 42.3 per cent last month to 966, compared to 1,674 sales in July 2007. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 4.7 per cent from July 2007 to $381,687.
Attached property sales in July 2008 decreased 46.8 per cent to 381, compared with the 716 sales in July 2007. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 5.7 per cent between July 2007 and 2008 to $473,953.
