Live/Work Loft 1-Bedroom at "The Hudson". Near-new highrise right in the heart of Downtown. Ideal for investment too. Pets & rentals are OK. Suite is rented at $1,700/month.

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Fairview VW Condo for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.657.7936 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Andrew Hasman
RE/MAX (Andrew Hasman)

Come live in one of Vancouver's most sought-after neighbourhoods. Just one block from upscale shopping on Granville you will find this spacious 2-Bedroom + Solarium, on the quiet side in the Warrenton. This garden home boasts airy . overheight ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, EXTRA large sunny patio (wrap-around) with every room overlooking lovely landscaped gardens. Original owners, private, well kept, great for outdoor entertaining. Complete with 2 parkings, plenty of storage, separate entrance off the kitchen. PUBLIC OPEN: Saturday March 13th, 2-4 PM.

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Dunbar Condo for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.657.7936 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Andrew Hasman
RE/MAX (Andrew Hasman)

Building a home demands local fees

When building or renovating a home in the Lower Mainland don't forget the local permit fees. Most municipalities have a sliding scale for the building permit fees based on the value of construction. For example: $5 per $1,000 of construction up to $10,000, $6 per $1,000 of construction between $10,000 and $20,000 etc. $1000 and $6000 for construction value of $100,000 and up. Plumbing and electrical permits may be additional to this. Most municipalities also require an elevation survey by a legal surveyor to determine the elevations of the grade at the corners of the lot and the corners of the house. This will determine the setting out point for the building height. The survey also locates pins used for construction and locates existing buildings if any. This determines zoning set back requirements. The cost is $1000 to $4000 depending on the number points surveyed. Some municipalities require a geotechnical engineer to provide documents. This will determine the capacity of the soil to hold up the building as well as the foundation design. Figure on from $600 - $1,000 for these fees, according to members of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders' Association.

http://www.rew.ca/

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,473 in February 2010, an increase of 67.1 percent compared to February 2009 when 1,480 sales were recorded and a 28.6 percent increase compared to the 1,923 sales recorded in January 2010.

More broadly, last month’s sales totals marked a 7.6 percent decline compared to the 2,676 sales recorded in February 2008 and were 13.5 percent behind February 2007 when 2,859 residential sales were recorded on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in Greater Vancouver.

Over the last 12 months, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 19.7 percent to $581,911 from $486,054 in February 2009. This price is 2.4 percent above the previous high point in the market in May 2008 when the residential benchmark price sat at $568,411.

“We don’t know at this point what long-term impact the Olympics will have on our housing market, but we do know that activity in our market remained steady through all of the excitement and distraction of the last few weeks,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said.

“In February, for example, 110 sales were recorded on the MLS® in downtown Vancouver. That’s higher than 2009 and slightly lower than the mid-2000s, which is consistent with data from the overall market. It’s too soon to say whether that’s an Olympic effect,” Russell said.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 4,606 in February 2010. This represents a 17.6 percent increase compared to February 2009 when 3,916 new units were listed, and a 10.5 per cent decrease compared to January 2010 when 5,147 properties were listed on the MLS® in Greater Vancouver.

At 11,346, the total number of property listings on the MLS® increased 11 percent in February compared to last month and declined 21 percent from this time last year.

“Two months into 2010, we see the total number of homes listed for sale on the rise and demand in the market strong, but less frenzied than we saw in the latter part of 2009,” Russell said.

Sales of detached properties increased 67.5 percent in February 2010 to 983 from the 587 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2009. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties increased 22.5 percent from February 2009 to $800,796.

Sales of apartment properties in February 2010 increased 65.2 percent to 1,074 compared to 650 sales in February 2009. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 17.3 percent from February 2009 to $390,899.

Attached property sales in February 2010 are up 71.2 percent to 416, compared with the 243 sales in February 2009. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 16.2 percent between Februarys 2009 and 2010 to $495,496.

An opportunity to get into the Woodwards W43 tower still available. Best floor plan in the well-built tower with mountain & water views from the 14th floor. In the Woodward's heritage site, there are 2 towers plus a central commercial core, (just like it was when Woodwards was the centre of economy in Vancouver) where Nestors & Loodon Drugs & TD Bank plus many specialty stores will serve the residents (over 500 condos) & the Simon Fraser University students. In the W43 tower there are incredible amenities from hot tubing to rock wall climbing. This tower is market drive, Ssubsidized units are elsewhere. Property tax free until Aug 31, 2012 is a bonus.

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this S.W. Marine House for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.657.7936 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Andrew Hasman
RE/MAX (Andrew Hasman)

Vancouver markets last year, picking up several properties, including, most

recently, the Kodak portfolio, which includes four sites in Burnaby and Delta,

plus 19.2 acres for future development. Driven by a long-term vision for his

properties, Kingswood president Joseph Segal saw good value in the acquisition,

which offers irreplaceable office space, as well as potential for future office

development in a prime suburban business area. While the key opportunities for

the properties lie after the Olympics, Segal told National Association of Industrial

 and Office Properties (NAIOP) members late last year that the Games are only a

small part of what makes such investments prime opportunities as B.C. emerges

from the economic turmoil that roiled real estate markets through 2008 and 2009.

Taking a long-term view, he said the province has both a strategic advantage and

quality of life to match that makes it an attractive place for business and, in turn,

real estate, development. “If you’re going to be rich or poor, this is the best place

to live. And that’s why we will see lots of growth – not because of the Olympics

but because of the fundamentals that exist in this province,” Segal said. “Strategic

real estate will survive and grow in this province.”Segal’s perspective sets in context

the hopes and bullish enthusiasm that hang on the 2010 Winter Games, which observers

such as RBCEconomics believe will deliver an economic tonic that “could not come

soon enough for a province that has been hit hard by the recession.” RBC notes that

preliminary figures indicate the province’s economy contracted 2.6 percent in 2009 –

the worst since 1982.

Yet even the forecast RBC issued – which calls for 3.2 per cent growth in 2010 and

3.4 percent in 2011 – notes that recovery was already well underway before the

Olympics hit town. Housing sales have recovered from the late 2008 lows (RBC

analysts have elsewhere called the B.C. housing recovery “a stunning rally,” with

the Vancouver resale market in particular “staging one of the most spectacular

comebacks in Canadian real estate history”), while employment also rebounded.

Recovery in overseas markets has raised demand for B.C. products, boosting export

prospects, especially for commodities. But the gains will be made on the backs of

depressed markets, and many believe that the boost the Games provide will merely

help support a cyclical uptick. Studies prepared since Vancouver won the Games in

2003 highlight the point. A 2003 report for Avison Young (Canada) Inc. shortly after

Vancouver was selected as host for the 2010 Games noted that “demand office space

between 2007 and 2013 will also depend on world and local economic conditions,”

and advised landlords and tenants in its 2003 report, “to keep the ebbs and flows

associated with Olympic-related office absorption in mind as they plan over the next

10 years.” Other studies note that the long-term impact on real estate values of the 2002

Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was minimal. What the games will do is focus

Attention on Vancouver.

Condo marketer Bob Rennie has billed the games as a $5 billion branding campaign

for Vancouver and the entire province, and Deloitte & Touche analyst Jennifer

Podmore Russell picked up the strain in telling members of the Urban

Development Institute in October 2009 – “just 115 sleeps” before the opening

ceremonies – that development activity in the run-up to the games would pay off

 in activity afterward.

“The games are going to turn the world’s spotlight on us in less than four months.

And for a month we’re going to be turning heads that will stay permanently fixed

on our city,” she said. Of course, if the effects sound familiar, it’s because Rennie,

Podmore and others frequently cite the impact of Expo 86 as a precedent of

what Vancouver can expect when the Olympics leave town. “Brokers are optimistic

that the Games will spur an increase in international investment – just like Expo

86 did,” Avison Young reports in its latest investment newsletter. “If history

comes close to repeating itself, foreign players will flock to the West Coast

after they discover the city’s appealing physical and fiscal features.” The $300

million purchase by Germany’s Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH of the

Bentall 5 tower last year was the most significant transaction by a foreign investor

in local real estate, but many in the real estate sector are bracing for a wave of

Chinese investors following Beijing’s announcement of approved destination

status for Canada in December 2009. The long-awaited designation opens the

doors to investors as well as other visitors, creating buzz among residential and

commercial players who expect a huge impact on local markets. The latest edition

of Macdonald Commercial broker David Goodman’s report on the Vancouver

apartment market forecasts a “high level of interest” among Mainland Chinese in

local real estate, promising to boost a market already seeing multiple offers on

some multi-family properties.

What those who arrive following the Olympics will find is a region that was able

to leverage the games to accelerate much-needed improvements in infrastructure.

Upgrades to the Sea-to-Sky Highway that have enhanced the residential capacity

of the Vancouver-Whistler corridor are one example; construction of the Canada

Line connecting Vancouver with Richmond and Vancouver International Airport is

another, as are the host of  highway improvements throughout the Lower Mainland

that are following in their wake. The initiatives groom Vancouver for the upswing

in business activity that has flowed to previous host cities. The opening up of Pitt

Meadows and the Tri-Cities area via the Golden Ears Bridge, the new Pitt River

crossing, as well as the Coast Meridian connector (set to complete this year) are

enhancing traffic flows and creating opportunities for companies like the Vancouver

based Onni Group. Onni recently acquired a 57.5-acre parcel adjacent to its planned

Golden Ears Business Centre, where an initial 75,000-square-foot building is set to

complete this fall. “The combined parcels have solidified the Golden Ears Business

Centre as one of the premier business parks in Metro Vancouver,” said John

Middleton, leasing manager with Onni. Given that local markets have ebbed over

the past 18 months, lowering construction costs and making space just a bit cheaper

for companies seeking alternatives, as well as projects such as the Golden Ears

Business Centre have appeal even for cautious companies. “It’s going to be far less

expensive, and the opportunity to do a short-term deal is going to be that much

 greater given the amount of space that is available,” remarked John Megan,

senior vice-president with CB Richard Ellis in Vancouver in an interview

last year.

One year on, the region’s industrial vacancies sit at approximately

5.8 per cent, up from 2.8 per cent at the end of 2008, while regional office

vacancies were approximately 9.1 percent – up from 6.1 per cent at the end of

2008. The return of office space to the market post-Olympics will add to the

pressure, prompting some tenants to seek deals while the market is good.

But without new construction, the market will likely tighten rapidly in the

event the province’s economy picks up, as RBC expects it to do. The result

will be firm markets, which even at their worst haven’t approached what other

parts of the country would call a tenant’s market, especially in the downtown

core. Bill Elliott, principal in the Vancouver office of Avison Young, points to

the historicconstraints of land base and limited supply – factors also cited by the

 recent Urban Land Institute survey of North America’s real estate markets in

2010 that named Vancouver a prime market for investment. “You may have a

slightly abnormal high renewal exposure post-2010, but again, depending on

inventory, if you’ve still got a 4 per cent or 5 per cent inventory vacancy, it’s

still a landlord’s market anyway,” Elliott said. “And our inventory isn’t going to

change without anything being constructed.”

Western Investor - February 2010

http://www.westerninvestor.com/

View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales

View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this MacKenzie Heights House for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.657.7936 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Andrew Hasman
RE/MAX (Andrew Hasman)

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this S.W. Marine House for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.657.7936 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Andrew Hasman
RE/MAX (Andrew Hasman)

Nicely updated 5 bdrm home in South Kerrisdale. Corner lot 68 x 92 ft (6,256 sq ft). The home is Move-In ready with brand new kitchen with large south facing sundeck. 2 bdrms on Main. Lovely Oak Floors on Main, coved ceilings. Upstairs there's a finished attic converted into bdrm with ensuite. Mortgage helper down too! Ideal location close to schools, parks & shopping. 1st viewings Wed 24th 10-12 Noon.

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this MacKenzie Heights House for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.657.7936 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Andrew Hasman
RE/MAX (Andrew Hasman)

Fully renovated 'Vancouver special' in the heart of Mackenzie Heights. The home is move-in ready with great mortgage helper down rented at $1500/mo M-M plus a separate nanny or inlaw suite down too. On the upper level this home boasts 3 bdrms and has been tastefully updated. The home has a 3 yr roof and all new vinyl windows. Note the lot size, 40x140 with a generous sized fully fenced rear yard, great for the kids. Close to schools, parks and Kerrisdale Shopping. School Catch is Pt Grey Sec and Kerrisdale Elementary. 1st viewings Wed Feb 24th from 10 til noon.

Analysts expect a hot spring real estate market given Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's move to tighten mortgage standards yesterday. Even before Mr. Flaherty's announcement, home buyers had been expected to rush to beat the harmonized sales tax in Ontario and British Columbia. Now, there's added pressure for the spring with an expected rush to beat Mr. Flaherty's new qualifying standards that come into effect April 19. Economists expect a spike in sales, and prices, followed by a cooling period. "The effect of the tightened mortgage rules will be to spur avoidance activity before the new rules become truly effective in July after the pipeline commitments on preapprovals burn off," Scotia Capital economists Derek Holt and Karen Cordes said in a research note today. "That avoidance behaviour will also apply to the HST that dings new homes in Ontario and B.C. after Canada Day. Thus, look for a very strong spring market that transfers sales from [the second half of] 2010 and beyond into [the first half] of 2010 and drives house prices even further into record territory." 

Many Canadians will be forced to scale down their real-estate ambitions under new mortgage rules that aim to both keep people from taking on too much debt and rein in speculators, all without knee-capping an industry that has been a major driver of the recovery.

The tighter standards come after months of debate about whether a bubble is forming in the housing market and repeated urging by policy makers for borrowers and lenders to be prepared for higher interest rates.

“There are no definitive signs of a housing bubble” Mr. Flaherty told reporters in Ottawa. Nonetheless, “we’re being pro-active,” he said, to “help prevent negative trends from developing.”

Starting April 19, all new borrowers will have to meet standards for five-year, fixed-rate mortgages even if they’re seeking a shorter, variable-rate loan. Also, the government is lowering the maximum amount Canadians can withdraw when refinancing to 90 per cent of the value of their homes, from the current 95 per cent, and requiring a 20-per-cent down payment for government-backed mortgage insurance on “speculative” investment properties.

Measures considered but rejected included an increase to the minimum down payment on homes from 5 per cent, and shortening the maximum time over which borrowers can spread out their payments from the current 35 years.

“They were very targeted,” Jim Murphy, president of the Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals, said in an interview. “Our concern was that the government not overreact and institute measures around minimum down payments and shorter amortizations that could affect the housing market during a very cautious economic recovery.”

According to an analysis by Toronto-Dominion Bank, the requirement that new buyers be able to afford the posted five-year rate – which is currently about 5.4 per cent – will “temper” demand somewhat because about a quarter of new mortgage applications might not pass that test. Still, the impact will be “constrained” because many will just buy a lower-priced property instead.

The effect of the stricter refinancing rule should be limited, TD said, since less than a third of those modifications involve owners with loans of between 90 per cent and 95 per cent of the home’s value. TD also praised the measure on speculative purchases, saying, “for a housing bubble to form, speculative buying would be a major contributor.”

Tim Hockey, head of TD’s Canadian banking operations, said Ottawa found a good balance between doing too much and doing too little.

“It’s pretty difficult to figure out what the right balance is; this feels about right,” he said, even though he acknowledged prices could go down because the tighter rules might increase the supply of houses available for sale.

At the moment, TD assesses whether customers seeking three-year variable rate mortgages would be able to afford the monthly payments on a three-year fixed-rate mortgage.

Scotia Capital economist Derek Holt said tighter criteria for mortgage applications could cause the housing market to “really heat up” over the next few months before cooling later, predicting “short-term price scrambling” as buyers try to get approved before the stricter rules come into force.

Mr. Holt noted that the Harmonized Sales Tax or HST due to take effect in Ontario and British Columbia on July 1 is already causing some buyers to rush into the market in a bid to close deals in advance.

Mr. Flaherty stressed that some lenders are already applying more stringent standards when approving buyers, but said today’s announcement was needed to ensure others start doing so. He said the rules are meant to “have some stabilizing effect” and encourage “moderation” in the market so Canada can avoid the “excesses” that led to the subprime meltdown in the United States.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/why-economists-expect-a-hot-spring-real-estate-market/article1470915/
With files from reporters Bill Curry and Rob Carrick in Ottawa and Tavia Grant in Toronto

New mortgage rules

Paul Vieira, Financial Post with files from Garry Marr in Toronto
Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010

Condominium towers in Vancouver. The federal government has tightened mortgage requirements for non-owner-occupied properties. - Fotolia.