Read about our current homes for sale and Deep Cove real estate

Deep Cove Open House!

Patricia Houlihan — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:58:36 -0700

We are happy to announce that this May 19th, 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 320 Sasamat Lane in Deep Cove, North Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Property for sale in beautiful Deep Cove.

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

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-376-7653 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Patricia Houlihan
MacDonald Realty

Deep Cove Waterfront Home For Sale 320 Sasamat Lane, North Vancouver

Patricia Houlihan — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:48:04 -0700

AMAZING WATERFRONT; AMAZING PRICE! Unbelievable value: renovated waterfront home for under $1 million dollars and less than 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver. Lovely 2 bedroom home with new kitchen, windows and baths. Large lot for future larger house. Lots of parking and storage and, best of all, your own private dock... buy now and eat fresh crab all summer!

Check out all of the details of this Deep Cove, North Vancouver Waterfront home for sale, 320 Sasamat Lane, North Vancouver, BC

Just Sold: 4525 Summerside Lane, North Vancouver, BC

Patricia Houlihan — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:26:57 -0700

I just sold this Property at 4525 Summerside Lane, North Vancouver, BC Deep Cove.

View this recently sold Property or see all my home sales

Greater Vancouver housing market maintains a steady spring pace

Patricia Houlihan — Sat, 05 May 2012 15:36:00 -0700

Home sale and listing activity has maintained a consistent pace on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Greater Vancouver in recent months, which has helped create balanced conditions for the region’s housing market.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,799 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April 2012. This represents a 13.2 per cent decline compared to the 3,225 sales recorded in April 2011 and a decline of 2.6 per cent compared to the 2,874 sales in March 2012.

April sales were the lowest total for the month in the region since 2001 and 16.9 per cent below the 10-year April sales average of 3,369.

“Although April sales were below what’s typical for the month, we continue to see, with a sales-to-active listing ratio of nearly 17 per cent, a balanced relationship between buyer demand and seller supply in our marketplace,” Eugen Klein, REBGV president said.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 6,056 in April 2012. This represents a 3.6 per cent increase compared to both March 2012 when 5,843 homes were listed and April 2011 when 5,847 homes were listed for sale on the region’s MLS®.

Last month’s new listing total was 6.7 per cent above the 10-year average for listings in Greater Vancouver for April.

At 16,538, the total number of homes listed for sale on the region’s MLS® increased 8.5 per cent in April compared to last month and increased 16 per cent from this time last year.

“Recent activity has had a stabilizing effect on home prices at the regional level, although pricing can vary depending on area and property type,” Klein said “To best understand conditions within your area of interest, it’s important to do your homework and consult a local REALTOR®.”

The MLS® HPI benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver currently sits at $683,800, up 3.7 per cent compared to April 2011 and an increase of 2.8 per cent over the last three months. The benchmark price for all residential properties in the Lower Mainland is $612,000, which is a 3.4 per cent increase compared to April 2011 and a 2.6 per cent increase compared to three months ago.

Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in April 2012 reached 1,126, a decline of 19.7 per cent from the 1,402 detached sales recorded in April 2011, and a 17.8 per cent decrease from the 1,370 units sold in April 2010. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 6.3 per cent from April 2011 to $1,064,800.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,190 in April 2012, a decline of 0.9 per cent compared to the 1,201 sales in April 2011, and a decrease of 22 per cent compared to the 1,526 sales in April 2010.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 1.1 per cent from April 2011 to $375,900.

Townhome property sales in April 2012 totalled 483, a decline of 22.3 per cent compared to the 622 sales in April 2011, and a 21.6 per cent decrease from the 616 townhome properties sold in April 2010. The benchmark price of a townhome unit increased 1.7 per cent between April 2011 and 2012 to $487,300.

Download the complete stats package by clicking here.

Just Sold: 4457 Cove Cliff Rd, North Vancouver, BC

Patricia Houlihan — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:01:15 -0700

I just sold this Property at 4457 Cove Cliff Rd, North Vancouver, BC Deep Cove.

View this recently sold Property or see all my home sales

Macrealty April 2012 Market Update

Patricia Houlihan — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:09:00 -0700

There has been a lot of mortgage news recently as the Big Banks fight for market share with record-low mortgage rates. In February, we covered how BMO Bank of Montreal started the mortgage wars by offering a 2.99% 5-year fixed rate mortgage. Other lenders followed suit, matching the 2.99% rate, but generally offering only a 4-year option. On March 29th, RBC Royal Bank signalled the end of this war by raising its rates by 50 basis points to 3.49%. It is expected that other lenders will follow RBC's lead in order to shore up their profit margins.

As a consumer, given the current fixed and variable rates available, what should you do?

Since 1975 variable rate mortgages have proven to be more financially beneficial 82% of the time. That said, some experts are now saying that, given historically low rates, we may now be in that 18% period where it makes more financial sense to lock into a fixed rate mortgage. Remember, even with the higher 3.49% mortgage, the current rate is far below the historical average, which, since the 1950s, has generally remained north of 6%.

Some things you should consider when choosing between a fixed- and variable-rate mortgage:

Choose a variable-rate mortgage if:

- You think interest rates will remain at the same level or lower during the term of the mortgage
- You think there's a possibility that you may sell prior to the end of the term and wish to avoid excessive pre-payment penalties (there is, typically, a 3 month interest penalty on VRMs)
- You can afford a possible rise in rates

Choose a fixed-rate mortgage if:

- You think interest rates will rise more than the difference between your current fixed and variable rate mortgage options
- You have no plans on selling your home during the mortgage term
- You want to know what your payments will be and have peace of mind that they will not change
- Something else to consider is that some lenders will allow you to first enter a variable-rate mortgage and then switch or 'lock-in' to a fixed rate mortgage if rates begin to rise

In the end, your personal situation is unique and you should speak to a professional mortgage specialist or broker to determine what the best option is for you; I would be happy to recommend one if you don't already have someone in mind.

Patricia
(604)376-7653

Deep Cove Open House!

Patricia Houlihan — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:35:30 -0700

We are happy to announce that this Apr 28th, 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 4525 Summerside Lane in Deep Cove, North Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Property for sale in beautiful Deep Cove.

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

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-376-7653 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Patricia Houlihan
MacDonald Realty

Roche Point Open House!

Patricia Houlihan — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:04:54 -0700

We are happy to announce that this Apr 21st, 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 3629 Deercrest Dr in Deerfield @ Raven Woods in Roche Point, North Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Property for sale in beautiful Roche Point.

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

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-376-7653 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Patricia Houlihan
MacDonald Realty

Deep Cove Open House!

Patricia Houlihan — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:04:26 -0700

We are happy to announce that this Apr 21st, 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 4525 Summerside Lane in Deep Cove, North Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Property for sale in beautiful Deep Cove.

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

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-376-7653 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Patricia Houlihan
MacDonald Realty

Deep Cove Open House!

Patricia Houlihan — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:05:22 -0700

We are happy to announce that this Apr 21st, 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 4457 Cove Cliff Rd in Deep Cove, North Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Property for sale in beautiful Deep Cove.

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

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-376-7653 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Patricia Houlihan
MacDonald Realty

Government Grants for Property Owners and Buyers

Patricia Houlihan — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:37:07 -0700

There are a number of grants available from Government to assist people who own or are buying property.

Here is a list of 28 of those grants, taken from Realtor Link magazine, April 5, 2012:

top_28_grants_and_rebates,_march_20,_2012.pdf

If you have any questions, please call me.

Patricia Houlihan
(604)376-7653

308 Roche Point Dr, North Vancouver, BC

Patricia Houlihan — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 17:43:20 -0700

I just sold this Property at 308 Roche Point Dr, North Vancouver, BC Roche Point.

View this recently sold Property or see all my home sales

A shift in the market....

Patricia Houlihan — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:17:00 -0700

Increased selection helps maintain balance in Greater Vancouver housing market

Home sales in March trended below the 10-year average in Greater Vancouver while home listing activity outpaced what’s typical for the month.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,874 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in March 2012. This represents a 12.9 per cent increase compared to the 2,545 sales recorded in February 2012, a decline of 29.6 per cent compared to the 4,080 sales in March 2011 and an 8.4 per cent decline compared to the 3,137 home sales in March 2010.

March sales in Greater Vancouver were the second lowest total for the month in the region since 2002 and were 16.8 per cent below the 10-year sales average for the month.

“Home sellers have been more active than buyers the first few months of the year, but we continue to see a relative balance in the total supply of homes for sale and current demand in the marketplace,” Eugen Klein, REBGV president said.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 5,843 in March 2012. This represents a 5.2 per cent increase compared to February when 5,552 homes were listed and a 14 per cent decline compared to March 2011 when 6,797 homes were listed for sale on the region’s MLS®.

Last month’s new listing total was 4.5 per cent above the 10-year average for listings in Greater Vancouver for March.

At 15,236, the total number of residential property listings on the MLS® increased 8.4 per cent in March compared to last month and increased 16 per cent from this time last year.

“The total number of properties for sale in Greater Vancouver has increased each month since December, which means there’s more selection to choose from as we enter what’s traditionally thebusiest season of the year in our market,” Klein said.

The MLS® HPI benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver currently sits at $679,000, up 5.3 per cent compared to March 2011 and an increase of 1.1 per cent compared to February 2012. The benchmark price for all residential properties in the Lower Mainland is $607,700, an increase of 4.8 per cent compared to March 2011.

Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in March 2012 reached 1,183, a decline of 34.1 per cent from the 1,795 detached sales recorded in March 2011, and an 11.5 per cent decrease from the 1,336 units sold in March 2010. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 9.2 per cent from March 2011 to $1,056,400.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,191 in March 2012, a decline of 26.6 per cent compared to the 1,622 sales in March 2011, and a decrease of 4.9 per cent compared to the 1,252 sales in March 2010.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 2.2 per cent from March 2011 to $375,100.

Townhome property sales in March 2012 totalled 500, a decline of 24.6 per cent compared to the 663 sales in March 2011, and an 8.9 per cent decrease from the 549 townhome properties sold in March 2010. The benchmark price of a townhome unit increased 0.9 per cent between March 2011 and 2012 to $480,900.

Download the complete stats package by clicking here.

Roche Point Open House!

Patricia Houlihan — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:07:01 -0700

We are happy to announce that this Apr 14th, 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 3629 Deercrest Dr in Deerfield @ Raven Woods in Roche Point, North Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Property for sale in beautiful Roche Point.

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

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-376-7653 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Patricia Houlihan
MacDonald Realty

Deep Cove Open House!

Patricia Houlihan — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:06:30 -0700

We are happy to announce that this Apr 14th, 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 4525 Summerside Lane in Deep Cove, North Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Property for sale in beautiful Deep Cove.

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

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-376-7653 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Patricia Houlihan
MacDonald Realty

To Live or to Invest

Patricia Houlihan — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:18:12 -0700

I frequently read that people spend far too much time worrying about the investment potential of the places they buy to live in. Apparently this phenomena is somewhat unique to Vancouver-we are obsessed with real estate and making money off of it. A good example is a home that is currently listed on Panorama Drive in Deep Cove.

The house is tremendous value: it is waterfront, has a dock in great condition, a 3 car attached garage (most homes on the street require one to get out of the car and walk down a ton of stairs in the rain to get to their homes-and you cannot build a garage if you do not have one), some of the best outdoor space around, AND the house is bigger than you can build on most of the standard lots on the street. The one drawback is that the lot size is small. HOWEVER, most people do not use most of their lots-they only use the waterfront side of their property AND on most of the bigger lots you can only build about 2400 square feet whereas this home is almost 3000 square feet.

From a livability perspective, this house is definitely the best value around-it is under $2 million and it is waterfront with a private dock. Personally I can see why lot size is important in some locations-but on the water when the larger lot won't give you a bigger house? I don't get it....I wish this house had been available when I bought my waterfront home-which is also on a small lot but without the attached garage and dock! If buying to live in, I think we should focus on the features that make the house most livable!

Patricia
(604)376-7653

Roche Point Open House!

Patricia Houlihan — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:09:21 -0700

We are happy to announce that this Apr 1st, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 308 Roche Point Dr in Roche Point, North Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Property for sale in beautiful Roche Point.

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

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-376-7653 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Patricia Houlihan
MacDonald Realty

Deep Cove Open House!

Patricia Houlihan — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:07:22 -0700

We are happy to announce that this Apr 1st, 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 4525 Summerside Lane in Deep Cove, North Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Property for sale in beautiful Deep Cove.

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

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604-376-7653 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Patricia Houlihan
MacDonald Realty

Macrealty March 2012 Market Update

Patricia Houlihan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:31:00 -0700

On February 21st, the BC government announced the 2012/13 Provincial Budget (http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2012/default.htm). A fiscally conservative document, the budget calls for business tax hikes and a spending freeze in order to try and meet the government's commitment to return to a balanced budget by fiscal year 2013/14. Also included in the budget are several changes that will affect the housing market in BC.

The first change, originally announced a week before the release of the budget, were the details surrounding the new HST/PST housing transitional rules. The new rules mean - starting April 1, 2012 and running through April 1, 2013, when the HST is replaced by the GST/PST - buyers of NEW homes will be eligible for a rebate of 71.43% of the provincial portion of the HST up to a maximum rebate of $42,500, up from the current $26,250.

This means that buyers of homes up to $850,000, representing 90% of new homes built in this province, will not need to put off their buying decisions to 2013 to avoid paying additional tax. In addition, the rebate now covers recreational properties. Housing over that amount, however, may stagnate during this transition period. There are many subtle parts to these rules and I encourage you to see what situation affects you here:
Information about the new HST/PST housing transitional rule

The second change, also being used as a transitional tool back to the GST/PST, is a tax credit for first-time buyers of NEW homes. The credit, worth 5% of the purchase price of a new home, capped at $10,000, will be effective until March 31, 2013 and is being put in to encourage first-time homebuyers to jump into the market prior to April 1, 2013.

These two initiatives have been put in place to counter fears from the housing industry that buyers will put off their buying decisions until after the GST/PST transition is complete. And by covering 90% of the homes being built in this province, it should ensure that there is not a major slowdown in the housing industry.

That said, it was written in this space 2 years ago, when the HST was first being introduced, that the HST's introduction would have a 'slightly negative, but negligible' effect on housing prices and volume. Since that time, most jurisdictions in BC have seen strong sales and higher prices, indicating that our forecast was correct. That being the case, the reintroduction of the GST/PST is expected to also have a slightly positive, but still negligible, effect on the housing market.

Market for Deep Cove Real Estate is HOT this quarter

Patricia Houlihan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:19:15 -0700

The real estate market in Deep Cove, and even more so in Dollarton is HOT right now.
Homes for sale in the Cove are getting a lot of attention and most are selling very quickly.
Those with real estate for sale in Dollarton barely have time to list it for sale before the home is sold. Many homes non waterfront homes in Dollarton are selling at close to $2 million dollars-despite the fact that one can purchase a good waterfront home for under $2 million right now-very interesting! For those wanting to sell their homes in Deep Cove or Dollarton, now might be the time....in contrast, homes in Vancouver's West Side (which has been on fire) have not been selling as quickly as they were and sales volume is down over 40%...hopefully Deep Cove real estate will be booming like the West side has been in the very near future!