The price of homes in Canada will continue rising this year, but Toronto and Vancouver’s housing markets will grow much more slowly, predicts the country’s largest real estate broker.

Low mortgage rates will continue underpinning housing demand despite the weakening economy, said Royal LePage Real Estate Services in its annual housing outlook Thursday.

LePage president and CEO Phil Soper said that predictions from housing experts and economists for a drop in prices for 2012 are wrong as mortgage rates remain near record lows.

“Interest rates are the primary driver behind activity levels in the marketplace,” Soper said. “People buy homes on the payments that they will be making, not on the sticker price of a particular home.”

Most experts believe interest rates will remain stable for this year and well into next as the economy expands sluggishly, but eventually rates should rise with stronger growth.

Royal LePage, which franchises real estate agencies across the country, predicted the national average price for resale homes will rise 2.8 per cent by the end of the year.

The forecast follows a gain of 4.2 per cent in the national average price for a standard two-storey home to $375,427 in the just completed fourth quarter of 2011.

In Vancouver, a standard two-storey home had an average price of $1.1 million in the fourth quarter, up 10.9 per cent from a year earlier, while Toronto saw a home in the same category gain 4.2 per cent to $629,000.

But for 2012, Royal LePage expects prices in Vancouver to gain about 2.3 per cent, while Toronto is expected to see growth of 2.6 per cent.

Regina is expected to lead the country with gains of five per cent for the year, reflecting the sharp growth in Saskatchewan, a province rich in potash, oil, uranium and other resources.

Soper noted that affordability in Vancouver is “on a knife’s edge” as people spend upwards of 70 per cent of their post-tax income on their mortgage, property taxes and utilities.

The economic slowdown in China may also affect the market in Vancouver, which has a large Chinese-Canadian population with economic and business ties to China.

“If the investment from China slows, it will change the high-end and certain neighbourhoods,” Soper said, noting that the west side of Vancouver, West Vancouver and Richmond have all seen in influx of wealthy Chinese buyers.

The International Monetary Fund has said that Canadian homes on average are 10 per cent overpriced and warned it may be a factor that puts the country’s economic recovery at risk.

The Bank of Canada has also repeatedly cautioned prospective buyers to guard against being lured by low mortgage costs because interest rates and therefore monthly payments, will eventually increase as the economy gets stronger.

However Soper suggested that moves made by Ottawa to tighten mortgage lending rules have helped limit the risks.

“The government has made small but significant regulatory changes that have restricted access to the more risky mortgage products post the recession,” he said.

The Royal LePage forecast came as the Statistics Canada reported the price of new homes rose again in November, led by gains in Toronto and Montreal.

The government agency’s new housing price index rose 0.3 per cent in November, after a 0.2 per cent increase in October. On an annual basis, the index was 2.5 per cent higher in November compared with November 2010.

The largest year-over-year price increases reported by Statistics Canada were in Toronto and Oshawa, Ont., where they were up 6.2 per cent.

In the fourth quarter, the average price for detached bungalows rose 7.2 per cent from a year earlier to $532,137; prices for standard two-storey homes rose 4.2 per cent to $629,188 and standard condos rose 3.4 per cent to $347,659.

In Victoria and Saint John, N.B., house prices were flat or slightly down in the fourth quarter year over year.

In Saint John, detached bungalows fell 2.2 per cent year-over-year to $179,946, while standard two-storey properties slipped 0.3 per cent to $298,076. Condos were the exception, with average prices climbing 16.1 per cent year-over-year to $159,370, although LePage said those increases weren’t typical.

In Victoria, standard two-storey homes were unchanged, with prices remaining at $480,000 while detached bungalows slipped 0.8 per cent to $486,000 and condos dropping 1.1 per cent to $282,000.

Source: Craig Wong, The Canadian Press

Housing starts jumped 17 per cent last year in Metro Vancouver as buyer interest improved and builders responded by launching new projects.

The 17,867 new starts across the region was about 2,600 higher than 2010 and more than twice as many as in 2009, when the construction industry swooned amid the global financial crisis.

“The bounce back has been very dramatic,” Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association president and CEO Peter Simpson said.

He expects 2012 to be a “steady as she goes year” with out any huge spikes or drops.

Builders are still being cautious, he said, because they have no control over whether interest rates climb or if there’s more global economic turbulence.

Another area of uncertainty remains the dismantling of the harmonized sales tax (HST), which Simpson said he wishes would happen faster than the province’s target of April 2013.

Buyers of more expensive homes priced above the HST rebate threshold can avoid the seven per cent provincial tax portion if they wait until the HST is repealed and B.C. returns to a provincial sales tax along with the federal GST.

Simpson said that’s also prompting some home owners to delay major renovations.

“It’s still a concern,” he said of the HST, but added it no longer seems to be the first question prospective buyers ask.

“People buying homes realize if they wait the savings in HST could conceivably be offset by higher housing prices and higher interest rates down the road.”

Almost 80 per cent of the new units started last year were in multi-family developments, up from 70 per cent in 2010.

“Multi-family starts fueled growth in new home construction in 2011,” said Robyn Adamache, senior market analyst for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

In contrast, just 3,686 detached houses were started last year down, 19 per cent from more than 4,500 in 2010.

Surrey’s single detached house starts fell to 1,091 from more than 1,900 but the drop was more than offset by increased multi-family construction.

“Solid market trends and a more positive economic outlook compared to a year ago have provided the impetus for developers to undertake larger projects,” Adamache said.

Richmond and Surrey both saw 1,000 more multi-family units – that includes new townhomes in Surrey and new condos in Surrey – started in 2011 than the previous year.

Richmond saw the biggest growth surge, with starts up 86 per cent, followed by North Vancouver with a gain of 81 per cent and Langley up 41 per cent.

The most starts in the region were recorded in Surrey and Vancouver – both had just over 3,800 starts – followed by Richmond at 2,636, Burnaby at 1,611 and Coquitlam at 1,442.

Further east in the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford saw a four per cent increase in starts to 537.

Source: Jeff Nagel, Surrey North Delta Leader

Dramatic music aside, this is one of the most impressive feats of engineering and construction that I have seen.

Broad Group, a Chinese sustainable building company, has constructed a 30-storey tall hotel prototype in 360 hours – that’s just 15 days – near Hunan province’s Dongting Lake. They claim the hotel can withstand a 9-magnitude earthquake, is five times more quake-resistant than conventional buildings and five times more energy efficient, with indoor air 20 times purer than the air outside.

Make of that what you will, but the resulting timelapse video is pretty damn impressive.

Apparently, prefabricated modular buildings have many advantages over conventional buildings:

Higher precision in fabrication (+/- 0.2mm).
More coordinated on-site construction management
Shorter construction time span
Lower construction waste
Also many other health and energy features are included in Broad Sustainable Buildings (BSB)

The building was built over last Christmas and finished before New Years Eve.

The 2012 property assessments for British Columbians being mailed this week confirm what we already knew: House prices in Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond are high and still climbing. However, declines in assessed values in the Sea to Sky region, including Whistler, may have caught some by surprise.

Most single-family homes in Vancouver have increased in value by 10-to-25 per cent, according to area assessor Jason Grant, with a typical home on a 33-foot lot on the west side assessed at $1.6 million, up from $1.2 million last year.

On the east side, the example provided by BC Assessment shows an increase to just over $1 million from $816,000 a year ago.

Apartment values are up more modestly, but a two-bedroom apartment on the west side is quoted at $666,000, up 3.7 per cent from last year’s $642,000.

Assessments are established by analyzing recent sales as well as age, size, condition, location and other characteristics of a property. But the assessed value may – in fact, often does – vary from the market value when it’s time to buy or sell.

The main function of the assessment is not to set a benchmark for a market price but rather to calculate property taxes. The assessed value is multiplied by the mill rate set by city council, which in Vancouver in 2010 was $2.14 per $1,000 of assessed value. The property tax on a $1-million home then would have been $2,140 although the total on the tax invoice would be much higher because the city also collects funds for other agencies, including the regional district, school taxes for the B.C. government, TransLink, the Municipal Finance Authority and BC Assessment itself. There is also a shift in the tax burden from business to residents that adds another two per cent or so.

For the city, the important number is the total assessment roll, which increased to $254 billion in the 2012 assessment from $222 billion a year earlier. From this base, the city finance department determines what rate would be required to generate the same level of revenue as the year before and then calculates the rate needed to produce enough additional revenue to finance its operations for the coming year.

The vast majority of taxpayers, close to 99 per cent, do not dispute the assessment on their property. Some may even take delight in the rising value of their homes.

But for all their care, provincial assessors can easily miss improvements that would command a higher listing price, so would-be sellers should get an independent appraisal.

While it is entertaining to cruise the BC Assessment website and compare the value of your home to others, every property is unique and every buyer has his or her own criteria for investing in real estate.

Both buyers and sellers should use caution in their use of the information provided by BC Assessment.

Homeowners planning to neither buy nor sell and who have no objection to the values ascribed to their proper-ties need not concern themselves with BC Assessment’s latest revelations. An assessment notice is not a report card. It’s simply an estimate of what real estate may be worth.

If you have a roof over your head, heat, hot water and enough room to raise your brood, it doesn’t much matter if the provincial assessor says its value is up or down five, 10 or 20 per cent.

It’s your home. Enjoy it.

Source: Vancouver Sun

Toronto “is starting to stand out as the hottest real estate market right now,” following the release of December sales figures, BMO Nesbitt Burns economist Robert Kavcic says.

However, that may be somewhat of a booby prize, as the Canadian market, following a 13-year boom, is cooling overall – and Toronto is expected to follow suit, he added.

The Toronto Real Estate Board said Thursday that Greater Toronto real estate agents reported 4,718 sales in December, up 10.1 per cent from the same period in 2010. The average selling price was $451,436, up 4 per cent year over year.

That capped off the second-best year on record under the board’s current boundaries, dating to 1994. “Low borrowing costs kept buyers confident in their ability to comfortably cover their mortgage payments along with other major housing costs,” board president Richard Silver said in a release. The board said buyers were held back by a shortage of listings, while tight market conditions kept upward pressure on selling prices.

It’s a different story for Vancouver’s real estate market, where the number of residential sales in December tumbled by 12.7 per cent over the same period a year earlier, according to figures released this week by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Sales for 2011 were 5.9 per cent above 2010 levels but 9.2 per cent below 2009. The overall residential benchmark price, as measured by the MLSLink Housing Price Index, has also dropped by 1.5 per cent since June.

Earlier this week, TD senior economist Jacques Marcil predicted both B.C. and Ontario could face challenging housing markets over the next two years.

Mr. Kavcic said the ratio of sales to new listings in Toronto and throughout Ontario “is pretty much in line with historical norms,” but noted that the number of starts for new multiple-unit dwellings (largely condos) in Ontario over the past 12 months had outpaced single family homes by a factor of 1.5 to 1, up from a ratio of close to 1 to 1 over the past decade and “pretty well the largest discrepancy we’ve seen in a long time.”

As a result, “to the extent where there is downward pressure on prices, the condo market is more at risk” in Toronto, he said.

Merrill Lynch warned last month that housing prices could correct by as much as 10 per cent in the next two years in Canada because of weakness in the economy, expressing particular concern about Toronto’s condo market. The Bank of Canada also warned the Toronto market looks overbuilt and could see prices drop.

Source: Sean Silcoff, Globe and Mail

It’s BC home assessment time again!

The easiest way to see what value your home has been assessed at for 2012 is to click on this link, http://evaluebc.bcassessment.ca, and enter your address.

In a nutshell, North Vancouver home prices went up. Lions Bay and Squamish prices down. Vancouver, West Vancouver went way up. Whistler went way down.

When Metro Vancouver and regional property owners receive their 2012 assessment notices in the mail over the next few days, they’ll see a wide variation in values by region, city and neighbourhood.

The Sea to Sky region, for example, will see assessments generally down, with Squamish homeowners’ property values dropping up to 10 per cent in some areas and rising five per cent in others, according to BC Assessment. The valuation date was July 1, 2011.

In Whistler and Pemberton, some property owners will see decreases in values up to 15 per cent.

In comparison, North Vancouver home assessments have risen five to 15 per cent, while West Vancouver property owners will see significant increases in the 15-to-30-per-cent range.

Vancouver’s 192,000 property owners can also expect big hikes.

“Almost all homes in [the city of Vancouver] are increasing in value compared to last year’s assessment roll,” said area assessor Jason Grant in a statement. “Most single family homeowners in Vancouver will see significant increases, in the 10 per cent to 25 per cent range. Strata condominium owners will also see increases, but typically less than 10 per cent.”

Property owners in Richmond and Burnaby will also see sharp increases in assessments.

Paul Borgo, deputy assessor with the Vancouver Sea to Sky region, said in an interview that while it’s not unusual to see wide variations in value by region, city or even neighbourhood, “the city of Vancouver has been quite robust in 2011. However, the west side outperformed the east side in single family terms. And West Vancouver also has a very strong market.”

Rosario Setticasi, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, agreed, citing Vancouver’s west side, West Vancouver and Richmond as markets that performed better than others. “They’re favoured areas for people to live in [and] there was some influence from foreign investment.”

Setticasi also noted the assessments reflect values on July 1. “We had a surge in the beginning of [2011], it peaked in the summer, and came down a bit in the second half of the year, which won’t be reflected in the assessment.”

Robyn Adamache, senior market analyst for Metro Vancouver, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said she is not surprised at the variation in assessment values given the fundamentals of the region’s real estate market in 2011. “There were wide variations in growth in home prices in different municipalities, so I would expect more variation than usual.”

Overall, Vancouver’s assessment roll increased from $222 billion last year to $254 billion this year, while West Vancouver’s assessment roll increased from $26.4 billion last year to more than $30.2 billion this year.

But Squamish’s assessment roll declined from $3.92 billion last year to $3.81 billion.

An example of local market trends, according to BC Assessment, is a single family home in Squamish’s Garibaldi Highlands neighbourhood which will see its assessment drop from $531,000 to $497,000, while another home in Whistler’s Alpine Meadows neighbourhood will see its assessed value drop from $964,000 to $918,000.

However, a home on a 50-foot lot on Vancouver’s west side will see its value rise from $1.19 million to $1.645 million, while another east Vancouver detached home on a 33-foot lot will rise from $816,000 to $1.03 million.

In West Vancouver’s tony British Properties, an example of the trend to higher prices is a home that will rise from $1.53 million to $2.2 million.

In the Fraser Valley, property owners will see little change in values this year.

“Most homes in the Fraser Valley have remained stable in value compared to last year’s assessment roll,” said deputy assessor John Green.

On a percentage basis, the total change for all residential property types was up 7.9 per cent in Surrey, 16.4 per cent in Vancouver, 16.5 per cent in Richmond, 5.2 per cent in New Westminster, 12.2 per cent in Burnaby, 6.9 per cent in Coquitlam, 5.1 per cent in North Vancouver city, 7.6 per cent in North Vancouver district, 15.9 per cent in West Vancouver, but down 1.9 per cent in Squamish, five per cent in Lions Bay, 6.2 per cent in Whistler and 3.2 per cent in Sechelt.

Pat Kelly, owner of Whistler Real Estate Company, said the resort municipality saw a drop in sales both before and after the 2010 Olympics, although the market has picked up since summer.

“There was a volatile world economic situation [and] people were looking for value for their money, things they need as against things they want.”

He said that while activity picked up in late 2011, prices haven’t reflected that because most activity is in the under-$1 million market.

He also noted that there has been a “noticeable” drop in buyers from the U.S.

Kelly, whose company is also involved in the Squamish market, said Squamish prices have flatlined, partly because there’s no major employer in the town.

“Squamish hasn’t had the same appeal as other suburban markets, and I don’t know why. It’s very good value for an area within 40 minutes of downtown Vancouver.”

Assessments were generally stable or down in other parts of the province, including Penticton and Kelowna, which saw a drop of 2.7 per cent in the total value of all residential properties.

The total number of B.C. properties on the 2012 roll is 1,917,394, a 0.75-per-cent increase from 2011.

The total value of real estate on the 2012 roll is $1.1 trillion, a 6.42-per-cent increase from 2011.

Source: Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun

Canada’s resale housing market tightened slightly in November, as sales rose in more than 50 per cent of markets while the number of listings declined, the Conference Board of Canada said Tuesday.

Sales rose in 16 of the 28 markets the board tracks for its metro resale index, with seven of those markets posing a gain of more than five per cent over October’s number. Year-over-year sales rose in 15 areas, down from October, when 20 of the urban areas posted sales growth over 2010.

“The supply of new listings fell in 23 of 28 markets in November, but still exceeded year-earlier levels in 20 jurisdictions,” the board said. “An easing in supply of listings, combined with slightly weaker sales gains, lifted the sales-to-listings ratio in November in 23 markets. This left four areas as ‘sellers’ markets, while 21 remain ‘balanced’.”

The drop in listings resulted in higher prices in 17 areas month-over-month, while the year-over-year price was higher in 19 — with 16 markets recording growth of four per cent or more.

The Conference Board predicts all but three of the 28 markets it tracks for the index will see some increase in housing prices in the short term — the Ontario cities of Oshawa, London and Windsor being the exceptions.

Saskatoon and several Quebec markets — Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres and Saguenay — are expected to see the biggest increases in housing prices in the near term, the board said, predicting a seven per cent year-over-year gain.

A five per cent gain appears to be in the cards for Victoria, Vancouver, B.C.’s Fraser Valley, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Halifax and Newfoundland, the board said. It expects housing prices to rise three per cent in Saint John, as well as the Ontario centres of Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Toronto, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Kitchener, Kingston and Ottawa.

Source: Financial Post

Foreign ownership in American real estate sits at about eight per cent – but that percentage is worth $82 billion US, says the National Association of Realtors.

Homes in many parts of the United States are now worth what they were nearly 10 years ago in 2002, says a report from the association – and it’s this decline that is attracting foreigners, mostly Canadian homebuyers, to snap up a seasonal home at dirt-cheap prices.

From a seller standpoint, the market is “pretty bleak,” says Tom Burk, an associate broker with Sotheby’s Realty International who has a long career of selling real estate on both sides of the 49th parallel. “Given all the bad economic news in Europe and the near political paralysis in the U.S., markets there are struggling to show any kind of consumer confidence.”

In cities where investor interest is high “like Phoenix, Palm Springs or Las Vegas, there is optimism – but in most cities, it’s pretty bleak,” says Burk.

A survey by U.S.-based Credit Sesame of where foreigners are buying, what they are purchasing and how much they are paying shows that the largest group comes from Canada, with Asians and Europeans second and third.

Arizona is the fourth most popular destination for these buyers, trailing Florida, Texas and California.

The largest percentage are buying detached single-family homes for use as a primary residence – and they are paying less than $100,000 each.

Recent reports have claimed that Canadians are the top-ranked outof-state buyers of homes in Arizona, which is still under siege by the flagging economy.

The average Arizona home now sells for about half of what it would have five years ago, says the Federal Housing Finance Agency in the U.S.

The price dropped another 4.6 per cent from the first to second quarter of this year – driving the decline to nearly 15 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The housing market likely won’t turn around until the fundamentals improve, said Marshall Vest, an economist at the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona in an interview with the Arizona Republic.

But that won’t start until the excess of available homes is absorbed, he said.

“We have enough vacant houses in Arizona to accommodate an entire decade worth of population growth – and that’s if the population were growing,” said Vest.

The recession has changed the way people look at real estate, says Burk.

“It has affected people’s ideas about timing, but it has not affected the basic belief that buying a home and raising a family in that home is fundamental to American values, in many cases,” he says.

Burk’s views are shared by Frank Anton, CEO of the national research firm of Hanley Wood in the U.S.

“We thought people would be soured after watching home values fall, but instead we found the typical American still places high value on home ownership,” says Anton. “We found this holds across all demographic groups and across the country, even in hard-hit places like Arizona and Nevada.”

Credit Suisse Group surveys real estate professionals in several cities in the United States on a monthly basis.

The global financial services company uses 50 as the benchmark for each of nine questions. Above 50 indicates a positive trend, while below 50 means a negative one.

For Phoenix, the report says home prices held steady for October (50 points versus 40 in September), listings remained high (76 points), and buyer traffic inched up to 40 points.

Down the road in Tucson, buyer traffic jumped to 43 points from 27, while prices totalled 43 points (an improvement from 27).

“The economy is poor and unemployment is too high. Nobody wants to buy in this type of environment,” says one realtor.

Las Vegas is also being hit hard by the continuing economic chaos.

“Traffic remains steady on interest from deal-seeking buyers,” says the Credit Suisse report.

But prices remained under pressure with an index of 44, down from a previous 48, while listings were high at an index of 59.

“Low prices and interest rates continue to spur inquiries and activity,” says a Vegas realtor in the survey. “Cash buyers are really driving sales.”

In San Diego, buyer traffic remained very weak with an index of 15, while house prices sat at 25.

“The constant negative news is affecting buyers’ confidence and there is a lot of uncertainty about a potential double-dip (a return of inflation),” says a realtor.

Meanwhile, traffic levels in the San Antonio, Texas, market left a lot to be desired – falling to an index of 14 – while the price index sat at 36.

“Many sellers would like to take advantage of the low interest rates, but we need the buyers to feel confident to keep the ball rolling,” says one real estate professional.

In Miami, Fla., things were looking up, with traffic improving to an index of 39 while priced edged up to 48.

“Cash buyers, both domestic and foreign, are controlling the market,” says a realtor in the Miami area.

Meanwhile, Portland, Ore., which sees buyers from B.C., has seen a strong jump in traffic – almost doubling to an index rating of 25, while prices held steady at 19 points.

Traffic is on the increase, says Debbie Tebbs, broker/ owner of Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty.

“They are doing so because they believe we are at the bottom,” she says.

“There has been a price correction of up to 60 per cent in some areas.”

Source: Marty Hope, Calgary Herald

The Canadian housing market is at risk of a price correction and remains the chief domestic vulnerability to the country’s economy in the new year, according to two new reports.

They warn of an overvaluation of Canadian housing by 10% to 15%, aggravated by rising levels of household debt.
Entering a year laden with potential global economic shocks, Canadian authorities need to beware of housing risk as the chief domestic risk, the International Monetary Fund warned.

“Adverse macroeconomic shocks, such as a faltering global environment and declining commodity prices, could result in significant job losses, tighter lending standards, and declines in house prices, triggering a protracted period of weak private consumption as households reduce their debt,” the IMF said in its annual report on the Canadian economy.

Should the European sovereign debt crisis destabilize the global economy, triggering in Canada a 15% decline in house prices, combined with a severe downturn in construction activity “could result in a GDP decline of some 2.5% over a period of two years relative to the baseline,” the report said.

TD Economics also warns of a possible housing correction bringing prices more in line with fundamentals next year and into 2013.

Deciding the fate of the housing market will be the opposing forces of rock-bottom interest rates and economic weakness, TD economist Sonya Gulati said in a report.

“Looking ahead, we anticipate a tug-of-war action to take hold in the Canadian real estate market. At one end of the rope is the magnetism of low interest rates; at the other are subdued prospects for economic, income and employment growth.

“Ultimately, we expect the economic side of the equation to win out over the near-term,” she said.

That would mean a soft first half of the year largely as a result of external economic tensions. Even if those headwinds subside in the latter half of 2012, rising interest rates will restore the pressure on housing prices.

On average, and with great regional variation, Canadian housing prices could fall by 1.9% next year and 3.6% in 2013, Ms. Gulati said. Home sales could suffer comparable declines, while average starts should fall to 170,000 to 180,000 annually over the next two years.

“Collectively, these adjustments will gradually erase the over-valuation in the marketplace,” Ms. Gulati said.

The pace of adjustment could become decidedly less gradual if Europe fails to contain financial contagion. And if households continue to take on debt, the eventual deleveraging effect could be more pronounced.

With income growth lagging borrowing, household debt has risen to a record 150% of disposable income, a burden the Bank of Canada said represents the greatest domestic threat to economic stability.

While low interest rates continue to encourage borrowing growth, the IMF lent its support to the central bank’s accommodative rate policy.

“Should the recovery be accompanied by further sustained increases in mortgage debt as a share of disposable income spurred by low interest rates, a tightening of macroprudential policies by the government may be needed,” it said.

Source: Tim Shufelt, Financial Post

My real estate column in last weekend’s Vancouver Sun featured property sales in Burnaby, property sales in North Vancouver, and property sales in Surrey.

Vancouver Sun December 10th, 2011

4096 Napier St., Burnaby

Type: 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom detached
Size: 3,400 sq. ft.
B.C. Assessment, 2011: $715,000
Listed for: $999,900
Sold for: $990,000
Sold on: Oct. 26
Days on market: 9
Listing agent: John Conte at Sutton Centre Realty
Buyers agent: Cathy Chin at RE/MAX Central

The big sell: There is a strong European influence to this home in Burnaby’s Willingdon Heights neighbourhood: It was originally a custom construction by a German builder in 1978 before undergoing renovation by an Italian contractor some years later. Each of the three floors has eight-foot ceilings, and there are draught-preventing double-paned vinyl windows throughout the property, as well as distinctive tile flooring. The home’s features include a steam shower off the master bedroom, a sunken family room with a floor-to-ceiling Squamish stone fireplace, stainless steel appliances and undermount sinks. As well, there’s a 24-by-23-foot southern-exposed concrete deck with sweeping city views, a solar-powered remote-controlled gate that opens to a paved parking area and double-car garage, and pressure-treated cedar gambrel siding. The property sits on a 37-by-122-foot lot and according to agent John Conte, the 3,400-square-foot house is larger than what would be permitted with current bylaws.

1115 Cloverley St., North Vancouver

Type: 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom detached
Size: 2,421 sq. ft.
B.C. Assessment, 2011: $647,000
Listed for: $699,000
Sold for: $732,000
Sold on: Nov. 14
Days on market: 7
Listing agent: Helen Grant at RE/MAX Crest Realty
Buyers agent: Sarina Lui at Angell Hasman & Assoc. Realty

The big sell: Listing agent Helen Grant reports that she had 70 people through her first – and only — open house, with offers presented the following evening. The result? An unconditional offer of $33,000 over the asking price. Two of the major attractions of this rancher must be the views that encompass Vancouver’s harbour and Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, and the location in the family-friendly Calverhall area, which enjoys trails and proximity to Brooksbank elementary, Sutherland secondary, and the Park and Tilford Shopping Centre. The 1955 home has hardwood floors, two wood-burning fireplaces, and a new fenced front yard and paved driveway. The convenience factor includes a sundeck off the kitchen, three good-sized bedrooms on the main floor and a one-bedroom guest suite or mortgage-helper on the lower level. As well, there’s a 26-by-12-foot family/recreation room, a den, a 19-by-5-foot laundry room, ample storage, and a 7,000-square-foot lot.

3240 143A St., Surrey

Type: 6-bedroom, 5-bathroom detached
Size: 5,100 sq. ft.
B.C. Assessment, 2011: $1.244 million
Listed for: $1.499 million
Sold for: $1.46 million
Sold on: Oct. 30
Days on market: 89
Listing agent: Mike Grahame at Home life Benchmark Realty
Buyers agent: John Grauer at Macdonald Realty Westmar

The big sell: Property experts always say location is key, and the builders of this 2004 home in South Surrey’s Elgin Estates must have had that in mind as they took advantage of a cul-de-sac location, a sunny south exposure, and a private fenced back yard adjacent to a greenbelt. This custom-built three-level home has a soaring entryway, and an open design that allows for plenty of natural light. There is wide-plank flooring throughout the main and upper floors, extensive use of crown moulding and window casings, and a spacious kitchen with granite countertops and bespoke cabinetry. The master bedroom is 20 by 14 feet with a spa-like ensuite, and views of the landscaped garden. The second bedroom also has an ensuite and all four upstairs bedrooms have walk-in closets. The property has a full basement that contains two further bedrooms, a rec room and a wet bar.

For the full story, please click on Real estate sales in Burnaby, North Vancouver and Surrey.

Compiled by Nicola Way of BestHomesBC.com and AssignmentsCanada.ca.

Realtors – send your recent sales to nicola@besthomesbc.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun