This lovely New York-style condo features inlaid hardwood floors, an arched doorway, a spacious kitchen and a lovingly restored clawfoot tub. The layout is superb, with a good-sized dining room off the kitchen, a huge living room offering lots of options and a generous-sized bedroom with a walk-in closet.

The home has one bedroom, one bathroom, 761 sq.ft., south facing and is listed at $344,898.

Lots of street parking close by and within walking distance to hospitals, Douglas Park and various shopping opportunities.

Call the listing agent Mike Giesbrecht of Prudential Sussex Realty today for a private viewing http://www.besthomesbc.com/wdird551078789.

Sales in the country’s most expensive housing market continue to fall, according to the latest data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

The group says there were 2,853 sales through the Multiple Listing Service in May, a 15.5% decline from a year earlier. May sales were the lowest for the month since 2001 and 21.1% below the 10-year May sales average.

The decline comes as supply continues to increase with 6,927 new listings in May, a 16.8% increase from a year earlier and a 14.4% jump from just a month ago. New listings for May were 15.3% above the 10-year average for the month.

Still, the board is preaching calm and says the sales to active listings ratio is 16% which is indicative of a balanced market. “Home sellers have outpaced buyers in recent months, however there continues to be an overall balance between supply and demand in the marketplace,” said Eugen Klein, president of REBGV.

The board’s benchmark price index for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver was $625,100 in May, a 3.3% increase from a year ago. Detached home prices jumped 5.1% from a year ago to $967,500, apartments increased 1.7% from a year ago to $379,700 and townhome property prices rose 0.9% in May from a year ago to $470,000.

However, using actual average prices instead of the index, average detached home prices are down 12.2% from a year ago, townhomes are down 0.2% and condominiums are off 1.1%.

Source: Garry Marr, Financial Post

The Bank of Canada on Tuesday said it was keeping its trend-setting interest rate on hold and acknowledged risks from the European crisis are leading to a “a sharp deterioration” in global financial conditions.

The central bank kept its lending rate at a near-historic low of 1% – where it has been since September 2010 – and pointed to weaker expectations for global economic growth.

“Some of the risks around the European crisis are materializing and risks remain skewed to the downside. This is leading to a sharp deterioration in global financial conditions,” the bank said in its statement accompanying the rate decision.

“The outlook for global economic growth has weakened in recent weeks.”

Many economists have pulled back on their forecasts for a rate increase before the end of the year, while others are now speculating rates could actually come down if global uncertainty continues.

Tuesday’s rate decision comes as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is to join his Group of Seven counterparts on a conference call to discuss Europe’s debt crisis and the fallout within the region’s banking sector. Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney was also expected to take part in the talks, along with other G7 central bankers.

“The eurozone is slowing and has now affected Germany and France, the so-far more resilient economies in the eurozone,” Otto Waser, chief investment officer at Research & Asset Management AG in Zurich, told Bloomberg Television.

“We see some policy response emerging. We’re going to be talking more rescue measures in Europe. I don’t think that’s going to really stabilize the economies.”

On Wednesday, the European Central Bank will meet to decide on its key interest rate, ahead of critical meeting of European leaders on June 28 and 29 called to discuss the debt and banking crisis.

In Canada, economic growth in the first quarter of this year was just 1.9%, on an annualized basis, matching the fourth-quarter increase, as consumer spending slowed to a three-year low.

On a monthly basis, gross domestic product edged up 0.1% in March from February.

The Bank of Canada had forecast growth in the first three months of 2012 at 2.5%.

“While the U.S. economy continues to expand at a modest pace, economic activity in emerging-market economies is slowing a bit faster and a bit more broadly than had been expected,” the bank said Tuesday.

“More modest global momentum and heightened financial risk aversion have reduced commodity prices.”

The central bank acknowledged that growth was “slightly slower than expected” in the first quarter, “underlying economic momentum appears largely consistent with expectations.”

“In particular, housing activity has been stronger than expected, and households continue to add to their debt burden in an environment of modest income growth.”

However, the bank slightly rephrased its view of excess capacity in the economy, characterizing it as “a small degree,” rather than the “somewhat smaller” than anticipated wording in its previous rate statement.

“To the extent that the economic expansion continues and the current excess supply in the economy is gradually absorbed, some modest withdrawal of the present considerable monetary stimulus may become appropriate.”

Source: Gordon Isfeld, Financial Post

This 2,441-square-foot 4-bedroom/3-bathroom home is just steps from White Rock’s prestigious East Beach.

Previously listed at $842,000, the property has now been reduced to $799,000.

The house allows you to enjoy wonderful ocean views all year round. The interior features a bright open floor plan, a spacious living area and floor-to-ceiling windows to maximize those views.

This immaculately-kept home has updates throughout including hardwood flooring, a gas fireplace in kitchen, vaulted ceilings, skylights, updated bathrooms, a huge kitchen with new counters and large island, a pantry and lots of storage. The kitchen opens out to large entertainment-sized sundeck with a sunny South West exposure.

The spacious master bedroom has a large walk-in closet, and the fully-finished basement offers 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, living room and kitchen with a separate entrance – perfect for summer guests!

Additional goodies include a fully-fenced back yard, a spacious patio, and a storage shed. Steps from beach, restaurants, schoolbus, boat launch, and USA border!

For further information and to contact the listing realtor, Joanne Taylor of Sutton Group – West Coast (White Rock) directly, please see http://www.besthomesbc.com/wdird1004765136.

(Please note that Canada is not one of the countries analyzed by the Global Property Guide).

The world’s housing markets moved clearly down during the year to the first quarter of 2012, according to the Global Property Guide’s latest house price indices survey.

Residential property prices fell in 24 countries, of the 36 countries for which quarterly house price statistics are available, and rose in only 12 countries.

During the latest quarter the downturn appears to have accelerated, with property price falls in 26 countries and price gains in only 10.

In nominal terms only 16 countries experienced home price falls during the year, while 20 countries recorded price rises. But the Global Property Guide’s statistical presentation uses price changes after inflation, giving a more realistic picture than the more upbeat nominal figures usually preferred by estate agents.

Faster-paced deterioration in European housing markets

Ireland’s price-declines have been, over the duration of the crisis, catastrophic. It is disheartening to see more agony, yet the picture really is alarming. House prices fell 18.95% year-on-year, contrasting with a decline of ‘only’ 13.12% during the same period last year. Furthermore, house prices were down 5.19% during the latest quarter. Tough credit conditions, an oversupply of housing, and weak domestic demand have weighed down the Irish residential property market.

There was also an alarming increase in momentum of house-price declines in Athens, Greece (-11.68%); in Warsaw, Poland (-10.94%); in Portugal (-10.45%); in Spain (-9%); in the Netherlands (-6.05%); and in the Slovak Republic (-5.89%). All saw bigger house-price declines this year than the previous year.

Several countries whose housing markets were last year either in recovery or only just in downturn, saw a significant deterioration in their position, with house price falls during the year to end Q1 2012 in Finland (-2.05%), in Turkey (-2.32%), Sweden (-5.34%) and Riga, Latvia (-5.83%).

In other European countries, any positive changes in the momentum of the housing markets were so feeble, that they hardly signal a recovery. These countries include Kiev, Ukraine (-2.51%), Croatia (-2.45%), United Kingdom (-3.14%), Lithuania (-3.87%) and Bulgaria (-6.21%).

Some strong European markets do relieve the gloom. In Estonia house prices surged by 9.13% year-on-year, and in Austria house prices rose by 8.24% year-on-year. In fact the upsurge in these two countries’ housing markets was so strong as to propel them into third and fourth place in the worldwide league table.

Other strong housing markets over the past twelve months include Switzerland (+5.49%), Norway (+5.43%), Russia (+3.86%) and Iceland (+2.25%). The ‘gainers’ seem to be countries whose housing markets either never experienced the recent downturn (Austria, Switzerland, Norway), or are recovering (Estonia, Russia, Iceland).

House prices in India (Delhi) and Brazil (Sao Paulo) surged further, but momentum was down during the quarter. Over the year to Q1 2012, Delhi house prices skyrocketed by 24.41%, though during the last quarter, they fell 0.07%. Some other Indian cities like Chennai and Kolkata saw house price falls year-on-year, according to NHB Residex.

In Sao Paulo, house prices climbed by 18.70% in the year to Q1 2012, but the latest quarter saw a price-decline of 2.57%.

Most Asian housing markets slowing

In the Philippines (Makati Central Business District), prime condominium prices rose by 7.34% during the year. But the figures possibly exaggerate the upsurge, because they are for Makati, the heart of the Philippines’ business process outsourcing boom. In South Korea house prices were up 2.67% from a year earlier.

Housing markets in the rest of Asia cooled over the year to Q1 2012, due to government measures implemented last year. House prices in Hong Kong were up a mere 0.19% on the year, after a rise of 19.80% the previous year. There were house price falls in Indonesia (-0.13%), Singapore (-1.36%), Tokyo, Japan (-2.64%) and Shanghai, China (-3.68%).

US housing market making progress

US house prices rose modestly to 0.48% year-on-year, with a quarterly rise of 0.55%, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index. In inflation-adjusted terms, US house prices were still down 2.27% from a year earlier. But this is a significant improvement from last year’s 7.44% decline in house prices.

Increased affordability and a somewhat smaller inventory of homes for sale are positively impacting house prices, says FHFA Principal Economist Andrew Leventis.

Israeli house prices weakening

House prices in Israel were down 4.94% year-on-year to Q1 2012. Prices were hit by worldwide uncertainty, plus measures taken by the Israeli government and the Bank of Israel. The fall comes amid popular protests since last summer over high prices, which have not yet waned.

New Zealand firm, but Australia under pressure

House prices in New Zealand climbed by 0.82% over the year to Q1 2012, after falling 4.79% the previous year. Sales activity has been strong for the last few months, with volumes at the highest levels since 2007.

Australian house prices fell for the fifth straight quarter to -6.04% from a year earlier, the longest downturn for a decade. The central bank has maintained the highest borrowing costs among major developed nations.

Source: Global Property Guide

RBC says home ownership was less affordable in most major Canadian cities during the first quarter, although Calgary and Edmonton bucked the trend.

The latest RBC Economics report on home affordability says its index deteriorated sharply in Vancouver and to a lesser degree in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa — primarily due to higher real-estate prices.

But the bank’s affordability index was unchanged in Calgary and improved in Edmonton compared with the fourth quarter of 2011.

The report tracks how much of a home owner’s income would be required to pay typical costs associated with owning a standard one-storey detached house.

In Vancouver, RBC estimates the combined cost of mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes rose 3.1 percentage points to 88.9 per cent.

In Calgary, by contrast, only about 36.7 per cent of pre-tax income would be required to pay for a standard bungalow — unchanged from the previous study — and in Edmonton the index improved by 0.4 percentage point to 32.4 per cent.

In Toronto, the index deteriorated by 1.2 percentage points to 53.4 per cent; in Montreal, the cost of ownership increased 1.2 percentage points to 41.4 per cent of income and in Ottawa it was up 0.9 per cent to 41.8 per cent.

“It became a little tougher on household budgets to carry the costs of owning a home at market prices at the start of this year,” said Craig Wright, RBC’s chief economist said in a statement today.

“Strong buyer demand was a principal driver of the modest rise in homeownership costs. While the deterioration in affordability was felt to varying degrees across the country, it was mild in most cases.”

He said the challenge will likely increase once the Bank of Canada begins raising interest rates.

“Exceptionally low interest rates have been the key force in keeping affordability from hitting dangerous levels in Canada in recent years,” Wright said.

“Affordability headwinds are likely to increase next year, as interest rates make their way towards more normal levels.”

He said RBC expects Canada’s central bank will hike rates gradually, starting in the fourth quarter.

“A gradual pace of increases will allow income growth to provide some offset,” he said.

Source: David Paddon, Canadian Press

My real estate column in the Vancouver Sun featured property sales in Kelowna, and Sun Peaks.

Vancouver Sun May 26th, 2012

15-5040 Valley Drive, Sun Peaks

Type: Four-bedroom, four-bathroom half duplex
Size: 2,515 sq. ft.
B.C. Assessment, 2012: $618,000
Listed for: $649,000
Sold for: $635,000
Sold on: March 31
Days on market: 295
Listing agent: Liz Forster at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada
Buyer’s agent: Jill Cavanagh at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

The big sell: At the same time the B.C. government increased the new housing rebate threshold to $850,000, it introduced the same limit for purchasers of new secondary vacation or recreational homes outside the Greater Vancouver and Capital Regional districts. This means buyers of new homes priced up to $850,000 will be eligible to claim a provincial grant of up to $42,500. This has injected new-found enthusiasm into B.C.’s new recreational properties in areas such as Sun Peaks. This newly built ski in/ski out half duplex comes fully furnished and features a bright open living area with rock-faced fireplace, hardwood floors, granite countertops and stainless-steel Viking appliances. There is a family room, a master suite with walk-in closet and a spa-like ensuite with soaker tub, rain shower and double sinks. There is a large double garage and three private patios. The home can also be rented out on a nightly basis.

2525 Selkirk Drive, Kelowna

Type: Four-bedroom, three-bathroom detached
Size: 3,190 sq. ft.
B.C. Assessment, 2012: $594,000
Listed for: $619,900
Sold for: $612,500
Sold on: April 18
Days on market: 27
Listing agent: Krista Suchar at Macdonald Realty Kelowna
Buyer’s agent: Tim Stanfield at RE/MAX Kelowna

The big sell: This home was built in 2007 in Kelowna’s Dilworth Mountain neighbourhood. Among its selling features: the unobstructed dramatic views of the Glenmore Valley below. The custom-designed rancher sits on almost a quarter-acre property and has detailed finishings throughout that include granite countertops, hardwood and slate floors, recessed and pendant lighting, stainless-steel appliances and vaulted ceilings. The open-concept floor plan has two bedrooms on the main floor — including the master with full ensuite bathroom — alongside the living room and kitchen. The basement has two further bedrooms, a spacious family room, a den area and an additional bathroom. There is an extensive bank of floor-to-ceiling windows and a large balcony to maximize the panoramic vistas. The landscaped garden contains an underground sprinkler system and a covered patio area that provides shade.

For the full story, please click on Real estate sales in Sun Peaks and Kelowna.

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

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

Yesterday, Bob Rennie of Rennie Marketing Systems gave his annual key note speaker address to the members of Vancouver’s Urban Development Institute – a non-profit association of the development industry with over 600 corporate members involved in all facets of land development and planning including: developers, property managers, financial lenders, lawyers, engineers, planners, architects, appraisers, real estate professionals, local governments and government agencies.

The theme of Mr Rennie’s talk was the ever-present spectre of a looming real estate bubble in our city. A specialist in marketing pre-sale condos, he denied that there is a bubble.

(the following is an article written by Brian Morton for today’s Vancouver Sun)

Bubble? What bubble?

That’s Vancouver condo marketing guru Bob Rennie’s take on concerns that the region’s real estate market is headed for a meltdown because of sky-high prices.

“It’s not a bubble,” said Rennie, director of Rennie Marketing Systems, in an interview following his keynote address to the Urban Development Institute Thursday.

“With the 80 per cent of the [condo] market that traded in [Metro] Vancouver last year, you only needed a household income of $52,800 to purchase. That’s not a bubble story.”

Rennie, who spoke to a full house about the state of the Vancouver property market, said aging baby boomers with billions of dollars in equity will become a much greater force in the condo market as they increasingly downsize from expensive single-detached homes, and put money aside for their children.

He also noted that the number of people between 55 and 64 will increase 38 per cent between 2009 and 2018, those between 65 and 74 will increase 56 per cent, while those between 35 and 54 will only increase by 4.6 per cent.

Because of that, he said, developers should shift their thinking into providing more larger one-bedroom condos to accommodate the downsizing boomers.

“I believe the leaner, meaner baby boomer is the game changer,” said Rennie. “Baby boomers are sitting on $88 billion in equity in Greater Vancouver and they’re looking at their retirement years. That equity will be freed up over the next 15 years [and] when they sell their home, they’ll buy down and help their kids.”

Rennie said there were about 19,000 condo sales in Metro Vancouver in 2011, and that while the average price for 80 per cent of those condos was $315,000, the overall average price was $427,000, which required an income of $66,000 to finance.

Rennie noted that proximity to transit is paramount for today’s homebuyer.

“In the ’70s and ’80s it was location, location, location. In the ’90s through mid-‘2000s, it was timing, timing, timing. And from here forward, it’s transit, transit, transit.”

He also said that planning should be conducted more on a regional basis in order to make homes more affordable.

Meanwhile, Tsur Somerville, director, centre for urban economics and real estate, Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C., said he also doesn’t believe there’s a real estate bubble in Metro Vancouver, largely because there’s not an explosion in housing starts – typical for real estate bubbles.

Somerville said that while the affordability numbers have been skewed by the higher end parts of the market – “there were double-digit increases in Richmond, Vancouver, Burnaby and West Vancouver, with single-digit increases everywhere else” — the region is still very expensive compared to other cities in Canada.

“Compared to other cities, that income [$52,800] gets you a house. Here, it gets you a condo. That means we’re expensive, but that’s the reality of what we are.

“It’s still an expensive place to live, but it’s not unaffordable. You’ll end up smaller and further away from the core.”

The Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index recorded its first quarterly fall since 2009, with the average value of prime property in the world’s key cities depreciating by 0.4% in Q1 2012. This represents the index’s first quarterly fall since the depths of the global recession.

Although a milestone, the index’s negative quarterly growth is not surprising. Quarterly price growth has been below 2% since Q1 2010 and it averaged only 0.6% in 2011.

The first three months of 2012 brought with it little new momentum. The Eurozone’s debt debacle remained at the forefront of the global economic agenda, several critical elections were on the horizon (Russia, France, Greece) and Asia’s highly-effective cooling measures showed no sign of being relaxed. Against this backdrop some luxury buyers took to the side-lines to observe their market’s trajectory.

Despite the overall index’s sluggish performance four prime markets achieved double-digit growth over a 12-month period; Nairobi, Jakarta, Miami and London. Perhaps most surprisingly is the fact that the top five performing cities were spread across four continents – North America to be the only continent to appear twice.

London and Singapore are proof that there is still a level of resilience in the prime markets with both cities shrugging off the introduction of new stamp duties in the first quarter of 2012. In London both prices and applicant numbers increased despite the stamp duty rise to 7% for individuals buying homes over £2m.

In Singapore the new 10% stamp duty for foreign buyers, which was introduced in December 2011, dented demand but not prices according to Nicholas Holt, Knight Frank’s Asia-Pacific research director.

Holt comments, “Prices not only held up but actually increased slightly at the very top end of the Singapore market in Q1 2012. This was not only due to fairly resilient domestic demand, but also due to wealthy Chinese, Indonesian and Indian buyers who continued to buy in this segment of the market undeterred by the surtax.”

In our view the overall index will remain subdued in 2012 fluctuating between marginal price falls and rises (with London, Moscow, Jakarta, Nairobi and Singapore expected to be the strongest performers) but it seems unlikely we are on the cusp of a new deflationary cycle in luxury global house prices.

The safe-haven argument still resonates. Capital flight will continue to focus on cities with low political risk, transparent legal systems, good security and ideally those with an HNWI-friendly (High Net Worth Individuals) tax regime.

The Prime Global Cities Index tracks the performance of luxury property across a selected number of global cities and is produced quarterly.

Source: International Estate Agent Today

Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index Q1 2012

The Bank of Canada may be thinking about raising interest rates but there’s apparently no need because Canadians are hunkering down to cool debt obligations on their own.

“The pace of growth in household credit is no longer a reason for the Bank of Canada to move from the sidelines any time soon,” says Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist at CIBC World Markets.

He wrote a report released Wednesday that suggests central bank intervention is not needed, especially with consumers already seeing interest payments on debt eating into 7.3% of their disposable income as of the fourth quarter of 2011, even at today’s low rates.

“Why are you raising rates? To slow down credit growth — but it’s already slowing,” Mr. Tal says. “I say let the market slow naturally. We are so concerned about this but it’s moving in the right direction.”

Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Francis Fong also weighed in, suggesting Canadians have begun to get the message about having too much debt, based on the slowdown in consumer credit growth.

Even the chief executive of one of the big five banks joined the discussion, hoping to extinguish some of the panic about Canadian debt.

“When we look at the overall marketplace, there might be pockets of vulnerability but we remain quite comfortable,” said Gord Nixon, chief executive of Royal Bank of Canada “Frankly, I’d like to see the rhetoric come down a little bit.”

The CIBC report does note that as of March 2012, mortgage debt rose by 6.3% on a year-over-year basis, which is below the average rate of growth seen in the past two years of 7.3%.

Mr. Tal says there will be a gradual softening in the housing market with prices falling 10% in the coming year or two. He says tougher rules from regulators on loans will cool the market and notes the banks themselves are questioning values, citing “the increased use of full-scale appraisals as part of the adjudication process.”

Overall, Mr. Tal says that for the first time since 2002 consumer credit is rising more slowly than in the United States.

“Consumer credit [growth] is basically zero,” he says, adding Canadians have been optimizing their credit situation by taking high-interest credit card debt and transferring it to lines of credit.

TD’s Mr. Fong agrees that Canadians are starting to “hunker down” and pay off their debt, but at the same time he suggests a two-percentage-point increase in rates would leave many households at risk.

Source: Garry Marr, Financial Post