But the high cost of real estate remains a deterrent
Michael Kane
Sun
Andrew Newman works on top of the Marine Building, where the view is just one of the perks of living in Vancouver. Photograph by : Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun
Andrew Newman could make bigger bucks back home in Calgary but he and partner Jordi Geddes love the cosmopolitan Vancouver lifestyle.
“If you are into anything, it’s here,” said Newman, a 25-year-old real estate graduate working with Urbanics Consulting in the penthouse of the historic downtown Marine Building.
“If you are into food, into art, into sports, into any sort of cultural thing, you’ve got far more diversity here compared to anything you find in Alberta.”
Whether it’s the lifestyle, job opportunities or a combination of the two, British Columbia gained 40,816 new residents in 2005, including a net gain of 7,456 people from other provinces, according to the final instalment of the BC Check-Up released Friday by the province’s chartered accountants.
Last year was the second consecutive year of net gains in inter-provincial migration after six years of losses.
However, the CAs warn the high cost of housing is making it more difficult to entice people to B.C. and threatens to make skills shortages more acute.
They note that Vancouver ranks as the 15th most expensive city in the world in the 2006 Demographia International Housing Affordability study which rates median house prices to median household incomes in 100 major urban markets in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
“However, at the end of the day, B.C. continues to be a very desirable place to live,” said Richard Rees, CEO of the Chartered Accountants of B.C.
Newman agrees, particularly when Vancouver’s robust real estate market means opportunities for Urbanics Consultants, a firm of land economists and development management consultants whose past projects include Granville Island, Whistler Village and Lonsdale Quay.
“You hear all these things about Calgary and I have to say I do get a little bit jealous at times when I hear of the salaries and bonuses that my friends are making,” Newman said in an interview. “But then I have to step back and put it into perspective and say, ‘Well, they’re in Calgary.’ “
Geddes, also 25, attended high school with Newman in Calgary and is now studying for a master’s degree in audiology at the University of B.C. where Newman earned his urban land degree.
She shares his enthusiasm for the West Coast lifestyle, but if there’s a cloud on their horizon, it is the high cost of residential real estate. The couple currently rent an apartment near UBC.
“The ability to settle down here is a little bit harder, but it’s the lifestyle that’s worth paying for,” said Newman who enjoys skiing, mountain biking, and hiking.
Although personal disposable incomes in the province are rising faster than the national average, the Check-Up shows that high housing costs are pushing up personal debt levels.
B.C.’s average real personal disposable income in 2005 was $913 higher than in 2000 — an increase of 4.1 per cent, and ahead of the Canadian average of 3.1 per cent.
The CAs attribute B.C.’s gain to a 10.3-per-cent cut in real direct taxes over this period, largely as a result of significant personal tax cuts in 2001. Real direct taxes dropped by two per cent across Canada over the same period.
“The province’s recent increase in personal disposable income, combined with robust job growth, suggests that further gains in disposable income are on the horizon,” Rees said. “If there is a concern, it is about the high cost of housing in the province and its impact on personal debt levels.”
B.C.’s personal debt levels rose by six per cent last year, primarily due to rising mortgage debt. Mortgages comprise 75 per cent of B.C.’s total personal debt, compared to between 55 to 68 per cent in other provinces.
The CAs point out that mortgage debt is not all bad, since mortgages usually replace rent and contribute to asset accumulation.
In other findings:
n B.C. spends $2,662 on health care per person, more than Alberta at $2,654, Ontario at $2,495 and the national average of $2,561.
n While B.C.’s crime rate has declined over the last five years, it remains higher than the national average and is 25-per-cent higher than in Alberta.
The BC Check-Up compares the province with Alberta, Ontario and the country as a whole as a place to invest, work and live. The full report is online at www.bccheckup.com.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
