Sun

WEST VANCOUVER – A home that once housed Warren Beatty and former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson and helped launch the career of noted Canadian architect Arthur Erickson could soon be destroyed.

The owner of the West Vancouver house, built in 1963 on a rocky outcrop overlooking Horseshoe Bay, has applied for a demolition permit.

That upset local heritage groups and Erickson himself, who said the house, built on the side of a sheer rock face, launched his reputation as the architect to go to for impossible sites. “I just think that whoever is making the decision should consider it very carefully,” he said.

The property’s value was listed in 2007 at around $3.5 million.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Derrick Penner
Sun

The flip in the Canada-U.S. currency advantage is encouraging some American owners of B.C. real estate to take an exchange-rate gain by selling their properties, realtors are beginning to notice.

“We are seeing some activity that is the result of people assessing the exchange-rate situation and deciding to [sell] now rather than later,” Patrick Kelly, president of Whistler Real Estate, said.

Kelly said the activity amounts to only a handful of listings. But for some owners in Whistler — where property values have stagnated over the past few years — the recent gains for the dollar gives them a return on a property investment that hasn’t performed as well as they’d hoped.

“I don’t think it’s a mass exodus. But for some people, they are seeing this as a better time to do it,” Kelly said.

Real estate investment consultant Ozzie Jurock, publisher of the Jurock Real Estate Insider newsletter, added that Coal Harbour realtors are also starting to see a few American owners who realize “they can repatriate their dollars” at a significant advantage and are listing condos.

“This is totally anecdotal,” Jurock said.

“They bought when the [Canadian] dollar was about 30-per-cent lower,” he added, “now at the same time, the value of their property is 40-per-cent higher.”

However, on the opposite side, Jurock said it is much less attractive for new American buyers coming into B.C., now that they have less buying power.

Numbers drawn from the B.C. Land Registry by Landcor Data Corp. seem to back up the anecdotal observations about American activity in B.C.’s real-estate markets.

Landcor counted 13,792 B.C. properties registered to American-domiciled owners at Oct. 31, compared with 13,975 properties owned by Americans in the registry at the end of 2006.

The net decline is just a blip, but Landcor’s numbers show that Americans sold property faster than they bought over the first 10 months of the year, and buying activity in 2007 has cooled compared with 2006.

Landcor counted 750 purchases by Americans registered in the land registry by the end of October, compared with 1,039 over the first 10 months of 2006.

Matched against the net change in ownership, B.C. saw 933 more sales by Americans than purchases.

“So definitely, [Americans] are selling,” Landcor president Rudy Nielsen said in an interview.

However, Nielsen added that the Americans who are buying are still confident about investing in B.C. real estate. Nielsen also operates the recreational real-estate firm NIHO Land and Cattle Co., which hasn’t seen an abatement in American interest.

Nielsen is conscious of the exchange rate though, and said he offered to lock in a guaranteed exchange rates for American purchasers when the Canadian dollar reached par.

Kelly added that the exchange rate doesn’t faze a lot of potential Whistler buyers, because they tend to be wealthier and better able to deal with the volatile currency swings.

“I think [Americans] are proceeding a little bit more cautiously,” Kelly said, “but that has more to do with their own marketplace and what might be happening in their own economy.”

Economic uncertainty in the U.S. spurred by the housing recession and tightening credit markets has perhaps knocked the American who would spend $500,000, Kelly said.

Americans playing in the $1-million-plus market are still interested in Whistler, but proceeding with a bit more care, he added.

“They definitely have to have something before the Olympics, whether it’s rental or purchase,” Kelly said. “Americans are big Olympic boosters, they always have been, and they want to be part of [the 2010 Games].”

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Individual units can be

Tony Gioventu
Province

Condo Smarts:
We are desperate and don’t know where to turn.

For the third time this year, the drainage system outside our townhouse has failed and our living room has been flooded. We have written to the strata council on numerous occasions, requesting that the drain lines be maintained and they have simply refused.

The council claims that the drainage is our responsibility, but how can we be responsible for maintaining pipes that are not in our strata lot and that everyone else’s units drain into? Please tell us who pays for drainage maintenance and repairs, the strata corporation or each owner?

— Mrs. M. Daniels,

North Vancouver

Dear Mrs. Daniels: Many strata corporations spend all of their resources on the water that comes into our homes, but often neglect where it goes once we’re done with it.

Internal drains for sewage and domestic services can ultimately do more damage to buildings because they often contain grey contaminated water. Likewise, external drainage systems, downspouts and gutters, weeping tiles in perimeters and landscaped areas, parking garage sumps, and deck and balcony drains are also part of the common services of the corporation and require routine maintenance.

In both building-type and bare-land strata corporations, drainage in common areas is the responsibility of the strata corporation. This is best left with the strata corporation so that the entire drainage system can be maintained under one contract.

The strata should commit to a preventive maintenance program to avoid backups and floods, or respond quickly to emergencies and coordinate any work for the entire development, making it much more economical for everyone.

Check your annual budget. Has your strata even funded maintenance of your drainage systems?

Ultimately, if the strata neglects their duties to maintain the system and this causes damage to your unit, you may want to consider court action to recover those losses.

Tony Gioventu is the executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association (CHOA). Contact CHOA at 604-584-2462 or toll-free at 1-877-353-2462, fax 604-515-9643 or e-mail [email protected].

© The Vancouver Province 2007

Other

Download Document

Upscale buyers want it all

Sun

Purchasers in the upper-end are comfortable with a million dollar plus investment in real estate.

Consistent return on investment has prompted an unprecedented upswing in luxury home sales in major Canadian centres this year, according to a report released by RE/MAX.

The RE/MAX Upper-End Market Trends Report examined trends and activity in 16 markets across the country between January and July 2007. Luxury home sales were up over the same period one-year ago in all markets, with percentage increases ranging from 13 per cent in Victoria to 521 per cent in Edmonton. Four markets, including Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Ottawa, reported triple-digit increases while double-digit gains characterized remaining markets. The report also found that the upper-end price points were under stress in most markets surveyed.

“The consumer appetite for luxury property has been insatiable,” says Michael Polzler, Executive Vice President and Regional Director, RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. “Unabated demand throughout the year has created tight market conditions in a number of blue chip neighbourhoods.

Limited availability of product has, in turn, placed mounting pressure on housing values. As a result, the million dollar home no longer holds the same cache it once did and in larger markets such as Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto, it’s simply a starting price.”

Solid gains in housing values – especially in the top-end of the market – have garnered much attention. The steady upward trending has attracted a growing number of affluent purchasers who are taking advantage of both the increased equity and the capital gains exemption for a principle residence.

“Strong economic performance, especially in Western Canadian provinces, has bolstered consumer confidence levels to such a degree that purchasers in the upper-end are comfortable with a million dollar plus investment in real estate,” says Elton Ash, Regional Executive Vice

President, RE/MAX of Western Canada. “Recent volatility in the stock market may trigger further investment in real estate as purchasers move to reallocate their holdings.”

Out-of-province and international purchasers are active in most markets surveyed, but locals still account for the majority of upper-end sales. Benchmark sales, including one home priced at close to $16 million in Toronto, are occurring with greater frequency and overall, there are more sales taking place in the very upper reaches of the marketplace this year. In smaller centres, benchmarks have been set throughout the year and although some, such as Regina, have yet to report a $1 million sale, the day is nearing.

Upscale condominium sales are also climbing as empty-nesters and retirees up the ante for these types of property. The most expensive sale to date occurred in Vancouver at close to $5 million, while the priciest listing carries a price tag of $18.2 million in the same centre.

“It appears that a growing percentage of the population has that kind of money to spend,” says Polzler. “Growth in market capitalization has generated tremendous wealth in recent years – in fact, both the Dow Jones and S& P 500 reported double-digit growth in 2006. Demand for luxury goods overall – upscale homes, fine art, collectable cars — is outpacing demand for everyday consumables. Inheritance has played a significant role as well, with the download on an estimated $1 trillion amount already underway.”

“When it comes to shelter, these upscale purchasers clearly want it all,” says Ash. “Price is really no obstacle when it comes to creating a legacy.”

RE/MAX is Canada‘s leading real estate organization with over 17,500 sales associates situated throughout its more than 640 independently owned and operated offices across the country. The RE/MAX franchise network, now in its 34th year of consecutive growth, is a global real estate system operating in over 65 countries. More than 7,000 independently owned offices engage 120,000 member sales associates who lead the industry in professional designations, experience and production while providing real estate services in residential, commercial, referral, relocation and asset management.

For more information, visit: www.remax.ca.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007