Derrick Penner
Sun

The downturn in Metro Vancouver’s real estate market hasn’t hurt The Real Estate Channel, a relatively new multi-media property-marketing effort, nor dampened the operators’ ambitions for expansion.

“Though the market is slow, we’re still finding a lot of realtors coming to us, asking for information, wanting to use our services,” Matt White, the company’s project and sales manager, said in an interview this week.

“As bad as it gets, they still need to advertise their listings, so we’ve proven to be recession-proof in Vancouver.”

Company founder Leon Ng and collaborator Matt Grant started developing the idea of marrying the real estate business, which he had been in, with television, where Ng also had experience from running the community access channel on Shaw cable competitor Novus Entertainment Inc.

The Real Estate Channel launched in December 2006, and what it does for realtors is create 30-second video tours of their listings, stringing photographs into a moving slide show with descriptive voice-overs and music, and with the listing’s details and agent’s branding overlaid on the frame.

Then the clips, on one stream, are added to the program loop on The Real Estate Channel — broadcast on the Novus system, which currently links up to a large number of new developments, mostly in downtown Vancouver and around Metrotown in Burnaby.

On a second stream, the clips are uploaded to The Real Estate Channel’s website and the realtors’ website, and are linked to other sale sites such as Craigslist and Kijiji.

The cost is $77 to $89 per video listing, which will air for up to 60 days on the channel and as long as the customer wants on the Internet.

“We just try to market [properties] as rapidly and hardcore as possible,” White said, which he believes is what sets the effort from other traditional advertising in magazines, on bus stops and at other locations.

“We try to bring it together in a today, 2000-esque kind of way,” he added.

White said the television aspect has proven to be “one of the biggest cachets,” for realtors to use the channel’s services.

The Real Estate Channel’s program loop consists of the listing videos interspersed with neighbourhood profiles, 30-second advertising spots for realtors and realtor-commissioned interview segments.

White added that the degree of automation in The Real Estate Channel also sets it apart from other television listing services that have gone before it. Realtors can submit their listings, with photos and descriptions — and then make changes — online.

White said it is difficult to know what kind of ratings the channel gets on Novus. They only know that the Novus system has about 10,000 subscribers and an audience of about 20,000 to 25,000.

However, the channel’s website receives about 2,000 hits a day, and White said that from the broadcast codes that site visitors use to navigate it, they know hundreds have been directed to them by the television station.

Expansion, White said, is the next phase. One of his roles in signing on with The Real Estate Channel has been to syndicate it in as many markets as he can.

So far, he’s struck deals with MTS in Manitoba, which will put the channel in front of another 130,000 to 140,000 subscribers and an audience of about 250,000, and with Sasktel for Saskatoon and Regina, which will give it another approximately 85,000 subscribers and almost 200,000 viewers.

White said the company is in negotiations with Delta Cable to put the channel into that Lower Mainland city as well as the Sunshine Coast, and is in discussions with a Los Angeles-based cable provider to get The Real Estate Channel on the air in several of the city’s suburbs.

John Mackie
Sun

The York Theatre on Commercial Drive, currently the Raja, will be restored. Photograph by : Ward Perrin/Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER – It looks like heritage and culture are back on the agenda at Vancouver City Hall.

Vancouver’s new Vision-dominated council voted this week to “support in principle” a proposal by developer Bruno Wall to restore the York Theatre on Commercial Drive.

The entire $10-million to $12-million cost would be paid for by heritage density bonus transfers. This is a reversal of the policy of the former Non-Partisan Association council, which had suspended the heritage density-transfer program.

The program granted increased density on other projects to developers who agreed to restore heritage properties.

“I think it’s one of the most important things to happen at the city in 20 years,” said Jim Green, the former Vision councillor and mayoralty candidate who helped put the deal together.

“We’ve really opened the doors with a new council and mayor to saying that the city is ready to make this a creative and cultural city to live in, and [that it’s] going to use the tools at its disposal to allow culture to happen.”

The council decision went against a city staff recommendation that funding for the York adhere to the standard formula, where the “city portion” of the redevelopment would be one-third of the total cost.

Normally the other two-thirds comes from the federal and provincial governments. But the York proposal was put forward by the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, which is in the middle of a $21-million reconstruction project that has already received $11.5 million in funding from the province and the federal government.

Green said VECC officials didn’t think they could get more money from senior levels of government, so they decided to ask that the entire York restoration be paid for by bonus density transfer.

Council agreed.

“Our cultural facilities study clearly shows this is the type of facility most needed in the city, a theatre in that 300 to 600 [seat] range,” said Coun. Heather Deal.

“This is a rare purpose-built theatre,” Deal said. “Most of them are converted from churches or movie theatres or something else; this is a purpose-built theatrical theatre with the acoustics for musicals where you wouldn’t need microphones.”

Wall will now attempt to buy the building from the current owner, who had planned to tear the theatre down and build townhouses.

A key element in the deal is that Wall will hold on to the 20 storeys in bonus density he will receive, rather than sell them off to another developer. (The city has been worried there is too much bonus density already out there, which lowers its value.)

“Bruno Wall stepped in and said he was willing to do the project and to hold the density instead of putting it out there for trade,” Deal said.

“In theory this is a virtual bank, and the value of other people’s density wouldn’t drop, because it’s not being added to the pool.”

When it opened in 1913, the York was known as the Alcazar. It started off as a live playhouse, but by the end of the First World War it was showing movies and was known as the Palace.

In 1923 it was purchased by Vancouver Little Theatre, which converted it back to a live house. It was known as the Little Theatre until 1940, when it became the York.

In 1977 it became a movie theatre again. In the mid-80s it was a live concert venue hosting concerts by the likes of Nirvana and Metallica. In recent years it was known as the Raja, an East Indian movie theatre.

When the restoration is finished, perhaps in two years, it will be a 400-seat live house for plays and music, managed by the Vancouver East Cultural Centre.

The deal to save the York was hailed by Peter Fairchild of the Pantages Theatre Society, which has been working to save the historic Pantages Theatre at Hastings and Main.

“The past city council declined all our efforts to get a bonus density in the amount the developer wanted,” Fairchild said.

“[But] they just signed off on 100 per cent, which the city has never ever done before.”

But Fairchild cautioned that saving the Pantages is a lot more complicated than saving the York.

The most recent proposal would have seen the city purchase the Pantages and four adjacent lots for $8 million, and then restore the theatre at a cost of $12 million to $20 million.

Up to 137 units of social housing could be built next door to the theatre.

“We’re not asking for bonus density any more, that’s long gone,” Fairchild said.

“We’re asking for the city to buy the building. I think what city council has stated by doing this is [that] they’re quite prepared to listen to the Pantages and figure out how to make this work.”

Deal said she has made a request to staff for a “full briefing on the current situation [with the Pantages], opportunities and scenarios for the Pantages and the block around it.”

Deal also said Vision is “open” to reconsidering the heritage density program, which helped spur many restoration projects in Gastown.

“That freeze was done at the request of the NPA and we will be looking at that again, because it certainly is a very powerful tool,” she said.

“And we will looking at all the things it can be applied to — heritage, culture, and whether or not we should open it up to have it apply to other things.”

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Agrees to buy, renovate and hand over theatre in exchange for tower

Christina Montgomery
Province

Council is trying to help save the York Theatre, also known as The Raja Cinema. Photograph by : Arlen Redekop, The Province

Vancouver developer Bruno Wall has offered to spend up to $12 million to buy and restore the historic York Theatre, now slated to be torn down Jan. 15 to make way for townhomes.

Wall has also offered to hand ownership to the city — in exchange for development rights equivalent to a 20-storey building, to be built on an as-yet undetermined city site.

The 500-seat theatre, opened in 1912 near the north end of Commercial Drive, was home to the Vancouver Little Theatre, where a number of local actors launched their careers. It later hosted musical acts and Bollywood films.

But it has been empty for several years. EDG Homes bought the property for $960,000 in August 2007 after being assured by city staff that there was no historical significance or interest in the theatre.

The city has approved EDG’s townhouse proposal, which is now eligible for building permits. Demolition of the theatre is legally permitted as of Jan. 15.

Yesterday, EDG’s Peter Phillips warned council that ongoing development costs and liabilities would force him to demolish the theatre and proceed with the townhouses if no deal for a sale is completed.

In March, the city’s attitude toward the site changed. The Vancouver Heritage Commission ruled that it was eligible for listing in the Vancouver Heritage Register.

Arts groups that want the theatre saved argued its restoration would provide the hub for a cultural district when combined with the nearby Vancouver East Cultural Centre and the cafes and galleries bordering Commercial Drive.

Yesterday, after learning that Wall had stepped forward with cash that arts groups and theatre fans have failed for years to raise, council agreed to offer Wall the unusual density deal to encourage him to proceed with the purchase.

Heather Redfern, director of the Vancouver Eastside Cultural Centre that would run the new theatre, applauded the move.

Redfern described the theatre as “the perfect place” — an ideal, mid-sized venue that would provide affordable space for small projections and art showings in a city where theatre space of any kind is at a premium.

© Copyright (c) The Province

Alan Zibel
USA Today

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year-fixed mortgages dropped this week to their lowest levels in at least 37 years, as the Federal Reserve pledged to pour money into the mortgage market to spur home sales and refinancings.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 5.19% from the year’s previous low of 5.47%, set last week.

The rate is the lowest since Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey began in April 1971.

Mortgage rates started falling after the Fed launched a sweeping effort in late November to help the U.S. housing market by buying up to $600 billion of mortgage-related securities and other debt issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks.

A daily survey found the national average rate fell even lower Wednesday. Rates on 30-year, fixed mortgages averaged 5.06%, according to financial publisher HSH Associates, lowest since the 1960s and down from 5.3% Tuesday.

On Wednesday, some mortgage brokers were quoting interest rates close to 4.5% for people with strong credit and hefty down payments.

It is the best news in months for anyone looking to lock in a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage. But it is not expected to be a cure-all, and borrowers already in danger of foreclosure probably won’t be able to take advantage because only borrowers with stellar credit can qualify for the lowest rates.

“It’s a call to action for homeowners looking to get out of adjustable-rate mortgages,” says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “Unfortunately, it’s not an equal-opportunity party.”

Rates also fell this week on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages to an average 4.92%, from 5.2% last week, Freddie Mac said.

Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 5.6%, vs. 5.82% last week. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages dropped to 4.94%, from 5.09% last week.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide fee for 30-year and 15-year mortgages averaged 0.7 point last week. The fee on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 0.6 point, while the fee on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 0.5 point. A point is one percent of the loan amount.

Mortgage application volume jumped last week, fueled by borrowers seizing on lower rates to refinance home loans, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

The trade group’s seasonally adjusted application index rose 2.9% for the week ended Dec 12.

The Federal Reserve, aiming to free up lending and jolt the economy back to life, on Tuesday cut its federal funds rate target from 1% to a range of zero to 0.25% and pledged to keep funneling money into the market for mortgage investments.

Mortgage brokers are already reporting a surge of calls from borrowers trying to take advantage of lower rates.

Falling interest rates mean Americans could suddenly find billions of extra dollars in their pockets at a time when consumers have sharply cut spending in the face of rising unemployment and declining household wealth. But many experts believe interest rates alone won’t be enough to jump-start the economy.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press

Eric Beauchesne
Sun

The ratio of debt — in consumer credit and mortgages — to net worth edged up during the quarter to 20.9 cents of debt for every dollar of net worth and to $1.27 of debt for every dollar of disposable income. Photograph by : Fred Greenslade

OTTAWA – The plunge in the stock market last summer and early fall, along with the ensuing loss in pension savings and lower housing prices, wiped $191 billion off the net worth of Canadian households, the steepest loss in a decade.

And that was before the even steeper drop in the market since the end of September.

“Canadian stock prices fell significantly during the third quarter of 2008, resulting in a 3.2 per cent drop in household net worth . . . the largest percentage drop since the third quarter of 1998, when Canadian stock prices fell in response to the Asian financial crisis,” Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.

That, in turn, is more bad news for the outlook for consumer spending and the economy, according to Patricia Croft, chief economist at Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management Inc. in Toronto.

It’s the reverse wealth effect, she explained.

“As stock prices fall and house prices decline and we look at our portfolios and our pensions, and instead of buying a car we decide to walk,” she said. “That’s the implication for the economy.”

But as bad as it was here, the loss was even worse in the U.S., Statistics Canada noted.

“In comparison, household net worth in the United States fell 4.7 per cent in the third quarter, their fourth consecutive quarterly decline.”

In Canada, the stock market fell 18 per cent in the third quarter.

“The corresponding loss in directly held equities, combined with the related loss in the value of pension and life-insurance assets of households, was the principal factor behind the drop in net worth,” Statistics Canada said, noting that the value of total household assets fell 2.2 per cent in the July-through-September period. “Also contributing were slower growth in residential real-estate values and continued household borrowing.”

But for it’s not just the stock market that has darkened the outlook for pensions.

Results of a survey by pension-research firm Mercer found that over the past three years one-third of Canadian companies have made reductions to the benefits they provide for retired employees.

Further, 21 per cent expect to make reductions in the next three years, while only five per cent expect to make improvements, the Mercer report noted.

“Overall, companies are being forced to realign their total rewards spending, with the most significant cost savings being achieved by the elimination of retiree benefits for new hires and current (workers),” it said.

The Statistics Canada report, however, also revealed that growth in household debt slowed in the third quarter, reflecting lower new mortgage borrowing. Still, the ratio of debt – in consumer credit and mortgages – to net worth edged up during the quarter to 20.9 cents of debt for every dollar of net worth and to $1.27 of debt for every dollar of disposable income.

The increase in household debt relative to net worth was larger in the U.S., Statistics Canada noted.

Meanwhile, increased borrowing in the Canadian corporate sector translated into a slight increase in the non-financial private corporations’ debt-to-equity ratio, which has trended down for much of the last two decades, it reported. In the quarter, corporations had 53.6 cents of credit market debt for every dollar of equity.

In contrast to businesses and individuals, the government net debt-to-gross domestic product ratio declined further, the agency said, noting the federal government’s credit-market debt decreased thanks to funds received from the sale of wireless spectrum licences.

The drop in federal debt, however, was partially offset by increased borrowings by other levels of government, it said.

Overall, total government net debt as a percentage of the total value of goods and services produced by the economy edged down to just over 35 per cent in the third quarter, compared with the peak of 92 per cent in mid-1996.

And even with the large decline in the household sector’s net worth, growth in national net worth, which is the value of total assets less liabilities for all sectors, rose by a “robust” 3.3 per cent to $180,000 per person, up from $174,800 in the second quarter of 2008, the agency said.

National wealth amounted to just over $6 trillion as growth accelerated to 2.8 per cent.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service