Jeremy Hainsworth
USA Today

Vancouver embodies the laid-back West Coast lifestyle, a place where visitors can literally ski in the morning, and sail in the afternoon. By Albert Normandin, Tourism British Columbia

The tiny community of Whistler is a year-round playground, but is best-known as one of North America’s top winter destinations.

VANCOUVER — Hugging a spectacular bay by the Pacific Ocean and ringed by stunning, snowcapped peaks, Vancouver easily ranks as one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

With its sandy beaches, Pacific waters, lush rain forests and a glittering downtown full of skyscrapers, Vancouver considers itself a world-class destination on par with cities like Sydney, Australia, or San Francisco.

The region embodies the laid-back West Coast lifestyle, a place where visitors can literally ski in the morning, and sail in the afternoon. And, now, Vancouver is preparing to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

It’s the most populous destination ever to host the Winter Olympics, with 2.1 million people in the greater Vancouver regional area, according to Canada‘s 2006 census. It’s also Canada‘s third time to welcome the Olympics, having hosted the Montreal 1976 Summer Games and the 1988 Calgary Winter Games. No Canadian has ever won a gold medal on home turf.

The Vancouver region has been home to First Nations peoples, and it’s a heritage that’s celebrated throughout British Columbia.

Europeans arrived in British Columbia in the 18th and 19th centuries with the advent of the fur trade and several gold rushes which brought prospectors from around the world.

Now, the region boasts a multiethnic makeup and vast cultural diversity. Several influxes of Asian immigrants have made it home to one of the largest Chinese populations outside China.

Any exploration of the city would be incomplete without a stroll on the cobbled streets of Gastown with its old-world charm, much-photographed steam clock, quaint pubs, restaurants and galleries.

This is the heart of old Vancouver, which grew up quickly around a makeshift tavern established in 1867 by gold prospector “Gassy” Jack Deighton.

For the less well-heeled, the surrounding area is home to a number of hostels and cheap eateries.

Visitors should be careful not to stray too far south of Gastown lest they wind up in the city’s notoriously squalid and poverty-stricken notorious Downtown Eastside where drugs and prostitution are rampant.

The area was an early “skid row,” a term said to have originated in Seattle, where, as in Vancouver, logs were “skidded” along roads to sawmills.

But that’s just one small part of Vancouver.

Galleries in other areas are worth a visit. The Vancouver Art Gallery hosts international shows as well as a permanent exhibit of the work of Emily Carr who documented West Coast native life.

The gallery steps are a focus of the city’s leisure crowd, lounging to take in the scene and watch street performers.

From there, it’s a short hop to casual Kitsilano, where Fourth Avenue was Vancouver‘s 1960s hippie haven. It’s now home to an eclectic assortment of restaurants and one-of-a-kind shops.

Past Kitsilano is the University of British Columbia, home to the Museum of Anthropology, a temple of light perched atop cliffs over the scenic waters of Howe Sound.

And, at the bottom of the cliffs is Wreck Beach, in warm weather one of North America‘s favorite nude hangouts.

The night buzz in Vancouver is on glittering Robson Street, the city’s Rodeo Drive North, lined with top-name boutiques, oyster bars and java joints. For the more adventurous, the award-winning restaurant atop Grouse Mountain accessible by a gondola offers unparalleled views of Vancouver and its harbor.

Grouse Mountain looms above the rainy mist that often blankets Vancouver from October to March.

On the way to Grouse, take a walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge if you dare. It spans 450 feet across and 230 feet above North Vancouver‘s spectacular Capilano River.

And, if Grouse’s gondola piques the curiosity, the ski resort town of Whistler — which hosts the alpine events of the Olympics — has the Peak 2 Peak Gondola which has the longest unsupported span for a lift of its kind in the world at 1.88 miles, and the highest lift of its kind above the valley floor at 1,427 feet.

Reaching Whistler is an event in itself.

The Sea-to-Sky Highway connecting Vancouver with Whistler has been redeveloped for the 2010 Games with the blasting of whole cliffs and widening of the once-perilous road.

The 90-mile drive offers awe-inspiring views of sea and mountains.

Be warned, though: The road is still subject to the whims of nature. Last July, a rock slide closed the route for three days.

The tony community of Whistler is a year-round playground, but is best-known as one of North America‘s top winter destinations. The resort came under scrutiny in December when a tower on another gondola collapsed, injuring 12 and stranding others for hours.

Other issues have been in the news lately too.

Vancouver‘s athletes’ village is in limbo as city politicians struggle to refinance it due to the global economic crunch. The city has vowed it will be built on time.

A short walk from the village is Granville Island. It’s a curious mix of restaurants and galleries anchored by the aromatic Granville Island Market.

Dinner here could also mean taking in a play or a comedy club.

And, after dinner, there is no better way to unwind than a stroll along the city’s serpentine waterfront.

Water taxis ply the waves from Granville Island across False Creek to Vanier Park where there are planetarium shows and the nearby Vancouver Yacht Club. While pathways ring False Creek area past Olympic hockey and opening ceremonies venues, the city’s crown jewel is Stanley Park.

Lord Stanley is best known to the rest of the world for the National Hockey League championship cup.

In Vancouver, his legacy is 1,000 acres of primeval rain forest.

The park is crisscrossed with trails through towering firs and cedars, and ringed by the Seawall which offers stunning vistas in every direction.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

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Access to transportation is a key to top picks, real estate consultant says

Gordon Hamilton
Sun

Despite a recession, declining home prices and slowing real estate sales, there are still towns in British Columbia that have the fundamentals in place for future growth, according to a survey released Wednesday by a real estate investing network.

The survey, called Top B.C. Investment Towns, names Surrey as the best place to invest, based on its rapid growth, high renter population and easy access to transportation corridors.

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows takes the No. 2 spot. It is expected to be “the place to live for lifestyle” once TransLink and Gateway infrastructure projects are completed.

Abbotsford is in third place for its rapid growth and diversifying regional economy.

The survey is by the Real Estate Investment Network, a trademark-protected organization headed by real estate consultant Don Campbell.

The survey forecasts that the recession will last until mid-2010 and “will provide an excellent buying opportunity for property buyers who focus their research on the economic fundamentals of key regions of the province.”

In an interview, Campbell said he is taking a five- to nine-year perspective in his look at the best regions in the province to buy real estate. The survey examines all major B.C. towns based on 12 factors — from economic development to demographics — and measures them against provincial averages.

“We try to identify regions that are going to have long-term stability, even during what we are going through right now, and where the short-term problems are,” Campbell said.

For the top three towns, “the big impact is going to be the Gateway Program,” he said.

The survey lists fundamentals considered key in each town in the top-10 list. For the top three, Surrey, Maple Ridge and Abbotsford, it is growth, transportation links and diversity.

The remaining seven are:

4. Kamloops: A vacation destination and transportation hub, Kamloops is attracting new business and industry. A decline in housing starts coupled with a low vacancy rate “will drive up demand for all types of properties in town.”

5. Dawson Creek and Fort St. John: Oil and gas exploration will have “dramatic effects” on the local economy. Dawson Creek‘s fundamentals are its proximity to Alberta and natural gas resources. In Fort St. John, oil and gas will drive growth as long as prices remain profitable. However, energy price cycles will put pressure on housing, calling for an understanding of smaller markets and energy demand cycles.

6. Kelowna: Serving a trading area of 450,000 people, Kelowna is attracting business and recreation investment. Despite a slower real estate market, rental revenues are high, providing opportunities for investors.

7. Comox Valley: An armed forces base provides economic stability and an airport providing service to Calgary and Edmonton is attracting buyers who choose the region for its lifestyle. The slow real estate market means cash flow will be difficult to achieve, so choosing the right property counts.

8. Penticton: Tourism and agriculture are expected to continue growing. Strong population growth will drive demand for both rentals and home purchases.

9. Vancouver: The Olympics will increase the city’s business profile. The focus for investors should be on cash flow; speculators may wait a long time for prices to go up.

10. Prince George: Its diversity makes it better suited to weather the economic storm in the forest industry. Rail links through Prince Rupert to the Pacific ensure future growth.

Campbell said he is not advising investors try to buy at the bottom of the market; it’s too difficult to predict.

Further, he said other factors, such as interest rates, need to be taken into account. As prices bottom out and start up, interest rates are also likely to go up, making monthly payments higher.

The validity of such surveys depends heavily on the different expectations people have about what is going to happen to the economy as a whole, said Tsur Somerville, director of the centre for urban economics and real estate at the University of B.C.‘s Sauder School of Business.

He also said that small markets are not as liquid an investment as larger markets and can be more volatile.

“It’s not necessarily going to be the best thing for everybody and that’s a separate question from whether now is the best time to buy.”

“When you are investing in these towns you are investing in their future and in their growth,” he said.

According to its website, the Real Estate Investment Network is an exclusive membership program “dedicated to educating its members about how, where and when to buy Canadian real estate.”

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Brian Morton
Sun

First-time buyers are now the driving force behind a Metro Vancouver real estate market that’s showing increasing signs of recovery, according to a report released Wednesday by Re/Max.

“This survey says that people are confident in their jobs and taking advantage of record low interest rates and the price depreciation that’s occurred,” Elton Ash, regional executive vice president, Re/Max of Western Canada, said in an interview. “In February, we’ve seen a significant increase in home sales. The Lower Mainland is seeing a resurgence in the real estate market.”

The 2009 Re/Max First-Time Home Buyers Report, which highlights first-time buying activity in 32 residential housing markets across Canada, found that improved affordability is prompting many first-time buyers to get off the fence and into the market.

While there’s still a sense of caution, the report states that increased inventory, lower rates and longer days on the market are presenting opportunities that haven’t been seen in nearly a decade.

It notes that there are now more than 14,000 properties on the market in Vancouver, a figure that has dropped considerably since peaking in October 2008.

The report stated that although 2009 got off to a slow start, February home sales were well above those reported in January, a trend that’s expected to continue in the weeks ahead.

Ash also said that the increased sales activity in the lower end could kick-start sales in the middle to upper end of the market, which have been more sluggish in recent months. “It’s the domino effect. The move-up buyer can [also] get another home.”

He said that, according to another survey, 38 per cent of Metro Vancouver’s buyers last week were first-time buyers, compared to 17 per cent in December. “That’s a significant increase.”

Ash said that the numbers are impressive, with 2,200 homes sold in Metro Vancouver in January and February, a 17-per-cent increase over the same two months in 2008.

Despite the increase in sales activity, Ash cautions that the market still has a way to go to turn around.

“[The slowdown] is not over, but we’re seeing confidence coming back to the consumer’s mind. What we’re seeing is a slow increase in real estate activity. Overall consumer confidence should increase in the last half of 2009.”

The Re/Max survey contained several examples of price drops in Metro Vancouver, including Port Coquitlam which saw the median price for a detached house drop from $537,000 a year ago to $450,000 today.

Another example was east Vancouver, where the starting price for a detached home is now about $500,000, compared to $550,000 a year ago.

Kelowna‘s starting price for a detached home has dropped from $350,000 to $310,000 in a year.

Despite the increased interest, the report noted that buyers remain clearly in control in most Canadian markets, including Vancouver, Surrey, Port Coquitlam, Chilliwack, Kelowna and Victoria.

A separate survey shows that housing sales in Richmond more than doubled in the first two weeks of February, compared to a month earlier.

An average of 77 sales were recorded each day during this period, compared to 35 in January.

“The market today has finally reached a point with a decrease in interest rates and home prices that makes it possible for first-time home buyers to really get their foot in the door,” Chris Stylianou, realtor for Macdonald Realty Westmar, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a report out of Ottawa suggests that declining housing starts in Canada will cut home builders’ profits by almost 20 per cent this year, with residential construction profits dropping to $3.2 billion in 2009 and $3 billion in 2010.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Make sure any agreement is in writing, experts advise

Brian Morton
Sun

Finding a rental home that takes pets — particularly dogs — isn’t that easy. Pet-friendly apartments sometimes charge more for the privilege. Photograph by: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun files

So you’ve got a reasonably well-behaved, occasionally quiet, much-loved cairn terrier — Ruby, we’ll call her — who has been your best friend and soulmate for the better part of a decade.

But you’ve finally decided to move out of Mom and Dad’s house and are on the lookout for your first apartment.

However, with a vacancy rate of just 0.5 per cent, it’s hard enough already these days to find a place in Vancouver. How can you ensure that the new landlord will let little Ruby join you in your new abode?

Many Vancouver residents face a terrible choice when looking for a new apartment: Their home or their pet.

While Ontario, for example, has rules stipulating that landlords — without a very good reason — cannot refuse or reject tenants because of their animal companions, that’s not the case in B.C., as seven tenants of a West End apartment building found out recently when they were issued eviction notices because they had pets.

People who say they have a verbal agreement to keep a pet can quickly run into trouble.

“It’s better to have a written agreement,” Tom Durning, a senior staff member with the Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC), a Vancouver-based non-profit organization working on behalf of B.C. tenants, said in an interview. “That way they have proof.”

Durning — who said most landlords are leery of dogs but not cats — also suggested getting a reference when moving from a place where you previously lived with your pet. That way, the new landlord knows you’re a responsible pet owner.

Suzanne Bell, executive director of the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB), said the law requires landlord-tenant pet agreements to be in writing, although she added that oral agreements are sometimes accepted by dispute-resolution officers.

With so few apartment buildings allowing pets, many pet-friendly properties are more expensive than other properties.

In addition to paying higher rents, pet owners may also be required to submit a pet-damage deposit (a maximum of half a month’s rent) at their new place. Pet-damage deposits cannot be charged for guide animals.

Both the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) and the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act do not have any provisions that say whether pets are, or are not allowed. The landlord owns the property and can decide that pets are prohibited or allowed.

Under both acts, a landlord can include a term in the tenancy agreement that prohibits pets, restricts the size, kind and number of pets that may be kept on the premises, and establish rules about the tenants’ obligations with regard to pets kept on the property. A landlord and tenant can also negotiate a pet clause.

Where there is not a no-pets clause in the tenancy agreement, a landlord can still issue a notice to end the tenancy for several reasons, including if the tenant’s pet is unreasonably disturbing other tenants, seriously interferes with the safety of other occupants of the property, or has caused extraordinary damage to the property.

Factors that will be taken into consideration if a tenant disputes a notice to end tenancy because of a pet include whether the landlord has applied the same rules about pets to all tenants, and whether the landlord knew the tenant had a pet but failed to take any action right away. (For more information, visit the RTB’s website at www.rto.gov.bc.ca.)

Another way to avoid many problems is to search out pet-friendly apartments at mywestend.ca/rental-guide/pets.asp; or doghouserental.com/vancouver.

Durning says things may soon improve for renters, partly because of an increasing number of investor-owned condos sitting idle. “You could bargain with the landlord if you have a pet.”

LOOKING FOR A DOG’S HOUSE

These tools can help you find pet-friendly apartments:

– mywestend.ca/rental-guide/pets.asp

– doghouserental.com/vancouver

– Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC): www.tenants.bc.ca; or 604-255-0546

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Poor sales market results in deep slash by one developer

Derrick Penner
Sun

Prices of new houses in Metro Vancouver continued their slide between December and January, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.

But the agency’s measure does not include condominiums, making it an incomplete picture of the market in the region.

Metro Vancouver new-house prices dropped 0.7 per cent between December and January on Statistics Canada’s new-housing-price index.

Year over year, Vancouver’s index measure was down 3.2 per cent, though some builders have been discounting prices more steeply in a market that has seen declining sales and prices on the resale side.

Dale Barron, president of Coquitlam-based Morningstar Homes Ltd., said he cut prices on new houses in his developments, which typically cost about $730,000, by about $100,000, or 13 per cent. Barron said he did this by squeezing his margin and coaxing suppliers into cutting costs.

“When the market started to turn last fall, we got together all of our trades and all our suppliers and looked at what we were selling, and knew right up front we had to deliver it for a lot less,” Barron said in an interview.

“Sales had really stopped,” Barron added, but his firm racked up its highest number of sales in January and February with the price cut.

Statistics Canada analyst Albert Near said the housing price index does not factor in condominiums, which are a dominant part of the Metro Vancouver market.

“What we measure are single-detached homes, usually in suburbia,” Near said.

Across the country, the Statistics Canada price index recorded a 0.6-per-cent decline in January compared to a year ago, the first year-over-year drop in 12 years. The last year-over-year decline was recorded in January 1997.

Edmonton saw the steepest monthly price drop between December and January, at 2.8 per cent, followed by Calgary at 2.1 per cent and Victoria at 1.1 per cent.

Edmonton‘s annual decrease of 10.4 per cent was the highest in Canada.

St. John’s, N.L., at 24.1 per cent, and Regina‘s 21.7-per-cent jump were the highest increases in the country between January 2008 and January 2009.

TD Securities said the national year-over-year decline was the largest since 1991 and noted that eight of the last 12 months have recorded a drop in the price of new homes. It said the figures were an indication that the housing market has continued to cool during the ongoing economic crisis.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

David Baines
Sun

Columnist Where in the world is Calvin Ayre? The founder of the Bodog.com online gambling empire used to split his time between Vancouver, his adopted home, and Costa Rica, where Bodog’s operations were based.

But in 2007, under intense pressure from the U.S. Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service, he sold Bodog to business interests on the Kahnawake Reserve in Quebec and virtually disappeared from sight.

He has since listed his luxury Yaletown penthouse condo — actually two condos merged into one — for sale for $10 million.

And when I say luxury, I mean it. It’s located at 1199 Marinaside Cres., which fronts onto False Creek. It has 5,000 square feet, six-and-a-half baths, private outdoor decks, a 360-degree view, a 25-foot-high living room ceiling, a 1,200-bottle wine cellar, a panic room, three parking spaces, and comes completely furnished. Readers can take a virtual tour of the property at www.carros.ca/Properties.php/Details/63.

The asking price, however, seems excessive, given that the current assessed value is just $4.8 million.

Ayre has also listed his Costa Rican compound for $6 million, but that may not be an easy sale, according to Gambling911.com, an online gambling news website located in Miami. Squatters are reported to have invaded the property, and getting rid of them could be a problem: Costa Rican law gives squatters certain rights. Gambling911 says real estate experts suggest the property will sell for no more than $2 million.

According to posters on Casinomeister (an online gambling discussion forum), Ayre is rumoured to be living in Phuket, Thailand, and funding a new online sports betting venture called 9 Group, based in Malaysia and the Philippines.

9 Group is said to be targeting the Chinese market by promoting fun websites that will eventually be converted into real cash websites.

If true, 9 Group could quickly run into problems. China has taken a firm stand against Internet gambling. A few days ago, a Shanghai court sentenced 20 people to prison after convicting them of running an online sports gambling operation worth nearly $1 billion US.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Market returns to ‘more normal’

Derrick Penner
Sun

There will be fewer big buyers in Metro Vancouver’s commercial real estate market in 2009, less leverage as banks require buyers to put in more equity as part of the credit squeeze, and lower prices as investors demand higher returns for their capital.

That is the assessment of commercial realtors Avison Young Canada Inc. in the firm’s latest investment review report, which tracks sales during 2008 and trends looking into 2009.

“We’re now coming off very high prices and very low [capital-return] rates,” Bob Levine, a principal in Avison Young’s Vancouver office said. “And [the market] is moving in a direction that might be, if you looked at the last 20 years, considered more normal.”

Levine said large institutional investors — the big public pension plans and insurance firms, whose investments were hammered during the recent stock market crash — are largely out of the market.

That will mean fewer players to support larger deals with values over $100 million. But Levine still sees plenty of potential buyers among private capital funds and mid-tier pension funds for deals of $25 million and under, although credit is harder to come by.

Lenders, Levine said, are asking buyers to put more equity into their purchases, to the order of 35 to 40 per cent of a purchase price. Nine months to a year ago, he said, they would let buyers put down just 20 to 25 per cent on a purchase.

“That all adds up to there being a lot less mortgage money out there,” Levine said. However, buyers who can finance will be able to do so at near record-low interest rates.

Avison Young tracked $1.27 billion in commercial real estate transactions in Metro Vancouver for 2008, a 30-per-cent increase from the $967 million it tracked in 2007. Most of that value, some $734 million, closed in the second half of last year, although the firm noted those deals were negotiated earlier in the year and did not take into account the implosion of credit markets following the bankruptcy of U.S. investment bank Lehman Bros. in September.

“I’d say after the beginning of October, the market was very dead, compared to now,” Levine said. “We’ve seen some activity occurring in the first two months of 2009.”

However, Michael Gill, another of Avison Young’s Vancouver principals, said “in the final two months of 2008, many deals fell apart.”

The Avison Young analysts expect activity in the market to decrease substantially through the first part of this year as executive decision-making slows and the expectations between buyer and sellers readjusts.

Levine said buyers have increased their expectations for return on capital, or cap rate, for what they spend on commercial real estate.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun