Judge agrees UBC unit not as advertised

Neal Hall
Sun

A Richmond man who bought a new $3.5-million condominium at the University of B.C. can rescind the purchase contract because he was not fully informed about changes to the development, a judge has ruled.

Timothy Dwane and his wife Teresa became interested in the fall of 2007 in moving from their Richmond home to a condominium in a new development at UBC called Coast.

After several visits to the presentation centre and discussions with real estate agent Ivy Wu of Mac Real Estate Corp., on May 10 last year they put down a $350,000 deposit on a $3.5-million terrace unit, which had about 2,000 square feet of living space and another 2,000 square feet of terrace.

It was supposed to offer expansive views and privacy.

But on Oct. 27 last year, when the couple had access for the first time to the partially completed unit, they were disappointed by the view from the unit and its terrace, and by the privacy, and noticed a wine storage room that had been promised was missing.

The couple later learned they never received the amendments to the original disclosure statement to the project.

The amendments changed the development to 45 condominiums, rather than the previous 35, deleted the wine storage room and increased the density of the development.

Dwane sued the developer, Bastion Coast Homes Ltd. and Coast Development Partnership, alleging false representations were made prior to his purchase.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Prices down 10 to 20 per cent from 2008

Derrick Penner
Sun

B.C.’s recreational property markets are in the midst of a correction, says a new report from a major realty firm, but a generational shift is occurring in the sales that are taking place.

Sales in 2009 are running off the pace of a year ago, with prices down 10 to 20 per cent depending on product type and location, Re/Max said in its annual recreational property report released Tuesday.

However, the falling prices helped draw so-called Generation X buyers — those born between 1965 and 1980 — into the market in a bigger way.

The evidence is anecdotal, based on a survey of Re/Max offices. But Elton Ash, executive vice-president for western Canada, said the market is now split about 50-50 between baby boomers and Gen Xers, compared with a year ago, when the younger demographic made about 20 per cent of recreational purchases.

“I think the reasoning behind that, more than anything, is that a lot of boomers have taken a hit on investments,” Ash said. “The country’s wealth is still focused in that demographic, but they’re feeling a little hurt right now.”

Generation X, however, after being priced out of the market for most of the last decade, hasn’t been stung as badly, and Ash surmises that more of its members are employed in more secure sectors of the economy such as technology.

That, Ash said, is reflected in the types of recreational properties that are in demand — less expensive family-oriented second homes — and in the sectors that have suffered the steepest price declines — waterfront and high-end properties.

“What Gen X is looking for is cheaper properties, so what’s happening is that the lower price point isn’t seeing the softening that the more expensive [homes] have seen,” Ash said.

In B.C., baby boomers still dominate the market in higher-priced locations such as Saltspring Island and Tofino. But Gen Xers are wielding more influence in the Okanagan, according to the Re/Max report, and becoming more of a presence in the surf mecca of Tofino.

Entry-level prices for most markets have dropped considerably in most markets. According to the Re/Max report:

– An oceanfront Ucluelet home would start at $555,000 this year, compared with a $649,000 price point a year ago.

– Tofino’s oceanfront would start at $789,000 this year compared with $869,000 a year ago.

– In the south Okanagan, the entry point would be $800,000 compared with $1 million a year ago.

– In the Central South Cariboo, seasonal properties can start in the $135,000 range, compared with $140,000 a year ago.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Working people ‘cashing in on low mortgage rates’

Derrick Penner
Sun

The decline of Lower Mainland real estate markets, which started with falling sales more than a year ago and saw prices drop as the global recession developed, levelled out in May.

Metro Vancouver recorded its best year-over-year sales increase in May since February 2008 with 3,524 sales reported through the Multiple Listing Service, 17 per cent higher than the 3,002 sales recorded in the same month a year ago.

The so-called benchmark price in Metro Vancouver, averaged across property types, hit $506,201 in May, which is still 11 per cent below the same month in 2008, but higher than the $484,211 recorded in January.

Metro Vancouver‘s inventory of unsold homes in May stood at 13,641, a 16-per-cent decrease from a year ago.

In the Fraser Valley, realtors recorded 1,501 MLS sales, which was still six per cent below the 1,599 sales recorded in May 2008, but “the closest we’ve been to a balanced market since early spring last year,” Paul Penner, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board said in a new release.

The benchmark price for a detached home in the Fraser Valley hit $465,939 in May, some 9.3 per cent below May of 2008, but higher than the $460,229 recorded last month.

Fraser Valley‘s inventory of unsold homes stood at 10,047, a 10-per-cent decline from the same month a year ago.

Tsur Somerville, director of the centre for urban economics and real estate at the Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C., said it is important to remember that May 2008 was the month when sales started their steepest descent.

So while May’s sales figures improved, they were still off about 20 per cent from the hot sales years of 2007 and 2006.

“What we’re seeing here is essentially [sales] recovering from the trough, but are still where [they] should be, which is way below the peak,” Somerville said.

He said consumers don’t necessarily believe the economy has recovered, but they do think the worst has passed, and those with jobs now have enough confidence to cash in on extremely low mortgage rates to buy homes.

“That is a much more positive place than where we were last summer, where bad news was starting to explode all around us,” Somerville said.

Carol Frketich, regional economist for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., added that for many employed, prospects have improved.

“When we look at what’s happening in the economy and labour market, clearly we are in a period of slowdown,” Frketich said in an interview.

She said wages and salaries in B.C. have crept up four per cent so far this year, and “those people who have jobs are buying homes.”

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Cheaper buys attract more of the 30- and 40-somethings

John Bermingham
Province

B.C.’s soft recreational property market is attracting younger Generation X buyers, a new report by Re/Max realtors says.

Elton Ash, regional vice-president for Re/Max in Western Canada, said yesterday that baby-boomers have back-stopped B.C. recreational real estate for the past decade.

But the pendulum is shifting to 30- and 40-something buyers, who want recreational homes for family-work balance, and can afford lower-priced properties.

Gen Xers account for half the demand for recreational homes this year, with boomers making up the other half, Re/Max said.

A year ago, it was a 25/75 split.

“The Gen Xers are looking at typically cheaper property . . . Buying a condo that’s across the road from the lake, but a great view of the lake. It’s $350,000, as opposed to $2 million,” he said.

Prices and sales volumes of B.C. recreational property have fallen 15 per cent this year from 2008. High-end properties on Saltspring Island, western Vancouver Island and Whistler have seen starting prices fall by up to a third.

“U.S. influence was huge in those areas previously,” Ash said. “And that has just dropped off the cliff.” Demand from Albertans, especially for Kootenay property, is off about 20 per cent from last year.

Overall, two-thirds of B.C. markets are reporting a decline in sales for the first four months of the year, while the rest are holding steady.

On Saltspring Island, where starting prices for oceanfront property have fallen from $1.3 million to $890,000 this year, Re/Max realtor Jan Macpherson said sales volumes had been half of what they were last year but picked up in May.

“The supply was so restrictive. Now it’s now opening up,” said Macpherson.

There are nine waterfront listings on Saltspring for under $1 million, compared with none a year ago.

In the North Okanagan/Shuswap, Re/Max broker-owner Brad Marsh said younger buyers account for a bigger chunk of local recreational-home buyers.

“While sales to baby-boomers have decreased somewhat, it’s being made up by Gen Xers,” said Marsh. “There are so many things to do here, and that appeals to the active Gen Xer.” Tsur Somerville, director of the Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate at the University of B.C., said demand for recreational property will always be more volatile, because it’s a luxury.

“When times are good, money will flow into it,” said Somerville. “When times are bad, money will flow out of it, in much more extreme ways.”

© Copyright (c) The Province

Home sales show signs of building up

Paul Luke
Province

The Lower Mainland’s housing market showed more signs of regaining its health last month, according to two new reports.

Rising buyer demand this year has sparked more home sales and eased the downward pressure on housing prices, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said yesterday.

Since the year began, the board’s benchmark price for all homes in Greater Vancouver has climbed 4.5 per cent to $506,201 from $484,211.

But home prices remain 10.9 per cent lower than May 2008, it said.

The number of homes sold in Greater Vancouver in May rose 17.4 per cent from May 2008 and 18.9 per cent from April, the board said.

“The increased level of buyer activity over the last few months has had a stabilizing effect on home prices across our region,” Greater Vancouver board president Scott Russell said.

The number of MLS listings last month was down 16 per cent from a year earlier and was 4.7 per cent lower than April, the board said.

Buyer appetite is also on the rise in the Fraser Valley as May sales rose 16.1 per cent from April. May’s 1,501 sales marked the highest sales volume in a year and the fourth consecutive monthly rise this year.

May’s sales are six per cent below the level of a year earlier but are much stronger than a few months ago, Fraser Valley Real Estate Board president Paul Penner said.

“We’re the closest we’ve been to a balanced market since early spring last year,” Penner said. “Sales have increased, inventory has dropped and prices are stabilizing.”

Realtors are seeing an increase in multiple offers but only on properties that are priced right, he said.

May’s benchmark price for a detached home in the Fraser Valley was $465,939, down 9.3 per cent from a year ago. The detached price climbed 1.2 per cent from April.

Townhouse and apartment benchmark prices in May shared this trend: year-over-year declines and small increases from April.

© Copyright (c) The Province

Other

A continued increase in buyer activity over the last four months has resulted in increased home sales and lessened the downward pressure on housing prices in Greater Vancouver.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that the number of residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 3,524 in May 2009, an increase of 17.4 per cent from the 3,002 sales recorded in May 2008, and an increase of 18.9 per cent compared to last month.

Since the beginning of the year, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver has increased 4.5 per cent to $506,201 from $484,211. However, home prices compared to May 2008 levels are down 10.9 per cent.

“The increased level of buyer activity over the last few months has had a stabilizing effect on home prices across our region,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said. “MLS® data continues to show a trend toward a balanced market in the region.”

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined in Greater Vancouver, down 36 per cent to 4,733 in May 2009 compared to May 2008, when 7,390 new units were listed. At 13,641, the total number of property listings on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) declined 4.7 per cent compared to last month and 16 per cent compared to May 2008.

Sales of detached properties increased 16.5 per cent to 1,402 from the 1,203 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The HPI benchmark price for detached properties declined 11.8 per cent from May 2008 to $680,320.

Sales of apartment properties in May 2009 increased 17.2 per cent to 1,458, compared to 1,244 sales in May 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 10.2 per cent from May 2008 to $349,987.

Attached property sales in May 2009 are up 19.6 per cent to 664, compared with the 555 sales in May 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit decreased 9 per cent between May 2008 and 2009 to $435,848.

Bright spots in Greater Vancouver in May 2009 compared to May 2008:

Detached:

Burnaby up 48.9 per cent (140 units sold from 94)

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows up 13.4 per cent (144 units sold from 127)

North Vancouver up 31.4 per cent (134 units sold from 102)

Port Moody/Belcarra up 52.6 per cent (29 units sold from 19)

Richmond up 14.0 per cent (170 units sold from 142)

Vancouver East up 11.1 per cent (180 units sold from 162)

Vancouver West up 59.5 per cent (193 units sold from 121)

Attached:

Burnaby up 31.5 per cent (96 units sold from 73)

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows up 43.8 per cent (46 units sold from 32)

North Vancouver up 31.8 per cent (58 units sold from 44)

Vancouver West up 54.5 per cent (102 units sold from 66)

Apartments:

Burnaby up 32.6 per cent (187 units sold from 141)

North Vancouver up 22.6 per cent (103 units sold from 84)

Richmond up 27.4 per cent (200 units sold from 157)

Vancouver East up 28.7 per cent (139 units sold from 108)

Vancouver West up 25.4 per cent (529 units sold from 422)

Download complete stats package.

The Real Estate industry is a key economic driver in British Columbia. In 2008, 24,626 homes changed hands in the Board’s area generating $1.03 billion in spin-offs. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is an association representing more than 9,400 REALTORS®. The Real Estate Board provides a variety of membership services, including the Multiple Listing Service®. For more information on real estate, statistics, and buying or selling a home, contact a local REALTOR® or visit www.rebgv.org.

For more information please contact:
Craig Munn, Assistant Manager of Communications
Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
Phone: (604) 730-3146
[email protected]

 

Wendy Koch
USA Today

Michelle Kaufmann couldn’t find an affordable, eco-friendly home in the San Francisco area in 2003, so she built her own.

Construction took 14 months. “This needs to be easier,” the architect recalls thinking. To make green homes more accessible, she says, she “stalked” factories until she found some that agreed to build her modern designs.

She built dozens of prefabricated homes, including several identical to her own, each taking four months at 15% less cost. She won an innovation award this month from the National Association of Home Builders and became a sort of rock star of sustainability.

Last week, however, she began closing her firm. “We have tons of work,” she says, but her clients can’t get financing and two factory partners went out of business. She will continue her work as a consultant.

Kaufmann is one of a growing cadre of architects and builders who, with varying luck, have turned to factories to build green. The homes range from simple cottages, available for less than $100,000, to high-end showpieces at $1 million or more.

These are not mobile homes, known as “manufactured” housing, but rather “modular” homes built to local codes and set on permanent foundations. They often consist of several customized modules that are placed together at the property.

“It’s the future,” says David Johnston, Colorado-based author of Green From the Ground Up. In the past year, Johnston has held green-building workshops at factories in several states.

Despite Kaufmann’s experience, other companies report widespread interest from customers and expect orders to pick up once the economy recovers.

“We’re already seeing the boom,” says Maura McCarthy, co-founder of Blu Homes in Waltham, Mass. The green modular builder, which has its own factory plus partners in three other states, launched its website in July. It has four homes nearing completion and a dozen more in the pipeline. Elsewhere:

•All American Homes, one of the nation’s largest modular builders, began last fall to offer super-insulated, passive-solar homes. The homes, available in 36 states, generally cost less than $150 a square foot.

•LivingHomes, a California-based green builder, will begin to make its modular homes available nationwide next month, says CEO Steve Glenn. The modern homes, some with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, range from $200 to $325 a square foot.

Building in a factory is “inherently greener” than building on-site, says Nate Kredich of the U.S. Green building Council. He says there’s less construction waste and greater efficiency, and because materials aren’t exposed to bad weather, better quality.

There’s no national data on the number of modular homes certified as green. Dozens of certification programs exist nationwide, many of which award points for factory-built modules and panels.

Modular building may be catching the green wave, but it’s hardly new. In 1908, Sears Roebuck & Co. began selling kit homes through its catalog.

The new green homes vary widely in style and cost, says Sheri Koones, author of Prefabulous, a book about factory-built houses. For an upcoming book, she profiled 25 eco-friendly homes nationwide that were partly or entirely prefabricated.

“Most of the houses do not have geothermal power or solar panels,” she says. Rather, they rely on well-insulated walls and windows, site orientation to maximize sunlight as well as efficient appliances, dual-flush toilets and low-flow faucets.

“You can build green without going to great expense,” Koones says. “That’s important for people to realize.”

McCarthy says her Blu Homes, which use spray-foam insulation and a high-efficiency HVAC system, cost a total of $135 to $175 a square foot.

Kaufmann’s stylish homes cost at least $250 a square foot. “It really takes the biggest developers” to make the homes affordable, says Kaufmann, who plans to sell her designs. She says developers are interested in green modular because the homes are finished quickly and offer consumers lower energy bills.

Kaufmann says she and her husband have a zero energy bill for their three-bedroom, 1,560-square-foot home near Oakland, which has solar rooftop panels.

“We use one-third the water, sometimes less, than the average household,” she says. “We produce twice as much energy as we use.”

USA Today

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Pending sales of previously owned homes in April unexpectedly saw their biggest monthly gain in 7-1/2 years, a report from a trade group Tuesday showed, supporting views the recession is easing.

The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.7% in April to 90.3 from 84.6 in March.

It was the third straight monthly increase and the largest jump since October 2001. The monthly gain took the index 3.2% above its year-ago level in the latest sign the battered U.S. housing sector was stabilizing.

“It’s a very positive and encouraging number. It plays into the ‘green shoots,’ economy stabilization story,” said William Hornbarger, senior fixed income strategist at Wachovia Securities in St. Louis.

Economists polled ahead of the report were expecting pending home sales to rise 0.5%.

The downturn in the housing market touched off a global credit crisis that sent economies worldwide tumbling into recession. Now, signs are emerging that the global economy is beginning to heal.

The association’s senior economist, Lawrence Yun, credited improved home affordability and a new government program that provides an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers for the surge in buying activity.

The NAR said its Housing Affordability Index, which blends factors like home prices and mortgage rates, was “in record territory” with 30-year mortgage rates hovering around 5% and an abundance of homes on the market.

The last time the trade group’s pending home sales index had risen for at least three straight months was the period from July through October 2004 — a housing boom year.

Copyright 2009 Reuters Limited