seymour and pacific: Homes snapped up after eager buyers camped out all night

Province

The Facts

WHAT: The Mark, 300 units

WHERE: 1372 Seymour Street, at Pacific Boulevard

DEVELOPER: Onni Group

SIZES: 480 sq. ft. — 1,400 + sq. ft.

PRICES: $299,900 — $1 million+

OPEN: Sales centre at 1035 Seymour; hours noon — 6 p.m., Sat — Thurs

The Onni Group’s new-home project at Seymour and Pacific — The Mark — is easily earning its moniker.

The first 214 of the 300 homes on offer were presented to the pre-sale market last weekend and attracted a lineup of buyers, some of whom camped out the night before the sales centre doors opened. By the end of the first day of sales, 163 of those homes were snapped up.

Talk about making a mark.

“There are very few gateway sites of this size and type in any city,” says Beau Jarvis, Onni’s vice-president of development of the residences that will rise at the base of the Granville Street Bridge.

“We took advantage of every single aspect, working closely with the City of Vancouver and the architects to optimize the location, density and height.”

The property, handily located at Yaletown border of the bridge’s off-ramp, has even managed to gain attention while it’s been vacant. Onni offered the land to area residents for a temporary community garden. The experiment was such a success it led to urban agriculture being incorporated into the project permanently.

Overall, the project has been highly praised at city hall for its architectural and urban design merit.

The elegant stand-alone podium with open courtyard captivates interest near grade, while the rest of the project rises up dramatically. The project is currently approved at 35 storeys, but with six more on the boards, at 41 storeys, this will be a significant marker on Vancouver’s skyline with great views.

As well as being big and tall, The Mark is will be a flagship project for Onni in terms of sustainability.

“The Mark is the greenest project that Onni has done to date,” says Jarvis. “This is the way the world is going and everybody needs to jump on the train, including us.”

The Mark features high-efficiency heating and air conditioning, with rooftop solar panels, a living wall and green roof, with rain water harvested for irrigation, exterior walkways for cross ventilation and light exchange, electric automobile outlets and on-site car-share. As well, The Mark is designed to match the gold equivalency for LEED — Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design — monitored via a third party.

Amenities include a yoga and dance studio, a wellness centre with treatment rooms, steam and sauna, outdoor pool and hot tub and large equipped gym.

There will also be a party room with commercial kitchen for catering.

The Mark has a diverse range of units starting as small as 480 square feet, some of which were priced at just under $300,000. (Prices for the homes remaining on offer range from $399,900 to $943,900.)

The bulk of the inventory is mid-range, averaging 580 square feet, but larger luxury units at approximately 1,200 square feet will feature two bedrooms, with king-sized bedrooms, kitchens and living spaces overlooking English Bay.

Interiors offer engineered oak floors and berber-style carpeting underfoot with compact European AEG, Faber and Blomberg appliances in the efficient layouts and full-sized KitchenAid appliances in the more substantial suites. Flat-panel kitchen and vanity cabinetry, composite stone countertops, oversized porcelain tile and contemporary styling define the overall living spaces.

Playing on both pre- and post-Olympic projections, the developer is betting the local market is ripe for this offering now and released upwards of a couple of hundred homes, while reserving a good supply for release “to the world” during and after the Olympic Games.

“We are releasing a portion of the building now because of demand,” says Cam Good of The Key, the project’s sales and market leader.

Jarvis and Good say there are lots of investors eager to jump back into the Vancouver market, plus many first-time buyers gearing up for smaller price points as interest rates remain accessible.

© Copyright (c) The Province

Olympic Village builder, broker, architects, densification as sustainable imperative: That’s our culture

Sun

Evelyn is a singular undertaking, an exemplar of that history and geography that makes residency in metropolitan Vancouver unique. And that’s before a single home has been built.

The developer, Millennium, is the builder of the Olympic Athletes’ Village on the south shore of False Creek.

Architect Nick Milkovich’s practice is the designer of two village buildings and, with architect Walter Francl, is one of 15 architects whose ”green building practices” generated, for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Games, a green building award from the Globe Foundation and the World Green Building Council.

(These are men worthy of the hope expressed in a letter to Millennium from the District of West Vancouver that the Evelyn community ”will be a showcase for West Vancouver’s commitment to sustainability and innovation.”)

And the organizer of the Evelyn sales and marketing campaign is also the organizer of the Olympic Village/Millennium Water campaign, Bob Rennie.

The Evelyn property is located above the Park Royal shopping mall. Water-and-mountain prospects, accordingly, will be quintessential West Coast and, Millennium, accordingly, has responded with goodly sized outdoor spaces.

“These will truly be spectacular decks, with panoramic views of the Lion’s Gate Bridge and Stanley Park on full display,” reports Tracie McTavish of Rennie Marketing Systems.

The Evelyn homes were inspired by the vision of the late ,much-loved architect, Arthur Erickson, who designed not just Simon Fraser University, Robson Square and UBC’s Museum of Anthropology, but who left his mark — along with several other influential West Coast architects like Ron Thom, Ned Pratt and Fred Hollingsworth — on several West Vancouver homes. (Indeed, Erickson’s Cullen House has received a massive amount of publicity of late, due to its prominence in the newest Twilight movie.)

Erickson may no longer be living, but his architectural style — indeed, his “personal brand” — still shines brightly and is what is driving Evelyn, a multifaceted project located just off Keith Road and Evelyn Drive in an area where there are many single-family homes of Modernist distinction.

(Enter the Evelyn presentation centre and you’ll see a giant photograph of Erickson, Milkovich and Francl — the “three tenors” of West Coast architecture — as well as a timeline that tracks Erickson’s career, from his humble beginnings to such legacy buildings as Millennium Water and the Evelyn.)

Assembling the property and obtaining the necessary permits for the project, located in Canada’s richest postal code, did not come overnight.

McTavish says it took over a decade to assemble the various properties — well over 50 — that comprise the Evelyn neighbourhood. Some 349 homes in a variety of configurations — single-family, duplex, townhomes, as well as tower condominiums — will eventually occupy the 20-acre site.

Thirty units will be retained as rental properties.

In the first phase of pre-sales, there will be four townhomes, three clusters of 12 “garden” homes, as well as “estate” homes located in two seven-storey highrises.

This will represent about one-third of the total number of units that will be brought to market.

“Many off the buyers will probably be empty-nest homeowners in West Vancouver who spend part of the time in California or Arizona and don’t want to worry about their property while they’re away,” McTavish says. At Evelyn, three distinct building types, two “estate” towers, clusters of “garden” townhomes and detached residences are organized in pleasing clusters to step rhythmically down the slope.

Evelyn has been designed as a sustainable community with construction to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver standards. The entire site will be extensively landscaped to ensure that its West Coast ambience is intact.

An amenity centre will an outdoor pool and gymnasium will be built when construction commences on phase two in a couple of years time. The Evelyn is but a short walk to the many shops and services of Park Royal, via the newly refurbished Village Walk pathway. And, as McTavish explains, West Vancouver is not Vancouver.

“We have to be very careful to explain to prospective West Van purchasers what the pre-sales process is all about.

Many people here won’t be familiar about it. With Millennium Developments backing the project, West Vancouverites and others can have the utmost in confidence that one of company with an impeccable track record is behind the project.”

As might be expected, Evelyn homeowners can look forward to deluxe kitchen appliances and furnishings, such as sub-zero refrigerators, Miele gas cooktops, wall ovens and dishwashers, and Eggersmann wood cabinetry.

This will represent about one-third of the total number of units that will be brought to market.

“Many of the buyers will probably be empty-nest homeowners in West Vancouver who spend part of the time in California or Arizona and don’t want to worry about their property while they’re away,” McTavish says.

At Evelyn, three distinct building types, two “estate” towers, clusters of “garden” townhomes and detached residences are organized in pleasing clusters to step rhythmically down the slope. Evelyn has been designed as a sustainable community with construction to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver standards. The entire site will be extensively landscaped to ensure that its West Coast ambience is intact.

An amenity centre will an outdoor pool and gymnasium will be built with construction commences on phase two in a couple of years time. The Evelyn is but a short walk to the many shops and services of Park Royal, via the newly refurbished Village Walk pathway.

And, as McTavish explains, West Vancouver is not Vancouver. “We have to be very careful to explain to prospective West Van purchasers what the pre-sales process is all about. Many people here won’t be familiar with it.

”With Millennium Developments backing the project, West Vancouverites and others can have the utmost in confidence that one of company with an impeccable track record is behind the project.”

As might be expected, Evelyn homeowners can look forward to deluxe kitchen appliances and furnishings, such as Sub-Zero refrigerators, Miele gas cooktops, wall ovens and dishwashers, and Eggersmann wood cabinetry. There’s even a Sub-Zero wine cooler to chill your Okanagan pinot blancs. Purchasers can choose from one of three interior schemes: the darkest is Dundarave, middle colour scheme is Caulfeild, and the lightest is Ambleside.

Bathrooms feature spa-inspired ensuites with Eggersmann vanity cabinetry and Dornbacht MEM faucets, shower heads and tub-fillers.

And just who was Evelyn, you might wonder? None other than a member of the famous Guinness brewing family. Indeed, the land on which Evelyn sits was part of the original British Properties land purchase.

EVELYN

Project location: West Vancouver

Project size: Phase 1, 109 residences

Residence size: 870 sq. ft. – 2,000 sq. ft.

Prices: 2-bed ”garden” homes, in 3 ”Cliffside” buildings, from $999,000; “estate” homes in one of two seven-story towers: one-bed-and-den, two-bed, two-bed-and-den and three-bed-and-den, from $649,000; four townhouses all sold.

Developer: Millennium Group of Companies

Architect: Walter Francl, Nick Milkovich

Interiors: Mona at Sheffield Interiors

Sales centre: 710 Keith Road

Hours: noon – 5 p.m., Sat — Thurs

Telephone: 604-921-1010

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: evelynliving.com

Occcupancy: Spring 2012

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Surrey apartments in Newton neighbourhood close to all amenities, without Vancouver prices

Sun

Mirra

– Project location: 138th Street and 75A Avenue, Surrey
– Project size: 71 units in the first phase
– Residence size: studio, 468 sq. ft.; one-bedrooms 554 — 685 sq. ft.; one-bedroom and den starting at 659 sq. ft.; two-bedroom at 835 sq. ft. and two-bedroom and den at 893 sq. ft.
– Prices: From $154,900
– Builder/Developer: Wanson Development
– Architect: Burrows Huggins
– Interiors: D.D.G. (design specifications) BYU (display suite furnishings)
– Sales centre: 13778 76th Avenue
– Hours: noon — 5 p.m. Thurs — Sat
– Telephone: 604-575-9009
– E-mail: [email protected]
– Web: mirraliving.com
– Occupancy: April 2011

Like many real-estate projects, sale and construction of the Mirra new-home project in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood was temporarily put on hold last year as uncertainty rumbled through world economies. But the delay has turned out to be a boon to aspiring homeowners.

Half of the units at Mirra — a 156-unit West Coast-inspired low-rise — are priced at under $200,000, a figure that’s “very affordable in Vancouver dollars,” said Nick Askew, president of Pacesetter Marketing, which is handling sales for the project.

And Mirra, a product of Wanson Development, will have much to offer those who make it their home. Their residences will be within walking distance to restaurants, stores, groceries and transportation hubs.

“Newton is a real walkable community,” said Askew. “There’s a lot of infrastructure that makes it neighbourhood-friendly.”

The location is about six blocks away from the Newton bus exchange and a 10-minute drive from the King George SkyTrain station.

Newton is also one of the five Surrey town centres Mayor Dianne Watts wants to see spruced up as part of the growing city’s Townshift makeover contest. The competition is designed to create more livable, walkable and sustainable hubs in each of the areas. Newton’s theme is New Town: Connecting Density to Transit.

The Mirra’s first phase is a four-storey wood-frame building made up of 71 units with 12 different floor plans.

The majority of units are one-bedroom suites, but options range from a 468-square-foot studio to an 893-square-foot two-bedroom and den.

The exterior is an homage to West Coast sensibilities, with its use of stone, wood and post-and-beam construction. A second phase with 86 suites will be released early next year.

Half of the homes are eligible for a mortgage promotion, which allows buyers to pay less than $300 a month for a year after putting down a 10 per cent deposit.

This, Askew explained, means that a $170,000 one-bedroom, which might have a $650 monthly mortgage, comes out to only $150 a month for the first year after the developer’s subsidy. The average monthly rent for the area is about $750 per month.

“It makes it more affordable for first-time homebuyers to buy and for the savvy investor, it makes a lot of sense,” said Askew.

On display at the presentation centre is a 659-square-foot one-bedroom-and-den unit that feels spacious, despite its compact size.

The floor plan is typical open-concept, but stands out because it isn’t meant to be divided as a living room and dining room.

Instead, buyers can put their dining table in the middle of the L-shaped kitchen, or go with the optional add-on of an island, which does double duty as a work space and dining table.

The floors are engineered hardwood, in a dark walnut.

All suites have patios or balconies, while most boasts full height pantries for extra storage in the kitchen.

For the units with dens, a big plus is the location of the den along the outside wall, so instead of the typical dark, windowless cubbies that pass for dens in other projects, the dens at Mirra are airy and light-filled which make them a good spot for a home office or a kids’ playroom.

To keep the units affordable, amenities are kept to a minimum.

There’s no pool, for example — Askew said research found only 20 per cent of tenants would use it regularly — which keeps monthly strata fees down to 22 cents per square foot.

Mirra is scheduled to be completed in spring 2011.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Downtown highrise opportunity sells robustly

Christina Symons
Sun

The Mark

– Project location: Seymour, at Pacific Boulevard, Vancouver
– Project size: 300 residences
– Residence size: 480 sq. ft. – 1,400 + sq. ft.
– Prices: $299,900 — $1 million+
– Developer: Onni Group
– Architect: Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden
– Interior design: In-house
– Sales centre address: 1035 Seymour, at Nelson
– Hours: noon – 6 p.m., Sat — Thurs
– Telephone: 604-687-4353
– E-mail: [email protected]
– Web: onni.com
– Occupancy date: Summer 2013

To be a landmark — in every meaning of the word — a structure must not only stand prominently within its locality, it must also be capable of pointing the way, figuratively and literally.

Landmark decisions or directives can also signify a turning point for a neighbourhood, or a development company, and sometimes both.

Finally, a structure with striking esthetic or architectural qualities may also be dubbed a landmark, simply for being refreshingly out of the ordinary.

In such context, the new residential address at the base of the Granville Street Bridge should easily earn its moniker, The Mark, in every respect. Word of last Saturday’s release drew considerable attention; 20-odd people camped out Friday night for the next day’s 10 a.m. pre-sale opening, and by the end of that opening day, 163 of the 214 available homes had been snapped up. (Those remaining homes are priced from $399,900 to $943,900.)

“There are very few gateway sites of this size and type in any city,” says Beau Jarvis, vice-president development, for the Onni Group, developers of the property. “We took advantage of every single aspect, working closely with the City of Vancouver and the architects to optimize the location, density and height.”

Handily situated at the Yaletown border of the bridge’s off-ramp, at the corner of Seymour and Pacific, the rather challenging property even captured stature while vacant, as an attractive community amenity.

As rezoning boundaries pertaining to density, views and the skyline were being explored during the three-year redevelopment process, the developer offered the land to local residents for a temporary community garden. The experiment was such a success it led to urban agriculture being incorporated into the project permanently.

Eventually, a project density bonus was granted when the developer added a 37-space community daycare, with further allowances purchased and transferred from the city’s heritage bank, a repository for developer density in exchange for heritage restoration. Overall, the project has been highly praised for its architectural and urban design merit by the keepers of Vancouver’s urban landscape: the Urban Design Panel and Development Permit Board.

Along with being big, tall and contextual, this will be a flagship project for Onni in terms of sustainability. The Mark features high-efficiency heating and air conditioning, with rooftop solar panels, a living wall and green roof, with rainwater harvested for irrigation, exterior walkways for cross ventilation and light exchange, electric automobile outlets and on-site car-share. The project is designed to match LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) gold equivalency, monitored via a third party.

“The Mark is the greenest project that Onni has done to date,” says Jarvis. “This is the way the world is going and everybody needs to jump on the train, including us.”

The elegant stand-alone podium with open courtyard captivates interest near grade, while the rest of the project rises up, dramatically so. Currently approved at 35 storeys with six more on the boards, at 41 storeys, this will be a significant marker on Vancouver’s skyline with commanding views to and from the bridge, bay and cityscape.

Residential amenities are ample and include a wellness centre with treatment rooms, yoga and dance studio, steam and sauna, outdoor pool and hot tub, large equipped gym and party room with commercial kitchen for catering. Gourmands interested in a “100-foot diet” will enjoy the dining hall with kitchen backing onto the garden area on the podium rooftop. Residents will also have access to 24-hour concierge services.

Architecturally, The Mark is designed to make an enduring statement, by Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects (HBBH) a highly regarded Vancouver firm chosen in part to help elevate the project’s prominence.

Featuring a uniquely integrated podium and tower, the dramatic glass curtain wall of the superstructure is enhanced by cantilevered horizontal fins, adding texture to the expression. A distinctive bank of operable sunshade screens facing the bridge give residents the ability to control solar, noise and light exposure throughout the day, adding an ever-changing kaleidoscope aspect to the exterior as needs change.

The shades are a practical measure and key architectural feature, according to Alan Boniface, principal in charge of the project for HBBH, who along with project architect Brady Dunlop worked diligently to achieve a contextually and environmentally driven project. Another cool feature, near the bridge deck is graffiti art on the demising walls at grade, to assimilate and celebrate nearby street art.

Interest in the Mark is brisk, with a diverse range of units starting as small as 480 square feet, some priced at just under $300,000. The bulk of the inventory is mid-range, averaging 580 square feet, but larger luxury units at approximately 1,200 square feet will feature two bedrooms, with king-sized bedrooms, kitchens and living spaces overlooking English Bay.

Interiors offer engineered oak floors and berber-style carpeting underfoot with compact European AEG, Faber and Blomberg appliances in the efficient layouts and full-sized KitchenAid appliances in the more substantial suites. Flat-panel kitchen and vanity cabinetry, composite stone countertops, oversized porcelain tile and contemporary styling define out the overall living spaces.

Playing on both pre- and post-Olympic projections, the developer is betting the local market is ripe for this offering now and released upwards of a couple of hundred homes through the end of the year, while reserving a good supply for release “to the world” during and after the Olympic Games.

“The reality is, we are releasing a portion of the building now because of demand,” says Cam Good of The Key, the lead broker on the project.

Jarvis and Good both contend that there are lots of investors eager to jump back into the Vancouver market, plus many first-time buyers gearing up for smaller price points as interest rates remain accessible.

How deeply buyers will also consider the project’s sustainable or landmark status remains to be demonstrated.

But for the project team, the impact of The Mark upon Vancouver’s urban environment is equally as important as its market popularity.

“It makes a statement about sustainability by making it visible,” notes

Boniface, pleased with the prominent green expression via the

moveable screens on the podium, fixed sunshades on the tower facade, rooftop solar panels and podium rooftop garden.

The importance of setting high sustainable goals in everyday projects is multifaceted.

“It’s very important both to contribute to lowering greenhouse gases in a meaningful way, but also to educate the buyers and the development community about how to achieve this in a practical way,” Boniface notes.

Critical goals this modern urban landmark should readily fulfil.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Prices to hit a national high

Andy Ivens
Province

Greater Vancouver’s house prices are going through the roof.

The market shook off a dismal first quarter of 2009, when horror stories of the U.S. subprime-mortgage fiasco were still rife, to end the year at an average estimated at $600,000, real-estate firm Re/Max said yesterday.

“Greater Vancouver is expected to lead the country with a phenomenal 45-per-cent increase in unit sales, bringing the total number of residential homes sold to 36,500, up from 25,149 one year earlier,” Re/ Max said in its 2010 outlook.

The $640,000 average price predicted for 2010, the highest in Canada, will be a Canadian record.

Compare that with the national average of $325,000.

Victoria and Kelowna are ranked second and third among the 23 cities across Canada for 2010 in the Re/ Max survey, with average home prices of $495,000 and $438,700, respectively.

In Vancouver, the average price of a home “bottom[ed] out” at a whopping $530,763 in March, and overall the price of a home in Greater Vancouver rose by three per cent, the firm said

Greater Toronto ranks fourth for 2010 at $415,000, followed by Calgary at $403,000 and Edmonton at $330,000.

Those six will be the only markets of the 23 in the survey to exceed the national average.

The average price of a home in Montreal, Canada’s second largest urban centre, is forecast to be a paltry $272,000 in 2010.

But if you’re looking for a real bargain, head east to Prince Edward Island, where the average price of a home is expected to remain at $150,000 for the third straight year.

Greater Vancouver home values “continued to edge upward in November as demand . . . remains well above seasonal norms,” the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said in a separate news release.

The board’s benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 12.4 per cent in November to $557,384 from $495,704 in November 2008.

“This price, however, remains down 1.9 per cent from the most recent high point in the market in May 2008 when the residential benchmark price sat at $568,411,” the board said.

Board president Scott Russell attributed the unseasonably high demand to low interest rates and the diversity of choice available in Greater Vancouver.

“Prospective homebuyers today have more options at different price levels than ever before, “ Russell said.

The Greater Vancouver board said house sales in November were the third highest volume ever recorded in Greater Vancouver for that month.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board also logged a busier-than-normal November.

“Interest rates continue to be a strong motivator resulting in unseasonably high real-estate sales for this time of year,” FVREB president Paul Penner said.

“We typically see both sales and listing activity slow in November as people start to get ready for the holidays and we did experience that on the listing side, but not in sales.

“This was the second busiest November Fraser Valley realtors have seen in 10 years.”

The benchmark price of a detached home in October was $497,697, an increase of 6.5 per cent compared with November 2008, when it was $467,497.

© Copyright (c) The Province

Alan Zibel, AP Real Estate Writer
USA Today

WASHINGTON — The average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage dropped to a record low of 4.71% this week, pushed down by an aggressive government campaign to reduce borrowing costs.

The rate, published Thursday by Freddie Mac, is the lowest since the mortgage finance company began tracking the data in 1971. The previous record of 4.78% was set during the week ending April 30 and matched last week.

The Federal Reserve is pumping $1.25 trillion into mortgage-backed securities to try to bring down mortgage rates, but that money is set to run out next spring. The goal of the program is to make home buying more affordable and prop up the housing market.

Despite the government support, qualifying for a loan is still tough. Lenders have tightened their standards dramatically, so the best rates are available to those with solid credit and a 20% down payment.

Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders across the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day, often tracking long-term Treasury bonds.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low of 4.27%, from 4.29% last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.19%, up from 4.18%. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 4.25% from 4.35%.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. One point is equal to 1% of the total loan amount.

The nationwide fee for loans in Freddie Mac’s survey averaged 0.7 points for 30-year loans. The fee averaged 0.6 points for 15-year, five-year and one-year loans.

Buyers and homeowners who want to refinance are picking up their phones. Mortgage applications rose 2% last week from a week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday, driven by a more than 4% increase in purchase applications and a nearly 2% increase in applications to refinance existing loans.

MORTGAGE RATES

National overnight averages Today +/- 30 yr fixed mtg 4.93% 15 yr fixed mtg 4.53% 5/1 ARM 4.19% $30K home equity loan 8.35% $30K HELOC 5.22%

 

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Metro Vancouver has third-busiest November; Fraser Valley second-busiest in last 10 years

Derrick Penner
Sun

Continuing low mortgage rates led to an unseasonably high number of home purchases across the region in November, pushing prices close to their previous peak, Lower Mainland real estate boards reported Wednesday.

For the area of Metro Vancouver covered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, that meant 3,083 sales through the Multiple Listing Service in November, making it the third busiest November ever.

The benchmark price, the average for typical properties sold, hit $557,384 across all property types.

That represents a 12.4-per- cent increase from the same month a year ago and puts the benchmark price within 1.9 per cent of peak values in May of 2008.

A year ago, the board saw just 874 sales in November.

In the Fraser Valley, realtors recorded 1,522 sales through the Multiple Listing Service in November, making it the second busiest November in the last 10 years. The benchmark price for detached homes, the average price for the typical home sold in November, rose 6.5 per cent from the same month a year ago to $497,697.

In November of 2008, by contrast, the Fraser Valley saw just 507 MLS sales.

“Still, the ultimate reason that we’re seeing strong sales is interest rates,” Ron Antalek, a realtor with Re/Max Ridge Meadows Realty in Maple Ridge said in an interview.

Low mortgage rates make it attractive for first-time buyers to get into the market, and the move-up buyers see now as an opportune time to buy larger homes without adding to their monthly mortgage payments.

“The cost to move up right now is the most affordable it has ever been,” Antalek said.

A shrinking inventory has also played a role in boosting prices, Robyn Adamache, a market analyst with Canada Mortgage and Housing, said in an interview.

“It’s been a pretty consistent trend, both in active listings and new listings, that have been steadily declining since spring,” Adamache said.

And she doesn’t expect inventories to rise much until mid-2010, if prices continue to rise.

Adamache said the price gains have not been shared equally across the region. She said dramatic gains, such as the 40-per-cent year-over-year increase in the benchmark detached home price on Vancouver’s west side to $1.4 million, skew the picture compared with Maple Ridge, where the year-over-year price increase on detached homes is only 3.3 per cent to $430,384.

Antalek noted that urban markets have seen more significant price increases than suburban markets further into the Fraser Valley, but “all areas have rebounded from May 2009.”

However, Tsur Somerville, a real estate expert in the Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C., said the number of sales in November, compared with previous months, appears to be waning.

“The sales numbers show signs of easing, relative to September and October,” Somerville, director of the Sauder school’s centre for urban economics and real estate, said.

“[However,] if prices continue to rise at this rate, that would be cause for lots of concern about over-inflation.”

Somerville said current low rates reduce mortgage carrying costs, “and certainly people in this market price [real estate] based on carrying costs.”

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun