Drawing the eye to waterfront view

Mary Frances Hill
The Province

Bellevue

Where: 2289 Bellevue Avenue, West Vancouver

What: 35 units in a 16-storey boutique building on the western edge of Ambleside, West Vancouver; includes a twostorey amenities building

Developer and builder: Cressey Development Group

Residence sizes and prices: Two and three bedrooms, 1,954 – 3,900 square feet; from $4 million

Sales centre: 204 — 1868 Marine Drive, West Vancouver

Sales centre hours: Open daily by appointment; open house Saturdays noon — 5 p.m.

 

When Insight Design Group’s Linda Gallo took on the task of designing Cressey Development Group’s Bellevue display, she and her team approached it on two fronts: they decorated a space to bring the visitor’s eye to the stunning outdoor view, while taking care to highlight the beauty of the materials — particularly the marble — inside.

To direct the eye to the view of the West Vancouver waterfront, Gallo and her fellow Insight designers considered lighting, consistency of shade and neutral palettes.

“We tend to keep flooring consistent within a space to elongate the room and carry the eye to the outdoors,” Gallo says. “We try to maintain a high ceiling, letting in as much light into the space as possible, and keep the lighting details discreet, so as to minimize distraction from the main attraction.”

Gallo placed a long, plush bench next to a window to serve as a seating option that won’t block the view.

The ensuite includes a European-style separation of the shower/ bathroom and the toilet area. It provides privacy for homeowners, and lures visitors’ attention to the stone work Gallo says has been impressing them since Bellevue’s opening.

“By tucking the toilet room and shower behind the tub, we were able to create a beautiful marble feature wall to separate the two spaces. By keeping the toilet on the far side of the room, it has a real sense of privacy.”

For classic inspiration, look no further than the kitchen; with the backsplash, made of a type of marble (buyers can choose between options), Cressey and Insight Design Group installed an elegant focal point in the open-concept space.

“The natural beauty of the stone alongside its unique veining and patterning is a permanent piece of the earth, right in your home … quite decadent in my opinion,” Gallo says.

Cressey, known for its sleek, storage-heavy kitchens (ardent home-hunters may have heard the phrase “the Cressey kitchen”) offers options at Bellevue that allow homeowners to adapt the space to fit their own cooking and entertaining style. An island contains a food prep space or a flat, open surface for displaying and serving meals, for instance.

If Gallo were to move into a Bellevue suite, she says she would choose from among these options, a blend of texture and warmth, and a kitchen layout that emphasizes the ocean view.

“I would choose the Calacatta stone, with the walnut flooring alongside the sink off the island, because I love the rich colours and textures of the materials, and the idea of having an island free of interruptions, allowing the beauty of it to speak for itself.”

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Building intentions above $5 billion again

Steve Randall
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

The value of residential construction permits issued by Canada’s municipalities in January exceeded $5 billion for the third time in four months.

The $5.1 billion value of permits is a 2.7 per cent increase from December with gains in Alberta, BC and Manitoba leading seven provincial increases; and offsetting a large drop in Ontario.

Intentions for multi-family construction was up 3.6 per cent to $2.3 billion, Statistics Canada reported; while single-family permits totalled $2.8 billion, a rise of 1.9 per cent from December.

The volume of new homes for which permits were issued slipped to 19,207, with multi-family units down 5.2 per cent while single-family units increased 0.8 per cent.

By metro area, Edmonton posted the largest rise in permits followed by Hamilton but in total 20 of the 36 census metropolitan areas posted gains.

For non-residential permits, the total issued was up 11.2 per cent to $2.5 billion with every component increasing led by institutional buildings.

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Canadian Real Estate Wealth

With the Canada revenue agency now tracking house flippers – thanks to last year’s mortgage rule changes – are you worried further crackdowns on investors may soon come?

Starting this year, Canadians will have to fill out an extra section on their tax return, the Schedule 3 “Capital Gains (or Losses)” in order to claim their principal residence and earn a tax break. Homeowners will provide information on the date of acquisition, the address, as well as other details for any sold home claimed a principal residence.

The government claims the change was made to “improve compliance and administration of the tax system.”

However, it has some speculating that the new requirement, announced in October 2016, was established in a bid to better track home flippers who may be tempted to claim investment properties as principal residences. 

With this additional data, the government will get a better sense of just how prevalent house flipping is and, perhaps, what influence it may be having on housing prices.

And as we all know, the government has been able – and very willing – to crack down on home buying segments it believes are contributing to inflated housing prices. 

So it begs the question: Are you afraid this increased data could lead to further housing rules that target investors?

After all, such policies have been suggested by various industry players. 

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Ephraim Vecina
REP

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has announced that it will be implementing a hike on the premiums on its insured loans, with the increases calculated based on down payments of between 5 and 9.99 per cent, 25-year amortization, and five-year term at 2.94 per cent.

Effective March 17, consumers who have locked into this kind of loan within the $245,000 average bracket should expect to see their payments grow by around $5 more monthly, the Calgary Herald reported.

Meanwhile, home owners with mortgages worth $350,000 and $450,000 will experience monthly payment increases of around $7 and $8, respectively.

CMHC officials assured that the changes will not prove to be a hindrance to market activity.

“We do not expect the higher premiums to have a significant impact on the ability of Canadians to buy a home,” CMHC senior vice-president for insurance Steven Mennill said. “Overall, the changes will preserve competition in the mortgage loan insurance industry and contribute to financial stability.” 

And despite the impending increases, industry players remained confident about the market’s near-future prospects.

“We do not expect this increase in the CMHC insurance premium to factor into the buying decision for the majority of our [potential] buyers,” according to Kelly Halliday, business development manager for the Calgary-based firm Brookfield Residential.

“To date, we have not been hearing about this as a concern from our buyers. We have experienced a strong start to 2017, a trend we expect to continue through the spring market.”

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Justin da Rosa
REP

The industry is calling on the government to address housing affordability, amid skyrocketing prices in several markets.

The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) and The Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) are urging Ontario to implement a housing task force with the goal of increasing housing supply in the province.

“The Canadian dream of home ownership is at risk in the GTA. This is the year for provincial and municipal governments to step up with solutions to ensure the dream of home ownership does not slip away from future generations,” Tim Hudak, CEO of OREA, said. “The housing supply issue is a real problem, but the solutions exist. We need the government to get real estate experts together on this issue, to hammer out a plan for putting more homes on the market and making home ownership more affordable for young families and first-time buyers.”

The two associations have provided four starting points to the government.

They include; 
•    Fixing the “one size fits all” approach to housing growth, and instead focus on addressing each community’s needs.
•    Improving the planning approvals process by better aligning provincial and municipal priorities
•    Addressing outdated zoning laws that may hinder the building of certain housing types
•    Targeting infrastructure support 

Affordability is becoming increasingly problematic for many Ontarians in markets in and around the GTA. 

The average home in the Greater Toronto Area cost $770,745 in January, up 22.1% year-over-year.

Similarly homes in York Region (+29.3% year-over-year), Barrie (+30.9%), Cambridge (+20.9%), Durham Region (+36.5%), and Hamilton (+15.4%) saw major price gains to start the year.

“Ninety-five per cent of Ontario’s new housing supply is built by our industry, and new home prices reflect the market conditions affected by government policy, like municipal and provincial approvals,” Joe Vaccaro, Chief Executive Officer, OHBA. “It only makes sense to bring together private sector expertise and government policy makers if we are serious about making home ownership more affordable.”

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Canadian Real Estate Wealth

OTTAWA – The pace of home construction in Canada picked up last month and a lot of the push came from Ontario, the federal housing agency said Wednesday, offering the latest evidence that the economy is building momentum.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said February’s seasonally adjusted rate for housing starts was 210,207 units, up from 208,934 in January and above expectations of 200,000 units, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

Activity in the multi-unit sector fell but there was a big jump in single, detached homes in urban areas, CMHC said.

There were 71,871 single detached houses started in February in urban areas _ up 12.1 per cent from the prior month _ mostly because of Ontario, where there has been a shortage in the Toronto area. The lack of supply, particularly for detached homes, has been a major factor driving up prices in the city and other parts of southern Ontario.

“Prices are telling builders to build, and that’s exactly what they’re doing,” CIBC economist Nick Exarhos said in a research note.

“An upturn in (building) permit figures over the past several months suggests that momentum in building could continue for a few more months yet. Chalk up another consensus beating result for the Canadian housing market.”

Statistics Canada also reported Wednesday that the value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities in January rose by 5.4 per cent from the previous month to hit $7.6 billion, including $5.1 billion in the residential sector.

CMHC said multiple-unit projects such as condos and apartments in urban areas declined by 4.7 per cent nationally to 121,164 units in February. Rural starts across Canada were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,172 units.

The agency’s six-month average of monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates stood at 204,669 units across Canada in February, up from 200,225 units in January.

“This winter has seen Canada’s national housing starts trend upward, supported mostly by increased construction of homes in Ontario,” said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan.

“New single-detached home construction in Ontario is reaching levels not seen in the province since July 2008 _ offsetting recent slowdowns in British Columbia.”

Combined with recent positive data on jobs, GDP and trade, the housing start and building permit figures released Wednesday serve as the latest signs that the economy is on an upswing.

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Chinese investment expected to maintain levels

Justin da Rosa
Mortgage Broker News

Investment from Chinese buyers in Canadian real estate is expected to match 2016 levels, with many expected to set their sights outside Vancouver.

“Barring unforeseen circumstances, we expect Chinese real estate investment in 2017 to come close to matching that of 2016. There is no firm data, but National Bank of Canada hypothesizes that Chinese invest around $38 billion annually in Canadian property,” Charles Pittar, CEO of Juwai.com, said “That’s a tremendous boon for the country and is more than double the $16.4 billion annual value of Canada’s number one export to China, agricultural products.”

Juwai.com, a Chinese international property portal that contains international listings and draws over 2 million visitors a year, teamed up with Sotheby’s to pen its latest report, China to Canada: International Home Buyer Insights.

The report found that demand for conventional housing from potential overseas investors outweighs demand for luxury homes.

The vast majority of users search for homes below $500,000, with those inquiries comprising 57% of Vancouver’s searches, 67% of Calgary’s, and 68% of Toronto and Montreal’s.

The study also found Vancouver property searches fell 81% year-over-year in July 2016, one month after the city’s 15% foreign buyer tax was announced. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, interest for pricier homes in Vancouver encountered much less of a decline in interest. 

Properties listed at $1 million and above experienced an enquiry drop following the policy announcement, but rebounded to an 18% year-over-year increase in Q4 of last year.

Toronto, meanwhile, experienced a 2% year-over-year uptick in listings searches following the announcement before ending Q4 at +18% year-over-year.

“As political and economic headwinds drive people from around the world to seek lifestyle and financial oases, Canada’s major cities are becoming increasingly attractive real estate destinations,” says Brad Henderson, President and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada. “This report sheds new light on emerging trends in the motivation, influence and interests of Chinese homebuyers so that future market activity can be better anticipated.”

Copyright © 2017 Key Media

Man allegedly takes out $10M in China, disappears, then buys four homes in Vancouver

SAM COOPER
The Vancouver Sun

A Chinese bank has won a landmark ruling against a Chinese man who allegedly disappeared from China with an unpaid $10-million dollar loan in 2014, and quickly purchased four Vancouver-area homes.

China CITIC Bank won a freezing order against three luxury homes in Surrey last summer. But the bank won’t be able to collect payment against the properties in the case.

In B.C. Supreme Court in February, Shibiao Yan was ordered to comply with an arbitration ruling in China to repay China CITIC Bank for the loan he took out in 2014, as president of a company named Tanyuan Wood.

CITIC alleged that Yan and his wife Yahui Gao bought a Vancouver home and three South Surrey homes worth about $8 million in total over several months in mid-2014, shortly after he withdrew $10-million in one transaction from the bank’s line of credit.

“Based on … routine anti-money laundering due diligence, CITIC Bank believes that Mr. Yan and (his wife) Ms. Gao disappeared from China,” legal filings from the bank say. 

Court documents say that Yan applied for the credit line from CITIC in June 2014. Yan incorporated the B.C. company TYMY Investments in March 2014, legal filings say, and his wife bought the $2.5-million Vancouver home a month later. 

Yahui Gao still owns the Vancouver home where the family is believed to live, according to court filings. This home was not subject to the freezing order and is now assessed at $3.94 million. 

The three Surrey homes bought in 2014 and originally subject to CITIC’s freezing order have been sold and “collection remains difficult,” according to Christine Duhaime, the Vancouver lawyer who obtained the so-called Mareva injunction against Yan’s B.C. assets.

In September 2016, Yan’s lawyer successfully applied to alter CITIC’s freezing order to exempt any bank accounts or property assets of TYMY Investments, Yahui Gao, or another person named Pengfei Luo, legal filings say. The order only applies to Yan’s money at an HSBC branch in Vancouver, a Scotiabank branch in Richmond, and a TD branch in Richmond.

“They said that the homes were owned by a trust, and that there is a beneficial ownership structure,” Duhaime said in an interview, explaining Yan’s application arguments. “And therefore other people like his wife were the owners, and he wasn’t. So CITIC bank wasn’t entitled to take the proceeds of the homes. The homes proceeded to be sold, because the court said … we don’t know that really he is behind this (home ownership.)”

B.C. court and corporate documents show that Shibiao Yan of 712 West 64th Avenue in Vancouver registered the company TYMY Investments Ltd., on March 7, 2014. On the same day Shibiao Yan ceased to be a director, records say, and two new directors were named — Yahui Gao and Pengfei Luo — both with mailing addresses at 712 West 64th Avenue. 

Duhaime said CITIC’s court actions against Yan will continue.

“Now it is a matter of finding where in the world his bank accounts are, and trying to get more court orders to force him to divulge his financial information and pay,” Duhaime said.  

Meanwhile, court filings from CITIC say that Yan and his company Tanyuan Wood are subject to numerous collection efforts in China. 

“Mr. Yan has other creditors in China, who we understand have attempted to locate him. In the past, CITIC bank applied to freeze the property of the Mr. Yan in China … including real property, and learned his properties were frozen by other creditors,” court filings say.

CITIC’s filings say that in December 2014 Yan sold his Tanyuan shares worth about $6.5 million in breach of their loan agreement. According to CITIC’s filings, in July 2016 CITIC attended Tanyuan’s office site and found: “There are not 35 employees employed at Tanyuan Wood, as alleged by Mr. Yan — there are zero employees employed at Tanyuan Wood.”

Duhaime said that Yan is in Canada on a visitor’s visa. On Monday Yan’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.

Court filings from CITIC say that the bank’s anti-money laundering and international asset collection office undertook a global search, in 2016 a private investigator collected a number of documents outside the 712 West 64th home of Yahui Gao, including a “destroyed HSBC Premier World MasterCard,” in the name of Shibiao Yan, torn letters from Scotiabank in Richmond informing Yan and Gao that their accounts would be moved to a new branch, and a torn bank draft from Toronto Dominion Bank in Richmond for $400,000, payable to Ms. Gao.

There was also a torn note that included the words Tan Yuan, which said “until the official investigation to find out the true facts I naturally will return to carry on business,” legal filings say.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.