Monument to take its place in the desirable Vancouver neighbourhood

Kathleen Freimond
The Province

The Greek community’s long history in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood has a special connection for Epta Development Corporation, the developer behind the 22-unit Monument project on Larch Street.

“The Greek community is inextricably linked to the fabric of the neighbourhood,” notes Epta principal Chris Tsakumis it makes this endeavour as a family business – as a Greek family – all the more special and poignant.”

The building is intended to be an architectural statement: a contemporary esthetic with a meaningful nod to West Coast design. Yamamoto Architecture was tasked with designing a modern building, but using exterior elements that relate to the character of the neighbourhood.

“The exterior was a culmination of putting together those West Coast elements that you would traditionally see in a lot of Vancouver architecture: so the concrete, metal cladding, longboard and natural stone are all components of the building exterior, and then softening that up with landscape elements, including the communal rooftop area, which is partially a green roof,” Tsakumis says.

Monument is designed for buyers who are interested in a lock-and-leave home, says Tsakumis, citing the project’s access to local shops and amenities and future rapid transit, all in a premium location.

The interior design reflects the focus on buyers who don’t want to compromise on features like high-end appliances just because they are moving to a smaller home.

“They want the comforts that they’re accustomed to and that means delivering on an interior package that’s going to be consistent with the lifestyle that they currently have,” Tsakumis adds.

In the sales centre display kitchen, high-end Gaggenau appliances – including a five-burner gas cooktop, wall oven, speed oven, integrated refrigerator with bottom freezer and dishwasher – enhance the design with their clean lines.

The white cabinets have Shaker doors with a very fine rail to support the modern look and feel, while also including a gesture to the character homes in the area. The flat-panel doors in the island are a warm taupe-grey that pick up the grey veining in the marble-look sintered stone backsplash.

In the ensuite bathroom at the sales centre, marble-look porcelain tiles clad the wall and floor, while a recessed kick gives the impression of a floating double vanity, contributing to the spacious feel in the room which is also enhanced by the shower’s frameless glass enclosure. The pulls on the cabinets were custom designed to add a refined touch to the space, which also has a large linen cupboard. Main bathrooms will include a tub.

While the stone-look material choices and cabinetry will be consistent throughout the units, buyers can change the look of their condo by selecting either a light oak hardwood floor, or a darker, warmer oak hardwood floor.

Monument

What: 22 one-, two- and three-bedroom homes

Where: 2485 Larch Street, Vancouver

Residence size and prices: 895 —1,510 square feet;

$1,199,900 — $2,599,900

Developer: Epta Development Corporation

Sales centre: 2094 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver

Summer hours: Sat and Sun noon – 5 p.m., or by appointment

Telephone: 604-336-9350

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc.

Critics shatter allure of glass buildings

Joanne Lee-Young
The Province

Vancouver, the City of Glass, known for its tall condo towers and their walls of floor-to-ceiling windows, is being asked to reassess its namesake form of building.

It comes as more architects, energy analysts and even politicians criticize such buildings for being among the biggest producers of carbon emissions.

In cities as diverse as London and New York, there is a discussion over whether all-glass buildings should be banned because they tend to trap heat and light. This makes them hard and expensive to cool in warm weather and the use of air conditioning on the rise. But they are also terrible for “leaking” energy and warmth.

The International Energy Agency estimates that about 40 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions in the world is tied to buildings and the construction of buildings.

“We have said before that ‘wood is good,” said Andy Yan, director of The City Program at Simon Fraser University.

Yan pointed to a recent B.C. Hydro report that said newer highrise buildings use twice as much electricity as those constructed in the 1980s.

“You have to say ‘what the hell?’ We have had a kind of faux sustainability that makes it look like we were being sustainable.”

Vancouver developer Bruce Langereis has been talking for some time about his vision for the world’s tallest wood tower on the city’s west side at a site on 8th Avenue and Pine Street. He is the president of Vancouver-based Delta Land Development. About a year and a half ago, a letter of inquiry was submitted to the City of Vancouver  to begin the process of getting a rezoning.

There’s still a considerable road ahead for the proposed 40-storey, mixed-use building to be designed by architects at Perkins + Will, for a location with mostly shorter buildings.

However, perhaps there could be a shift in thinking about development policies to encourage tall-wood construction, which so far, has been considered innovative and expensive, says Langereis.

 “A lot of the story has, so far, been all about tall wood. But that’s not the only part of it. Structure is only one aspect. The other part is about zero emissions and sequestering carbon.”

“The City of Vancouver has declared a climate emergency,” Langereis says. “Every city council has. And you can look at bike lanes and auto emissions, but there have been studies which put the number for glass buildings accounting for 40 per cent of (the world’s) carbon emissions.”

Langereis says it’s not to criticize tall, glass buildings, but to recognize that some of them are 20 or 30 years old.

Yan says there’s an opportunity for developers “to up their game” when it comes to looking at some different building practices. “The City of Glass was of a time when avocado green and burnt orange were de rigueur … and we are now looking for a way of building that is more sustainable.”

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc.

National Energy Board confirms pre-construction conditions have been met at Westridge Marine and Burnaby storage terminals

Western Investor

The National Energy Board (NEB) has given Trans Mountain the green light to resume construction at two of its pipeline terminals in Burnaby, B.C.

The board approved the company’s request August 1 to resume work at its Westridge Marine and Burnaby storage terminals, as well as the tunnel that connects the two.

“We’re pleased that the NEB has confirmed that we’ve met all the pre-construction conditions required to get construction underway at Burnaby Terminal, Westridge Marine Terminal and the Westridge Tunnel Portal site,” Trans Mountain said in a statement.

“Meeting pre-construction conditions is one of several things that we need to have in place before getting shovels in the ground.”

The company has yet to be given approval to continue work at its terminal in Edmonton. The NEB said it is still reviewing pre-construction conditions.

The board has also cleared the company to build temporary infrastructure sites in Kamloops, Merritt, Hope, Chilliwack, and Abbotsford.

The federal government reconfirmed its decision to expand the pipeline in June, nine months after the federal appeals court ripped up the government’s original approval, citing incomplete Indigenous consultations and a faulty environmental review.

Two Fort St. John pipeline contractors have been selected to build nearly one-third of the 1,100-kilometre expansion through southern B.C.

Copyright © Western Investor

Toronto housing sales jumped 24% over a year ago

Steve Randall
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

July brought some good news for the Toronto housing market as sales bounced 24.3% higher than a year ago.

Toronto Real Estate Board reported 8,595 sales through its MLS system, a 5.1% month-over-month gain after preliminary seasonal adjustment. Sales outpaced new listings, which gained 3.7% year-over-year while inventory tightened by 9.1% compared to July 2018.

TREB CEO John DiMichele says that, although the impact of the mortgage stress test remains, pent-up demand is growing as Torontonians are still keen to buy homes, especially with continuing population growth of 40-50K each year.

“As more and more households come to terms with the stress test and move back into the market in the coming months and years, they could suffer from a chronically under-supplied marketplace and an acceleration of home price growth to unsustainable levels. Fortunately, policy makers have acknowledged the housing supply issue and are working toward solutions,” he said.

Prices rise amid tighter market

The average selling price increased by 3.2% year-over-year to $806,755 and the MLS® Home Price Index Composite benchmark was up by 4.4% per cent.

The price growth continues to be driven by higher density home types while detached home prices remained down in many communities throughout the GTA.

“Broadly speaking, increased competition between buyers for available properties has resulted in relatively strong price growth above the rate of inflation for semi-detached houses, townhouses and condominium apartments. However, the single-detached market segment, which has arguably been impacted most by the OSFI stress test, has experienced a slower pace of price growth, with average detached prices remaining lower than last year’s levels in some parts of the GTA,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Chief Market Analyst.

Government helping supply

TREB president Michael Collins said he welcomed the City of Toronto and provincial government working to find solutions on the supply side.

“Based on Mayor John Tory’s motion, Toronto City Council gave City staff a strong mandate to report back on how to develop a greater diversity of housing options in traditional single-family neighbourhoods, including timelines. Similarly, we’ve seen the Provincial Government launch consultations to spur on, and speed up, the development of different forms of housing in conjunction with their ‘More Homes, More Choice’ Plan. TREB looks forward to working with the City and the Province to turn their initiatives into reality,” he said.

Copyright © 2019 Key Media Pty Ltd

Foreign home owners paid speculation and vacancy tax

Ephraim Vecina
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

Majority of those who were penalized by BC’s speculation and vacancy tax in its first year were foreign home owners, according to the finance ministry.

Of the 12,029 taxpayers who remitted by July 2, as much as 4,485 were foreign nationals. This was followed by satellite families (3,241 individuals), BC residents (2,410), and non-BC Canadians (1,555).

The ministry’s final “other” category, which includes homes owned by corporations or trusts, had 238 taxpayers.

The ministry added that taxed residences were approximately 46% more expensive than exempted assets located in the taxable areas.

Overall, the levy had an estimated $115 million in revenue in just its first year, significantly outstripping the initial $87-million estimate cited in the 2019 provincial budget.

High assessment values in BC’s housing market, which had a larger-than-expected average of $1.62 million, were a major factor in this revenue.

Finance Minister Carole James hailed the tax as a major factor in improving rental supply, with empty properties being used as housing.

She assured that the collected funds will be used to address the long-running affordability crisis by improving housing access and supply.

“The speculation and vacancy tax was designed to make sure foreign owners, satellite families and people who use local services without paying income tax in B.C. contribute to the quality of life we all enjoy in this province,” James stated in a news release, as quoted by Star Vancouver.

Copyright © 2019 Key Media Pty Ltd

A Bloomberg study suggests Canada may be heading for a downturn

Ephraim Vecina
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

A Bloomberg study has found Canada to be one of the nations at greatest risk of a housing downturn, but Royal Bank of Canada CEO David McKay asserted that the market remains “as something in well-balanced territory.”

“We continue to monitor all supply-and-demand signals coming out of the housing market,” McKay stated in an interview with Bloomberg.

“We do expect housing stock investment to slow over the coming year, and there will be a little less creation in the condo and single-family home markets, responding to potentially slower demand,” the executive admitted, but quickly added that “the housing price and resale market corrections are generally healthy.”

The statements came in the wake of a recent analysis by Bloomberg Economics, which deemed Canada and New Zealand as the economies most vulnerable to housing price corrections.

In both nations, the potential danger was indicated by the price-income and price-rent ratios far exceeding their respective long-term averages.

Fortunately, these trends would not automatically lead to crisis. “We’re going to see some markets cool a lot more than they have, but we needed to slow this down through policy.”

The federal government, and especially fiscal watchdog OSFI, has been roundly criticized for the B-20 rules instituted last year. Nevertheless, the results have shown that it was, on the whole, a good step to take.

“Vetting consumers for a higher-interest-rate environment was prudent. It’s taken a number of buyers out of the market – temporarily, as they build a greater down payment for that mortgage,” McKay explained.

As the regulations arose from a very specific market context, they will have to adapt to shifting conditions accordingly.

“At the time, with the heated markets and the growth and the amount of foreign capital coming in, competing with domestic capital for residential housing stock, it was prudent,” McKay said. “As things slow down, we may have to take a second look at some parts and tweak them, but from a structural perspective, it was prudent policy.”

Copyright © 2019 Key Media Pty Ltd

Q2 2019 performance good for RE/MAX

Ephraim Vecina
Mortgage Broker News

After a robust Q2 2019 performance despite some road bumps in Canada and the U.S., real estate brokerage RE/MAX is looking towards sustained strength in all metrics for the full year.

Overall agent count grew by 3.2% year-over-year, to a total of 127,020 agents. Canada and the U.S. still represented the larger fraction of the real estate firm’s workforce, but their combined agent count fell by 2% annually to end up at 84,133 agents.

This weakness was counteracted by the RE/MAX Motto Mortgage franchise, which expanded to 98 offices.

“Continued Motto Mortgage expansion and healthy international RE/MAX growth helped offset lower revenue in the second quarter driven by ongoing uneven housing market conditions in the U.S. and Canada,” RE/MAX Holdings CEO Adam Contos.

“Against this backdrop, we continue to leverage the strength of our business model to deliver profitable growth by prudently managing our cost structure while making the necessary strategic investments in our network, our value proposition and future growth opportunities.”

The possibility of better housing market conditions on both sides of the border is giving RE/MAX hope for a strong 2019 finish.

“As we move through the second half of 2019, we remain cautiously optimistic that the U.S. housing market will show signs of improvement. Given lower interest rates, solid demand, and increasing inventory, the ingredients are there to spur increased home sales, but supply and affordability remain overhangs.”

For the full year, RE/MAX Holdings adjusted its expectations for agent count increase from 2.0% to 4.0% annually. Revenues, including those from marketing funds, are expected to range from $279.5 million to $283.5 million.

Copyright © 2019 Key Media

Vacancy tax to be used to improve housing access

Ephraim Vecina
Mortgage Broker News

British Columbia’s speculation and vacancy tax generated an estimated $115 million in its first year, the provincial ministry reported last month.

The figure was considerably higher than the initial $87-million estimate cited in the 2019 provincial budget.

Said revenue came about partly due to high assessment values in the province’s housing market, which posted a larger-than-expected average of $1.62 million.

Finance Minister Carole James hailed the tax as a major factor in improving rental supply, with empty properties being used as housing. She said that the collected funds will be used to address the long-running affordability crisis by improving housing access and supply.

“The speculation and vacancy tax was designed to make sure foreign owners, satellite families and people who use local services without paying income tax in B.C. contribute to the quality of life we all enjoy in this province,” James stated in a news release, as quoted by Star Vancouver.

A significant proportion of the 12,029 who paid the tax by July 2 were foreign owners (4,485 taxpayers), the Ministry added.

This was followed by satellite families (3,241 individuals), BC residents (2,410), and non-BC Canadians (1,555). The final “other” classification, which encompassed assets owned by corporations or trusts, had 238 taxpayers.

The Ministry noted that taxed residences were approximately 46% more expensive than exempted houses situated in the taxable areas.

Copyright © 2019 Key Media

July sales in Metro Vancouver up

Steve Randall
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

Home sales in Metro Vancouver saw an increase in July, a month that is usually quieter.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported 2,557 residential sales, up 23.5% from a year earlier, and a 23.1% increase from the previous month.

It meant that July posted the second highest sales total so far in 2019, although sales were still 7.8% below the 10-year average for the month.

“While home sale activity remains below long-term averages, we saw an increase in sales in July compared to the less active spring we experienced,” Ashley Smith, REBGV president said. “Those looking to buy today continue to benefit from low interest rates, increased selection, and reduced prices compared to the heated market a few years ago.”

New listings were down 3.3% year over year and down 4.9% month-over-month to 4,613, while total inventory was up 17.3% from a year earlier to 14,240 (down 4.9% from June 2019).

The sales-to-active listings ratio for July 2019 was 18%; 13.5% for detached homes, 20% for townhomes, and 22% for apartments.

Prices ease

Benchmark prices continue to decrease across property types in Metro Vancouver.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver in July was $995,200, down 9.4% year-over-year and down 0.3% from June 2019.

For detached properties, the benchmark of $1,417,000 is 10.5% below July 2018 and down 0.5% from June 2019.

The benchmark price of an apartment property was $653,200, down 8.8% year-over-year and down 0.2% month-over-month.

The benchmark price of an attached unit was down 9% year-over-year and down 0.6% month-over-month to $770,000.

Copyright © 2019 Key Media Pty Ltd