Only city that bridges boards reveals extent of housing boom

WI Staff
Western Investor

— Detached house in Ladner listed on REW.ca this week at $1.19 million. Re/Max City Realty

The market is hot when it comes to single-detached houses in the City of Delta, the only municipality that is bridges both of B.C.’s largest real estate boards. While south of the Fraser River, Delta is split between the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), which includes south Delta, and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB), which represents north Delta.

Both boards released their regional sales figures for the month of January this week.

It shows that the housing mania in the Lower Mainland blurs the board’s border, with typical home prices are now nearly the same on both sides, and much higher than a year ago.

The REBGV reports that total residential home sales in the region, which includes Ladner and Tsawwassen, saw a 52.1 per cent increase from the sales recorded in January 2020. Last month’s sales were also 36.4 per cent above the 10-year January sales average.

The total number of homes currently listed for sale in Metro Vancouver is 3.6 per cent lower compared to January 2020, and a 2.7 per cent decrease compared to December 2020.

Meanwhile, sales of detached homes in January 2021 saw a 68.6 per cent increase from the detached sales recorded in January 2020.

The benchmark price for a single-detached house in Ladner was $1,076,300 in January, up 14.1 per cent from the same time last year. In Tsawwassen, it was $1,250,900, up 15.3 per cent from the previous year.

As for the North Delta and the Fraser Valley area, the FVRB notes that in a month that is usually one of the quietest in real estate, Fraser Valley’s total market continued at a breakneck pace, producing the strongest January sales on record.

Sales of all Valley property types in January 2021 saw a startling increase of 76 per cent compared to January 2020.

Sales of detached houses in January soared 86 per cent in the Fraser Valley compared to a year earlier, with benchmark prices up 15.2 per cent to $1,106,500. Detached houses are outselling both the townhouse and condo apartment sectors, the FVREB reports.

The benchmark price of a house in North Delta last month was $1,010,900, up 10.3 per cent from January 2020.

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© Copyright 2020 Western Investor

FBI join cold-case hunt for agent?s killers

Cindy E. Harnett
Western Investor

Burnaby issues RFO for ‘prime’ 17-acre industrial site

Wl Staff
Western Investor

Vacant land is at 3990 Marine Way in South Burnaby. |City of Burnaby

The City of Burnaby, where industrial land is scarce and the industrial vacancy rate is among the lowest in Metro Vancouver, is looking to sell a “prime” 17-acre light industrial property at 3990 Marine Way.

Bids starting at $63 million are being accepted to purchase the land, but there is an option for a 60-year lease.

The city’s preference is for the land being developed for light industrial, office space, or new media and film production studios.

The request for offers is under the condition that the successful bidder will apply to rezone the site to permit a site-specific development, “and thereafter construct a development in line with specified development parameters and time frames.”

The 17.1-acre site is in the Big Bend neighbourhood, part of a major industrial and business park in South Burnaby.

“This is a rare and exciting opportunity to develop a parcel with so much potential,” said Mayor Mike Hurley in a news release. “It’s a fantastic location, and we’re looking for proponents who want to create jobs in our community and create a home for businesses that want to put down roots in Burnaby.”

The industrial vacancy rate in Burnaby is 1 per cent, according to Avison Young, lower than the Metro Vancouver average vacancy of 1.2 per cent.

In its February 2 announcement, the promoted the location as being near public transit, parks, walking trails and shopping. The Riverway Golf Course, Burnaby Fraser Foreshore Park and Market Crossing Shopping Centre are all nearby.

There are no buildings on the site, which is currently assessed to be worth $60 million – up from the $52.4-million valuation a year ago, according to BC Assessments.

The minimum bid to purchase the lot is $63 million, while the minimum bid for a 60-year lease is $54.6 million, according to a news release from the city.

The closing date for the sale offer is 4 p.m. on April 2.

 

© Copyright 2020 Western Investor

Gas producers push for $6B in B.C. investments

Nelson Bennett
Western Investor

B.C. could overtake Alberta as the Canada’s No.1 natural gas producer as environmental measures produce a premium payback

— AltaGas’s new propane export terminal in Prince Rupert, B.C. | AltaGas

Timothy Egan, president of the Canadian Gas Association, said his association has forwarded a list of 70 natural gas related projects, worth a total of $12 billion, to the federal government that are “shovel-ready projects that could help trigger fast economic returns.”

They include infrastructure projects (pipelines, gas processing, etc.), transportation, LNG projects, green retrofits, and renewable gas proposals.

“Roughly half of them – or $ 6 billion worth — are in B.C.,” Egan said.

Canadian producers say natural gas and LNG from B.C. should command a green premium, since it has a lower carbon intensity.

For one thing, regulations in B.C. limit the use of flaring and venting, and it is implementing regulations to further reduce methane emissions from production by 45 per cent.

The B.C. government has been investing in new transmission lines to deliver power to northeastern B.C., which has allowed natural gas plants and pipelines that would otherwise burn natural gas to convert to clean hydro power.

And companies like Shell Canada have taken an approach to building pipelines and drilling wells that also avoids emissions.

“We pre-build our pipelines,” said Kim Code, vice president of upstream operations for Shell Canada. ”That reduces the flaring that would otherwise have happened.”

Shell Canada also uses recycled water for its fracking operations, which is delivered from – and returned to — holding ponds via water pipelines, which reduces the use of trucks.

“Because we also pre-build our water pipelines, that also means that, whereas … if we didn’t have pipelines built, we would have trucks on the road,” Code said.

Pacific Canbriam Energy also uses recycled water for its fracking operations.

“Our entire field is pipeline connected, taking all the water trucks off the road,” said Donna Phillips, executive vice president of corporate development for Pacific Canbriam.

“In addition to the water trucks, we have eliminated trucking of natural gas liquids through the construction of a natural gas liquids pipeline.”

In 2020, all of the water used in Pacific Canbriam’s fracking operations was recycled, Phillips said.

Gas drill count up

The number of new B.C. natural gas wells drilled in 2020 by Tourmaline Oil Corp., one of the biggest operators in the B.C. Montney region, was slightly higher than in 2019, according to the BC Oil and Gas Commission.

“We had no layoffs, and we were employing a lot of service sector employees back in the basin, as we call it, in the smaller towns like Dawson Creek and Fort St. John and Hinton and Edson,” Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose said January 28 in a session on the upstream oil and gas sector at the BC Natural Resources Forum.

Between 2013 and 2018, Tourmaline has reduced the CO2 intensity of its operations by 46 per cent, Rose said, and has plans for further reductions in both CO2 and methane from its operations over the next five years.

“Our goal is a 25 per cent further reduction over those next five years,” he said.

One area the company is now focusing on is converting all of its drill rigs and completion operations from diesel to natural gas, which will achieve further reductions, both in emissions and costs.

“It generates a meaningful CO2 reduction, as well as associated compounds that are created when you burn diesel, but also reduces our costs, after we pay out our capital investments,” Rose said. “So shareholders get a double win. They get a net cleaner methane molecule and they get a more profitable company.”

He added that if the whole sector converted from diesel to natural gas, the emissions reductions would be “enormous.”

Global export expansion

Ultimately, he thinks B.C.’s natural gas sector has a bright future.

“Any worldwide demand projection that you look at — even those with the most aggressive renewables build out — natural gas is the largest component of the energy stack for several decades to come,” Rose said.

“It’s also the most affordable in that energy stack. For Canada, with its ever-cleaner methane molecules, we should be providing as much of the world’s growing (natural) gas requirements as possible.”

Big players are betting on it.

AltaGas Ltd. built a propane export terminal in Prince Rupert, and Royal Vopak is expected to soon make a final investment decision on a new bulk liquids terminal in Prince Rupert as well that would store and export propane, as well as other liquids.

And, of course, all that “dry” gas that is the byproduct of natural gas liquids production in B.C. will also soon have a new market in Asia, in the form of liquefied natural gas. The $40 billion investment being made by LNG Canada is the largest private investment ever made in Canada to date.

A recent Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) forecast the shift away from coal and oil is expected to increase the global demand for natural gas, since it is the lower-carbon energy source of choice for the firm power needed to backstop intermittent wind and solar power.

The CER used two scenarios in its modelling, including one in which Canada and other countries increased efforts to decarbonize and shift away from oil.

“Under both scenarios, B.C. continues to have strong natural gas production growth and will, in fact, become the largest natural gas producer in Canada by 2040,” said Gitane De Silva, tCER’s chief executive officer.

Alberta is currently the largest natural gas producer in Canada.

“Our projections see B.C. natural gas production being driven by liquids production, as well as LNG export assumptions,” De Silva said. “So we see natural gas as extremely important to Canada’s economic energy recovery, and it will only increase in importance over the next 30 years.”

 

© Copyright 2020 Western Investor

Local buyers keep Victoria housing market steaming

Andrew Duffy
Western Investor

Crestpoint buys FedEx centre in Winnipeg

Wl Staff
Western Investor

Purchase of 38-acre distribution facility latest sign of investor action in Winnipeg’s strong industrial sector.

— The new FedEx distribution centre, Winnipeg, has sold. | Crestpoint

Toronto-based Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. has bought the FedEx distribution centre in Winnipeg, bringing Crestpoint’s total assets under management to $5.5 billion.

Situated on 38.1 acres of land in the St.Boniface Industrial Park in southeast Winnipeg, the FedEx centre is a 248,000-square-foot brand new design-build package distribution and sorting facility. St. Boniface is Winnipeg’s second largest industrial park and offers access to numerous key transportation routes.

The state-of-the-art Class-A facility features a clear height of 28 feet with 76 dock loading doors and six drive-in doors. The single-tenant industrial property is fully leased to FedEx for 15 years.

The single-tenant FedEx complex is the second industrial acquisition that Crestpoint has made in Winnipeg in the past 14 months.

“Given its central location within the Winnipeg market and the long-term commitment from such a reputable tenant we are really excited to add this asset to our Fund.” said Kevin Leon, president & CEO of Crestpoint.

Crestpoint did not release the purchase price.

Winnipeg has a relatively strong industrial sector, with a vacancy rate of 4.2 per cent and a total of 373,000 square feet of positive lease-up in 2020, Colliers International reports.

There is growing demand for new industrial product as much of the existing inventory is now considered obsolete. QuadReal’s new 175,000-square-foot NorthWest Business Park was fully leased prior to completion last year, as one example.

The Plessis Business Park has started in the St. Boniface Industrial Park. The first building is now ready for occupancy and features new and modern construction with high 28′ ceilings and low-site coverage for optimal truck movements, according to Shindico Realty Inc.

Winnipeg developer MMI Asset Management Ltd. broke ground October 15, 2020, on a new $46 million, 17-acre industrial park at CentrePort Canada in suburban Rosser. The Steele Business Park will see the first of three 80,000-square-foot buildings completed and ready for occupancy by the end of summer 2021.

With 528,000 square feet of new industrial underway in the Winnipeg region “supply will begin to meet demand as we head into 2021,” according to Colliers most recent Winnipeg industrial report.

 

© Copyright 2020 Western Investor

U.K. architects design condos near Vancouver?s Stanley Park as tall, curvy trees

Susan Lazaruk
The Vancouver Sun

Rendering of a highrise project proposal for Vancouver. The two towers, at 1728 Alberni St and 735 Bidwell St., are made to look like trees. Photo by Picture Plane Ltd /PNG

Is Vancouver ready for tree houses?

Two new residential towers proposed for Alberni and Bidwell streets in the West End are designed to mimic large undulating cedars to lend a Vancouver character and identity to the project, according to the design architects, Heatherwick Studio from the U.K.

The design uses the “tree as our inspiration,” with the “idea of gentle curving vertical structures that connect the public on the ground floor to the top of the towers,” the architects say in materials to support a rezoning application for the land.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, instead of the usual open house for the project, the city is holding an online question-and-answer period, from Feb. 22 to March 14. The application is being considered under the rezoning policy for the West End, and the city is inviting comments on how the proposal would fit into the surrounding neighbourhood.

The project is the first highrise complex the world-renowned architectural firm has designed in Canada. In the report, the designers say they wanted to counter the “generic glass and steel towers which look and feel the same no matter where you are in the world.”

 

It called that style “boring and sterile” and lacking in character and identity.

It offers critiques of a half-dozen existing condo buildings on Alberni, and none is flattering. It notes the “imposing facade” of one and the “unwelcoming entrance” of another. A third building has a “defensive landscape” and a fourth offers “empty spaces” at street level.

“It’s difficult to have a positive emotional connection with a huge, flat building,” the architects said.

 

 

Artists renderings Photo by Picture Plane Ltd /PNG

The two tree towers, one 30 storeys, the other 34, at 1728 Alberni St. and 735 Bidwell St., would be made up of 401 strata residential units — studios and one, two and three bedrooms — with balconies and views to the mountains, Stanley Park and the harbour.

The project proposes more spaces for bikes (524) than for cars (499). The buildings would replace two mid-1980s-era apartment towers on the land.

The new towers would sit on a five-storey, “mixed use podium” that would incorporate varied architectural materials, including wood and lots of greenery. Each of the buildings’ two bases is styled after a “green mountain” that would house restaurants and shops, and have a ground-floor plaza designed to be closed off in winter and opened up in summer.

 

Rendering of a hi-rise project proposal for Vancouver. Photo by Francis Georgian /PNG

Design elements are borrowed from nearby Denman and Davie villages to incorporate the vibrancy of that street life, and from low-rise neighbourhoods, which have sunlight for pedestrians, grass among the pavement and mini-parks.

It said the complex is designed with an “active ground plain” intended to attract a diversity of people, be accessible and lively, and foster community belonging.

The project is to be jointly developed by Bosa Properties and Kingswood Properties.

“The concept aims to bring a new level of global design excellence to Vancouver, featuring two curvaceous, light-filled towers and a publicly accessible ground-level plaza for community engagement,” Heatherwick said in a statement.

It’s not known when the buildings, if approved, would be completed.

[email protected]

twitter.com/susanlazaruk

© 2021 Vancouver Sun, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved.

No, Canada?s housing market won?t crash

Neil Sharma
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

No, Canada?s housing market won?t crash

Neil Sharma
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

COVID-19 and Urban Flight: GTA Cities That Were Winners and Losers

Jannine Rane
other

According to a new report from Statistics Canada, more Canadians were “opting to live outside of Canada’s largest urban centres” between July 2019 and 2020, contributing to ongoing urban sprawl. The report cites that this trend continued “in spite of” the pandemic; likely a reflection of shifting lifestyle priorities including the ability to work remotely, and the need for green space, as well as swiftly growing real estate prices in major urban centres.

Zoocasa looked at home sales and average sold price data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) for the period between April 2020, the first full-month after COVID emergency measures were implemented and December 2020, to quantify this trend of urban flight during the pandemic within the GTA.

For this report, we looked at sales and sold home price data for houses (semi-detached and detached properties) and condo apartments for municipalities across the GTA between April and December 2020, and calculated the change in sales and average sold price compared to the same period in 2019. 

Our findings indicate that there was  a higher rate of sales and price growth for low-rise homes versus condo apartments in nearly every region. For the GTA as a whole, this translated to an 11% increase in detached and semi-detached house sales but conversely a 10% decrease in condo apartment sales between April and December 2020 compared to 2019. The average house price rose 13% or $132,736 to $1,123,618 year-over-year (y-o-y) during this period, and the average condo apartment price rose just 4% or $26,056, to $621,637.   

Further, there was clear evidence of the trend of urban flight taking place. Although there was an increase in sales and average sold detached and semi-detached house prices across every GTA region other than Dufferin County in 2020, the increase in sales and prices was most prominent in regions outside of the City of Toronto – municipalities furthest from the City of Toronto generally saw the largest jumps in the growth rate of house sales. In the condo apartment market, condo-dense regions like the City of Toronto and Peel Region experienced declines in condo apartment sales, however prices noted a slight y-o-y increase. 

Simcoe County Had the Highest % Increase in House Sales Among GTA Regions

Within Simcoe County, detached and semi-detached house sales grew 21% y-o-y for the period between April and December 2020, with 2,393 houses changing hands. The average sold price grew 17% annually to $766,083. Within Simcoe County, Innisfil recorded a 36% increase in detached and semi-detached house sales – the highest for the region – with 829 sales. 

Following Simcoe County was Durham Region, where there were 1,143 more detached and semi-detached house sales between April and December 2020 compared to the same period in 2019; a 17% increase y-o-y. The average house price rose by $117,263, to $775,213. Within the Durham Region, Scugog (+35%) and Brock (+32%) noted the highest rate of increase in sales. 

According to David Micek, a Zoocasa agent in Durham Region, “housing activity is off the charts in Durham Region. Following a brief lull at the beginning of 2020 and through April, buyers returned to the market in full force, and a lot faster than sellers did.” As such, Micek notes that inventory has been slow to catch up to growing demand, resulting in competitive market conditions and upward pressure on house prices. 

Indeed, the average detached and semi-detached house price in Durham rose 18% or $117,263. The average price in Scugog and Brock where sales growth for houses was highest, increased $170,535 and $84,013 respectively.

Elsewhere in the GTA, smaller and less populous municipalities experienced a higher increase in detached and semi-detached house sales on a y-o-y basis. For example, the York Region municipality of King recorded an impressive 75% increase in house sales y-o-y and a 20% annual increase in the average home price to $1,798,590 between April and December 2020. Similarly, Georgina in York Region noted a 36% spike in house sales during this timeframe and a 24% increase in the average house price to $710,758. Within Peel Region, Caledon experienced the largest increase in annual house sales – rising 29% y-o-y. The average sold price for detached and semi-detached houses in Caledon grew 21% to $1,224,675. 

Notably, while positive, sales growth for detached and semi-detached houses was relatively more subdued within the City of Toronto. House sales growth was relatively flat y-o-y, with just 99 more houses selling between April and December 2020 compared to the previous year, a mere 1% increase. The average sold price during this period was $1,404,498, an 11% increase y-o-y. 

City of Toronto Condo Sales Down 12%, While Simcoe County Records 108% Annual Increase in Sales

For the City of Toronto, where there is the highest concentration of condo apartments across the GTA, condo apartment sales dipped 12% y-o-y to 11,634; however, sold prices remained relatively steady with a slight 3% increase to $662,959. 

Across all GTA regions, condo apartment sales noted the sharpest decline in Peel Region. Sales across Peel Region declined -20% y-o-y for the period between April and December 2020. Despite the drop in sales, however, the average home price for condo apartments grew 9% to $515,801 in Peel – possibly driven by buyers seeking  larger units with more square footage due to pandemic-driven lifestyle shifts. Within Peel Region, condo sales declined 22% in Brampton and 20% in Mississauga, while prices rose 13% and 8% respectively in both municipalities.

Elsewhere across the GTA, perhaps surprisingly so, condo apartment sales grew y-o-y, and average sold prices followed suit. Notably, Simcoe County stands out once again with an 108% increase in condo apartment sales y-o-y, and a 14% increase in the average sold price for condo apartments. It’s worth noting however, that the total volume of condo apartment sales in the region during this timeframe was relatively low, with just 106 condos being sold. In Durham Region, sales increased 22%, while in Halton Region and York Region, condo apartment sales eked out small 3% and 4% increases respectively.

Check out our infographics below that highlight year-over-year increases in house (detached and semi-detached properties) and condo apartment sales and average sold prices for the GTA for the period between April and December 2020. Further below, find a round up of the municipalities with the highest and smallest increases in sales for houses and condo apartments. 

 

 

Municipalities with the highest % increase in detached and semi-detached house sales, April to Dec 2020 compared to April to Dec 2019

1. King (York Region)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 379 (+75%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $1,798,590 (+75%)

2. Innisfil (Simcoe County)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 829 (+36%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $703,386 (+16%)

3. Georgina (York Region)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 824 (+36%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $710,758 (+24%)

Municipalities with the smallest % increase in detached and semi-detached house sales, April to Dec 2020 compared to April to Dec 2019

1. Orangeville (Dufferin County)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 365 (-6%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $691,983 (+15%)

2. Adjala-Tosorontio (Simcoe County)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 124 (-4%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $899,252 (+32%)

3. Toronto (West) 

April to Dec 2020 sales: 3,340 (-3%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $1,226,987 (+12%)

Municipalities with the biggest % decrease in condo apartment sales, April to Dec 2020 compared to April to Dec 2019

1. Orangeville (Dufferin County)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 17 (-35%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $394,618 (+17%)

2. Halton Hills (Halton Region)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 15 (-35%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $459,320 (0%)

3. Newmarket (York Region)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 40 (-23%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $488,725 (+10%)

Municipalities with the biggest % increase in condo apartment sales, April to Dec 2020 compared to April to Dec 2019

1. Innisfil (Simcoe County)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 73 (+265%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $443,990 (+17%)

2. Whitchurch-Stoufville (York Region)
April to Dec 2020 sales: 31 (+107%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $636,584 (+30%)

3. Aurora (York Region)

April to Dec 2020 sales: 64 (+56%)

April to Dec 2020 average price: $552,480 (+12%)

Contact: For media inquiries, contact [email protected]

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