September 2012 monthly update on Real Estate in Vancouver.   "There are 3 kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics"  - Mark Twain There's no doubt that real estate is an interesting topic of conversation for the public. The media, in an attempt to feed this appetite for real estate news, often publishes interesting pieces of real estate information that help sell papers. Due to this heavy dose of constant real estate news, it's important to understand how the data is collected and how to interpret the information. Below are the 3 most commonly misunderstood real estate statistics in the media: Canadian Housing Starts Fall (http://www.cbj.ca/business_news/canadian_business_news/canadian_housing_st ...

Welcome to your monthly update on Real Estate in Vancouver AUG 2012   Luxury Market Stumbles as Asian Buyers dry up Midway through 2012, BC's luxury market is showing signs of cooling down. Through the first 6 months of 2012, 243 homes priced at over $3 million have sold compared to 466 through the first 6 months of 2011. While this may seem like a significant drop, 2012 is still far ahead of 2010, when 375 $3 million homes sold over the year, 169 in the first half. Macdonald Realty manager Matthew Lee, whose Vancouver office sold the most expensive home in BC so far this year ($19.8 Million), believes that the market has reached a tipping point. "Prices have been going up so much the past few years that w ...

Flipping is not dead! There are an elite group of pros that can make a good living by flipping properties. I see fantastic deals on condos and homes that if bought by the right investor can be fixed up and flipped for a decent profit (sorry no doubling your money in 60 days type deals. Those are for HGTV in some sleepy city in the Southern US) or fixed up and rented as a long-term rental property (I love these kind).  Unfortunately I also see uneducated real estate investors make some pretty basic mistakes and end up loosing their shirts. My advice is if you're going to invest in Real Estate take the time to learn how to do it right. Don't just jump in and try and hit it out of the park with your first deal. Talk ...

June 2012 Monthly Report After a strong run in the residential real estate market over the past several years, more and more people have begun asking questions about commercial real estate and its viability as an investment product. The answer to this question is that commercial real estate has proven to be a strong, stable investment, especially when compared to the recent volatility in the stock market or the infinitesimal interest rate returns being paid out by banks. BC, in particular, has seen a disproportionate number of fortunes being made in commercial real estate (http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Cancer+donation+sets+record/6676983/story.html). In fact, 4 of the 8 BC-based billionaires made their fortunes thr ...

I had to check my calendar to make sure it was 2012 and not 2007. A Vancouver Pre-sale development that won't be built for another 2 to 3 years sold out in 1 day and some people camped out overnight to snap one up. According to the news many of the buyers were investors? I have to shake my head at these kinds of speculators. Back in 2007 the condo market was uber hot and pre-sales were being snapped up by investors who were going to flip them for a quick profit. But it's quite a different market today in a number of ways. First we have plenty of comparable move in ready inventory units that are actually priced at or in many cases below what these pre-sale prices just sold at. Second we are in a buyers market right n ...

Is now a good time to buy? It's a question that we hear in the real estate industry all the time. The answer is simple: It's the right time to buy when (1) you want to, (2) you have a long-term view, and (3) you can afford to. Buying patterns are dictated by a multitude of factors, but they mostly have to do with changes in life circumstance: moving out of your parents' house, getting married, having a baby, getting transferred for work, and becoming an empty nester are all strong incentives for changing your living situation. Sprinkled into this decision are thoughts on what is going to happen to the real estate market. But what is going to happen to the real estate market? Take this headline from the Globe and ...

On February 21st, the BC government announced the 2012/13 Provincial Budget (http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2012/default.htm). A fiscally conservative document, the budget calls for business tax hikes and a spending freeze in order to try and meet the government's commitment to return to a balanced budget by fiscal year 2013/14. Also included in the budget are several changes that will affect the housing market in BC. The first change, originally announced a week before the release of the budget, were the details surrounding the new HST/PST housing transitional rules. The new rules mean - starting April 1, 2012 and running through April 1, 2013, when the HST is replaced by the GST/PST - buyers of NEW homes will be e ...

Owen Bigland blogs about how there are 3 different types of value that are attached to any piece of residential real estate. Appraised Value: This is done by your bank or lending institution if you are borrowing money via a mortgage to purchase the home. The banks want to make sure that the house you are buying and borrowing money for is actually worth what you are paying. Occasionally deals can collapse when someone buys an overpriced property and the bank appraises it for less than what was paid. As a result they will usually require the borrower to increase their down payment if they want to secure the mortgage and close the deal.Assessed Value: This is done by the Province (BC Assessment), they estimate the value o ...

Last month, the Bank of Montreal, in an attempt to gain market share during the slower winter housing months, surprised the mortgage industry by introducing a posted 2.99% 5-year fixed rate mortgage to the marketplace. The move prompted a bit of a mortgage war as other lenders played catch-up to match what was done by BMO. The result of all of this maneuvering is that consumers now have some of the lowest rate options in history. But why would the Bank of Montreal want to start a mortgage price war? The reason is that many of the big banks see mortgage lending as an effective loss-leader in order to capture more overall banking market share. After all, a mortgage is often a 20+ year commitment. During that time, ...

Here's some great advice from an online financial magazine caled Moneyning. It reccommends that if your going to buy a home or condo make sure you plan on staying for at least 5 years or more.  With all the  up front costs and commissions assosiated with buying and selling you need at least 5 years via appreciation to get that money back. One of the great things about Real estate is that it's forgiving if you keep it. Here's a link to the article.http://moneyning.com/housing/the-five-year-rule-for-buying-a-house/