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2008

Real estate slowdown continues

James Weldon, North Shore News, December 5, 2008

The benchmark price of a detached home in North Vancouver has dropped almost 20 per cent in the last six months, according to figures released this week by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

Real estate sales on the North Shore continued to slow last month, dragging some housing prices down close to 20 per cent from their springtime peak,

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Outlook 2009: Year of the Deals

Frank O’Brien, Western Investor, December 2008

With housing sales plunging across British Columbia- descending 43 percent so far from a year earlier and still accelerating- and landmark condominium projects collapsing under debt, 2009 is expected to see the bottom of the most spectacular real estate collapse in 20 years.

For those with cash and confidence, however, the next year- starting right now- represents a golden opportunity to purchase prime properties at bargain prices,

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Sales slip as Whistler becomes buyers’ market

Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun, Friday, November 28, 2008

Phones are still ringing at Tourism Whistler’s booking office, offering some hope to a waning Whistler real estate market.

“Our real estate activity does flow from our tourism activity,” Patrick Kelly, an agent at the Whistler Real Estate Co., said in an interview, “particularly where the international — American and European — market is concerned.”

“If they don’t come [to visit],

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Cool Down or Big Chill

Rudy Nielsen, Canadian Real Estate, November-December, 2008

The numbers are in, and after seven years of sold, often double-digit growth, the residential real estate market throughout BC has slowed, according to the recent Q2 2008 Residential Sales Summary by Landcor Data Corp., Vancouver.

What are the numbers telling us? The two key market messages are lower sales and slower price growth. The question we need to consider is: does this mean investors should start looking for bargains,

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Mr. Tough Guy

Teresa Murphy, Canadian Real Estate, November 2008

Among the few hundred proven real estate and property investment experts in Canada, recreational real estate guru Rudy Nielsen is the only one to have outsmarted both black and grizzly bears – a number of times – while evaluating remote investment property.

One thing is certain – Nielsen likes to know exactly what he’s getting into before he considers buying or selling a recreational property.

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Real estate among the rich

Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun, September 13, 2008

At first blush, the top end of British Columbia’s real estate market seems to follow that old observation about the rich being different from the rest of us.

Agents recorded 30 sales of mansions over the $5-million mark during the first seven months of this year, according to research by Landcor Data Corp.

The January sale of 3330 Radcliffe Ave.

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Homes sitting on market longer

Graham Pollock, Coquitlam NOW, September 10, 2008

The numbers are in and there’s no mistaking it — after years of unfettered growth, the Metro Vancouver housing market is starting to cool. Sales are down across the Lower Mainland — including the Tri-Cities — and listings are up, as more homes stay on the market longer.

But despite the predictions of some critics, who suggest the market is overstretched and headed for collapse,

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Home buyers ‘sitting on their hands’ in buyers’ market

Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun, September 5, 2008

It’s a buyer’s market in real estate around British Columbia, according to a new Landcor Data Corp. report, although company president Rudy Nielsen reckons buyers are just sitting on their hands for the time being.

Landcor tracked lower sales and slower price gains in most markets around the province to the end of June. The median prices of some home types dipped into negative territory from the first to the second quarter,

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Western Perspective: Housing downturn should be seen as an opportunity

Frank O’Brien, Western Investor, September 2008

As Western Canadian housing prices laddered up incredible level after another, and as rental rates tightened to zero per cent vacancy, the call went out for government to create affordable housing.

That is now possible due, ironically, to the greed that created both the boom and the current downturn.

Just months ago, people were camping overnight clutching brochures and afraid they would miss the chance to spend $600 per square foot for a city condominium or a suburban rancher.

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Kicking it up in the Kootenays

Dermot Mack, Western Investor, September 2008

According to the Kootenay Real Estate board, the dollar volume of MLS sales processed surpassed the billion-dollar barrier for the first time ever in 2007, exceeding $1.13 billion, a 34 per cent from a year earlier. A study by Landcor Data Corp. found that Kootenay buyers are primarily from Alberta, which accounted for 67 per cent of all real estate buyers in 2007; half of these from Calgary.

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