David Carrigg, The Vancouver Province, Nov 19, 2019
Almost 73 per cent of detached homes sold in Vancouver in the first nine months of 2019 went for below assessed value, while Kitimat and the Kootenays are booming
Provincewide real estate figures released this week by Landcor Data Corporation compared all residential sales for the first nine months of 2019 with the same period last year.
It breaks down sales numbers,
Robert (Bob) de Wit, Vancouver Province, April 07, 2017
When it comes to building new homes, many people are surprised to learn that it takes far longer to make it through city hall than it does to build the house.
To put it in context, a ‘typical’ two-level, 2500-square-foot home takes 16-18 weeks to build, however getting to the stage where the shovel hits the ground can take several months,
Joanne Lee-Young, The Province, January 04, 2017
Dramatic gains in assessed property values across B.C. mean twice as many homeowners as last year will no longer qualify for tax relief via the province’s homeowner grant program.
That’s because their homes are — on paper, in a snapshot captured at July 2016 — worth too much.
This year, only 83 per cent of homeowners in B.C. will qualify for a grant as the province’s program currently exists,
Gordon Hoekstra, Vancouver Province, Dec 24. 2016
Thousands of the poorest residents in the Downtown Eastside are living in buildings, designated by the City of Vancouver as single-room occupancies, that are at risk in an earthquake.
In the past several years, a dozen of those buildings managed by non-profit organizations have had seismic improvements thanks to a $143-million upgrade program led by B.C. Housing.
But many others designated as single-room occupancies — at least 59 buildings with more than 3,000 rooms — appear to have had no upgrades,
Susan Lazaruk, Vancouver Province, Dec 14, 2016
More than 100,000 homeowners in Metro Vancouver stand to lose all or some of their $570 homeowner grant at property tax time because assessed home values are expected to be up to 50 per cent higher in some cities next year.
In the city of Vancouver, for instance, as many as 30,000 homeowners may be pushed past the $1.2-million eligibility threshold,
Gordon Hoekstra, The Province, Oct 30, 2016
On Dec. 3, 2013, Vancouver city staff updated city council on a plan to prepare for a major earthquake.
Council asked for the report in 2011, after deadly earthquakes in New Zealand, where 185 people were killed, and in Japan, where the death toll from the ensuing tsunami was more than 16,000.
Under the update, the city was to establish a technical committee to advise it how to reduce the risk of private buildings collapsing or being badly damaged in an earthquake.
Joanne Lee-Young, The Province, Sept 10, 2016
The crux of the Lower Mainland housing crisis supposedly hinges on the lack of supply and an insatiable demand for land that can be developed.
Municipalities insist they are hung up on a way to boost the supply of affordable housing, in part, because Metro Vancouver is so hemmed in by water, mountains and land designated for agricultural use.
And yet,
By Nick Eagland, Vancouver Province, February 28, 2016
Millionaire homeowners cashing out of Metro Vancouver’s red-hot real estate market are seeking greener pastures elsewhere in B.C.
Real-estate experts say they’re seeing more city slickers selling off their urban homes and heading north or east to buy hobby farms and acreages, where they can live off the land with cash to spare.
And in regions where property prices haven’t yet been affected by the Vancouver market,
Glenda Luymes, The Province, April 30, 2014
In waterlogged B.C., particularly in spring, international headlines about drought and food shortages seem far-fetched and far away.
But to real estate appraiser Rudy Nielsen, a man who makes his living looking at the big picture, the threats seem very real and potentially very profitable — if B.C. can recognize what it has before it’s too late.
“We need to keep a better handle on who owns our farmland and who owns our water,” Nielsen said.
Jeani Read, Vancouver Province, June 24, 2007
Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the Okanagan remain the most popular buyer targets in B.C. for recreational and retirement property. But buyer attention is going a lot farther afield than these traditional Big Three. Here is a rundown of choice choices, according the experts.
– Interest is increasing in the likes of even the once-distant Queen Charlotte Islands — one of the best buys still available,