VANCOUVER, B.C.– February 3, 2009 – The first month of 2009 saw a continued reduction in the number of homes listed for sale in Greater Vancouver, while sales volumes in January were the lowest for that month since the early 1980s.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that sales of detached, attached and apartment properties declined 58.1 per cent in January 2009 to 762 from the 1,819 sales recorded in January 2008.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 20.9 per cent to 3,700 in January 2009 compared to January 2008, when 4,675 new units were listed. Total active listings in Greater Vancouver currently sit at 13,966, down nearly 6,000 listings from October 2008.

Overall residential benchmark prices, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, declined 10.9 per cent to $489,007 between Januarys 2008 and 2009.

“Home sales and consumer confidence are at a low point at the moment, but the long-term strength and security of our housing market are beyond the reach of the economic clouds of today,” Dave Watt, REBGV president said.

“Today’s short-term conditions are creating long-term opportunities. Buying opportunities have not been this strong in a decade, with low interest rates, broad selection and more affordable prices,” Watt said.

Sales of detached properties declined 54.4 per cent to 292 from the 641 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties declined 11.2 per cent to $659,638 in January 2009 compared to $742,490 January 2008.

Sales of apartment properties in January 2009 declined 58 per cent to 361, compared to 860 sales in January 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 11.6 per cent to $334,602 compared to $378,336 in January 2008.

Attached property sales in January 2009 were down 65.7 per cent to 109, compared with the 318 sales in January 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit declined 8.1 per cent to $425,309 compared to $462,627 in January 2008.

To view the complete stats package for January, please click on the following link: January Stats.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is an association representing more than 9,500 REALTORS®. The Real Estate Board provides a variety of membership services, including the Multiple Listing Service®. For more information on real estate, statistics, and buying or selling a home, contact a local REALTOR® or visit www.rebgv.org.

2009年的一月銷售總量是自1980年來的新低, 因此許多賣家紛紛表示不願脫手手中不動產.

大溫地產局表示, 獨棟, 聯棟和公寓單位成交量下跌58.1%, 跟去年同期1819戶成交量相比, 只有762戶成交.

新上市的獨棟, 聯棟和公寓不動產數量下跌近20.9%, 只有3700戶上市. 去年同期則有近4675戶.  市場上待售屋總量則是13966戶, 自去年十月來已經下降了近6000戶.

整體住宅基準價, 按MLS住屋價格指標, 在一年內下跌了近10.9%至$489,007.

“不動產成交量和消費者信心目前是在低點, 但長遠來看, 我們的房市力道則是不受此經濟風暴的影響,” Dave Watt, REBGV 總裁, 說到.

“今日的短期情況正創造出長期的投資機會. 買房時機可算漸入佳境, 低利率, 多選擇而且房價也負擔的起,” Watt 說到.

跟去年比較, 獨棟房屋成交量下跌54.4%, 從641戶降至292戶. 基準價已經由去年$742,490下降至$659,638, 降幅是11.2%.

公寓成交量則從860戶降至361戶, 跌幅有58%. 公寓基準價已經由$378336降至$334602, 降幅是11.6%.

聯棟屋成交量則是由318戶降至109戶, 跌幅是65.7%. 基準價則下降8.1%, 由$425309降至$462627.

Julia Lewis knew she had to brace homeowner Lucy Ivens for a deep freeze in Toronto’s real estate market at the start of January.

Ms. Lewis was helping her long-time friend to ready her house in the Annex neighbourhood for sale after Ms. Ivens moved into a seniors’ residence.

“She was aware of the economic turmoil,” says Ms. Lewis. “I tried to sit her down and explain it could take a long time.”

So, after Ms. Lewis warned Ms. Ivens that the house might take as long as three months to sell, the Victorian semi-detached on Brunswick Avenue hit the market on a Friday with an asking price of $464,000. By Monday morning, offers had started rolling in. Later that evening, Ms. Ivens had received seven bids and sold the house for $492,000.

Despite the sluggish market, a few bidding skirmishes have popped up in Toronto recently. One house was listed at $559,000, selling for $611,000 after seven days on the market in January. (CHARLA JONES/THE GLOBE AND MAIL)

“She was overwhelmed,” says Ms. Lewis of her 90-year-old friend. “She was very happy at the end.”

No one was more surprised than broker Elden Freeman of Freeman Real Estate Ltd., who listed the house. He had not set an offer date because bidding wars had become so rare in Toronto.

“The intention was not to get multiple offers — we were totally shocked.”

After a dismal fall stretched into a bleak December in Toronto’s housing market, many agents were nervous about what January might bring.

But, while the market continues to be sluggish in some areas, a few bidding skirmishes popped up in the opening weeks of 2009, agents and homeowners report.

In a survey of 23 Toronto markets, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. found that the average price of a detached bungalow dropped 8.2 per cent to $411,483 in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007.

Two-storey properties surveyed dipped by 6.8 per cent year-over-year to $513,417 during the fourth quarter.

Cheri Dorsey McCann of Sutton Group-Bayview Realty Inc. says open houses have been booming so far this year. She has sold five houses this month after selling only two during the fall.

Sellers of a three-bedroom detached house near Yonge and Lawrence received multiple offers on a house listed for $669,000.

The sellers are move-up buyers who didn’t want to purchase another property until they knew how much they would receive for their existing property.

“They’re upgrading,” says Ms. McCann. “We negotiated a long closing. Now they can buy and feel comfortable.”

Joanne Gludish of Royal LePage Real Estate Services recently sold a house near Kipling and Eglinton for 112 per cent of asking after the house was on the market for one week.

The house was listed for $324,900 and sold for $365,000. More than 50 parties toured the three-level backsplit, which Ms. Gludish was aiming at first-time buyers in her marketing.

Back on Brunswick, Mr. Freeman listed a detached house in December for $559,000 and was surprised when it sold for $611,000 after seven days on the market.

“It was insane,” says Mr. Freeman of the bidding war during the holiday season.

The house did not show well, he says, because the same owner had lived there for 60 years and accumulated a lot of belongings.

But in the spring of 2008, the semi next door, with no parking, sold for about $900,000.

Mr. Freeman says the house listed for $559,000 had more than 100 people looking at it despite the fact that he didn’t set up a website for it or have interior photos taken.

“There are buyers out there,” he says.

He says bidders figured they could pay about $600,000 for it, invest $150,000 or $200,000 in fixing it up and still feel that they were ahead of the game compared with the high price paid for the renovated semi in the spring.

“It attracted amazing attention,” says Mr. Freeman.

The broker says that he sometimes has trouble persuading sellers that they should list their houses for less than their neighbours received in late 2007 and early 2008. He doesn’t want to take on the time and expense of listing a property at an unrealistic price.

“The values have come down. I’m sorry. People have to get that through their heads.”

Ms. Lewis says she decided to list Ms. Ivens’s house with Mr. Freeman after spending several months researching house sales in the Annex.

The house is a charming Victorian with lovely period details, but it has not been renovated.

Ms. Lewis figured that would be appealing to buyers who do not want to pay for another owner’s outmoded improvements.

She had previously interviewed several agents and was advised that the house could sell for between $475,000 and $530,000.

“Knowing that the market had gone down, we decided not to price it higher,” she says.

Ms. Lewis did not want Ms. Ivens to have to continue paying for insurance, maintenance, taxes and utilities while she was living elsewhere.

She also decided to have the house ready for the first week after New Year’s, figuring that many other sellers wouldn’t have their houses ready until later in the month.

“Those who are thinking of buying are starting to look,” she says. “I feel that you get a bit of a jump.”

The strategy paid off, she believes.

“There was a market here for a house like this.”

(Globeandmail, Author: CAROLYN IRELAND)

As a designer by trade, I’ve spent most of my career thinking about aesthetics in one way or another. I’ve come to respect the challenges inherent in finding harmony between function and form. I’ve also come to appreciate that one’s interpretation of beauty is entirely ambiguous and completely subjective. So it didn’t come as a surprise that the design of our house has been the topic of much discussion.

Commonly characterized by low-slung roofs, clean lines and open living spaces, modern architecture isn’t particularly common in our neighbourhood. Ranging from American foursquare homes to non-descript post-Second-World-War bungalows, the architectural styles in our area are actually quite eclectic.

With the number of houses currently under construction, I also think it’s safe to say our neighbourhood is in a state of transition. So given the variety, I was confident early on that we could design and build a modernist home that satisfied our aesthetic desires while comfortably fitting into its surroundings.

“I think most people will look at our home and classify it as modern because of the flat roof, use of glass and clean square lines,” my wife, Jessica Lax, says.

“For me, building modern doesn’t refer as much to a specific aesthetic as it does to set of ideologies that we embraced while designing our home.

“We focused on building functional space that would grow and evolve with our future family. Our architects helped us understand that by focusing on building a smarter, smaller home we could buck traditional thought that bigger is always better.”

We had originally planned to build a 3,000-square-foot dwelling, but our architects convinced us to reduce the footprint to 2,100 square feet. Similarly, while we are building a two-storey home, the front of it is only one storey. This was done to ensure that the house felt more proportional on a street lined with bungalows.

“We want to make sure that the houses we design won’t have a negative impact on the neighbourhood,” says our architect, Cathy Garrido of Altius Architecture Inc.

“We try hard to scale the houses to fit in.”

Scale and proportion are only part of the equation, however. With the exterior cladding, we’ve spent a considerable amount of time choosing colours and materials that we feel will complement the neighbourhood.

Brick will envelop the front room, while wood siding will be used for much of the rest. We’re planning on treating the siding with a product called Sansin Enviro Stain, which will allow us to colour the wood to our liking while ensuring it is protected for upwards of 15 years.

Hardie board will be used along the south wall, as the proximity to the neighbouring house requires a noncombustible product (and wood siding clearly doesn’t fall into that category).

From a construction standpoint, building a modern-style home isn’t all that different than building a traditional one.

“It’s been slightly more complicated, mainly because of the design and structural engineering requirements,” says Steve Ungerman of All Canada Contractors.

“This house is made up of large windows, few wall systems and lots of overhangs. Clearly a lot of thought went into the layout, so you have to pay close attention to all the little details to ensure it’s built correctly.”

The demolition and excavation progressed relatively smoothly. I must admit, however, that I didn’t fully appreciate how the structural demands would impact the project.

For instance, our floors are built with TJI joists, which are engineered I-beams made of wood. Similarly, LVLs — dense beams engineered from laminated veneer lumber — are being used all over the house. We also have a number of steel beams and columns on each floor.

This has added up to a structure that far surpasses my expectations. I suppose it’s better to over-engineer than under-engineer, although that approach comes at a premium.

That’s not to say it costs more to build modern. “It’s really not a question of style,” Ms. Garrido says. “You can build a modern house for a full range of prices. Whether it costs more or not depends upon what you are trying to achieve and what you are comparing the cost against.”

We’ve also invested in better windows, increased insulation and a more efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, but I think it’s safe to say that most custom homes, modern or not, will cost more than a standard tract house.

With the framing complete, you can finally walk around and get a sense of how the house actually fits into its surroundings.

“When I started this project, my personal tastes were more traditional,” says Mr. Ungerman, the contractor.

“However, after working on this project and seeing the results thus far, I have to admit that I’ve developed a real appreciation for modern architecture.”

As for the house fitting into the community, “I don’t believe that anybody will pass through the neighbourhood and think that this home does not fit in,” says Daniel Casas, who lives across the street from us.

“On the contrary, I believe more people will be refreshed by a different look.”

Our goal was to design a house that had character and personality, which is something I feel most new-home construction lacks. We wanted to build a home that could stand on its own and be appreciated for both its form and its function.

We obviously built the home for ourselves, but we also wanted something that would be accepted by the neighbourhood. Anything less would counterproductive, as we’re planning on living in the house for many years to come.

That said, I’m certainly not naive enough to think that everyone will love what we’ve done, but I’m okay with that. Modern or not, hopefully, the discussion alone will help people’s appreciation for architecture to evolve.

(Globeandmail, Author: Jeremy Bell)

If you have a fridge that measures between 10-24 cubic feet and is still in working condition, BC Hydro will pick it up, recycle it, and give you $30 for it. To find out more call 604 881 4357 or 1 866 516 4357 outside the Lower Mainland.

Save money

Your energy guzzling spare fridge could be costing you up to $100 a year to operate. Save yourself the expense, give us a call and we will get rid of it.

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Refrigerators are one of the highest energy users in your home. If all spare operating fridges were recycled in British Columbia, enough energy would be saved to power all the homes in the City of Chilliwack for an entire year.

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To arrange for the free pick up of your spare working fridge, call 604 881 4357 or 1 866 516 4357 outside of the Lower Mainland and please have your BC Hydro or New Westminster customer account number on hand.

Maximum two fridges per BC Hydro customer account. Fridges must be in working condition. Size limits: Fridge (10-24 cubic feet)

如果您多餘的電冰箱容量是10-24立方英尺而且還能運做, 卑詩水電會幫您回收, 並且補助您$30加元. 如須知更多, 請電604 881 4357 或 1866 516 4357 如果您住大溫地區以外.

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您多餘的超耗電量電冰箱可能會另您花上百元的電費. 如果您想要節約省錢, 請致電給我們, 我們會幫您清除掉這麻煩.

省電

電冰箱是家裡最耗電的電器之一. 如果全卑詩省多餘的電冰箱都回收後, 省下的電力足夠讓Chilliwack市用上一年.

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