OPEN HOUSES THIS WEEKEND

#401 - 1549 Kitchener Street 'Dharma Digs"

Open House - Saturday, July 5, 2pm - 4pm
Open House - Sunday, July 6, 2pm - 4pm

#501-2525 Quebec - "Cornerstone"

Open House - Sunday, July 6, 2pm - 4pm

#305 - 1655 Grant Avenue Port Coquitlam

Open House - Sunday, July 6, 2pm - 4pm

#335 - 2033 Triumph Street
Great location just a short walk to Commercial Drive. Fabulous 1 bdrm - beautifully renovated. Great City & Mountain Views. Perfect rental property with similar units in the building renting for $1500/month furnished or $1200 unfurnished.

Call for your private viewing

For information about Green Real Estate and how you can make educated environmentally friendly decisions about your home, check out my new Green Living Section for some great Green links. Find out about grants for Green renovations.

Looking for the perfect East Vancouver Home? I specialize in the Commercial Drive Real Estate Market as well as many other East Vancouver Neighbourhood. Whether you are looking for a house in Commercial Drive, Grandview,Mount Pleasant, Main Street, Strathcona, Victoria, Fraser, Fraserview, Knight, Cedar Cottage, Renfrew, Renfrew Heights, Hastings or Hastings Sunrise - just give me a call.

What's In the News...
February 20, 2008 - First Time Home Buyers’ Program – Thresholds

Effective for registrations after February 20, 2007, the fair market value threshold for eligible residential property under the First Time Home Buyers' Program is increased and will apply throughout the province. The new threshold will be $425,000 which is increased from $375,000 in all areas of the province. A proportional exemption is provided for eligible residences that have a fair market value of up to $25,000 above the new threshold. Also, there is no longer a requirement for 70% financing. Click here for a guide to the Property Transfer Tax Exemption. For more information: Government of BC

The Vancouver Sun Reports on the 15 Myths & Realities of Vancouver/Lower Mainland's Real Estate

Spring has sprung and Lower Mainland residents' fancy has turned to real estate. Is it time to buy or time to sell? What room should you renovate? What needs to be landscaped?

Lower Mainland residents spend more on real estate than anywhere else in the country, and generally, are as knowledgeable about the subject as anyone. But how much do they really know about their homes?  The Vancouver Sun sought to challenge a few of the myths that a lot of people have, asking the research firm Landcor Data Corp. to put real data to confirming or dispelling those ideas.  We consulted other experts, from appraisers to Realtors and economists to answer our questions, such as whether renovating your kitchen gives you the best lasting bang for your buck, and whether the dramatic rise the Lower Mainland has seen in real estate prices has reached its peak.

Vancouver Real Estate Market Update - May 2008( Historical Statistics for Real Estate Board )

There is often a lot of confusion, and misinformation about the real estate market in Vancouver. The media likes to create "news", so often, real estate market information is given a sensational "breaking news headline" - that perhaps sometimes misconstrues the facts somewhat.

My attempt with this market update is to give you the facts about what has been happening in the Vancouver market focusing on the Vancouver West Side and Vancouver East Side. Remember, if you need an East Vancouver Realtor or someone equally familiar with the West Side market don't hesitate to call, as I specialize in both West Side and East Vancouver Real Estate.

*BENCHMARK PRICE: Estimated sale price of a benchmark property. Benchmarks represent a typical property within each market.

Click on Graph for Full 30 Year Historic Trend.

Growing supply helps stabilize market conditions VANCOUVER, B.C. – June 3, 2008 – The Greater Vancouver housing market continued its re-balance between sales and listings last month. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver declined 30.7 per cent in May 2008 to 3,002 from the 4,331 sales recorded in May 2007. New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties increased 20.2 per cent to 7,390 in May 2008 compared to May 2007, when 6,149 new units were listed. “With more property listings and a decline in the number of sales, prices are not increasing as rapidly, now down to single digits overall, which is good news from an affordability standpoint,” said REBGV president, Dave Watt. “The housing market is at a balanced state, sellers have more competition and buyers have more selection to choose from.” Sales of detached properties in May 2008 declined 33.4 per cent to 1,203 from the 1,805 sales recorded during the same period in 2007. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties rose 8.4 per cent from May 2007 to $771,250. Sales of apartment properties declined 30.5 per cent last month to 1,244, compared to 1,789 sales in May 2007. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 8.7 per cent from May 2007 to $389,668. Attached property sales in May 2008 decreased 24.7 per cent to 555, compared with the 737 sales in May 2007. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 9 per cent between May 2007 and 2008 to $478,931. Bright spots in Greater Vancouver in May 2008 compared to May 2007: Attached: Coquitlam..............................................up 45.2 per cent (45 units sold from 31) Apartments: New Westminster................................up 13.6 per cent (100 units sold from 88) The Real Estate industry is a key economic driver in British Columbia. In 2007, 38,050 homes changed hands in the Board’s area generating $1.065 billion in spin-offs. Total dollar volume of residential sales set a new record at $22.25 billion and total dollar volume of all sales set a record at $22.77 billion. 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®. *In August 2004, the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley boards upgraded our existing MLS systems to a common system called MLSLink. MLSLink® HPI is the latest version of the Board’s Housing Price Index (HPI) and is designed to accommodate the MLS upgrade and improve the legacy HPI product. For more information on real estate, statistics, and buying or selling a home, www.realtylink.org. Information provided with permission by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV)