Vancouver Real Estate Blog - Vancouver Realtor

New Listing 405-205 E 10th Ave (The Hub) $429,000

Sebastian — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:06:36 +0000

405-205 E. 10th Ave (The Hub)

Plenty of light, year round.

Overview

They simply don’t make 1 bedrooms like this anymore.
You can actually breathe in the 750 square feet of space as well as the 9 ft ceilings. Big floor to ceiling, west facing windows light the entire suite year round.

Walk-In Closet Included with Custom Build-Ins

Details

The living space is truly a rare find with a generously sized bedroom, a big den/office (or kids room), in-suite storage, huge walk-in closet (complete with new built-ins), a Juliette balcony, in-suite laundry and a formal dining room. There’s also external storage, a parking stall, bike storage (plus you’re right on the bike route) and a shared rooftop deck. This is a beautiful suite in a high-quality building in Vancouver’s hottest neighbourhood.

Open Concept Kitchen

Well-run building with plenty of balance remaining on 2-10-10 warranty. Pets are welcome and rentals allowed with restrictions. In the heart of Vancouver’s trendiest urban area, 10 minutes to everything, on multiple transit routes with great shopping, amenities and community organizations

OPEN HOUSE Saturday and Sunday, Feb 4/5 2:00-4:00pm

New Listing – 405-205 E 10th Ave, Vancouver

New Listing – 1473 E. King Edward Ave (King Edward Village) $559,000

Sebastian — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:17:37 +0000

1473 E. King Edward Ave (King Edward Village)

1473 E King Edward Ave

Overview

This quiet town home offers 2 bedrooms and a den in 1106 sq ft of thoughtfully laid out living space. Bedrooms are on separate floors with their own en-suite bathrooms, isolating day-to-day noise and enhancing peaceful living. A back door allows direct access to your TWO underground parking stalls, storage locker and amenities.

Main Floor, 1473 E King Edward

Details

A combination of quality construction, desirable location and great value makes this unit an ideal starter home. Generous south-facing windows provide plenty of light year round to look out at the nearby park. The ground floor is perfect for entertaining with a large kitchen, dining area, living room, 1/2 bath and patio.

Living Room, 1473 E King Edward

This is a solid, well-run complex with the balance of 2-5-10 warranty remaining. Pets and rentals welcome. It’s just 10 minutes to everywhere, on 3 transit routes and includes a library, TD Bank and Price Smart Foods.

OPEN HOUSE Sunday, Jan 28/29 2:00-4:00pm

New Listing – 1473 E King Edward Ave (King Edward Village)

New Listing – 716 – 4078 Knight St (King Edward Village)

Vancouver Market Update – January 2012

Sebastian — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:25:55 +0000

Everyone Was Busy Eating Turkey…

Vancouver Real Estate listing and sales statistics for the month of December experienced a typical holiday season lull last month. Active listings during the Christmas season reflected the usual holiday break for many busy families and professionals.

Vancouver Property Sales were down (-33.16%) to 516 from November (772). On the Vancouver West Side there were 355 sales in December, down (-17.63%) from the previous year. Overall, there were (-32.89%) less sales in December from the previous month of November. Naturally, people appear to prefer to spend their holiday time drinking egg nog with their families in lieu of holding open houses…

This December in Vancouver East, Sales totaled 161. This number is at-par (+1.90%) with sales figures from December 2010, but down from the previous month (-33.74%) as was to be expected.

The holidays flattened the previous modest increase in Vancouver Sales activity month-to-month while listing numbers predictably hit their lowest of the year. New Listings were down in both areas (-53.87% in Vancouver East to 143 and (-55.54% in Vancouver West to ) 333 for the month of December.

Despite sluggish sales, benchmark prices in the Vancouver West detached market were steady in December, dipping (-1.43% to $1,990,958). The benchmark prices for attached homes were up (+5.48 % at $833,361) from November. Vancouver East detached fared very similarly from month-to-month, down (-2.02% at $845,771), while attached properties practically stayed at-par, up (+0.03 % at $556,220) for December. The apartment market mirrored similar trends in Vancouver West and Vancouver East, rising (+1.58%) on the West Side and (+2.41%) in East Van.

The Board’s Official Line:

“Our market remained in a balanced state for most of the year, although higher levels of demand for detached properties in the region’s largest communities caused prices in certain areas to rise higher than others,” Setticasi said. “For example, the benchmark price of a single-family detached home experienced double-digit increases in nine areas within the region over the last 12 months.”

What's happening in your market

Vancouver Market Update November 2011

Sebastian — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:40:15 +0000

November Listings Continue to Cool in Vancouver Real Estate Market

November Listings Cool in Vancouver: Vancouver Real Estate Stats

November listing and sales statistics for the Vancouver Real Estate Market continued to cool. The number of homes for sale has continued to decrease as we approach the 2011 Holiday Season.

Total sales in Vancouver for November 2011 were up (+5.61%) from October to 772 sales, which is down (-7.32%) from one year ago. In Vancouver West, there were 529 sales in November, up (+7.52%) from October 2011 ~ and down (-7.03%) from November 2010. in Vancouver East, November numbers were fairly consistent with those from October topping out at 243 sales, up (+1.67%). These numbers are down (-7.95%) from November 2010.

In general, we saw a modest increase in Vancouver Sales activity month-to-month while listing numbers continue to slow. New Listings were down in both areas (-25.48% in Vancouver East to 310 and -26.64% in Vancouver West to 749) for the month of November.

Steady sales resulted in fairly even benchmark prices in the Vancouver West detached market in November, rising a modest half a percentage point (+0.56% at $2,019,926). The benchmark prices for attached homes readjusted, with prices down (-7.82 % at $790,046) from October. Vancouver East detached prices are up (+0.79% at $863,183) in addition to attached properties showing little change at (+ 0.17% at $556,380) for November. The apartment market mirrored inverse trends in Vancouver West and Vancouver East, dipping (-1.27%) on the West Side while rising (+1.80%) in East Van.

The Vancouver Real Estate Board’s official line

“The pace of home listings entering the market eased slightly in November, compared to recent months, while sale levels remained fairly normal for this time of year,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said. “November activity helped put our market firmly in balanced territory.”

For more information on Vancouver Real Estate Statistics, check out my website here.

Vancouver’s Main Street Divides Million Dollar Homes

Sebastian — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:50:18 +0000

Vancouver Map Illustrates East and West Divide

I found this map absolutely fascinating, and hope that you find value in it as well. It fully illustrates the divide in property value in the City of Vancouver…which is clearly demarcated along the line of Main Street which runs north-south at the approximate geographic center of the city.

To the east of Main Street almost every single family residential zoned (RS) home is assessed below $1,000,000. There is a cluster of notable exception in the Killarney area of East Vancouver. To the west of that line, nearly ever single property is assessed above $1,000,000. Again, there are a few exceptions this time in the Marpole area.

The true dividing line between $1,000,000 homes in Vancouver is actually Ontario Street where the East and Westsides of Vancouver are divided…Main Street is two blocks to the east. Also of note is that there is not a single home in the City of Vancouver valued at less than $500,000.

Up to this point in Vancouver’s history, the Main Street divide has been a “social, cultural, and political dividing line of wealth, social status, and political affiliations”. As East Vancouver real estate continues to rise in value, these differences are continuing to blur. No longer is East Vancouver only a blue-collar, working-class neighborhood as the increasing number of million dollar homes attests.

Vancouver RS Zone Home Values

Bing Thom Architects recently published the map below on their blog. They used data from the City of Vancouver’s Open Data Catalogue to derive the map. For the purposes of creating the map, they defined single family residential lots as being RS zoned lots (this is the vast majority of zoning in the city with more than 10,000 lots in this category). The value was based upon the BC Assessment values (combined land and improvements) as of July 2011.

You can find the original blog post from BTA Works here.

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Vancouver Market Update October 2011

Sebastian — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:04:27 +0000

Listing Numbers Ease in October

Vancouver Real Estate Stats

In the month of October, Vancouver listings remained neck-and-neck with numbers from September. However, October was the first month all year to show a slight decrease in the total amount of listed properties throughout the entire lower mainland. With a sales-to-active ratio of 15%, the Greater Vancouver Market is hovering in the lower end of a balanced market and has been consistent in that trend for 5 months.

Total sales in Vancouver Proper for October 2011 were up ever so slightly (+0.41%) from September, and down (-7.23%) from one year ago. In Vancouver West, there were 4 sales in October, up (+4.02%) from September 2011 ~ and down (-10.38%) from October 2010. Things were a little unusual in Vancouver East, where the market showed a drop in sales activity in October with 239 sales, down (-6.27%) from last month, and oddly, a zero percent change (+/-0.00%) from October 2010 when 239 homes also sold.

The market is healthy, however the talk has changed about our positioning in a buyer’s market since inventory has cooled for the first time in quite a few months and sales are modestly up. While Vancouver East and Vancouver West showed different trends in sales activity this month, the amount of New Listings was down both areas (-29.13% in Vancouver East to 416 and -21.52% in Vancouver West to 1021) for the month of October.

With fairly steady sales activity, detached benchmark prices in Vancouver proper for the month of September stayed fairly even. In Vancouver West, benchmark prices stayed within a percentage point (-1.08% at $2,008,702) for detached homes and up (+1.80 % at $857,108) for attached properties. Vancouver East has fared similarly, with detached prices up (+1.77% at $856,411), and down (-0.58% at $555,452) for attached properties. The apartment market in both Vancouver West and Vancouver remained steady, dipping (-1.53%) and (-1.82%) respectively.

The Vancouver Real Estate Board’s official line

“Right now, prospective home buyers have a good selection of properties to choose from and more time to make decisions,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said. “Home sellers should be mindful of local market conditions to ensure they are pricing their properties competitively.”

For more information on Vancouver Real Estate Statistics, check out my website here.

Vancouver Laneway House Tours – A Must for Potential Builders

Sebastian — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:09:47 +0000

Am I Ready for This?

By now, I’ve talked to three laneway companies about the possibility of building laneway home on my property in Riley Park. After a week of meetings and consultations with three companies here in Vancouver, I was pleasantly surprised when one of the teams suggested that I drop by a few of their properties-in-progress to really get a feel for the types of places they were building.

I have to say, it makes such a difference to actually get in some spaces and talk to the designers AND builders about their vision for the use of space and building materials. My girlfriend and I went on a tour of three laneways that were at various stages of building ~ getting a complete snapshot view of what this process might look like at various stages of the process. We even got some great info about all of the possible upgrades that we might want to include as we go along and got an up-close-and personal look at the building supplies and fixtures.

From here, the idea is to commit to a design contract and get plans through city hall. Typically, a laneway company will facilitate a land survey on your property, design and draw up your particular plans according to site specifications and create a budget proposal to be presented to the good folks in the Planning department down at City Hall.

I’m looking at around $15,000 by the time that the permits are in my hands ~ so I’m taking the week to think things through before moving forward… but I’m feeling like the process will be getting underway here pretty quick. I’ll tell you more about it as it unfolds.

Sebastian

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New Kid on the Block… in Riley Park

Sebastian — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:00:25 +0000

My new diggs

As I mentioned earlier, I recently moved to a new neighbourhood. After years of living right off of Commercial Drive, Riley Park (aka Little Mountain) is my new stomping grounds.

I am really enjoying this area and its features. As a dog owner I have to say that firstly, it’s extremely walkable. Being in a residential area is a definite plus because it gives you some shelter from traffic ~ Jake, my 9-year-old Whippet is definitely enjoying the freedom of quiet streets and friendly pedestrians. There are also quite a few dog owners around, often walking with their pals. I’ve gotten to know a few people up at the Queen Elizabeth Offleash Park near 36^th and Ontario.

Queen Elizabeth Park

Being so near to Queen E makes it both tempting and feasible to take a break from the day and enjoy a little nature walk. But I have to say that for me, an even closer option for beautiful vegetation and relaxing, contemplative strolls lay just over the hedge of Prince Edward St along the beautiful cemetery. Although I have not taken to strolling within the grounds themselves, the pathways and walk routes that border the fields are gorgeous, especially this time of year with all of the leaves turning. I often see others out for solitary walks and have enjoyed the apparent commonality of those little escapes.

Perhaps my favourite thing so far is the inherent sense of community I feel I’m picking up on. The sidewalks are well-kept and cosy, filled with young children exploring and spending time in their yards and gardens. I think I’m going to get along quite well here…

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Market Update September 2011

Sebastian — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:54:58 +0000

Home Listings Continue to Rise in Vancouver while Sales Slow

Vancouver Stats Sept 2011

With fall officially under way, Vancouver listing inventory has recovered from the summer vacation lull in September. That being said, sale activity was marginally lower in September for the fourth month in a row, having peaked for the year in June 2011. With a sales-to-listings ratio in the Greater Vancouver area sitting around 14%, the lower mainland is reflecting a healthy buyer’s market.

Total sales in Vancouver Proper for September 2011 were down (-4.71%) from August, and down (-3.32%) from one year ago. In Vancouver West, there were 473 sales in September, down (-9.73%) from August 2011 ~ and down (-8.33%) from September 2010. Things were decidedly different in Vancouver East, where the market showed more sales activity in September with 255 sales, up (+6.25%) from last month, and up (+7.59%) from September 2010.

Although the market healthy, we seem to be arriving at the top end of a buyer’s market. This will especially hold true if inventory continues to rise and sales continue to slow in Vancouver. While Vancouver East and Vancouver West showed different trends in sales activity this month, the amount of New Listings is up in both areas (+17.87% in Vancouver East to 587 and +28.94% in Vancouver West to 1301) for the month of September. In the Greater Vancouver Market at large, September listing numbers increased another 4.6 % from August to September.

Even with slower sales activity, detached benchmark prices in Vancouver proper rose again in the month of September. In Vancouver West, benchmark prices rebounded from the summer sales slump (+3.43% at $2,030,720) for detached homes and up (5.5 % at $841,990) for attached properties. Vancouver East has fared similarly, with detached prices up (+2.13% at $841,509), up (+0.79% at $558,693) for attached properties. While the apartment market in Vancouver West remained steady, up (+0.30%) it fell slightly in Vancouver East (-0.15%).

The Vancouver Real Estate Board’s official line

“There’s more competition amongst home sellers in today’s market, providing more options for prospective buyers,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said.”Buyers now have more properties to choose from and more time to make decisions compared to the spring season.”

“Our sales-to-active-listing ratio currently sits at 14 per cent, which is the lowest it’s been this year. Generally analysts say that a buyer’s market takes shape when the ratio dips to about 12 to 14%, or lower, for a sustained period of time,” Setticasi said.

Vancouver Real Estate Hot Tub Time Machine

Sebastian — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:40:04 +0000

Royal LePage Conventions and Me

Every year there is a convention involving Royal LePage realtors at the beginning of September. It alternates from one year to the next between a large national convention and a smaller, regional one. In the last few years we’ve had national conferences in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Montreal. The regional conferences have been in places like Whistler and Penticton.

I just got back from our regional conference (called Headstart) in Harrison Hot Springs. It was so much fun, that I can hardly believe it. The picture that I’ve posted here actually shows how most of us did our networking/socializing…in the hot pools at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort. I highly recommend it!

One of the best parts of going to these conferences is the relationships that you develop. We are colleagues to begin with, but over the years you become friends…and these conferences become an excuse to relax and unwind with old friends. Of course, there are many other benefits. There is an educational component to every conference and we do a lot of career development. There is always a slightly different slant, but the idea is that we constantly learn how to our job better….from motivational speakers, to better presentation skills to social media training.

Another big advantage is that in developing these relationships with agents across the country, I have developed a network of realtors I trust. When I have clients or friends that are moving, or needing to sell property somewhere else in Canada I am able to recommend someone that I not only know personally, but I know how good they are at what they do. That personal connection can go a long way in helping you achieve your goals.

Next year the national conference is finally coming to Vancouver. I was originally a little bit disappointed. I like being able to travel and experience other parts of the country. However, I’m now really looking forward to being able to show off my city to my friends and colleagues. Next year can’t come soon enough!

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