Home Sales Slip in February
Vancouver, BC – March 17, 2008. British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports residential sales dollar volume on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in BC rose 4.5 per cent to $3.26 billion in February, compared to the same month in 2007. Residential unit sales dipped 9.8 per cent to 6,822 units during the same period. The average MLS® residential price in the province reached $478,172 in January, up 15.8 per cent from February 2007.
“BC home sales fell for the second consecutive month, marking the slowest start to a year since 2003,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “While it’s still too early to call a trend, fewer home sales and an increase in active listings may be pulling the BC housing market toward balanced conditions.”
“Strong employment and wage gains over the last year continue to underpin housing demand,” said Muir. The number of unit sales recorded in the month was 13 per cent above the February average from 1998 to 2007. “However, continued erosion in housing affordability may be taking a toll on the ability-to-pay for some buyers.”
Additionally, a weak US economy and lower demand for BC lumber is negatively impacting BC’s forestry industries and local resource communities, while current economic volatility may also be impacting the confidence for some would-be buyers.
For more information, please contact:
Cameron MuirChief EconomistDirect: 604.742.2780Mobile: 778.229.1884
Email:
cmuir@bcrea.bc.ca
Clamp down on foreign land sales.
From opinion250.com
Recent weakness in some American real estate markets and a stronger Canadian dollar have increased the number of foreign development properties being marketed in British Columbia, W. Alan Clark, British Columbia’s superintendent of real estate, announced today.
The superintendent also reminded British Columbian purchasers that the Real Estate Development Marketing Act continues to govern the marketing in British Columbia of development properties located anywhere in the world. Under the act, local and foreign developments must meet similar requirements in order to be marketable in British Columbia. The developer must file a disclosure statement with the superintendent of real estate before marketing begins. The disclosure statement must explain the offering and must be provided to a purchaser before he or she enters into a purchase agreement.
Foreign property regimes may be different from British Columbia’s property regime and may not be familiar to purchasers here. Therefore, the required disclosure of development approvals, land title, and land-use restrictions is especially important for foreign developments. Additionally, all deposits received from British Columbian purchasers must be held in trust in British Columbia by a lawyer, notary public or real estate brokerage, unless deposit insurance or an exemption has been obtained here.
The Real Estate Development Marketing Act provides remedies for British Columbian purchasers. Notably, a purchase agreement is not enforceable
Against a purchaser by a developer who has breached the act. Each purchaser also has a right to pursue a civil claim against a developer and its directors for any misrepresentation. Additionally, any failure to comply with the act may result in a cease marketing order, administrative penalty or other regulatory action by the superintendent of real estate.
The issue was raised by Opinion250 after a number of companies and in particular companies from Costa Rica began advertising and attempted to sell Costa Rica Property in Prince George and area. Residents were encouraged to go to take a trip to Costa Rica were they would be shown property in a future sub division with a view to buying .(
see Make Sure You’re Not Buying Moose Pasture in Costa Rica)
At that time representatives of the Real Estate Board had contacted us to seek additional information as to whether the guide lines were being met.
P.G. Building Permits Up So Far This Year
Saturday, March 15, 2008 04:55 AM
Prince George, B.C. - The latest building permit numbers have been released by Prince George City Hall. The numbers show there is an increase in the number of permits over the same period last year, and that the value of the permits is also higher. The increased value is largely because of the 4.3 million dollar instutional permit issued in February
Beetle Kill Removal Time Running Out
Prince George, B.C. - Time is running out for Prince George residents who want to have some help removing the dead beetle pine from their property.
While residents are responsoble for hiring a tree faller to fall and remove the trees, the City’s special Job Creation Partnership program will help with the clean up.
Under the program, crews of workers move debris by hand, feeding the debris into a chipper, move fences and reinstall them. This assistance program reduces the cost to residents by removing the pine tree debris free of charge. The goal is to reduce the amount of dead trees and tree debris in the City, to reduce the forest fire hazard.
This free debris removal service will only be available until July 11, 2008. There are no plans to extend, or create any new program.
"We certainly appreciate the Government of Canada’s support through funding contributions and managing the staffing needs," says Mayor Colin Kinsley. "I encourage all residents who have pine beetle infested trees on their property to take advantage of this program and have that tree debris removed from their property."
Details of the program including brochures are available on the City’s website at:
http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/rec_culture/parks/urbanforestry/assistance/ Any resident interested in theprogram is asked to contact the Industrial Forest Service at 564-4115 local 237 for information and to be put on the service schedule.
At present, wait times are less than one week for service.
Housing Starts Down in Prince George
Prince George, B.C. - Housing starts in Prince George were down in February compared to the same month a year ago. The drop was 50%.
For the year to date stats, the healthy start in January resulted in a year to date decline of 4.3%.
Here are the comparisons with other communities:
