We are proud to announce that this Saturday, March 13, 2010, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 69 Jamieson Court , in Palace Quay in Fraserview NW, New Westminster. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent New West Water View Condo for sale in beautiful Fraserview NW.

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Fraserview NW New West Water View Condo for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton | Vancouver Real Estate | 604.505.6503
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Lower Lonsdale Pier Condo for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton | Vancouver Real Estate | 604.505.6503
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Fraserview NW New West Water View Condo for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton | Vancouver Real Estate | 604.505.6503
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Lower Lonsdale Lower Lonsdale Townhouse for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton | Vancouver Real Estate | 604.505.6503
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty

Council made a motion Tuesday directing staff to draft a bylaw that would ban franchises in Tofino utilizing a section of the official community plan which discourages future development and location of large-format retail chains and fast-food chains that do not reflect the character of Tofino, according to Coun. Stephen Ashton who proposed the motion.

Ashton said he is concerned Tofino would lose its distinctness among other communities.

“We are very unique where you can come to this place and you don't have a Starbucks, Tim Hortons or a McDonalds,” he said.

However, Ashton admitted that already existing franchises in the municipality could not be banned.

“I think that we have to be proactive,” he said.

Bob Long, chief administrative officer, said the bylaws will have to be enforceable and council will have to assess the risks involved.

“There is something called the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Long said to council. “And sometimes these types of things can conflict with each other. You can't really enact legislation that is contrary to those freedoms and rights.”

However, Ashton said one community he knew of passed a bylaw banning restaurants without table service.

“It's do-able…there's different ways of doing it,” he explained. “I'm not suggesting that that would be a solution, but that's how they got around franchises.”

Ashton also said many people believe there is such a bylaw in place already.

“This helps solidify that talk that's already out there,” he added.

Long said staff will do the best it can.

“Then council will know what the risks are associated with that kind of legislation,” he said.

Loft Apartments

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Loft apartments are apartments that are generally built from former industrial buildings. When industrial developments are developed into condominiums instead of apartments, they may be called loft condominiums. The general term warehouse-to-loft conversions may sometimes be used for development of industrial buildings into apartments and condominiums. "Loft-style" may also refer simply to developments where a street-level business occupies the first floor while apartment "lofts" are placed above the first floor.

Sometimes, loft apartments are one component of municipal urban renewal initiatives that also include renovation of industrial buildings into art galleries and studio space as well as promotion of a new part of the city as an "arts district."

Originally popular with artists, they are now highly sought-after by other bohemians, and the gentrification of the former manufacturing sectors of large cities is now a familiar pattern. One such sector is Manhattan's Meatpacking District. The adoption of the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance (2001) in the City of Los Angeles (primarily the Arts District) is another example of such legislation to encourage the conversion of no longer economically viable industrial and commercial buildings to luxurious residential loft communities. Such is the demand for these spaces among the well-off that real estate developers have taken to creating ready-made "lofts" in urban areas that are gentrifying or that seem primed to do so. While some of these units are created by developers during the extensive and costly renovation of old buildings, a number of them are included in the floor plans of brand new developments. Both types of pre-fab loft offer wealthy buyers or renters the proximity to urban amenities afforded by traditional lofts, but without the perceived safety risks of living in economically depressed industrial areas.

Commercial loft

A commercial loft refers to a building that has ceilings over 17 feet (5 m) in height and a second story area for storage or offices above. These are usually industrial spaces with an added office element on a second level.

Other Lofts

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Live/work loft

A live/work loft is a space designed to house a resident and their business. This concept has been a vital part of the redevelopment of major downtown cities inner cores. The concept of cutting costs on space, travel and more is essential in the live/work loft.

Rigging loft

A raised area or gallery in a shipyard where workers stand while fitting rigging.

Parachute loft

A large, open, high ceilinged space where parachute riggers re-pack parachutes into parachute containers.

Sail loft

A large open space used by sailmakers to spread out sails.

Church architecture

Some churches have a choir loft, where the singers stand or sit during services. Sometimes the church organ is located in a loft.

Loft Conversions

It is fairly common to convert a loft instead of moving home, with the most common additions being an extra bedroom or study. The loft area of a building tends to be unused, but when converted can add a large amount of floor space.

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Lower Lonsdale Lower Lonsdale Townhouse for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Lower Lonsdale Lower Lonsdale Townhouse for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,473 in February 2010, an increase of 67.1 per cent compared to February 2009 when 1,480 sales were recorded and a 28.6 per cent increase compared to the 1,923 sales recorded in January 2010.

More broadly, last month’s sales totals marked a 7.6 per cent decline compared to the 2,676 sales recorded in February 2008 and were 13.5 per cent behind February 2007 when 2,859 residential sales were recorded on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in Greater Vancouver.

Over the last 12 months, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 19.7 per cent to $581,911 from $486,054 in February 2009. This price is 2.4 per cent above the previous high point in the market in May 2008 when the residential benchmark price sat at $568,411.

“We don’t know at this point what long-term impact the Olympics will have on our housing market, but we do know that activity in our market remained steady through all of the excitement and distraction of the last few weeks,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said.

“In February, for example, 110 sales were recorded on the MLS® in downtown Vancouver. That’s higher than 2009 and slightly lower than the mid-2000s, which is consistent with data from the overall market. It’s too soon to say whether that’s an Olympic effect,” Russell said.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 4,606 in February 2010. This represents a 17.6 per cent increase compared to February 2009 when 3,916 new units were listed, and a 10.5 per cent decrease compared to January 2010 when 5,147 properties were listed on the MLS® in Greater Vancouver.

At 11,346, the total number of property listings on the MLS® increased 11 per cent in February compared to last month and declined 21 per cent from this time last year.

“Two months into 2010, we see the total number of homes listed for sale on the rise and demand in the market strong, but less frenzied than we saw in the latter part of 2009,” Russell said.

Sales of detached properties increased 67.5 per cent in February 2010 to 983 from the 587 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2009. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties increased 22.5 per cent from February 2009 to $800,796.

Sales of apartment properties in February 2010 increased 65.2 per cent to 1,074 compared to 650 sales in February 2009. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 17.3 per cent from February 2009 to $390,899.

Attached property sales in February 2010 are up 71.2 per cent to 416, compared with the 243 sales in February 2009. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 16.2 per cent between Februarys 2009 and 2010 to $495,496.

The underlying factors supporting Canada's recovery are largely unchanged - policy stimulus, increased confidence, improved financial conditions, global growth, and higher terms of trade. At the same time, the persistent strength of the Canadian dollar and the low absolute level of U.S. demand continue to act as significant drags on economic activity in Canada.’
In Benjamin Tal’s (CIBC Senior Economist) Weekly Market Insight, he points out that any move by the Bank of Canada ahead of the Federal Reserve poses significant risks for Canada. Below, is an extract of some of the pertinent points which I thought you would find of interest:
‘This is a risky move given that both in 1992 and 2002 the Bank moved independently of the Fed, only to reverse the decision a few months later. The most likely scenario is that the Bank will move by 50-75 basis points and then will pause until 2011 and continue to hike alongside the Fed. The reason for the limited hike in 2010 is that the ongoing recovery in the Canadian economy will not be linear. The first two quarters of the year will be strong, reflecting fiscal stimulus from both sides of the border, a rebounding inventory cycle and strong credit growth in Canada. These factors, however, will fade in the second half of the year, with overall GDP growth expected to average less than 2% vs. more than 3% in the first half.
 
As for inflation, the Bank of Canada is projecting core inflation to reach its target rate of 2% by mid-2011. But the core rate has already reached 1.9% last month. Is the Bank of Canada wrong? The short answer is no. The 1.9% advance in the core rate reflects a very soft base period (rates are calculated on a year-over-year basis and January of 2009 saw a notable decline in prices). This means that the coming months will see a much lower inflation rate. The reality is that the underlying inflation rate in Canada is well below 1.5%. So we still have a lot of time until we reach the Bank’s target.’

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Lower Lonsdale Lower Lonsdale Townhouse for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Fraserview NW New West Water View Condo for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Lower Lonsdale Pier Condo for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Lower Lonsdale Pier Condo for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604.505.6503 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Craig Rushton
CENTURY 21 In Town Realty