When someone asks how house prices are doing in a particular neighbourhood, the question seems easily answered.
The big real estate boards all issue monthly price reports that spell out what the average selling price was in the previous month and how that compares to the month, and the year, before.
But there's a problem with trying to divine market direction from average price data. It's just too blunt a tool.
If real estate — as the saying goes — is really about "location, location, location," then average prices frequently don’t capture the reality of what's going on in a particular city or neighbourhood.
Calculating the average house price is as simple as adding up the prices realized for all home sales in a particular month and dividing by the number of sales. The problem with that metric begins to emerge, however, when one or more parts of the housing market don't act in tandem with all the other segments, as they seldom do.
By worldpoetry on July 16, 2012 - 12:23pm
Featured poet on tour, Anna Yin will be presenting her poetry at World Poetry New Westminster Night Out, July 25: 6:30 pm at the New Westminster Public Library, (World Poetry Partner) 716-6th Avenue (Auditorium Room) New Westminster, BC. She is sponsored by the League of Canadian Poets and the Canada Council for the Arts. Anna was also the winner of the Li Bai gift poem, 150 poems which were given to the public at his World Poetry Life Celebration. Other features are a book launch by Bernice Lever, Ashok Bhargava and Jasmine.
Anna Yin, IT Geek & poet, born in China, immigrated to Canada in 1999. Her passion for poetry bloomed after that. She won the 2005 Ted Plantos Memorial Award, 2010 MARTY Award for her poetry and other awards. In 2011 her book “Wings Toward Sunlight” was published by Mosaic Press. She is a member of the League of Canadian Poets. CBC Radio interviewed her twice for her poetry. Her poems in English & Chinese and ten translations by her were in a Canadian Studies’ textbook used by Humber College. Her Poetry Alive events have been a new approach to help people explore and appreciate poetry. Her website: Annapoetry.com
Purple and Gold
–In Memory of P.K. Page
You life is a purple pearl sent from the old Kingdoms to the long West Coast. Your childhood rides on horseback with irises, bluebells and lavender all violet in purple clouds.
By worldpoetry on July 16, 2012 - 12:19pm
World Poetry is so pleased to feature Jasmine from the Jasmine Dance Group, our wonderful partners. They have performed many times for World Poetry Events and received an Empowered Group Award at the World Poetry International Peace Festival 2012. Jasmine will be a featured dancer on July 25th at World Poetry Night Out July 25: 6:30 pm at the New Westminster Public Library, (World Poetry Partner) 716-6th Avenue (Auditorium Room) New Westminster, BC . She will be performing as a special welcome for Anna Yin, one of the featured poets.
Jasmine was a university instructor in China before immigrating to Canada. She loves Chinese folk dance and had received professional training in dancing since childhood. For many years she has been using her spare time to engage in dance teaching and performing onstage in both China and Canada.
When selling a home , the marketing effort must be coordinated on all fronts. It also must be superior to the competition. This is especially true in a buyers' market where the homes sitting on the market seemingly outnumber the potential home buyers. In such an environment, you must lift your home out from this crowd and highlight it in the best way possible. You must out-think the competition.
All good marketing efforts begin life as a sound, basic plan and then evolves to fit the particular property and situation. Cut from whole cloth and then tailor-made, such a plan will incorporate innovative new ideas and "rearrange" old ones.
1. Select a Quality Realtor . There are also some who are little more than "order takers" who literally can't properly write out a contract, much less have the hard-won knowledge needed to position your home in the most appropriate and effective way for your particular market. So how do you find such an experienced, market aggressive realtor? Ask around. Check with friends and get some names. When selling in today's market, you need to be in the hands of a practicing "doctor" and not someone eager to practice on you.
Mortgage rules change today, but about half of Canadians don’t know it, a recent survey suggests many people are unfamiliar with the changes
New mortgage rules go into effect today in Canada but a recent survey suggests many people are unfamiliar with the changes.
Starting Monday, lenders can only issue home equity loans up to a maximum of 80% of a property's value — down from 85%.
The maximum amortization period also drops to 25 years from 30 years — giving borrowers less time to repay the debt in full.
In addition, the federal government is capping the maximum debt ratios for households and limiting government insurance to mortgages on homes with a purchase price of less than $1-million.
A poll conducted by Pollara for Bank of Montreal found only about half of those surveyed were familiar with the changes brought in by the federal government.
First Time Buyer's Alert from Maria Mak. Burnaby Realty
This is the best prime time to get into the market before the mortgage rules changed and will be effective on July 9th 2012.
There are lots of good bargains listings out there in the market and with the help of the experienced and knowledgeable realtors in your area, start looking and chasing your first dream homes.
Contact Maria Mak and her team at Sutton Centre Realty @ 604-839-6368 today for all your premium real estate services, or visit her website www.mariamak.com, You'll be smiling too!
June Housing Marekt Update from Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties reached 2,362 in June, a 27.6 p
The number of residential property sales hit a 10-year low in Greater Vancouver for June, while prices remained relatively stable.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties reached 2,362 in June, a 27.6 per cent decline compared to the 3,262 sales in June 2011 and a 17.2 per cent decline compared to the 2,853 sales in May 2012.
June sales were the lowest total for the month in the region since 2000 and 32.2 per cent below the 10-year June sales average of 3,484.
“Overall conditions have trended in favour of buyers in our marketplace in recent months,” Eugen Klein, REBGV president said. “This means buyers are facing less competition and have more selection to choose from compared to earlier in the year.”
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 5,617 in June. This represents a 3 per cent decline compared to June 2011 when 5,793 properties were listed for sale on the MLS® and an 18.9 per cent decline compared to the 6,927 new listings reported in May 2012.
Spring activity remains balanced in the Greater Vancouver housing market
VANCOUVER, BC - The number of properties listed for sale continued to increase in the Greater Vancouver housing market in May. The number of sales decreased year over year, but remained relatively constant compared to recent months.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,853 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in May 2012. This represents a 15.5 per cent decline compared to the 3,377 sales recorded in May 2011.
OTTAWA — The federal government is moving once again to tighten mortgage-lending rules amid lingering concerns about an overheated housing market and rising household debt levels.
In a decision called for by some of the big banks — and one that's expected to soften housing prices — Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Thursday the federal government is reducing the maximum amortization period for a government-insured mortgage to 25 years from 30 years.
It's the third time the Harper government has reduced the maximum amortization period in the last four years, after it initially increased the lengths of mortgage terms to make it easier for Canadians to purchase homes.
The government has since ratcheted it back from 40 years to 35 in 2008, and then further reduced it to 30 years in 2011.
Visit Maria Mak's website www.mariamak.com for all detailed mortage rules being effective July 9th 2012, or contact Maria Mak and her mortgage teams @ 604-839-6368 for details.
