First-time buyers find way to get a home

Despite continuously rising prices, first-time homebuyers are still finding ways to get into the market, real estate firm Re/Max said in a report Tuesday.

Even if it means sacrifices such as purchasing a smaller property, taking longer to pay it off, or living in a less-than-ideal location, buyers "remain steadfast in their determination to purchase a home," the report said.

In B.C., that is still translating into some multiple offers, and homes selling over asking price, said Karel Palla of Vancouver-based Re/Max Select Properties. But these are much fewer in number as "we head toward more normalcy," he said.

Vancouver real-estate marketer Bob Rennie promotes density

Last spring, Metro Vancouver released a report suggesting that members of entire employment categories—including police officers and nurses—would have trouble buying their first home in the region at their current income level, assuming a 10-percent down payment and an interest rate of 4.4 percent.

For Rennie, one of the keys is increasing densities and allowing the benefits to be passed along to consumers. But he worries that Vancouver’s EcoDensity Initiative (for more, see page 39) might be putting too much emphasis on environmental sustainability and not enough on addressing the financial challenges faced by middle-income people. “I think EcoDensity is irresponsible if it doesn’t address affordability,” he said.

UBC students set to highlight Vancouver housing problems to UN

A class tour of Vancouver’s impoverished Downtown Eastside has led two UBC students to draft a human-rights complaint that will be filed against Canada before the United Nations.

The complaint will be brought before the UN Human Rights Council by the Impact on Community Coalition, Pivot Legal Society, and the Carnegie Community Action Project. These groups have been critical of the adverse impact of the 2010 Olympics on housing.

“This is just disheartening,” UBC political-science student Mike Powar told the Georgia Straight , referring to the housing problem not only in the Downtown Eastside but also in the Metro Vancouver area.

B.C. board brings in alert system for Realtors

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board is set to unveil a safety system that allows agents to warn one another and police about suspicious clients almost instantly, after being hampered by nearly three years of technical setbacks.

The announcement, scheduled for tomorrow, comes after Lindsay Buziak, a 24-year-old Victoria real estate agent, was found stabbed to death last month inside an empty house she was showing. Ms. Buziak received two suspicious phone calls in the early evening of Feb. 2, and reportedly told colleagues she was nervous about the meeting in Saanich. No arrests have been made.