There is ad upon ad placed by presale condo owners who are desperately trying to unload their purchases, with some even willing to walk away from their deposits.
An ad by a realtor announces that developer Onni Development is offering a 40-per-cent discount on homes.
"Most of these homes have already been sold, but the purchasers were unable to complete on them," says the ad.
Vancouver is moving ahead with plans to shore up the financial footings for the new downtown Olympic Village condo development.
The city, putting another $253 million (U.S.) of its credit on the line, has bought out Fortress Investment Group's original stake in the troubled real-estate development that will house half of the 2010 Winter Olympics athletes. (The other half will be housed at a more modest Whistler Olympic Village.)
Fortress, a troubled U.S. hedge fund, originally offered principle financing for the project, on the city's Southeast False Creek waterfront. The buyout will essentially allow the city, which has secured $400 million in a credit line from the Bank of Montreal, to refinance the debt and ensure the project is complete on schedule by November.
Vancouver real estate agent Kye Grace was pleased with the turnout for an open house he recently hosted in a Gastown loft. He just didn't get as much sleep as he had hoped.
The unit in a converted glass factory had remained on the market for longer than a year, so when Mr. Grace took over the listing, he decided to try a new tactic.
He brainstormed with a friend and came up with the idea of a marathon 72-hour open house, in which he let house hunters tour the $999,950 loft space in person and on-line.
With houses and condominium units languishing in many of North America's real estate markets, agents are searching for all sorts of creative new ways to reach prospective buyers and generate attention. Mr. Grace's three-day open house garnered the publicity he was looking for and a third showing for one prospective purchaser this weekend.
The number of homes sold in Greater Vancouver in January 2009 was the lowest for that month since the early 1980s.
According to a media release from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, sales of detached, attached, and apartment properties together declined 58.1 percent compared to January 2008.
The release states that compared to January 2008, sales of detached properties have declined 54.4 percent, sales of attached properties have dropped 65.7 percent, and apartment property sales are down 58 percent.
The Sunshine Coast saw the greatest drop in benchmark price for a detached property; South Delta experienced the greatest drop for an attached property; and West Vancouver saw the greatest decline in benchmark prices for apartments.
