Vancouver house prices make it top city for personal net worth

VANCOUVER — Metro Vancouver households were the wealthiest in Canada in 2007. But with falling house prices, the gap between Metro and other cities is getting smaller, according to a study released Tuesday by Pitney Bowes Business Insight.

Average household net worth of those living in the Vancouver census metropolitan area (CMA) was $592,851, followed by the Toronto CMA at $562,173.

The average household wealth of those living in Victoria, the only other B.C. city on the list, was $544,542, fourth highest after third-place Calgary.

If $592,851 sounds like more than what most of us are worth, that’s not surprising.

Tail-end of the B.C. housing tailspin looms

For years, the real estate market in B.C.'s Lower Mainland acted a lot like the mythical perpetual motion machine.

Buyers were jumping into the market because prices were rising and, hey, why miss out on the capital-gains fun? So sales jumped, and bidding wars ensued, sending prices a little further up into the stratosphere – and luring more buyers into the market. The mere fact that prices were rising far above historical rates, and well beyond any rational measure of affordability, was of no consequence.

Of no consequence, that is, until last summer, when prices started to edge downward, and the wheels of the great B.C. perpetual motion machine stopped spinning. A tiny drop in average prices – 2.3 per cent between May and August – coincided with an enormous drop in volume. The drop in the volume of sales accelerated through the winter.

Real estate transactions 3/20/09

•Erich Kasch has purchased 1.95 acres at King’s Landing Apartments, 1420 N.W. 20th St., in Corvallis, from Charles Stevens for $3.6 million. Chuck Brazer and Jordan Carter of GVA Kidder Mathews represented the buyer. Ira Virden of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller.

•Ganesh Sonpatki has purchased 15,000 square feet at the Harlow Hotel Building, 722-738 N.W. Glisan St., in Portland, from Old 82 LLC for $950,000. Charles Conrow and Todd VanDomelen of Norris & Stevens Inc. represented the buyer. Michael Kapnick of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller.

Sales up in the real estate market

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - There is some good news in the real estate market. Sales were up a bit last month. Numbers from the BC Real Estate Association show sales jumped 17 per cent from January to February.

The Association credits low prices and historic low interest rates for the increase. Sales are still off by half from a year ago, and the value of properties listed on MLS is also down 50-per cent from February of 2008.

Best places to buy real estate in B.C.

News1130 file photo

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - It just got a lot easier to decide where to put your real estate investment dollars in B.C. The Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) has released a new report on the best places to buy. After looking at the numbers and what's available, Surrey came out on top, followed by Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows, Abbotsford and Kamloops.

Don Campbell with the REIN says they come up with the list by looking for a number of different things. "Everything from economic potential...we're looking for average income growth... average population growth...we're looking for leadership in a city that's actually bringing businesses and jobs in."

Winnipeg real estate market slips in February

The average days on market for homes selling in February was 32 days, a 10-day improvement over January and only a week off February 2008, when more brisk conditions prevailed, she said.

"Contrast our 32 days in February to Vancouver's 67-day average days on market, and we should not feel overly concerned about our current market situation," she added.

The slower sales last month, however, have the inventory at the end of the month 58 per cent higher than the same period last year.

Two men accused in real estate fraud appear in court

Former Vancouver lawyer Martin Wirick and real estate developer Tarsem Gill have elected to be tried by judge and jury on charges that they defrauded lenders out of more than $30 million.

The two men appeared briefly Monday before Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Joseph Galati with their high-profile lawyers, Richard Peck for Wirick and David Crossin for Gill, to make the election. Appearing for the Crown was veteran prosecutor Kevin Gillett.

Wirick, tall and gaunt, was dressed in a rumpled black nylon jacket and dark blue pants. Gill was also casually dressed in a windbreaker, khaki pants and running shoes. Neither man said anything in court.

Greater Vancouver real estate sales drop 44.7 percent

For Metro Vancouver real-estate agents, there was good news and bad news contained in a new Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board report on residential sales.

On the upside, sales volumes increased significantly in February over the previous month. According to the GVREBV, there were 1,480 sales registered last month, up from 762 the previous month.

This 94 percent month-by-month increase was significantly higher than the average of a 53 percent increase in sales in February over January over the past 10 years.

However, comparing February 2009 sales volumes to figures in the same month of 2008 didn't result in such a pleasant story. There was a 44.7 percent decline this year—from 2,676 sales in February of 2008 to 1,480 sales in February of 2009.

Clark County real estate roundup March 2

Nu 2 U Consignment & Thrift Store has leased 1,528 square feet of space at Orchards Market Center, 11505 N.E. Fourth Plain Road, Suite F-1, Vancouver. KC Fuller of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the tenant; Deborah Ewing of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the lessor. The move-in date is March 15.

PT On Call has extended its lease at Park Tower I, Mill Plain One, 201 N.E. Park Plaza Drive, Suite 246, Vancouver, for an additional five years. Adam Roselli and Byron Roselli of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the tenant.

Signature Nails & Spa has leased 1,400 square feet of space at Orchards Market Center, 11505 N.E. Fourth Plain Road, Suite F-3, Vancouver. KC Fuller of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the tenant; Deborah Ewing of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the landlord. The move-in date is April 1.

Former Portland real estate broker faces mortgage fraud charges

Kamau Herndon was arraigned in federal court Tuesday on charges the former mortgage broker put together three fraudulent home sales surreptitiously, taking thousands of dollars for himself from each of them.

Herndon, 37, of Portland is the third former employee of Lighthouse Financial Group, a large Vancouver mortgage brokerage, to be charged with federal crimes. He is the son of Ron Herndon, a prominent community activist and director of Albina Head Start.

The Herndon case illustrates the powerful downward pull on property values exerted by the wave of mortgage fraud. The defaults and foreclosures that generally follow a phony home purchase can dramatically cut a home's market value. With mortgage defaults now surging in Oregon, the combined impact of the resulting foreclosures on housing prices could be formidable.