Vancouver Real Estate News Blog - March, 2013

Mass Transit Fuels Vancouver Home Sales

If you're planning to sell your Greater Vancouver home this year, it pays to live near public transportation.  As more and more people shift their home buying dreams to places outside the city's boundaries, a top question on their minds is, "How close is it to the SkyTrain?"

When you list your Burnaby, New Westminster or Chilliwack home for sale, don't be surprised if potential buyers are more interested in commuting times than they are in square footage and bathrooms.

Every minute -- and every step -- counts when it calculating daily commute times.   If you don't regularly use public transportation yourself, get a primer from your neighbors or real estate agent so you can answer buyers' questions with confidence.

Strong Demand for Homes in…

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Vancouver Invites Children to Play Outside

Vancouver holds the honorable title of being one of the world’s most walkable cities around the globe, according to the City of Vancouver official website. But despite the city’s unique and admirable quality, many children living in Vancouver are forgoing their pedestrian potential in favor of a less active mode of transportation. 

According to a recent article published in the Vancouver Sun, there is an increase in the number of children utilizing the car as their primary form of transportation.  Kids who travel by car instead of by foot – or similarly active means such as cycling, skateboarding or rollerblading – are at an increased risk of suffering the negative effects of not getting an adequate amount of daily physical activity. 

Jumpin' Math: …

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Vancouver Housing Market Set to Improve in Spring, Analysts Say

A stagnant real estate market is never a good thing -- not for home buyers, home sellers, investors or the general economy.  It is almost always possible to take advantage of market trends and come out ahead.  But there's a big difference between taking a smart approach and a dishonest one, as a recent example demonstrates.

Recent trends in the Greater Vancouver real estate market have some worried.  In large part, this fear has prompted inaction -- what chef economist at the B.C. Real Estate Association, Cameron Muir, described as “a wait-and-see approach.” .

In fact, the fear-derived lull in the housing market due to a showdown between consumers and sellers has caused a 14.3 percent decrease in the number of homes sold in Greater Vancouver in…

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It's Time to Buy, Bambi!

It is a common saying that fear can stop you in your tracks.  This statement, while not usually associated with real estate, seems strangely fitting given recent trends in the Vancouver housing market. 

Like frightened forest critters caught in the headlights, some prospective home buyers, fearful that the drop in home prices in the Greater Vancouver area over the past year is solid indication of a more substantial price decline in the near future, are postponing purchases. 

Consumers are reluctant to take the plunge and finally buy the house of their dreams because they are fearful that they would be buying on the high end of the market. 

No Bargain Bin Finds

According to a February 18th, 2013 statement by Cameron Muir, chief economist at the…

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