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August 2009

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Victoria`s July housing sales highest in almost two decades

Greater Victoria`s housing market remained strong in July, hitting the highest number of sales for that month since 1990.

A total of 933 homes and other properties sold through the Victoria Real Estate Board`s multiple listing service last month, up 51 per cent compared with July 2008 when 616 properties changed hands.

At the peak of the market in 2007, a total of 922 properties were sold. The board`s monthly sales tables date to 1990.

Greater Victoria`s real estate market slowed dramatically late last year and early this year. It picked up in the past few months as the market became more balanced and interest rates remained low.

July`s sales totals came in slightly below June, when 946 sales took place, the board said today.

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Lower Mainland real estate markets race to record July home sales

VANCOUVER — Home sales in the Lower Mainland burst out of their long slump in July as first-time homebuyers, lured by lower prices and rock-bottom interest rates, flooded into the market.

Both Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley real estate boards reported record home sales for the month of July.

Metro realtors racked up 4,114 sales through the Multiple Listing Service in July, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said Wednesday. That`s an 89-per-cent increase from July 2008, when sales were just headed into the doldrums.

The price of the typical single-family home in Metro hit $711,702 in July, down 5.5 per cent from the same month last year but 10-per-cent higher than at the beginning of this year.

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B.C. expands royalties to boost natural gas exploration

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia government announced on Thursday a new package of incentives to attract more exploration and development of the province`s natural gas and oil drilling industry.

Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Blair Lekstrom said in a news release that the package of incentives, which includes a nominal two-per-cent royalty rate on gas and oil extracted from wells drilled from September 2009 through June 2010, is intended to attract investment and "immediate economic benefits" for B.C.

The government`s "stimulus package" does not require direct government spending. Instead, it`s offering drillers the opportunity to pay lower royalty rates as a way to create "momentum" in the industry at attract "significant new investment into the province."

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Incentives aim to boost gas exploration in northeastern B.C.

Stimulus package designed to encourage growth despite relatively low gas prices


The British Columbia government is discounting some of the royalties it collects on natural gas and oil resources in a bid to drive new investment in the northeast.

On Thursday, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Blair Lekstrom announced an "oil and gas stimulus package" the government hopes will attract investment at a time when low North American gas prices have the industry in the doldrums.

The province didn`t estimate a value for the package, which will ultimately depend on how vigorously gas exploration drillers respond, but suggested that for every $1 of forgone royalties, B.C. will yield $2.50 in revenue growth from the industry.

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B.C. job postings plummet in July

Report finds 11,000 fewer jobs listed compared to a year earlier, but some critics dispute findings


Canadian job postings were down significantly in July compared to a year ago, with British Columbia suffering the biggest drop in employment opportunities.

But there were signs of recovery in the second half of the month.

In its monthly Canadian Job Market Report, CareerAIM.com reported that job postings were down 23.1 per cent nationally in July from the same month last year, for a total of 53,800 fewer postings.

B.C. postings fell from 27,871 to 16,806, a whopping reduction of 39.7 per cent. Nova Scotia postings fell by 32.2 per cent and Alberta by 31.7 per cent.

The most stable province was Prince Edward Island, where job postings fell only 1.0 per cent, followed by Saskatchewan, with 4.8 per-cent-fewer job postings.

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B.C. building permits jump about 30 per cent in June

British Columbia recorded an upswing in applications for building permits in June, according to Statistics Canada, giving the construction sector hope that it has reached the bottom of its downturn.

Builders in the province took out almost $632 million in permits for new construction in June, Statistics Canada reported Thursday, a 30-per-cent increase from May and the province`s best month of the year, driven largely by a jump in non-residential jobs.

The level is still 41 per cent below the $1.065 billion worth of permits builders took out in June 2008; the $3.037 billion in permits issued for the first half of 2009 is also down 41 per cent from the first six months of 2008.

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Harmonized tax called threat to rental home supply

Apartment owners and managers hope to explain impact of HST to provincial government


If the provincial government goes ahead with plans to apply the 12-per-cent harmonized sales tax to landlords next year, property owners will be hamstrung to improve or build rental units, says a housing executive.

Marg Gordon, CEO of the B.C. Apartment Owners and Managers Association, said Wednesday her organization is concerned about what this will mean not only for landlords, but tenants as well.

"This will severely affect any plans we had to try to encourage purpose-built rentals," Gordon said.

Currently, tenants do not pay the five-per-cent goods and services tax, but rental property owners must pay GST on their input costs -- which include materials and labour costs that go into renovating a property -- and residential owners do not get input tax credits.

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Natural gas falls most in two months

Prices - Natural gas futures fell the most in two months after a U. S. government report showed a bigger-than-estimated increase in American stockpiles.

Supplies in storage gained 66 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 31 to 3.089 trillion cubic feet, the U. S. Energy Department said. Analysts forecast a gain of 61 billion. The total was a record for late July, based on weekly department data going back to 1994.

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Expect Continuing Job Volatility, Economist says

Resale housing activity was the bright spot last month in British Columbia`s struggling labour market, Central 1 Credit Union is reporting.

Central 1 said B.C.`s economy appears to be coming out of a recession, but warned in its weekly economic bulletin that "the recovery is generally expected to be weak and volatile."

B.C.`s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate eased slightly compared to a month earlier -- a 7.8-per-cent jobless rate in July compared to 8.1 per cent in June.

That statistic is somewhat misleading because a growing number of laid-off workers have abandoned the search for new employment. Eighteen thousand people withdrew from the labor market in July, Central 1 reported.

"Industry-wise, jobs declined in manufacturing and construction, along with educational, accommodation/food and miscellaneous services," the credit union said.

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July Housing Starts Fall 10% in B.C. as Part of National Decline

OTTAWA — Housing starts in Canada declined unexpectedly in July, falling to an annualized rate of 132,100 in July from 137,800 in June, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said Tuesday.

Economists had been calling for a seasonally adjusted rate of 145,000 new home starts.

"The slight decline in July`s housing starts is mostly attributable to the volatile multiple starts segment," said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC`s market analysis centre.

"Although July registered a decline, housing starts are expected to improve throughout 2009."

Urban housing starts fell 5.5 per cent to 113,500 units in July, while urban multiple starts decreased nine per cent to 61,000 units. Urban single starts moved down 1.1 per cent to 52,500 units in July, CMHC said.

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B.C. Job Postings Plummet in July

Canadian job postings were down significantly in July compared to a year ago, with British Columbia suffering the biggest drop in employment opportunities.

But there were signs of recovery in the second half of the month.

In its monthly Canadian Job Market Report, CareerAIM.com reported that job postings were down 23.1 per cent nationally in July from the same month last year, for a total of 53,800 fewer postings.

B.C. postings fell from 27,871 to 16,806, a whopping reduction of 39.7 per cent. Nova Scotia postings fell by 32.2 per cent and Alberta by 31.7 per cent.

The most stable province was Prince Edward Island, where job postings fell only 1.0 per cent, followed by Saskatchewan, with 4.8 per-cent-fewer job postings.

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Housing Sales a Bright Spot in B.C.`s `Volatile` Economy

Resale housing activity was the bright spot last month in British Columbia`s struggling labour market, Central 1 Credit Union is reporting.

Central 1 said B.C.`s economy appears to be coming out of a recession, but warned in its weekly economic bulletin that "the recovery is generally expected to be weak and volatile."

B.C.`s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate eased slightly compared to a month earlier — a 7.8-per-cent jobless rate in July compared to 8.1 per cent in June.

That statistic is somewhat misleading because a growing number of laid-off workers have abandoned the search for new employment. Eighteen thousand people withdrew from the labor market in July, Central 1 reported.

"Industry-wise, jobs declined in manufacturing and construction, along with educational, accommodation/food and miscellaneous services," the credit union said.

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Vancouver Home Prices show steepest drop as Prices across Canada fall for Ninth Straight Month

OTTAWA — New home prices in Canada fell for the ninth straight month in June despite predictions the slide would finally come to an end, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

Prices declined by 0.2 per cent in June, after a 0.1 per cent decline in May, with the decline again the result of falling values in Western Canada.

Economists had forecast prices would remain flat for the month.

"On balance, when combined with the disappointing housing starts report released yesterday, this report provided further confirmation on the dichotomy between the new and existing homes markets in Canada," said TD Securities economics strategist Millan Mulraine, referring to the fall in July housing starts reported Tuesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

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Metro Vancouver Real Estate Sales reach Record Volumes for July

Record sales volumes in Metro Vancouver and Victoria helped lift B.C.`s real estate market in July, the B.C. Real Estate Association reported Friday.

Nationally, markets experienced record sales for the month, posting their biggest year-over-year increase in two years.

With lower prices and near record low mortgage rates, B.C. buyers rushed to scoop up 10,051 homes through the Multiple Listing Service in July, the association said, lifting the month`s results 53 per cent over the same month a year ago.

"Record home sales in Metro Vancouver and Victoria propelled the province into balanced conditions [between buyers and sellers] last month," association chief economist Cameron Muir said. But conditions are not equal everywhere, he cautioned, adding that Interior markets have been interrupted by forest fires.

And while monthly sales volumes have been slowly increasing this year, the 46,380 homes sold through MLS during the first seven months of 2009 is still down six per cent from the same period a year earlier. The dollar value of those cumulative sales, at $21 billion, is 10 per cent less than in 2008.

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HST will hit Condo Maintenance Fees

British Columbia`s condominium owners can expect their building maintenance fees to rise up to seven per cent when the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) takes effect next July, according to groups that represent them.

Monthly maintenance fees cover the common costs of looking after a condominium complex, from landscaping and janitorial to heating systems and elevator maintenance.

All services now subject only to the five-per-cent GST will be subject to the full 12-per-cent HST after next July 1.

"The potential here is that strata corporation budgets and fees are going to be raised anywhere from three to seven per cent to cover costs," Tony Gioventu, executive director of the Condominium Homeowners Association of B.C., said in an interview.

"The consumer is going to pay those bills."

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B.C. boasts of $3.7 Billion worth of New Major Construction Projects

Developers added proposals for 41 new large construction projects worth $3.7 billion to B.C.`s inventory of major works between April and the end of June, Economic Development Minister Iain Black said Thursday.

That brings the list of major construction jobs proposed or underway to 882 with a value of $188 billion, raising the inventory`s value for the 19th straight quarter, Black said.

However, an increasing number of projects has been moved to the "on hold" column of the report.

"These consistent increases reflect investors` steadfast confidence in our province`s economic recovery, as well as government`s actions to support B.C.`s construction industry," Black said in a news release.

"We`re investing $14 billion to build vital public infrastructure in every region of B.C. and to create up to 88,000 jobs when B.C. needs them most."

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The Big Drill

What energy crisis? Despite what you may be hearing about a global peak in oil production, waning reserves, and $100-plus oil prices, North America is suddenly awash in fossil fuel.

Sophisticated new drilling methods and a shared epiphany among exploration companies about the vast potential for new natural gas production from deep underground shale deposits have overturned decades of gloom about waning gas supplies.

"Natural gas will displace coal. It will displace oil," said Mike Graham, Canadian foothills division president for Calgary-based gas giant EnCana. "There is no reason North America shouldn`t be energy self-sufficient if we can displace a lot of the oil with natural gas."

British Columbia is emerging as a major player in this new enterprise.

Gas exploration and development companies, all the way from obscure juniors to global giants like ExxonMobil, have scrambled into northeast B.C. in the past three years, desperate to reserve a piece of the Horn River and Montney shale plays (or underground geologic formations) that are perceived as two of the most lucrative on the continent.

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Forestry Workers, B.C. Interior Companies Contract talks at an Impasse

VANCOUVER — Talks between forestry workers and their employers in British Columbia`s Interior have broken down but both sides hope they`ll be back at the bargaining table soon.

The most recent talks were scheduled for three days this week but ended abruptly at the beginning of day two with the Council on Northern Interior Forest Employment Relations (Conifer) complaining that the union — the United Steelworkers — wasn`t taking their demands seriously.

Conifer — which represents employers in the northern part of B.C.`s interior — needs to find ways to cut costs, its executive director Michael Bryce said in an interview. And they`ve suggested a number of possible ways of doing that.

But anything that can be categorized as a concession the union has no receptiveness to, Bryce said.

Some concessions — Bryce calls them "logical perspective cost-reduction avenues" — are essential for the industry to get "a better economic footing," he said.

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B.C. Real Estate Sales to keep climbing this Year: Forecast

VANCOUVER — British Columbia real estate sales should continue to rise through the remainder of 2009 from last year`s market fall, according to the B.C. Real Estate Association`s latest forecast.

Home sales have doubled since January`s near collapse in sales, association chief economist Cameron Muir said in a news release, and he expects transactions recorded through the Multiple Listing Service to climb some 15 per cent from 2008 to 79,400 units.

Prices, although edging up from their declines through the last half of 2008, will remain below last year`s levels before showing slight gains again in 2010, according to Muir`s forecast.

The provincial average price for a home of $451,200 will be one per cent below the 2008 level, and should show a one-per-cent gain to $457,600 in 2010.

"After 12 months of significant volatility in B.C.`s housing markets, greater stability is expected through 2010," Muir said.

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