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February 2013 B.C. Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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Vancouver rental market competition heats up




Looking for rental housing in Vancouver may be getting a little easier as vacancy rates edge up and with some landlords offering incentives to get good tenants.




Hollyburn Properties has been holding open houses for rental accommodation in Vancouver`s West End, a ploy unique in what has been a building owner`s, not a renter`s market.





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Peaches and beaches




Sometimes called the "Land of Peaches and Beaches," the Central Okanagan is home to a thriving wine industry, a diverse array of four-season recreational opportunities and a temperate climate blessed with plenty of sunshine. Small wonder generation after generation has considered this part of British Columbia a vacation wonderland.




Although hard hit by the economic downturn of 2007-08, today Kelowna and the Central Okanagan are claiming a renewed sense of optimism; and, while some industry insiders temper it to "a cautious optimism," many are clearly excited and enthusiastic about the year ahead.





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Surrey is a non-stop business destination




The new 10-lane Port Mann Bridge will do more than speed Trans Canada traffic across the Fraser River: it may also remove the last obstacle to Surrey becoming the largest city in British Columbia.




Already the fifth-largest municipality in Western Canada by population and, at 3,000 square kilometres, bigger than both Burnaby and Vancouver combined, Surrey is the fastest-growing city in the province.





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Metro Vancouver can be affordable




The Metro Vancouver housing market is as popular a conversation topic as the Canucks. While the Canucks` talk centres around which goaltender should be traded, discussions about the housing market range from the validity of a listing price of a neighbour`s home to market bears who insist from thousands of miles away that a meltdown is inevitable.





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New housing affordability index shows it varies across Metro Vancouver




Headlines regularly tell people that Vancouver is among the least affordable cities in the world. But often they don`t tell the full story ` that while the city of Vancouver is a pricey place to be a homeowner, the suburbs still have home prices that are affordable to most families.




Today, The Vancouver Sun introduces the UDI/FortisBC Housing Affordability Index, a new way to look at housing prices that provides a clearer, more specific picture of affordability across Metro Vancouver. The index was developed by a partnership of The Sun, the Urban Development Institute and Urban Analytics Inc. over the past three months.





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Natural gas firms fume as BC proposes LNG tax





The energy sector is lashing out at a British Columbia proposal to impose a major new tax on the impending export of natural gas, saying the province risks serious damage to a fledgling industry before it has a chance to take wing.




Some 10 proposals are now being considered for the shipment of liquefied natural gas from B.C., a province that has eagerly promoted the vast new revenues the coming development stands to produce. The province has said it now believes five export terminals could be built in coming years; the first could be complete by 2015.






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B.C. premier goes all in on the province's resource sector




For most of her nearly two years on the job, B.C. Premier Christy Clark has been criticized for failing to present a vision for the province. Now just months before British Columbians go to the polls, she is staking her party`s re-election chances on a big, bold idea that bets the farm on B.C.`s resource sector.



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BC pipeline investments appear doomed




It now appears increasingly unlikely that neither the $6 billion Enbridge Inc. Northern Gateway pipeline or the expansion of the Kinder Morgan Inc.'s Trans Mountain oil pipeline will be approved in British Columbia.




Both proposals, the first that would pipe crude oil from the Alberta oil sands to the northwest B.C. coast for tanker shipment by sea to Asia, the latter which would nearly triple the oil flow from the Lower Mainland, are facing stiff environmental and political opposition. Meanwhile, the Alberta premier is warning of dire economic consequences if oil is not allowed to flow to high value markets, like Asia.



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Kamloops has 'blue-collar ethos'



The debate around the Ajax project has hinged on the environmental-health effects on the one hand and job creation-economic prosperity on the other.

I will not delve too deeply into specifics of the socio-economic ramifications of this project going through as much as I want to say that Kamloops has always involved an element of heavy industry. And not only do I believe it always will, but always should.





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Surrey takes lead welcoming skilled workers to BC




Canada is a rich country. But being an immigrant here is tough, especially if you're having trouble finding a job that matches your skills.




A story by Province reporter Mike Raptis highlighted the case of Naresh Heera, a former emergency room doctor from India who came to Surrey in 2010 only to find himself working as a security guard.





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Drop in new listings points to gradual recovery in Vancouver




A reduction in fresh listings should set the stage for a gradual recovery in Greater Vancouver`s housing market, says the chief economist at the B.C. Real Estate Association.




In January, the number of new residential listings in Greater Vancouver fell 10.9 per cent from the same month in 2012, marking the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. But there remains a backlog of active listings that will take some time to clear before the region`s real estate market regains its balance, Cameron Muir said in an interview Monday.



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High cost, low pay for those under 45




We all know housing prices have gone way up compared to a generation ago. This is especially true in B.C.'s Lower Mainland - now the most expensive place to live on the continent.




According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average cost of housing is $780,000 in Metro Vancouver, a region that includes Burnaby, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge. By contrast, the average cost in 1976 was a paltry $62,000 - or $240,000 in today's dollars, after adjusting for inflation.





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Kootenays experiencing job growth





Despite an overall national drop in employment, primarily in full-time positions, British Columbia`s economy remains stable, reports a Feb. 8 Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training press release.




As British Columbia starts the new year, most of its regions are recording steady job gains over this time in January 2012.





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Developers hit brakes on office tower construction




The Vancouver office-tower boom is gearing down.




After a couple years of heady development in which almost a dozen new towers were proposed, construction on half of them is likely to be put off for the immediate future, the city`s commercial brokers say.




`With the five that are already in the mix, I`d say there will be a pause,` said Bart Corbett, the senior vice-president for office leasing at Cushman Wakefield. `Those four to five buildings have more or less tapped the tangible leases in our market.`



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BC housing outlook for 2013 and 2014






VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Feb. 22, 2013) -
According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC) First Quarter Housing Market Outlook British Columbia Highlights report, housing starts in British Columbia are forecast to edge higher to 28,800 homes in 2013, from 27,465 starts in 2012, and total 30,100 units in 2014.





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Affordability is drawing people to Surrey




Crystal Williams and her boyfriend are typically active Vancouverites. And they would have liked to have stayed in the city, but they just couldn`t find the space they wanted for the price they could afford.




And so, instead of buying in Vancouver, they move out of their one-bedroom West End apartment on Feb. 28 to take possession of a three-bedroom townhome (with three baths and a den) in Surrey.





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BC housing starts to trend up this year




British Columbia's real estate market could be recovering with a report predicting that housing starts will trend up this year.




The province's housing starts are expected to climb from 27,465 homes in 2012 to 28,800 this year, then to 30,100 in 2014, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said in a news release on Friday.





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Vancouver could see an increase in laneway housing




VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) ` You soon could see more of those laneway houses around Vancouver.




The city is looking at expanding it into other residential zones, and hope to encourage more of the single storey laneway homes which will have less of an impact on neighbours who may feel they`re intrusive.





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Vancouver still least affordable Canadian market




TORONTO ` A new report says the cost of home ownership in most major Canadian markets was down slightly in the last three months of 2012 but notes that pressure on household budgets remains somewhat above the historical average.




`Home ownership costs came down for a second consecutive quarter as a share of household income thanks primarily to small declines in mortgage rates and home prices in several markets across the country,` the RBC report says.





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