January 2013 B.C. Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

'Steady stream of traffic' to jobs centre in Comox Valley




The provincial government says the job climate in B.C. is strong and steady, with unemployment dropping over the course of 2012.










According to Statistics Canada, employment was up in the Vancouver Island/coastal region by 12,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped from 6.3 per cent in December, 2011 to 5.8 per cent last December.





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[Ally]

Vancouver housing market helps bring down Canadian resale average




VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) ` The cooling Vancouver and Toronto housing markets skewed national averages downward in 2012, just as they bent the figures upward earlier.




The actual unadjusted national average price for a resale home in 2012 was $364,000, up 0.3 per cent from a year earlier. If you strip out the Vancouver and Toronto numbers, and increase is 2.8 per cent.





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[Ally]

Maple Ridge's desirability growing




Numbers are down in the housing markets of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, both in terms of sales and prices of homes according to the latest sales statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV). But veteran Maple Ridge realtor Don Pearce isn't worried.




From January to December 2012, 1,049 detached homes, 367 attached homes (such as townhouses and rowhomes), and 305 apartments were sold in the region.





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[Ally]

Crowsnest Pass welcomes mining company




`I think it`s a boom to the economy of the Crowsnest Pass and to all of southern Alberta,` said Mayor Bruce Decoux describing a proposed coal mine at Grassy Mountain by Australian firm, Riversdale Resources.










At a press conference held on January 8, Mayor Bruce Decoux explained how Riversdale approached the municipality.





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[Ally]

Prince Rupert Port Authority CEO says 2012 laid the groundwork for a bright future




`One word summarizes 2012 and the future: Excitement.`










Those are the words of Prince Rupert Port Authority president and CEO Don Krusel following a year that saw the group achieve a third-consecutive record year and laid the groundwork for even more growth in the future.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

BC leads in mineral exploration




British Columbia's modern mineral exploration and development industry is leading the way when it comes to attracting investment and building business partnerships with local and aboriginal communities. Opportunities to cooperate, create certainty and share the benefits from responsible mineral development are significant and important for industry, First Nations, government and every citizen in B.C.




Although industry is challenged by permitting issues and the slow pace of the consultation process between First Nations and government, a growing number of agreements and business partnerships has been struck and serve as models for other jurisdictions. Outsiders are turning to us here in B.C. for advice on respecting aboriginal interests, addressing land use conflicts, improving socio-economic conditions through sharing resource development revenues and building capacity in local communities.





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[Ally]

Builders of Kelowna rental units get breaks





Kelowna needs 300 new rental units every year due to population growth.

However, since there is such a tight supply across Canada, the city will provide $504,601 in rental housing grants for 94 new units in 2013.





The tight supply is the result of the high cost of building rental accommodation, according to Theresa Eichler, the city's community planning manager. On Monday, she provided city council with a chart showing revenues don't meet costs until the eighth or ninth year.





"Thirty per cent of all homes in Kelowna are rented," she said, adding: "Renting a home is expected to be more attractive as we move forward."





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[Ally]

Northern Gateway project an enormous opportunity for Canada's building trades






January 21, 2013 - The Northern Gateway Project is a game changer for construction workers in the coming years. It opens new markets for `Made in Canada` oil products not only for North American customers but now to the world's second largest economic region.




Robert Blakely, Director of Canadian Affairs says `Canadian construction workers will benefit not only from the initial build but also from oil and gas infrastructure expansion in Alberta of Canada`s reserve of petroleum products. As we already know, when oil and gas investment is made in Alberta, all regions of Canada benefit. When the Gateway is finished it opens up new markets to Canadians in every industry.`





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[Ally]

Apartment building market remains strong throughout region




Prices and total sales are up, but the number of transactions is falling. That`s the picture of Vancouver`s apartment building market, according to the Goodman Report, produced by David and Mark Goodman.




In 2012, both over-all dollar volume and the average price per suite hit record highs, David Goodman said in the report. The number of building sales is down 17 per cent in 2012 from 2011, but Goodman said this is not for a lack of buyers.





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[Ally]

Home ownership within reach of younger generations





A University of B.C. expert says it`s still possible younger generations of Vancouverites will be able to buy a home locally in their lifetime, despite a new report ranking the Lower Mainland as the world`s second most unaffordable housing market.




According to an annual international affordable housing study released Monday by Demographia, only Hong Kong is more expensive than Vancouver when it comes to buying a home.





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[Ally]

Vancouver housing ranked among world's least affordable




Six Canadian cities on an international survey are described as having severely unaffordable housing, with Vancouver listed as the second-most unaffordable in the world behind Hong Kong.




Demographia, a U.S.-based consultancy that focuses on urban planning issues, compiled a list comparing real estate affordability in 337 world cities based on what they call the "median multiple" ` the number of times house prices are larger than average salaries.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Vancouver tops Walkability ranks




Vancouver has been named Canada's most walkable city by Seattle-based Walk Score.










The website compares restaurants, shops and other amenities near a neighbourhood and gives it a walkability score from 0 to 100 to indicate how much can reasonably be accomplished on foot.





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[Ally]

Tougher to make a buck in housing in Vancouver




Vancouver housing prices have plunged 22 per cent from the peak seen last year, and sales in the Metro market were down 18 per cent in July from a year earlier. Mythical foreign buyers have apparently vanished, and capitalization rates for rental properties have fallen to record lows.




"Its tougher to make a buck in housing these days," said one Vancouver realtor after adjusting the price down on a West 17th Avenue duplex to just under the average neighbourhood house price of $2.2 million.





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[Ally]

Surrey bound




Baljit Grewal thought she would be gambling her small business when she decided to move its location to Surrey from the East Vancouver location she'd been renting since 1985. Now, five years later, the owner of the Bride and Groom Shop says it ranks among the best business decisions she's ever made.




"It was chaos in Vancouver," said Grewal, adding that the rent kept increasing for her small shop in a string of old storefronts on East 50th Avenue and Main Street, despite the fact that parking was a problem, the building was falling into disrepair and traffic into her store was declining.





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[Ally]

Record new rental units in Vancouver




VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) ` Finding a place to rent in Vancouver may become a little bit easier.




New rental housing stats in the city show the biggest increase in rental property building permits in recent years.





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[Ally]

Battle of B.C.: Vancouver and Surrey duke it out for funding




There's an annoying game Vancouver residents like to play while on vacation. It starts when they meet someone else claiming to be from their city. "I'm from Vancouver, too," the line goes.




"Where do you live?" It's at this point that the Surrey resident is forced to tell the truth. "Well, I don't exactly live in Vancouver . . ." To which is heard the well-rehearsed: "Oh, well that's not quite Vancouver, is it?" To be sure, Vancouver proper has a lot to be proud of, and it knows it. When the world visits, Vancouverites receive the steady stream of positive reaffirmations that only a successful beauty contestant could relate to.





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[Ally]

We have seen the future of cool, and it is Surrey




If anyone can do it, Dianne Watts can.




Make Surrey cool, that is.




These days there seems little the popular Surrey mayor can`t do, what with her deft knack for balancing the outspoken desires of her constituents along with the pressing demographic issues that inevitably face one of the country`s fastest growing municipalities.





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[Ally]

Agriculture is the all-important afterthought in BC's economy




High-tech has social media atwitter, oil and gas dominates the news, mining commands the government`s attention and forestry has a fabled history. But surely no economic activity in B.C. is as important as producing food.




Agriculture tends to be overlooked as an engine of the economy largely because of the way industries are categorized. As a primary industry, excluding commercial fishing, aquaculture or post-farm processing, agriculture seems like a bit player, with sales in 2011 of $2.6 billion, representing a contribution to gross domestic product of just 0.8 per cent. Government figures show agriculture employs only 26,000 out of a total labour force of 2.3 million. In the provincial budget, the Ministry of Agriculture receives the least ($80 million in 2010-2011) of all ministries.





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[Ally]

B.C. may cope with aging better than most




VANCOUVER ` British Columbia has been `almost uniquely successful among Canadian provinces in mitigating the impact of aging on its health care budget,` with annual growth of its health spending down from seven per cent before the recession to five per cent last year, and headed ` the government hopes ` to three.




But this doesn`t mean the mounting costs won`t hurt, says a new province-specific study from the C.D. Howe Institute.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Prince George capital of a new north




When Prince George was named the number 1 city in western North America for cost competitiveness in 2010 it didn't surprise the managers or investors in this B.C. city that is now riding a resurgence of northern investment yet still has some of the cheapest urban real estate in the province. The city was listed first among 13 U.S. and Canadian cities in the Pacific region in KPMG's competitive alternatives study, which ranks preferred places to invest.




Known as the "Capital of a New North," Prince George is anchored at the crossroads of the world's two most powerful economies and is the biggest and best-equipped B.C. city between Asia and the Alberta oilfields.





Read the full article here.