July 2011 B.C. Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

B.C. home sales fall overall in June, but rise in Okanagan and Kootenay





Provincial home sales recorded a third straight monthly decline in June, falling 2.9 per cent from May to a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of 70,280 units. In spite of a two-per-cent increase over the same period last year, sales remain weak.




June's decline largely reflected a 5.5-per-cent drop in Metro Vancouver figures as combined sales in the rest of the province rose 3.8 per cent from May. The largest gains were seen in Kootenay (20.6 per cent), South Okanagan (15.7 per cent) and Chilliwack (16.5 per cent) real estate board regions. In the Okanagan-Mainline region, sales rose 4.2 per cent in June following a 9.4 per cent advance the previous month






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[Ally]

EI beneficiary numbers drop in B.C.; economists urge cautious optimism





The number of British Columbians receiving employment insurance dropped more than 20 per cent between May 2010 and May 2011, second only to Alberta which showed a 30-per-cent decrease.







But although the B.C. numbers look positive, the change is largely in line with the other provinces, economist Bryan Yu of Central 1 Credit Union said in an interview. B.C. also had a larger rise than other provinces in EI beneficiaries during the recession. `We`re just moving back in line to where we were,` Yu said.







Nationally, EI beneficiaries dropped 15 per cent in the same period.






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[Ally]

Canadian LNG 'could be competitive' globally




EDMONTON - Until a few years ago, the big players in the global natural gas exporting business were busy planning tanker terminals to supply what they saw as a huge new market ` North America.




But major discoveries of gas in northern British Columbia and the explosion of shale gas projects across the continent have turned the tables.




And the temptation is obvious. Natural gas can be compressed and liquefied, basically shrinking 600 times by volume, then piped into LNG ships and transported to Asia and Europe where gas prices track the oil market ` and gas sells for three times the North American price.





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[Ally]

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts in accident - Down for the Count




Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts will have an MRI at a Kamloops hospital Monday morning to determine if she needs surgery after being thrown from a horse and fracturing two vertebrae Saturday morning.




Watts was vacationing with her family at a friend`s cabin near Kamloops in B.C.`s Interior when a group decided to go horseback riding.




`Unfortunately she was bucked off the horse and sustained some injuries,` City of Surrey spokeswoman Laura Ballance said.





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[Ally]

Resource sector growth driving vacancy rate dip



The strength of British Columbia`s resource sector is the driver pushing Metro Vancouver`s office vacancy rates back down.





Mining companies and energy firms, and service providers from engineers to lawyers, are refilling downtown office towers, in particular.





Two major commercial realtors have tracked declining vacancy rates across Metro Vancouver over the first half of 2011, with Burnaby picking up a significant amount of new activity and downtown returning to its typically low vacancy rates.





Each firm tracks a slightly different roster of buildings, but both firms releases at the end of this week showed similar trends.





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[Ally]

B.C. gets new 236 area code





VANCOUVER - B.C. is getting a new telephone area code, according to federal regulators.







The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said Thursday that B.C. will now be given a 236 code, in addition to the 604, 778 and 250 codes that are currently in use.






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[Ally]

Agreement reached on investments



A $180-million funding agreement between the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia will help create more affordable housing options for B.C. residents and continue to reduce the number of households in housing need.





Under the agreement, both orders of government will provide matching contributions of $90 million each over the next three years to fund programs that support a range of housing needs for low-income individuals, families and seniors. The overall objective of the agreement is to improve access to affordable housing that is sound, suitable and sustainable.





Funding can go toward new construction, renovation, homeownership assistance, rent supplements, shelter allowances, and accommodations for victims of family violence.





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