May 2011 B.C. Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Farm manor house crackdown urged




New regulations proposed by Metro Vancouver would block the building of more giant estate houses that inefficiently eat into scarce farmland.










The region is asking the provincial agriculture ministry to introduce standardized rules to control the placement and size of the residential footprint of homes in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR).










While two cities ` Delta and Richmond ` have local bylaws that impose restrictions, opposition from property owners have prompted other councils such as Pitt Meadows and Surrey to shelve similar efforts.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Forest and paper industry starting to rally





VANCOUVER - The global forest and paper industry is showing the first signs of a recovery, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).







However, Canadian forest product exports to the U.S. have declined by 50 per cent since 2005 and other obstacles for local forest companies remain.







"While we are seeing some positive signs of recovery for many companies, there is hesitance to being overly optimistic," FrÃdÃric Bouchard, PwC's national deals leader for forest, paper and packaging, said in a statement. "The mood is balanced by several other factors including a strong Canadian dollar and that prospects for the U.S. housing market remain uncertain."



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

7 reasons to vote for the HST




If you have believed all the bull that's been thrown around about the HST and really believe that it is `bad` for the province ` and not just for you personally ` then your mind is probably already made up. You`re going to vote it down.




But if you`re like most of us, in that you don`t personally like it, but have an inkling that killing it is probably one of the dumbest things we can do, than you may want to look at a few realities.







1. No one likes taxes. Go ahead, find me someone who loves to pay a tax to some -- any -- government. But anybody with any maturity recognizes that as part of a society, we have to reduce our selfishness just a touch, and contribute.






2. It`s a heck of a lot fairer than income tax or the old PST system.

There is real fairness ` and then there is the me-centered fake kind. The old PST system encouraged the latter.The HST is a straight-forward consumption tax in that the more you buy, the more tax you pay. There are no hidden taxes included in the price. So, unless you store all your money in a suitcase under your bed, the richer you are, the more tax you pay and are seen to pay. Bet you can`t say that about income tax.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Metro Vancouver battles to preserve dwindling supply of industrial land





Metro Vancouver municipalities are signalling to residential developers and land speculators to keep their hands off the dwindling supply of cheap but valuable industrial land.




In the last decade, more than 1,200 hectares of job-creating industrial land have been plowed under as a result of the heated residential property market and the demand for retail properties, according to Metro Vancouver.




The fight for land along the waterfront ` once home to major canneries, refineries and other industries ` is heating up across the region as developers see the Fraser River and Burrard Inlet as cheaper sources of land for residential towers with a waterfront view or big box stores and casinos.



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Victoria light rail approval gains speed






A billion-dollar light rail project proposed for the region has received a crucial thumbs up from the Victoria Regional Transit Commission.












The governing body`s approval Tuesday comes after the Capital Regional District board agreed May 11 to let the project proceed.












It`s good news for residents rallying behind the rapid-transit system.












`I think that really moves the project along so we can spend the next few months focusing on financing and lining up funding, as well as fine-tuning the budget that comes along with the project,` said Chris Foord, spokesperson for LRT 4 CRD, a group that formed on Facebook last week as a venue for residents championing light rail.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

B.C., Vancouver remain least-affordable markets in country: RBC report







Canadian housing affordability eroded in the first quarter of 2011, with B.C. and Vancouver showing the sharpest erosion, according to the latest Housing Trends and Affordability report released by RBC Economics Research.




"We have to monitor the Vancouver market very closely," the report's author, RBC senior economist Robert Hogue, said in an interview.




"It's reached levels of affordability that are starting to be worrisome and it may become more worrisome going forward.




"It's going to get worse." According to the report, affordability eroded in most markets in Canada.




Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

B.C. foresters join forces to skirt port backlog




The Cielo di San Francisco, a newly built cargo ship, is sailing across the Pacific Ocean, destination Vancouver, and set to arrive in late May with one purpose: bring British Columbia lumber to China.




Booming sales of B.C. wood to China ` March sales tripled from a year ago ` have injected the long-suffering forestry industry with some much-needed optimism and a sense that better days could be lasting.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

72% of income goes to housing in Vancouver




Vancouver homeowners are spending more than 72% of their household income on the costs associated with owning a home, says an RBC Economics Research report released Friday.




The report -which found that owning a home became less affordable all across the country in the first quarter of 2011 -said the average costs in Vancouver are now "testing the boundaries of rationality."




"We fear that the Vancouver market is becoming increasingly disconnected from local demand conditions and vulnerable to a painful correction, especially once interest rates resume their ascent," said Robert Hogue, senior economist with RBC and author of the report.





Read the full artilce here.

 

[Ally]

B.C. property tax fix welcome, but not enough





The province has introduced specific legislation that will allow the City of Richmond to provide an unspecified amount of urgently needed property tax relief to businesses clustered around the new Brighouse Canada Line station.




The neighbourhood, until now the undistinguished home to a mix of sprawling warehouse-type and other not-so-upscale businesses, has been hit by the assessment equivalent of a perfect storm. The opening of the Canada Line led to rezoning for mixed uses including new homes, and it coincided with a nearby waterfront residential development on the land next door to the acclaimed Richmond Oval built for last year's Olympics.




The result is soaring land values. Assessments have, in some cases, tripled. And while the developers are already moving in -and businesses are moving out to make room for them -this is a big transition that won't happen overnight.




Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Is shale gas a fracking disaster?



As Germany rejects nuclear power, will shale gas bring the next energy revolution? Lesley Curwen debates the issue with Robert Howarth, Professor of Ecology at Cornell University and Maximilian Kuhn of the European Centre for Energy and Resource Security in London.





Robert Howarth outlines his research which suggests shale gas may be dirtier than coal in terns of carbon emissions. But Maximilian Kuhn argues a new fuel is needed urgently and shale gas could be a relatively cheap and quick solution.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

CMHC Vancouver and Abbotsford spring housing market outlook




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 30, 2011) - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is expecting that Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) new home construction and existing home sales will grow this year and next. Home starts are forecast to increase five per cent this year, to 16,000 units and nine per cent in 2012, to 17,500 units. MLSÂ(1) sales are forecast to increase six per cent, to 33,000 transactions this year and a further nine per cent, to 36,000 sales in 2012.




"An increase in higher end detached home sales in the first quarter in some areas of Greater Vancouver will push the average MLSÂ price (for all home types combined) up 14 per cent in 2011, to $770,000," noted Robyn Adamache, Senior Market Analyst for Vancouver with CMHC. As a result of balanced resale market conditions, the average resale price is projected to increase three per cent in 2012, to $795,000.




New home construction in the Abbotsford CMA will continue to rise this year and next. Housing starts are expected to increase by eleven per cent in 2011, to 575 units and thirteen per cent in 2012, with 650 new homes started.





Read the full article here.