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May 2013 B.C. Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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News articles for May 2013.
 

Ally

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B.C. resource sector provides well-paid jobs





Would you prefer to work in an industry that pays you $1,900 per week or $375 per week. $1,900 , you say. Unfortunately, you cannot have the $1,900 per week `living wage` job that you so desire. Why is that you ask?





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BC consumer confidence highest in Canada




VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) ` Consumer confidence is falling, according to a survey, but people in BC are by far Canada`s most optimistic.




The Conference Board of Canada says its index fell 4.9 points this month to 75.6, which it says `marks the continuation of a disconcerting trend.`





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Tenants rights advocates want better protection for BC's renters




Provincial laws protecting renters need to be improved, a coalition of legal and tenant`s rights groups says.




The Pivot Legal Society, West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund, the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre and other groups are proposing 13 changes to the B.C. Residential Tenancy Act which governs relations between renters and landlords.





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Gastown hot for up-and-coming businesses



VANCOUVER ` Gastown`s `cool factor` of heritage buildings energized by creative, independent businesses and a 30s-40s demographic is pushing real estate prices in Vancouver`s oldest neighbourhood to hot new highs, says Robert Tham, principal of Corbel Commercial Inc.
http://http://www.corbelcommercial.com/




The prices, up to $18,010,000 in May 2012 for the seven-storey, former Daily Province building at 198 W. Hastings Street, reflect increasing demand for the iconic downtown neighbourhood, reports Tham. (Three buildings, 151-167 Water Street, sold for $18,664,474 in August 2012.)





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Is CMHC reaching its mortgage insurance limit?






I
n the hustle and bustle of everyday life, whispers are being heard of Canada`s mortgage cap reaching an all-time high with concerns about Canada`s economy hanging in the balance.












With mortgage rates at an all-time low, such as Dominion Lending Center reflecting 2.84 per cent on a five year term, homeowners have taken on substantial household debt.





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Why Maple Ridge is the best place to buy




I recently got a call from a sales rep at a development site in Maple Ridge inviting me to one of their sales events. Usually Maple Ridge is a bit out of they way for me to go to these unless I've got a buyer who's looking in the area.




Once she explained to me that Maple Ridge is focusing on revitalizing the city's downtown core and there won't be any property taxes for the next two years my whole perspective has changed. What an amazing incentive for people who are looking to drift a bit further East. Not only is Maple Ridge now tuned into the rest of the Fraser Valley by the new Golden Ears Bridge but it's also evolved from its time of bottle necks at the Pitt River, where a new multi lane bridge was completed last year to cut the communte into the rest of Greater Vancouver.







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Traditionally blue-collar Red Deer sees a new, bright future




Glenn Moore zeroes in on the advantages of Red Deer with a rhetorical question.




"Would you like to live in central Alberta or Fort McMurray if you are a family man?"




Moore, a longtime commercial realtor with Advantage Commercial in the central Alberta hub city, is happy to answer it, and give you the goods on Red Deer.





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B.C.'s tech sector a growth leader in 2013



BC's technology sector is bucking the provincial job trend and growing like gangbusters.





According to Statistics Canada, professions in the natural and applied sciences in B.C. have seen consistent job growth for the past five months and has been one of the few sectors to see overall growth in that period.





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B.C. election outcome crucial for Alberta





CALGARY`Never has more been at stake for Alberta in a B.C. provincial election than now.






Viewed from Calgary, the campaign looks like a referendum on the oil marketing strategies that both the Alberta and federal governments ` and the energy industry ` have been banking on for years.






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Vancouver April housing starts




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 8, 2013) - Housing starts in British Columbia's urban areas[sup]1 were trending at 22,108 units in April compared to 22,660 in March according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)2[/sup] of housing starts.







"New home construction activity in British Columbia continued at a pace consistent with underlying fundamentals, including household formation, resale market conditions and modest employment gains," said Carol Frketich, CMHC's Regional Economist for British Columbia.





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BC April housing starts




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 8, 2013) - Housing starts in British Columbia's urban areas[sup]1 were trending at 22,108 units in April compared to 22,660 in March according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)2[/sup] of housing starts.







"New home construction activity in British Columbia continued at a pace consistent with underlying fundamentals, including household formation, resale market conditions and modest employment gains," said Carol Frketich, CMHC's Regional Economist for British Columbia.





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Thomas Beyer

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May 14 election is a referendum on BC's prosperity



If the NDP wins BC will join the have-not provinces very fast, and as such real estate investments will have to be made with no to slightly negative value growth assumption, unless in Northern BC close to LNG projects.



Left leaning, overspending & overtaxing governments do not bode well for investments and job growth. Tread extremely carefully in BC if the NDP wins.



Apparently the first make work project by the new Premier A Dix will be the widening of the east-bound lanes of Hwy 1 to accommodate all the folks leaving for AB and SK !



More on this here:
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2013/05/10/bc-election-clark-dix/
 

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B.C. unemployment rate drops to 6.4%




B.C. saw a surge in new full-time jobs in April, and its unemployment rate is now well below the national average, which sits at 7.2 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.




In B.C., the unemployment rate grew to seven per cent in March from 6.3 per cent in February, and has now settled back to 6.4 per cent for April.





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Kinder Morgan looking for new sites in the Pacific Northwest




A decision by Kinder Morgan to abandon plans to build a coal export facility in Oregon could have repercussions for British Columbia.




The company says it is `still looking at options in the Pacific Northwest` after blaming poor logistics as the reason for dropping plans to build a $200 million coal export terminal on the Columbia River in northern Oregon.





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Fresh faces in the Peace Region



The Peace Region has been growing and getting younger while doing so, according to figures released by Statistics Canada.





The region has been an increase of people in their twenties.





Dawson Creek saw its population swell from 10,994 to 11,583, a 5.4 per cent increase from 2006 to 2011 according to the Census Profile released this week.





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B.C. mining matters to everyone





From the family fair in Princeton, to the Hudson Bay Lodge luncheon in Smithers, and the fundraising event for BC Children`s Hospital in downtown Vancouver, it was another successful BC Mining Week across the province.




As the president and CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia, I had the privilege of attending a number of BC Mining Week events (April 28 to May 4) in towns and cities across the province, celebrating with communities the spirit and achievements of the province`s mining industry.






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B.C.'s Alberta election





For whomever our neighbours across the Rockies elect to lead them on Tuesday will in a very real way be able to dictate the pace at which Alberta`s boom-and-bust commodity economy is able to grow and, perhaps more importantly, how soon the next bust will come.




"The oil and gas industry and investors are watching tomorrow`s election with great interest and a little nervousness," Mike Tims, chairman of Calgary-based investment bank Peters & Company Ltd. who has been monitoring the oil patch for more than three decades, told me.





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Liberals win majority government




The phrase, the only poll that matters is held on voting day, is often uttered but rarely proved.




On Tuesday, Premier Christy Clark pulled off an upset that will be remembered for decades as proof that down should never be considered out.



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Thomas Beyer

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The recent Liberal win in BC - despite massive predictions of an
NDP sweep - will substantially improve the overall investment
climate in BC and AB !






This is very good news for AB and BC real estate investors or landlords like us !






The
"three ladies" Danielle Smith ( possibly future premier of Alberta),
Allison Redford (current premier of Alberta) and Christy Clark, Premier
of BC will eventually figure out a way to move oil safely to the BC
Coast, either via an expanded Kinder Morgan pipeline, or via Northern
Gateway, or both.






Alberta oil would have moved anyway, but more
costly, and away from BC without any economic spinoff for BC (say via
Alaska, or Seattle, or E-Canada or Manitoba, on rail or pipelines)






It
will allow BC to collect huge tolls, create huge tax revenues and
massive # of jobs. By paying off and/or involving First Nations, too, it
will generate large amount of needed cash for northern communities as
well as BC's cash strapped coffers. . It will be a big win/win for AB
and BC if they work together proactively, as clearly BC voters haven
chosen "jobs" and "the economy" over ideology (tarsands is bad, global
warming, no to any expansion, being green means no development, etc.)






Some related articles in the media after the election win and its implications Canada, and North-America wide:





http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/alberta/Redford+Smith+react+surprise+election+result/8387555/story.html



http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/05/15/kelly-mcparland-b-c-election-surprise-puts-thomas-mulcair-on-notice/
 
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