In June, 8.7% more homes were sold than in May. It’s the fifth straight month of increases — a 17.9% increase over June 2008.

“This rebound reflects the releasing of a pent-up demand by buyers who moved to the sidelines towards the end of last year,” said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.

“Now there are signs the worst of the recession may be behind us, those people are emerging.”

The bounce back was strongest in British Columbia, where 39.8% more homes were sold in June this over the same month last year. According to the CREA report, Ontario was up 15.7%, Quebec 9.8%, Alberta 22.2%, Saskatchewan 25.2% and Manitoba 0.2%.

This surge in home buying came despite a decision by Canada’s five big banks last month to raise five-year fixed mortgage rates 40 basis points from 5.45% to 5.85%.

The decision was made despite the Bank of Canada’s efforts to keep borrowing low by pledging to hold interest rates at the historic low of 0.25% until the middle of 2010.

Mary Webb, a senior economist with Scotiabank, says the low long-term interest rates in the spring were a reflection of a global economy with almost no signs of growth and that was bound to change.

“Now we’re looking for a recovery, and not just in Canada but globally, and we’re seeing it already in China and we expect growth to strengthen later this year and early next,” Webb said.

With more people borrowing, banks are being forced to pay more to borrow the money they lend to home buyers, and that drives up long-term interest rates, she said.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/07/15/10136046-sun.html

brought by Alexander Moishe, Canadian Funding Corp CEO

OmniTRAX president and real estate developer, Patrick Broe …

A real estate developer?

Others undoubtedly saw that line and took in its full meaning. But I had focused on Broe as president of a U.S. railway company, OmniTRAX, who was bidding for BCRail. And who, rumour says, was offered a substantial consolation prize for losing out. Or being pushed out. Or something.

OmniTRAX had trains in the U.S., but had only just begun its quest for a Canadian empire. OmniTRAX had obtained ownership of Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill. What a deal that was, with the Arctic Ocean opening up because of global warming. Today is July 14, 2009 and today I think Pat Broe is a real estate developer who knows more than we do about how railways lead to real estate.

News item in BUSINESS WIRE for March 15, 2004: Broe begins land division with initial operations focused on Intermodal, Rail Related … Read about it HERE.

So OmniTRAX president, Pat Broe, is a major real estate developer. Early in 2002, he was meeting with, and corresponding with Gordon Campbell and promoting OmniTRAX as an attractive partner in Gordo’s vision for B.C. prosperity.

Broe, as OmniTRAX, already owned a small railway in the Okanagan, plus Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill. HBRY is 810 miles of former CN track, from The Pas to Churchill, Canada’s only Arctic seaport [www.portofchurchill.ca] Broe’s OmniTRAX took possession of the whole shebang, port and rail line, by paying $10. to the Canadian federal government in September 1997. Ten bucks.

Gordon Campbell, the Vancouver real estate developer, formed the BC government in 2001 and immediately began talking about selling BCRail. Pat Broe must have zeroed in very quickly.

Then Erik Bornman enters the scene by registering with Gordo’s B.C. government as a consultant lobbyist representing the Broe Companies. Bornman busies himself looking for B.C. investment opportunities in economic development and trade, such as rail transportation.

Soon Pat Broe, Dwight Johnson are having dinner with the B.C. Minister of Finance, Gary Collins. For some reason, police wanted to know what those men were discussing. There were RCMP inside the Villa del Lupa restaurant as well as outside, making videos of that meeting. Thank goodness.

Today is July 14, 2009 when various spectacular BC Rail properties can be scooped by CN for $1. Or so we hear.

I think that maybe Collins, Broe, and Johnson were talking, in a roundabout way, about land, lots and lotsa land to be had for 1/10th the cost of the Hudson Bay Railway plus Port of Churchill.

Pat Broe is a real estate developer.

- BC Mary.

“”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”

lynx has left a new comment on your post “Give me land, lots of land, under starry skies above …”:

In light of what BC Mary has just written – here is an excerpt from hansard between Joy MacPhail and Gary Collins: (Read between the lines and think real estate deal and it reads a whole new way.)

J. MacPhail (Leader of the Opposition): I have two concluding questions. These are a follow-up from my questions around lobbying. The minister said he never met with Pilothouse. Did he ever meet with anyone from Omnitrax itself?

Hon. G. Collins (Minister of Finance): Yes. I have met with Pat Broe prior to the B.C. Rail transaction process starting. I met with him once after the B.C. Rail transaction had completed.

J. MacPhail: Boy, I’m sure glad I get the questions right. Is the minister aware of any of his staff that met with Omnitrax on his behalf?

Hon. G. Collins: I’m not aware of that, whether it would have happened or not — certainly not on my behalf. I wouldn’t have directed anybody to do that.

J. MacPhail: And Pat Broe is whom?

Hon. G. Collins: He’s the owner, president and CEO, I think, of Broe Companies, of which Omnitrax is a subsidiary.

J. MacPhail: What were the two meetings about?

Hon. G. Collins: The first meeting was, “Hi, this is who I am,” on his part. “I’d like to come and invest in British Columbia. I think what you guys are doing makes sense. It looks like a great place for me to invest. I’m interested in all sorts of things.” Just a general get-to-know-you type of meeting. I have those regularly with potential investors in British Columbia, if they want to come and talk. It’s more of a welcome, get-to-know-you, individual meeting.

After the transaction had closed, Mr. Broe wanted to tell us that despite not winning the B.C. Rail contract,, he would be interested in continuing to be part of British Columbia, if he could — similar to the prior meeting.

J. MacPhail: Was Mr. Basi present at either of those meetings?

Hon. G. Collins: No.

J. MacPhail: Who staffed the minister?

Hon. G. Collins: I rarely take staff with me. I think it’s a waste of their time for the most part when I travel or when I meet with them. Sometimes I do; sometimes I don’t. It depends on what the need is. I had a dinner, and I didn’t feel I needed staff at a dinner.

J. MacPhail: Was the minister aware that Omnitrax was bidding on the B.C. Rail spur line to Roberts Bank during that period of time?

Hon. G. Collins: No, I wasn’t. I knew they were generally looking to do investments in British Columbia. We certainly didn’t talk in any great detail about any of their proposals. Rather, it was a general discussion of things they might do in British Columbia. They were still interested in British Columbia. They were disappointed, obviously, that they weren’t the successful bidder on CN, but they wanted to continue to have a presence in British Columbia. They were looking for things they might do.

There are a whole range of things they might do. I hope at some point that they are part of that.

http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/2009/07/give-me-land-lots-of-land-under-starry.html

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC Canadian Funding Corp CEO

The Canadian Tourism Industry Benchmark Study: Where Do We Rank in the Context of the Canadian Economy? shows how the total tourism industry measures up. Using the most recent available data from 2007, the report reveals Canada’s tourism sector is performing favourably compared to other broad sectors of the economy. It ranked fourth in a composite analysis, behind: finance, insurance and real estate; wholesale and retail trade; and community, business and personal services.

It’s a strong and consistent performance over a broad range of economic and financial performance measures juxtaposed with other major economic sectors. The results suggest the tourism industry is certainly worthy of future investment considerations.

Meanwhile, the primary industries sector (agriculture, fishing and trapping, and forestry), which, like tourism represents 2% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product, was the weakest performer in the report’s index.

The CTC commissioned The Conference Board of Canada to provide this benchmarking study on the vibrancy and competitiveness of the Canadian tourism industry.

http://www.adventuretravelnews.com/?p=472

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC Canadian Funding Corp CEO

RBC Economics says home affordability recorded some of the biggest quarterly improvements on record in the first quarter. Senior economist Robert Hogue says with market turmoil decreasing and credit flows increasing, resale activity has “rallied impressively.”

He says what is most impressive is how widespread this rebound has been, “with all major cities in Canada experiencing a revival.”

Declining costs of home ownership during the last year were driven by significant cuts in mortgage rates.

In the first quarter, says RBC, monthly payments on a typical detached bungalow fell by close to 17 per cent from a year earlier.

RBC says the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to own a home improved across all housing segments.

It says the benchmark detached bungalow moved to 39.4 per cent, the standard townhouse to 31.9 per cent, the standard condo to 27.1 per cent and the standard two-storey home to 44.7 per cent respectively.

RBC’s affordability measure for detached bungalows in the largest cities were 62.6 per cent in Vancouver, 45.9 per cent in Toronto, 39.1 per cent in Ottawa, 36.5 per cent in Montreal and 35.1 pr cent in Calgary.

“Housing markets generally appear to be on the mend in Canada but the road to full recovery still has obstacles,” added Hogue.

He added that further improvement in affordability will depend on greater gains in family income.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iE0WgUzhh7xwb3MGbU8RjqZkWe_A

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, Canadian Funding Corp CEO

“Declining costs of home ownership during the last year were driven by significant cuts in mortgage rates along with the federal government taking an active role in supporting the mortgage securities market,” RBC said. “In the first quarter, monthly payments on a typical detached bungalow in Canada had decreased by close to 17 per cent from a year earlier.”

The average cost to own a bungalow in this year’s first quarter was $1,350 a month, down from $1,520 in 2008’s fourth quarter and $1,620 in last year’s first quarter.

RBC’s affordability index — the percentage of pre-tax monthly household income needed to maintain a home, including mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes — improved across all housing segments in Canada.

The average affordability for a bungalow in the first quarter was 39.4 per cent, down four points from 2008’s fourth quarter. It was 44.7 per cent for a standard two-storey (down five points), and 27.1 per cent for a condominium (down 2.8 points).

The average cost of maintaining a detached bungalow in Vancouver was 62.6 per cent of household income during the first quarter, while in Toronto it was 45.9 per cent, RBC said. Ottawa affordability was 39.1 per cent, Montreal 36.5 per cent, Calgary 35.1 per cent, and Edmonton 34 per cent.

From a provincial standpoint, RBC said housing affordability in British Columbia saw its biggest improvements since 1991, with the percentage of income required for various housing types dropping between 3.4 and 7.4 percentage points during the quarter. In Ontario, RBC said housing sales activity has returned to levels seen in mid-2008, largely as a result of improved affordability.

“With the turmoil in financial markets partially subsiding and the flow of credit increasing, home resale activity has rallied impressively since the late winter,” said Robert Hogue, RBC’s senior economist. “What’s most impressive is how widespread this rebound has been, with all major cities in Canada experiencing a revival.

“”With property values stabilizing and the effect of the steep drop in mortgage rates likely behind us, further improvement in affordability will depend on greater gains in family income,” Hogue added. “Those gains will be dictated by the speed of the economic recovery expected during the second half of this year.”

The RBC’s assessment follows a separate report this week from real estate agency Royal LePage that said improved housing-market conditions in this year’s second quarter points to a better overall performance in 2009 than previously anticipated.

Also, a number of local markets saw sharp spikes in sales last month, including Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton, where new sales records were set for June.

Percentage of gross income required to own a standard bungalow in first quarter of 2009 (change from previous quarter):

British Columbia 59.0 (-6.0)

Alberta 33.2 (-4.6)

Saskatchewan 42.0 (-3.3)

Manitoba 35.3 (-2.9)

Ontario 38.6 (-4.2)

Quebec 32.3 (-2.5)

Atlantic 31.3 (-2.9)

Canada 39.4 (-4.0)

Source: RBC Economics

http://www.canada.com/Business/Home+ownership+getting+more+affordable/1771375/story.html

brought by Moishe Alexaneder, CFC Canadian Funding Corp CEO

and do i have to purchase a house that i didnt agree to buy?  my seller had only pictures of models.they show distinct difference between right side of duplex and left side. they put it up backwards.the pictures at the sales office apparently are different that those at the corporate office.what are my options?, more

and real estate and over due rent situation?  i’m being evicted because i’m 7 weeks behind in rent, can i make an agreement with the agent to pay off the debt over time and avoid going to court?
i mean after i leave…., more

I’m interested in starting a property clean-out service debri ect.. where can I start or call to get good lead?  , more

and how much notice does a landlord have to give you before eviction?

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that sales of detached, attached and apartment properties increased 75.6 per cent in June 2009 to 4,259, from the 2,425 sales recorded in June 2008. The figure is just short of the record-breaking 4,333 sales which occurred in June 2005.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 17.9 per cent to 5,372 in June 2009 compared to June 2008, when 6,546 new units were listed. However, new listings increased 13.5 per cent from May to June of this year. Total active listings in Greater Vancouver currently sit at 13,252, down 27 per cent from June 2008 and 2.9 per cent below the active listings count at the end of May 2009.

“Price reductions and low interest rates have created an improvement in affordability, which is causing the number of sales to rise to levels comparable to 2003 to 2007,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said.

“Many people who were reluctant to purchase a home last fall and earlier this year are returning to the market because they see conditions that appeal to their personal and financial needs,” Russell said. “However, the current marketplace is such that buyers are more inclined to walk if they don’t like the terms of an offer.”

Residential benchmark prices, as calculated by the MLSLink® Housing Price Index, declined 8.2 per cent to $518,855 in June 2009 compared to June 2008.

The number of sales of detached properties increased 81.6 per cent to 1,667 from the 918 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties declined 8.4 per cent to $701,384 in June 2009 compared to June 2008.

The number of sales of apartment properties in June 2009 increased 69.3 per cent to 1,790, compared to 1,057 sales in June 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 8.2 per cent from June 2008 to $356,880.

The number of attached property sales in June 2009 increased 78.2 per cent to 802, compared with the 450 sales in June 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit declined 7.3 per cent between June 2009 and 2008 to $441,620.

Bright spots in Greater Vancouver in June 2009 compared to June 2008:

Detached:

Burnaby up 109.7 per cent (151 units sold from 72)

Coquitlam up 122.2 per cent (160 units sold from 72)

Delta – South up 107.7 per cent (56 units sold from 27)

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows up 54.3 per cent (162 units sold from 105)

New Westminster up 104.8 per cent (43 units sold from 21)

North Vancouver up 96.2 per cent (153 units sold from 78)

Port Moody/ Belcarra up 120 per cent (33 units sold from 15)

Richmond up 77.4 per cent (204 units sold from 115)

Squamish up 107.7 per cent (27 units sold from 13)

Sunshine Coast up 33.9 per cent (75 units sold from 56)

Vancouver East up 71.2 per cent (238 units sold from 139)

Vancouver West up 85.2 per cent (200 units sold from 108)

West Vancouver/Howe Sound up 117.8 per cent (98 units sold from 45)

Attached:

Burnaby up 81.8 per cent (140 units sold from 77)

Coquitlam up 80 per cent (54 units sold from 30)

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows up 48.6 per cent (55 units sold from 37)

North Vancouver up 121.2 per cent (73 units sold from 33)

Port Coquitlam up 82.6 per cent (42 units sold from 23)

Port Moody/ Belcarra up 77.3 per cent (39 units sold from 22)

Richmond up 84.5 per cent (155 units sold from 84)

Vancouver East up 118.5 per cent (59 units sold from 27)

Vancouver West up 121.8 per cent (122 units sold from 55)

Apartments:

Burnaby up 60.4 per cent (239 units sold from 149)

Coquitlam up 93.9 per cent (95 units sold from 49)

New Westminster up 57.1 per cent (121 units sold from 77)

North Vancouver up 71.4 per cent (120 units sold from 70)

Port Coquitlam up 58.1 per cent (49 units sold from 31)

Port Moody/Belcarra up 128.6 per cent (48 units sold from 21)

Richmond up 54.1 per cent (225 units sold from 146)

Vancouver East up 58.7 per cent (165 units sold from 104)

Vancouver West up 87.2 per cent (627 units sold from 335)

West Vancouver/Howe Sound up 155.6 per cent (23 units sold from 9)

http://vancouverspaces.com/07/real-estate-board-june/

brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

“When Albania was a communist country, nobody could get out,” Shallo said. “After we became a democracy, there was an opportunity to see what’s going on in other places in the world and in the United States.”

Albania had a limited number of visas; those eligible to travel had to participate in a lottery. Shallo was lucky enough to receive a visa and immigrated to Woodstock about 11 years ago.

In 2003, Ilir’s sister, Ilda, joined him here.

They each graduated from the University of Tirana in Albania. Ilir has a degree in architecture and urban planning, and Ilda has a degree in architecture.

They now work for DLA Architects Ltd. in Elgin, a firm that makes environmentally friendly building design a priority.

Recently, Ilir and Ilda Shallo were designated Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accredited professionals by the United States Green Building Council.

The council is a nonprofit organization that supports green building techniques.

The council provides third-party verification that a project was designed using strategies to improve energy and water efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, improve indoor environmental quality, and avoid the waste of materials and resources.

“Accreditation is not like a state license,” DLA President Bruce Dahlquist said. “It’s voluntary. It means that you have a passion for green and sustainable building design.”

Ilir Shallo said green building concepts included using recycled materials in construction and energy-efficiency measures, such as solar panels.

“It’s always up to the client,” Ilir Shallo said. “[Green building design] can cost more up front, but it pays off in the long run.”

Dahlquist said some of the design concepts really were simple measures. For example, he said, on one project, the company designed an overhang to minimize the effect of the summer sun but maximize the warmth of the winter sun.

Landscaping can be used to similar effect – trees provide shade in the summer, but then lose their leaves in the winter, allowing more warmth from the sun.

“The site dictates what you do,” Dahlquist said.

Although such design concepts are used on many projects, some projects actually are submitted to the United States Green Building Council for consideration.

Projects are scored on a point system. A building can be rated silver, gold or platinum. Ilda Shallo and DLA are submitting work on the Elgin Academy, a private school, for a gold designation.

“[Green building concepts are] getting pretty popular,” Ilda Shallo said.

She said waste diversion from landfills was a significant component of green building design. When possible, Ilda Shallo said, DLA tries to reuse material – such as brick – or use recycled material.

“A lot of it is common sense,” Dahlquist said.

“Indeed it is,” agrees Canadian Funding Corporation.

“Total urban starts for the month of May were down from last year’s monthly level due to an overall decrease in both single and multiple starts in provincial urban centres,” said Claude Gautreau, CMHC’s senior market analyst for New Brunswick. Single starts in provincial urban centres were down 38 per cent to 138 units in May. Year-to-date, single starts were down by 39 per cent to 292 units.

Meanwhile, in New Brunswick’s urban centres, a total of 196 multiple starts were recorded in May of 2009, down from 258 units during the same month last year. The year-to-date decline in multiple starts was moderate at 6.7 per cent at the end of May. “Increased activity in both Saint John and Fredericton through the first five months of 2009 has bolstered overall multiple starts in provincial urban centres,” continued Gautreau.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts in May declined by 46 per cent, down to 10,368 compared to last year’s total of 19,222. Single-detached starts decreased 42 per cent to 4,939 units, while multiple unit starts were down 49 per cent from 10,654 units last year to 5,429 units this year. In the Atlantic region, 760 new units were started in May 2009 compared to 1,094 units during the same period in 2008.

As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable, and affordable homes – homes that will continue to create vibrant and healthy communities and cities across the country.

—————————————-
(1) Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to
revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or
sampling results.

————————————————————————-
PRELIMINARY URBAN MONTHLY HOUSING STARTS
NEW BRUNSWICK SUMMARY
————————————————————————-
2009 2008 YEAR-TO-DATE
———— % Change ————– % Change
MAY MAY 2009 2008
————————————————————————-
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS GREATER THAN 50,000
————————————————————————-
SAINT JOHN CMA
Single 40 57 -29.8% 103 164 -37.2%
Multiple 60 20 (XX) 192 138 39.1%
TOTAL 100 77 29.9% 295 302 -2.3%
————————————————————————-
MONCTON CMA
Single 44 96 -54.2% 76 155 -51.0%
Multiple 114 165 -30.9% 170 248 -31.5%
TOTAL 158 261 -39.5% 246 403 -39.0%
————————————————————————-
FREDERICTON CA
Single 29 47 -38.3% 70 117 -40.2%
Multiple 22 66 -66.7% 95 72 31.9%
TOTAL 51 113 -54.9% 165 189 -12.7%
————————————————————————-
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION GREATER THAN 10,000(*)
————————————————————————-
ALL CENTRES
Single 138 223 -38.1% 292 477 -38.8%
Multiple 196 258 -24.0% 457 490 -6.7%
TOTAL 334 481 -30.6% 749 967 -22.5%
————————————————————————-
Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to
revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or
sampling results.

(*) Includes all centres with a total population of more than 10,000
(Saint John CMA, Moncton CA, Fredericton CA, Bathurst CA,
Campbellton CA, Edmundston CA, and Miramichi City).

(XX) Indicates changes in excess of 100% which are not reported due to
volatility resulting from small absolute numbers.

http://www.dailycommercialnews.com/nw/12359/re

Report provided to the blog by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Updated Wed. Apr. 8 2009 6:40 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A recession-cooled Canadian real estate market saw falling housing prices during the first quarter of the year, though the declines were not as steep as expected.

A quarterly house price survey, released Wednesday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services, showed national price declines in several major housing types compared to the same quarter in 2008.

According to the survey numbers:

* The price of a standard two-storey home dropped 6.5 per cent
* The price of a detached bungalow fell 6.1 per cent
* The price of a standard condominium declined by 4 per cent

Royal LePage Real Estate Services President Phil Soper said the data shows the hottest housing market to be in St. John’s, where prices for standard two-storey homes rose 15 per cent year over year.

“Consumer confidence drives a lot of activity in the housing market and they remain a very confident lot, and there’s still a supply shortage of homes for sale there,” he told CTV’s Canada AM.

Soper said other markets in Atlantic Canada also performed steadily, due in part to the region’s affordable housing prices and to an increasingly diverse regional economy.

“Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, N.B., are all healthy markets,” he said.

“The economies have really diversified over the last 15 years and it’s showing up in terms of steadier prices.”

In Ontario and Quebec, Royal LePage said the markets “held steady” with some small gains and declines. But overall, Ontario typically saw “mid to low single digit declines” in its housing prices, the survey said.

The survey said that Western provinces saw “significant changes” in real estate prices, with double-digit declines in many areas. Manitoba was the lone major exception to this trend.

The survey predicted that B.C. and Alberta may be among the first areas in Canada to see pricing gains because those provinces experienced market corrections prior to the brunt of the economic crisis.

Soper said the first quarter of 2009 was, overall, one of the worst-performing sales periods for real estate in recent memory.

But he said Canadian realtors have high hopes for an improvement in the national market this spring.

“There is a remarkable uptick in March in buying activity in the marketplace, compared to November, December, January, February, (which) were easily the worst four months in the last decade in terms of housing market activity,” he said.

Out west, the declines were particularly severe, Soper said.

“In Vancouver, the activity level in the province was down by half,” Soper said.

“Fifty per cent of the transactions just disappeared over those four months. So, now we’re only down 25 per cent in March, that’s a remarkable turnaround in one month.”

The survey also said that condominiums have become “increasingly accessible” for young homeowners across Canada, due to a combination of low lending rates and falling prices during the recession.

In the first quarter of 2009, the average price of a standard Canadian condominium was $232, 877 — a mid-point price on a scale that ranged from $120,000 in Charlottetown to $431,500 in Vancouver.

http://www.johnhutton.ca/?p=84

brought to the blog by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO