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

Amongst the highest donors were Madison Pacific Properties and The Maple Bay Townhomes Corporation each donating $100,000.

According to Business Week Magazine, Madison Pacific Properties “engages in the ownership, development, and operation of industrial and commercial real estate properties,” the majority located in Metro Vancouver.

As of December 31, 2007, the company’s property portfolio contained 1.1 million square feet of net rentable area in industrial properties; 395,708 square feet of net rentable area in highway-commercial properties; and 81,149 square feet of rentable area in office properties.

In 2007, the company generated over $19.8 million in revenue.

Sam Grippo, chairman of Madison Pacific Properties, is also president and CEO of Madison Venture Corporation, a company that operates business and tourist publications as well as community newspapers. Madison Venture also gave to the Liberal party with a donation of $10,000.

Grippo is also chairman of Glacier Ventures, which had company shares acquired by Madison Venture. Glacier Ventures owns daily and weekly community newspapers including Business in Vancouver and, also in B.C.:

Whistler Question, Squamish Chief, Lillooet Bridge River News, the Sunshine Coast Reporter, the Powell River Peak, Nelson Daily News, West Kootenay Weekender, Cranbrook Daily Townsman, Kimberley Daily Bulletin, East Kootenay Weekly Extra, East Kootenay Weekly Weekender, Trail Times, Fernie Free Press, Grand Forks Gazette, Grand Forks Boundary Bulletin, Creston Valley Advance, Kamloops Daily News, Kamloops The Extra, Prince George Citizen, Prince George This Week, Prince George Extra, Alaska Highway News, North Peace Express, The Northerner, Peace River Block News, The Regional Advertiser, The Northern Horizon, The Mirror, Prince Rupert Daily News, Merritt News, Cariboo Advisor, Quesnel Advisor, 100 Mile House Advisor, Coast Mountain Advisor, the Real Estate Weekly and Kodiak Press.

Another member of the 100K club is businessperson Milan Ilich who donated $253,050.

Ilich is president of Progressive Contracting Ltd., a construction and development company. Progressive Contracting made a separate donation of $9,750 to the B.C. Liberal party. Ilich is also former owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps and is related to Olga Ilich, Richmond Centre MLA. Prior to being MLA, Olga Ilich was an executive vice-president of Progressive Contracting.

Ilich has been a loyal contributor to the Liberals donating over $70,000 in 2005 and in 2006 went on to donate over $17,000. He donated over $53,000 in 2007.

Ilich’s company, Progressive Contracting, recently submitted a bid of over $323,000 to the Greater Vancouver Sewage and Drainage District to provide “earth moving equipment.” Ilich and his wife Maureen have given to a number of causes through the Maureen and Milan Foundation. Both the Richmond Hospital Foundation and the Richmond Community Centre Transportation Program are previous causes to which the foundation has given.

Other donors of the real estate and construction company variety included Dunkley Lumber, a lumber product corporation that distributes all over North America, its location focused in Prince George, B.C. The lumber distribution company donated over $40,000 to the Liberal party in 2008.

In 2008, Dunkley Lumber constructed “a fully automated lumber grading system, along with additional trimsaws, a second sorting system, autostacker, banding and paperwrapping stations. This investment has provided significant gains with respect to efficiency, recovery, consistency and flexibility,” said the Dunkley Lumber webpage.

Dunkley Lumber also donated over $35,000 in 2005 and just over $20,000 in 2007. Delta Land Development, located in Vancouver, donated $42,000 last year. The company is a North American branch of the Delta Group, an international real-estate development company with offices located in Singapore, London and Shanghai.

The company is responsible for the construction and completion of Callitso, a massive apartment suite on Coal Harbour and a number of other projects within B.C. including the Conservatory in Oakridge Vancouver.

Delta Land Development donated over $30,000 in 2006 and in 2007, the company donated $33,000 to the B.C. Liberals.

Rennie Marketing System, a company responsible for handling the assets of real-estate properties and the manufacturing and selling of condominiums all over B.C. donated just under $30,000 to the B.C. Liberals.

The company has donated thousands of dollars to the Liberals in the past, with over $30,000 in 2007 and $1,550 in 2005.

Led by Bob Rennie, the company has managed to sell $1 billion in property in the last four years and has sales teams all over B.C.

Burnco Construction gave the Liberal party a donation of more than $20,000 in 2008. The company specializes in the manufacturing of rock and concrete bi-products made for industrial construction and is the largest independent supplier of ready-mix concrete in Canada with offices all over B.C. and Canada.

The company has also contributed to the party in the past with over $4,000 dollars in both 2007 and 2006.

Other companies who broke the $20,000 mark in political donations to the Liberal party included Polygon Homes, donating $22, 250 in 2008. In 2005, the company donated $25,000 and roughly $18,000 in 2006. The company went on to donate over $18,000 in 2007. The company has contributed over $85,000 to the B.C. Liberals since 2005.

In 2008, Concord properties donated $26,000. They also have been a generous donor in the past, having donated over $80,000 to the B.C. Liberals in 2005. The company also donated over $12,000 dollars in 2006 and over $14,000 in 2007.

Maple Bay Townhomes donated $100,000 to the B.C. Liberals in 2008 with no previous donations in past years.

While many donors to the BC Liberals are in the business of building homes, one other very supportive group is all about what’s parked in the garages.

The B.C. Association of New Car Dealers donated $107,000 to the BC Liberals last year.

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/BC-Politics/2009/05/08/Builders-real-estate-firms-gave-big-to-BC-Liberals/