Those of you who have had to deal with selling your house know that there are a couple of seemingly irrelevant factors that could slash the value of the house significantly. However, home-buyers are not mythical creatures whose behaviour is impossible to predict. You just have to try walking in their shoes and going around the house as if you were visiting for the first time.

When we look at the April 2013 monthly statistical report, we can see better market balance than we saw in recent months. We can hopefully expect this trend to continue through the remaining spring and summer period.

As technology becomes more sophisticated, so too do criminals. What steps should you follow, and how can you make sure your house is safe? What are the safest and riskiest neighbourhoods in Vancouver? And what do statistics say about Vancouver’s residential burglary rates? See my infographic for more information.

Even though the global economy has undergone a major slowdown in the past few years, there are countries that do not lack wealthy people. According to a recent list of the top ten countries with the most billionaires made by a New York–based intelligence and wealth due diligence firm Wealth-X, the number of billionaires has grown, as well as the overall wealth generated by them, which has increased $760 billion since last year. Canada has done pretty well.

According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, home sale activity in Vancouver’s real estate market is improving but remains below historical averages. The drop came as REBGV reported a drop in sales of 18.3 per cent, at 2,347 sales, in March compared with the 2,874 sales recorded in the same period a year ago.

Phoenix Island (also known as “China’s Dubai,” a part of Hainan, a Belgium-sized province on the South China Sea), with its blocks of sail-shaped skyscrapers surrounded by tropical ocean is the epitome of an unprecedented housing boom.

A living fence is an aesthetic and ecological solution for marking the boundaries of your property as well as providing privacy and discouraging trespassers. It creates a physical and visual barrier, provides shade, and shields you from the wind. Ordinary fences are expensive and require maintenance or need to be replaced quickly.

The Vancouver real estate market has trended below historical averages for a full year now. Last month’s sales were the second lowest February total in the region since 2001, and the figures were 30.9 per cent below the ten-year sales average for the month.

Almost entirely a residential area, Shaughnessy is home to approximately 2,970 households spread over 447 hectares of land. Residents of Shaughnessy enjoy a good and central location; the lovely neighbourhood is the city’s geographic heart and its borders are 16th Avenue in the north, 41st Avenue in the south, Oak Street in the east, and Arbutus Street in the west.

The Greater Vancouver Area and the City of Vancouver have been witnessing a slowdown over the last couple of months. There are several reasons for the Vancouver real estate market cooling, such as the changes in mortgage rules (introduced by the federal government in July 2012), as the maximum amortization has been reduced to 25 Read More

Vancouver Winter Skyline by Sandip Chatterjee A year of dropping home sale totals, boringly stable home listing activity and moderate declines in home prices, that was 2012 on the Vancouver Real Estate Market. Eugen Klein, REBGV president commented on the development: For much of 2012 we saw a collective hesitation on the part of buyers Read More

Vancouver by Matthew The Greater Vancouver Area and the City of Vancouver itself have seen better times. Over the past six months, a lot has changed on the real estate market here. Vancouver is no longer one of the top ten cities, home prices have undergone a major moderation (“Home prices in Greater Vancouver have Read More

Vancouver by poyang Since the beginning of this year, there have been many fearful forecasts about a significant downturn in the Canadian housing market — especially in Vancouver and Toronto. It’s true that the market has experienced a moderate slowdown in the last few months; however, it’s not that dramatic. According to statistics released on Read More

Downtown Vancouver by JamesZ Flickr The total number of homes listed for sale on the region’s MLS® reached 17,370 increasing by 12 per cent compared to last year’s results. This also represents 5.3 per cent fall in activity compared to September 2012. Sandra Wyant, REBGV president-elect, commented on the October market situation: “Buyer demand increased Read More

Camera by notoriousjen Following the big success of our new photo essays and the reactions I’ve received from the amateur and professional photographers both I am happy to inform you that I will be continuing photography support by new means. If you are a photographer, be it amateur or professional – doesn’t matter – send Read More