Archive for October, 2008

Where are the buyers?

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Slide continues but recovery is expected in 2009

Suzanne Fournier
Province

Housing sales are predicted to keep sliding next year. Province file photo

Residential sales will continue to slide this year, declining 28 per cent to only 73,700 units this year, according to the B.C. Real Estate Association’s fall 2008 Housing Forecast, released yesterday.

That is down from 102,805 units in 2007, although a four-per-cent increase to 76,500 units is forecast for 2009.

Shaky consumer confidence fed by rising fuel prices and the global financial crisis have caused many B.C. residents to put off buying a home this year. But optimistic realtors are confident the tide will start to turn early next year.

“A year ago, homebuyers in B.C. were competing against each other in auctions for available houses, but now homesellers are competing for buyers,” noted BCREA chief economist Cameron Muir.

Still, sellers who are flexible, with homes that show well, “should sell,” said Muir. “Just keep a very sharp pencil.”

Muir noted that “the erosion of consumer confidence that began with rising fuel prices earlier in the year is continuing, and the global financial crisis has B.C. households concerned about their own finances.”

However, B.C. is on a much stronger footing than homeowners in the U.S., he said.

“People are facing foreclosures in the U.S. because of job losses, subprime mortgages and rising costs,” said Muir.

Unlike Merrill Lynch economists Carolyn Kwan and David Wolf, who warn Canada will suffer the same fate as the U.S., only with a two-year time lag, Muir said, “I don’t believe Canada‘s following in lockstep with the U.S. at all.”

A weaker B.C. economy is expected to push unemployment from 4.4 per cent to 4.9 per cent in 2009, Muir noted, but other economic indicators here are relatively strong.

Realtors facing owners taking homes off the market and shaky buyers weren’t surprised by the BCREA fall forecast.

“There’s no question prices are declining and probably will until the end of the year, but 2009 will be very strong,” said Shafik Ladha, a RE/MAX Westcoast realtor in business for 19 years who has already sold 97 homes this year.

“I’m tired of all this doom and gloom in the headlines because it doesn’t really apply to us here. Yes, there’s been a price correction, but in this market, when you sell low, you can also buy low, and interest rates are low, too.”

Grace Kwok, owner of Anson Realty Inc., acknowledged that “sales are definitely lower because with all the uncertainty in the world, the appetite to buy is not as strong.”

But she predicts, “Wait a few weeks until all the election headlines are gone.”

Kwok said she has advised some clients that “if there’s no urgency to sell, don’t list it right now,” but points out that as inventory declines, sales will pick up in price and quantity.

“In a few weeks when the panic factor dies back, prices will correct,” says Kwok, one of Metro Vancouver’s top 10 realtors.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

Taller blocks on horizon

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Views may be lost in push for more space

Christina Montgomery
Province

Vancouver‘s cherished views of mountains and water are in danger of being blocked by taller buildings.

Officially protected by the city’s “view corridor” policy, the open sights of the surrounding landscape are now coming up for debate as Vancouver grapples with its need for more space in downtown buildings.

The city needs more public amenities such as parks in the rapidly growing downtown area — and the main way it gets them is by making developers pay for them in exchange for “air space” to build into.

Vancouver is also in need of more “job space” — any building where people work.

This week, council agreed to let buildings in Downtown South, a strip along Granville between Burrard and False Creek North, be built higher than 100 metres, which was the prior restriction.

Council also decided to review view corridors and all downtown height limits — and to “recommend changes, if appropriate, to achieve additional development.”

The review could result in some areas of the city — the south side of False Creek, for example — losing their views of the mountains.

NPA Coun. Peter Ladner, who supported the idea of giving up views for amenities, suggested that if the new buildings were attractive enough, they might be a good trade-off for mountain vistas.

This trade-off may be necessary — and the issue is pressing, according to a staff report.

It notes that the city has had many of its heritage buildings restored through a program known as “heritage density bonusing.”

Developers pay the considerable cost of renovating the buildings in exchange for a density bonus — a precise amount of space they are allowed to add to another building elsewhere, or sell to another developer who wants it.

But with its restrictive zoning and height regulations, the city has now run out of downtown sites where the bonuses can be used — and taller buildings would be the answer to this problem.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

Touchscreens heat up enthusiasm for gadgets

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

S. John Tilak, Reuters
Sun

A customer examines his new Apple iPhone 3G at Telcel Center in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata August 21, 2008. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw

NEW YORK – More and more shoppers are willing to spend on gadgets with a touchscreen — even if it means they lose on extra features and better quality.

Touchscreen technology has been sweeping consumer electronics, leaving few devices untouched, and even digital cameras are affected.

Commonly found in monitors in airports, banks and other public places, the technology is now a staple in consumer products, thanks to Apple Inc’s popular iPhone and phones by companies such as Palm Inc.

Joining them are computer desktops, calculators, MP3 players and watches that let users control functions by tapping, sliding or dragging a finger.

Earlier this year, Hewlett-Packard Co, the world’s biggest computer maker, launched touchscreen PCs, signaling the trend was spreading to computers. Swiss watchmaker Tissot even has a “T-Touch” line of touchscreen watches.

Customers want touchscreen devices because they are well designed, are “cool” and have no buttons.

“Touch, being one of the five human senses, is a very intuitive way of how you interact with devices,” said Francis Lee, chief executive of Synaptics, whose touchscreen technology is used in devices from Research In Motion’s new BlackBerry Storm to Apple’s iPhone.

In New York, taxis have touchscreen television sets that come with the message: “Touch, don’t press.”

Global touch-screen module revenue is forecast to grow to $6.4 billion by 2013, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 13.7 percent from 2008, according to market researcher iSuppli.

NO MORE ‘TOUCH-ME-NOT’

“There’s one you can touch with your finger. Where is it?” asked one eager shopper visiting a Manhattan retailer.

He found what he was looking for — a sleek, red Nikon camera with touchscreen technology. After fiddling with it for a few minutes, he left as fast as he came in, perhaps turned off by the device’s $329.99 price tag.

Sony has a wide range of touchscreen cameras and demand for them encouraged Nikon to launch the CoolPix S60.

But the technology has its drawbacks. Touchscreens often fall short in terms of functionality and picture quality, compared with devices that are similarly priced.

But many customers do not seem to care. Circuit City Stores Inc sales executive Danielle Brannigan said customers first walk into the store to get a camera without knowing it has a touchscreen feature.

“Then they go ‘Whoo. Touchscreen.’ They get excited like little kids and the first thing they say is, ‘We wanna have this one,'” she said.

Customers who already own touchscreen devices are often the ones who come looking for another.

Vinh Nguyen, a student from California visiting New York City, said he was shopping for a touchscreen camera for his girlfriend because she would have only a touchscreen device.

She already owns an iPhone, a HP TouchSmart and a Nintendo DS with the technology.

Synaptics‘ Lee said there is the same rush for digital cameras as for other appliances introducing touchscreen technology, helped by LCD screens on the devices.

The only device that might remain unaffected could be television. For many couch potatoes, a remote control is all the “cool” technology they want.

© Reuters 2008

HP launches $400 mini-notebook as it plays catch-up

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Gabriel Madway
Sun

An employee walks past a Hewlett-Packard logo during the second day of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2006 in Hong Kong December 5, 2006. REUTERS/Paul Yeung

Hewlett-Packard’s new Mini 1000 notebook. Netbooks — ultraportable, inexpensive laptops designed for Web browsing and light tasks — have taken the PC market by storm this year. REUTERS/HP/Handout

SAN FRANCISCO – Hewlett-Packard Co on Wednesday will unveil a new mini-notebook in a move to gain ground in the fastest-growing PC category, which until now has been dominated by its smaller rivals.

Netbooks ultraportable, inexpensive laptops designed for Web browsing and light tasks — have taken the PC market by storm this year, with smaller computer firms such as Acer Inc and Asustek Computer Inc leading the charge.

HP’s sleek new Mini 1000, costing about $400, is significantly different from the company’s first netbook release, launched last spring. It uses Intel Corp’s Atom processor, and is also substantially less expensive, signaling that the price war in netbooks that some analysts have been predicting may have begun.

Although still a fraction of the overall PC market, netbooks‘ popularity could lead to changes in the pecking order of PC makers and cut into margins and profitability as average selling prices come down.

In the third quarter, Acer gained ground on HP and Dell Inc, with a big assist from mini-notebooks.

According to industry tracker IDC, Acer’s total shipments leaped more than 50 percent, and the company’s share of the overall PC market climbed more than 3 percentage points to 12.5 percent.

HP, although still the top-selling PC maker, saw its overall market share dip slightly to 18.8 percent, and was outsold in Europe by Acer.

Analysts said the company was impacted by its delayed entry into the mini-notebook market.

Bob O’Donnell, vice president at IDC, estimates 10.8 million netbooks will ship in 2008, out of the more than 300 million overall PC shipments forecast for the year. He expects netbook shipments to jump to 20.8 million in 2009.

Carlos Montalvo, vice president of marketing in HP’s managed home business, said the Mini 1000 is a superior product to the “second- and third-tier” offerings from competitors, which he said have been “over-optimized” for size and price, and lack HP’s consistency and quality.

Without releasing specific numbers, Montalvo said HP’s first netbook, which was targeted at the education market, was “phenomenally successful.” However, he said the Mini 1000 is aiming for a broader audience.

The new netbook will start at $399 for a version running Microsoft Corp’s Windows XP, jumping to $549 for a fully loaded model. The company’s first netbook, the 2133, starts at $599 and tops out at $749, features a Via chip and runs Windows Vista.

HP will also offer a Mini 1000 that runs Linux for $379, as well as a special edition designed by fashion designer Vivienne Tam for $699.

The netbooks will all feature a keyboard that is 92 percent the size of a standard keyboard, and will weigh less than three pounds.

NETBOOKS ROLE DEBATABLE

Although Montalvo views HP’s netbooks as complementary products, which a consumer would own in addition to their desktop or full-sized laptop, analysts don’t necessarily see it the same way.

Jayson Noland, an analyst with Robert Baird, said last week that netbooks‘ place in the PC universe is still undefined.

“I don’t think any of us knows yet whether it’s a substitute product or a complementary one,” said Noland. “In some markets in a mature economy like the U.S. or Western Europe it could be complementary, and in an emerging market it could be substitute.”

Also uncertain is netbooks‘ impact on the balance sheet. IDC’s O’Donnell fully expects to see a price war in netbooks, as companies try to boost sales to make up for the low price points.

“If you’re down to $300, then your profit margin goes away, so you have to make it up in volume. Their goal is all about high volume, low margin, and I think that’s going to be a challenge.”

Noland said both HP and Dell have been a little late to catch on to the appeal of netbooks, but he expects them to regroup without much trouble. Dell introduced its first netbook in September.

However, Apple has been openly dismissive of the product.

Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs, on a conference call after the company’s earnings, said the iPhone does many of the things that netbooks do, and said there were markets that the company was just not interested in.

“There are some customers which we choose not to serve. We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk.”

© Reuters 2008

 

Canadian housing market following U.S. trend, economist says

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Garry Marr
Sun

TORONTO Canada‘s housing market is heading for a “tipping point” driven by construction activity that has been even greater than the United States, according to a report from Merrill Lynch Canada economist David Wolf.

He said there is a “high correlation” between price action in the Canadian market and the U.S. housing market two years earlier. U.S. prices started to increase in 2005, peaked in 2006 and have been falling ever since.

“If anything, the ramp-up in building in Canada looks to have been larger than the U.S.,” said Wolf.

He points out that as of August, there were 34,635 multiple units under construction in Toronto and 19,973 in Vancouver.

Multiples generally consist of condominiums. Both cities have built more condos than all Canadian cities combined a decade ago.

“The number of housing units now under construction in Canada is just shy of the May peak, which was the highest figure ever in the 36 years of data available,” Wolf said.

He says the market here resembles the U.S. with completed units piling up and not selling, a sign of overbuilding.

When the U.S. market peaked in April 2006, inventories of unsold single-family homes rose 26.5 per cent from a year earlier.

As of last month, Wolf said inventories of unsold new single-family homes in Canada were up 56.1 per cent compared with last year.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

U.S. house prices drop 16-30% in 1 year depending on area

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Anna Bahney
USA Today

Home prices continued to fall in August, and economists and housing experts say that more declines are likely before the market stabilizes.

The median price of a single-family home in August was 16.6% lower than in August 2007 and has fallen 20.3% from the price peak in July 2006, according to the widely followed Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of 20 metropolitan areas. Prices dropped only 1% from July.

The decline from the year before was a record fall for the 8-year-old index of 20 cities, and it was the fifth-consecutive month that all of the cities saw price declines from the year before.

Among those with the biggest annual drops were Phoenix and Las Vegas, with prices falling more than 30% from last August. Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego all had price declines of more than 25% from last August.

But the steep declines in those areas are countered by more moderate annual price drops in areas such as Dallas and Charlotte, which are down only 2.7% and 2.8%, respectively, from August 2007.

Despite the year-to-year declines, two cities, Cleveland and Boston, saw prices rise slightly from July to August. Boston has had price increases from the month prior in each of the last five months.

“Affordability is coming back into markets all across the country,” says Joel Naroff, an economist at Naroff Economic Advisors. “That should generate additional sales and stabilize prices. If only people could get mortgages. The biggest impediment in the market is the ability to get mortgages.”

He anticipates a further drop of only 5% to the bottom. “Peak to trough I don’t see us dropping 30% by any means,” Naroff says. “I could see 25%, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t get that much.”

Other experts forecast a steeper fall from the peak, with a remaining 10% or more decline coming slowly into next year and beyond. From the top to the bottom, “Expect a total fall of 30%,” says Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics.

“If we have incremental declines every month, it will take until 2010 to reach the total 30% drop,” says Suzanne Mistretta of Fitch Ratings. She adds that the run-up in prices from 2004 to the peak in 2006 has been unwound and prices are currently at 2004 levels. She expects prices will go lower, down to 2003 levels.

“The monkey wrench in all this is the possibility of worsening macroeconomic conditions and jobs,” she says. The 30% drop from the peak, “doesn’t take into account significant deterioration in the economy.”

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to adopt code of ethics aimed at protecting freedom of speech

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Agence-France Presse
Sun

An Internet industry code of ethics intended to safeguard online freedom of speech around the world is to be adopted this week by technology titans including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.

The U.S.-based Center for Democracy & Technology said that two years spent collaborating with Internet firms on rules of conduct will come to fruition in the coming days.

The code of ethics is a voluntary framework to help protect people who express opinions online in countries such as China, where talk of democracy or criticism of the Communist government is treated as criminal behavior.

Yahoo launched the talks with industry partners, academics, human rights groups and investors to promote a code of behavior for global technology and communication companies operating in “challenging markets.”

“We seem to be getting more grey areas in terms freedom of expression versus censorship, legal versus illegal and border versus non-border,” Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang said while promoting cyber rights in Washington this year.

Yahoo was thrust into the forefront of the online rights issue after the California company helped Chinese police identify cyber dissidents whose supposed crime was expressing their views online.

Google has been criticized for complying with Chinese government’s demands to filter Internet searches in that country to eliminate query results regarding topics such as democracy or Tiananmen Square.

Internet firms contend they must comply with China‘s laws in order to operate there. Yang has called for the US government to devote itself to a political solution to the problem.

The code of conduct is to call on Internet firms to narrowly interpret government requests for information or censorship and to fight to minimize cooperation.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

New-home sales rise in September as prices drop

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Martin Crutsinger
USA Today

WASHINGTON — Sales of new homes recorded an unexpected increase in September as median home prices dropped to the lowest level in four years, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Sales of new single-family homes rose 2.7% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes, Commerce said. Economists had expected sales would drop from the August level.

The median price of a new home sold in September declined 9.1% from a year ago to $218,400, lowest since September 2004, when home prices were rising rapidly.

The surprising increase in September sales still left them 33% below a year ago as the country is battered by the worst slump in housing in decades.

The report of a rise in new home sales followed news last week that sales of existing homes rose 5.5% in September, largest monthly gain in more than five years.

Analysts are not convinced that the sales increases are signaling a bottom for the housing market. They note the September gains came before the latest upheavals in financial markets, which have raised new worries about the state of the economy.

Many analysts believe the country has already entered a recession. They are forecasting significant increases in job losses, which will make it even harder to mount a sustained rebound in housing.

New-home sales fell 21.4% in the Northeast and were down 5.8% in the Midwest. However, sales rose a sharp 22.7% in the West, a region that has seen some of the biggest declines in prices, which has spurred sales. Sales were up 0.7% in the South.

The rise in sales left a total of 394,000 unsold new homes on the market at the end of September, down a record 25.4% from the end of September 2007.

Builders have been sharply cutting back production, trying to get inventories more in line with sales.

Even with the latest drop in unsold new homes, the inventory represents a 10.4-month supply at the September sales pace, a historically high level.

The inventory of unsold existing homes also remains near historic highs as that market is being increased by a record wave of home foreclosures.

The 2.7% rise in sales for September new home sales followed a big 12.6% drop in August, which was revised sharply lower from the government’s initial estimate. Sales in July had risen 3.6%.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

 

Government boosts services to tenants

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Andy Ivens
Province

Faced with a growing crisis in Vancouver‘s rental housing market, the provincial government is opening two offices it says will give tenants easier access to information and services.

The residential tenancy branch will open one office in the Downtown Eastside at 390 Main St. The second will be in a single-room-occupancy hotel owned by the province at 518 Richards St. Both open in January.

A wave of recent “renovation evictions” in the West End is forcing seniors and those on fixed incomes out of their homes.

Spencer Herbert, the NDP candidate in Wednesday’s provincial byelection in Vancouver-Burrard and a renter in the West End, wants the government to close a “loophole” in the Residential Tenancy Act that allows landlords to evict tenants to make cosmetic changes, and then raise the rent.

“Landlords say, ‘We’re going to renovate your suite — you’re evicted,’ then they just slap a coat of paint on, maybe put in some tiles — nothing that actually requires the people to be evicted,” Herbert told The Province yesterday.

Herbert said that when Ontario experienced a surge in renovation evictions two years ago, a law was passed giving tenants the right of first refusal to move back in and pay the higher rent, which must be justified.

“That’s what we’re calling for again — the right of first refusal,” he said.

“Unless [the government] changes the law and brings in right of first refusal, as they have in Ontario, the residential tenancy office is just a toothless tiger.”

Liberal candidate Arthur Griffiths said he has arranged a meeting between Housing Minister Rich Coleman and members of Renters at Risk.

Griffiths vowed to take action on the eviction crisis, but stopped short of trying to close the loophole in the act.

“Anytime you write legislation, you want to make sure that when you amend something, it doesn’t open another problem,” said Griffiths.

“But there’s no question and there’s nobody that I’ve talked to, including the minister, that doesn’t agree that there are some landlords who are playing around the rules.

“I am convinced that the renters of the West End who are being unjustly treated by landlords are going to be heard and there will be action.”

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

Paris Phase Two: Brand new homes in Gastown, next to Woodward’s site

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

Annex open to some lofty ideas

Kate Webb
Province

Unlike the brick walls in this show home, the walls in Paris Annex will be polished cement, but the open concept and clean lines will be the same. Photograph by : Jon Murray, The Province

Shower-tub combinations are enclosed by a frameless glass door. Photograph by : Jon Murray, The Province

In the kitchen, white lacquer and glass cabinetry balances the metallic sheen of the countertop. Photograph by : Jon Murray, The Province

THE FACTS

What: Paris Annex

Where: 53 West Hastings,

Vancouver.

Developer: The Salient Group

Sizes: Studio up to two-bedroom, from 660 to 1,438 sq. ft.

Prices: $399,000 to $499,000

Open: Display suite at 53 West Hastings open by private appointment only: Phone 604-341-7997.

Info: www.parisannex.com

– – –

Since the highly anticipated 536 homes at the Woodward’s site sold out in a real-estate feeding frenzy in one day in 2006, the allure of a Gastown address has never been greater.

Grocery stores, restaurants, banks, boutiques and even Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts will all be bustling with activity when move-ins begin this time next year, as the ever-evolving neighbourhood steps into its own as a new hub of downtown culture.

But outside that mega-project, opportunities to get into Gastown have been scarce, and square footage is pricey.

Enter Paris Annex, the Salient Group’s half-heritage- restoration, half-new-construction project next door to the Woodward’s site.

Paris, the first phase of the Paris Annex project — in the century-old Paris building — is sold except for a couple of penthouses priced just under $1.2 million.

Annex, a new building attached to the Paris heritage building, is home to 16 new, ultra-modern suites. They’re wider than the suites in Paris and come with outdoor space.

Tracie McTavish, president of the Rennie Marketing machine behind the record-breaking 2006 selling spree at Woodward’s, said his competitor’s apartments are a relative bargain, given that they start at just over $520 per square foot.

According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the average price per square foot in Gastown is about $577.

“The whole Gastown area is in transition, and it will continue to evolve for the next three, four, five years . . . [as a result of] the area being supported very well on the retail side and on the restaurant side,” said McTavish. “I think [Paris Annex] is probably well-priced in today’s market, and sticker shock sells.”

Mind you, it’s a certain type of buyer who will feel at home in one of Annex’s open-concept, linear floorplans.

“The openness really appeals to certain people,” said Scott Pettipiece, director of sales and marketing for The Salient Group. “Part of living in a heritage loft is having that space undefined.”

Potential buyers should note that the suite now showing by private appointment only is the same one that was on display during the first phase of the Paris development, which means you might have to close your eyes to imagine the floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors opening on to a balcony or patio, and the polished cement walls in place of the brick ones.

Otherwise, homes in the Annex phase of the Paris Annex development feature the same designer finishes as those in the restored heritage building, such as clean lines, integrated kitchens, and nine– to 13-foot ceilings.

“We’ve kept things lofty, with high ceilings in all the suites so you get the feeling of as much space as possible,” said Pettipiece. “The kitchens and bathrooms are all clean, simple and modern, and it gives the suite a really good, blank canvas to start from.”

White lacquer and glass cabinetry line the kitchen along one wall, neutrally balancing the sharp metallic sheen of the single-sheet stainless steel countertop and backsplash.

The living room is large enough to accommodate small family gatherings and intimate cocktail parties, while an opaque, frameless glass railing system enclosing the balcony or patio ensures that light and space are not sacrificed for privacy.

Allowing natural light to filter in all the way to the back of the long, rectangular homes was a priority for the designers, so the bathrooms are outfitted with tinted-glass panels facing the windows of each suite. To the same end, owners wanting the option of closing off the open bedroom area can request to have sliding, frosted- glass doors installed.

The bathrooms are yet another example of The Salient Group’s attention to high-end detail, with soaker-tub-shower combinations surrounded by large, stylish slate tiles, a square, wall-mounted sink, and attractive panelled mirrors that extend to the ceiling.

“We’re not big fans of shower curtains, so any time we have a shower-tub combination, we like to install a frameless glass door,” added Pettipiece.

On the environment front, Paris Annex is offering owners a unique opportunity by being the first development of its kind to have two vehicles dedicated exclusively for residents’ use through the Vancouver-based Co-operative Auto Network.

Move-ins at the Annex begin next fall, which will coincide with the influx of people expected after Woodward’s completion.

© The Vancouver Province 2008