Full-featured Prescott Commons at Harvard Gardens in Surrey is uncommonly distinctive

? SIMON BRIAULT
The Vancouver Sun

Prescott Commons at Harvard Gardens

Project location: 3323 151st Street, Surrey

Project size: 248 apartments – various one- and two-bedroom plans available between 642 and 969 square feet. Two-bedroom plans start at $299,900

Developer: Polygon Prescott Commons Ltd., Polygon Harvard Gardens Ltd.

Architect: Rositch Hemphill Architects

Interior designer: Polygon Interior Design Ltd.

Sales centre: On site

Hours: noon — 6 p.m., Sat — Thurs

Telephone: 604-541-8092

Website: www.polyhomes.com

Occupancy: Spring 2018

If you take a stroll around Polygon’s master-planned Harvard Gardens community, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the courtyard of an Ivy League university on the American East Coast. The effect is intentional and proving extremely popular with buyers, according to Goldie Alam, Polygon’s senior vice-president of marketing.

“It was all inspired by a trip that our architectural and development teams took to Boston a few years ago,” she explained. “So we have buildings that have a lot of red brick and wrought-iron-inspired accents. It’s traditional and linear and has very carefully manicured landscaping. The architecture is really quite distinctive and people have been very impressed by it.”

Polygon has just launched Prescott Commons, the last of four phases of the development in South Surrey. This will be two U-shaped apartment buildings that allow for a landscaped courtyard in the middle featuring a trellised seating area, children’s play area and quiet lawn surrounded by trees. The buildings will have wroughtiron-inspired entry canopies and double-height lobbies with stained wood-panelled walls, feature lighting and stone flooring. The fourstorey buildings will contain 248 homes in total; Polygon launched the first of them — 122 homes — on June 18.

“Previously, we’ve had a lot of first-time buyers at Harvard Gardens, but there has been a good mix of downsizers and investors as well,” added Alam. “It’s just off 32nd Avenue and 152nd Street so there’s great access to Highway 99, from where you can easily get to the border, the airport or Vancouver.

“There’s also shopping really close by. You can walk to Save On Foods, The Keg and a Home Sense. The South Point Centre is within walking distance and it’s only a short drive to Morgan Crossing.”

But perhaps the biggest attraction for potential buyers in this community is the 9,000-squarefoot clubhouse – The Rowing Club — which opened in the fall of 2015. It includes a gymnasium where residents can play basketball, badminton, floor hockey and indoor soccer. The outdoor pool is open from May to October, and the hot tub is open year-round. There’s also a fitness studio with universal equipment, free weights, cardio machines and a mirrored aerobics area. In addition, the Rowing Club includes a barbecue terrace, a games room, a great room with a bar area, a billiards table and an outdoor fire pit.

Residents can screen movies and sporting events in the Rowing Club’s own HD theatre, featuring built-in surround sound. The building also includes two fully furnished suites for out-of-town guests, a dog wash station complete with both hot and cold water and a ping pong table and crafts room. The amenity is managed by a fulltime resident concierge.

“The clubhouse is definitely proving to be a big draw,” said Alam. “It really sells the lifestyle. It’s like a resort right on your doorstep – the perfect place to host parties and socialize with the neighbours.

“It’s just a beautiful building that is already being well used by the residents who are making new connections and using the great facilities. We’ve got a range of activities and programs up and running, including yoga and aqua fit.”

The specifications and finishes at Prescott Commons will be suitably high end to match the grandeur of the architecture. Homes have laminate wood flooring in the entry, living, kitchen and dining areas and nylon carpet in all bedrooms. Buyers can choose from two custom, designer-selected home colour schemes.

There are nine-foot-high ceilings and low-E windows throughout to reduce UV damage while improving energy efficiency.

All homes have covered sun decks or ground-floor patios.

Kitchens feature engineered stone countertops and breakfast bars, flat-panelled cabinetry highlighted by polished chrome pulls, and cabinet doors and drawers with soft-close hardware. The stainless steel appliance packages include 18-cubic-foot Samsung refrigerators with bottom-mounted freezers and slide-in gas ranges with self-cleaning ovens. There are also Energy Star dishwashers and microwave and hood fan combinations by Whirlpool.

Master ensuite bathrooms have frameless spa-inspired showers complete with integrated bench seats. There are also engineered stone countertops, dual porcelain under-mounted sinks, and polished chrome hardware (in most ensuites). Second bathrooms feature engineered stone countertops and either walk-in shower stalls with glass doors or tubs (in most homes).

Asked for the top reasons buyers should consider Prescott Commons, Alam said: “Apart from the clubhouse, the architecture in the community gives the whole place a really distinctive, warm and rich feeling. People love it. Then there’s the South Surrey location in a master-planned community. That’s proving to be really popular with buyers.

“The nice thing about Prescott Commons is that people will be moving into a community that is already well established.”

Homes at Prescott Commons are scheduled to be move-in ready by spring 2018 and prices for two-bedroom, one-bathroom plans start at $299,900.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

CARLA WILSON
The Vancouver Sun

Sean Burke’s strategy to avoid a frenzied bidding war when buying a house in Saanich has paid off. He mapped out a plan before starting his hunt in a market that is now the third least-affordable in the country, after Vancouver and Toronto, according to a new affordability study by RBC.

Bidding wars are seeing houses in popular areas sell at thousands of dollars above their asking price. “I think it just gets out of control,” said Burke. A key part of his strategy was looking at houses that had been on the market for at least seven days.

After seven weeks, Burke found the Maplewood house, which had been listed for 10 days. He sealed a deal for $670,000, a little below the asking price, working with real estate agent Daniel Clover of Re/ Max Camosun.

Burke takes possession July 8. “I can’t wait,” he said. “It’s very central, quite a beautiful area.”

The three-bedroom, 1985-built house is a little smaller than Burke had hoped for, but it has a large garage, which was on the wish list. Burke thinks the house was available because it needs some upgrading, such as painting and repairs to the wooden deck. Also, it does not have a suite, something that many buyers seek to help with mortgage payments.

He’s in an enviable position in today’s market because he owns a rental house in Saanich, which he is holding onto while watching the market. “I think it is going to go up for a few more years.”

The average price of a singlefamily house in Greater Victoria reached a record high of $763,517 in May. Financing rules often insists that mortgages not exceed about 30 per cent of income.

An RBC housing report said the affordability measure for the capital region means that it costs 53.6 per cent of a household income to cover ownership costs for a single-family house. The measure is the proportion of median pre-tax household income required to pay the mortgage, property taxes and utilities based on the average market price. It is based on a 25-year mortgage and a 25 per cent down payment.

If that seems high, consider Vancouver, where 120 per cent of income is needed to cover costs for a single-family house, and where the average price of a detached house is more than $1 million.

The rate for all types of housing in Greater Victoria is 47.4 per cent, behind Vancouver at 87.6 per cent and Toronto at 60.6 per cent. Nationally, the rate is 47.1 per cent for all categories of housing.

“The affordability of single-detached homes in Victoria is quite stretched compared to most cities across Canada, while the affordability measure for condo apartments eroded only slightly in the first quarter,” Craig Wright, RBC chief economist, said. Condominiums are more affordable at 31.9 per cent.

Clover, the real estate agent, recently sold a house listed for $888,888 for $1.158 million. The seller received eight offers and a local resident was successful. One of the offers came from two couples from Vancouver who ferried over to view the house. Their offer was not successful, but they had wanted to share it, as a way to afford a house, Clover said. He is also seeing parents buy a house with room for adult children and grandchildren.

John Byrne, a real estate agent with the Sutton Group West Coast Realty in Victoria, said single-family homes in the core of Victoria are “getting out of reach for a lot of people starting out. So, certainly townhouses, duplexes, and condos are becoming options for them.”

Some will purchase a condo so they can get into the housing market and start building equity, he said. “They see we are probably nowhere near our peak and they want to get in before it rises further.”

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Chinese demand expected to continue despite Brexit

Juwai
other

The UK may be one of the smallest countries in the G7, but the Chinese investment passion for it has been one of the biggest love affairs in the property industry.

And now, despite the heat of the Brexit debate leading up to the shocking referendum results of Britain voting to leave the European Union (EU), Chinese buyer demand for UK property is still expected to remain strong.

46% of respondents in a recent Juwai Brexit Survey said they felt demand for UK property demand would go up if Britain exited the EU.

Not only does a weaker pound make for enticing investment opportunities, the UK has always offered appealing lifestyle factors that will continue to be strong basis for Chinese to invest in UK property.

Back in 2012, Chinese investors reportedly bought 5% of all Central London properties sold1 – that same year Hurun Report ranked the UK among  the top five travel locations for Chinese high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).2

Now, in the first two months of 2016, Chinese invested £560.3 million (US$792 million) in London-based commercial property – equal to 40% of the total of £1.2 billion (US$1.69 billion) recorded for the whole of 2015.3 Numbers like that have surely made industry experts fairly confident about forecasts that Chinese investment in London alone will exceed that of 2015.

Juwai Data shows a similar trend – Chinese enquiries for UK property on Juwai.com grew 17.98% in Q1 2016 alone, with enquiries on property listings valued at $1.79 billion in terms of consumer enquiry value.4

 Chinese buyers not expected to be negatively impacted by Brexit

The Juwai Brexit Survey, which sourced the opinions of industry experts and investors in both the UK and China, unveiled that most respondents believed the Brexit impact would be insignificant in terms of Chinese property investment in the UK.

In fact, although UK respondents were more uncertain, China respondents indicated that – despite some holding back from transactions until after the vote – international demand for UK property was expected to increase no matter the outcome. 

Furthermore, 71% of China respondents said there would be either no change or more demand for UK property should Britain leave the EU.

Juwai.com believes the UK will continue and even grow as an important destination for Chinese property investment. Chinese consumers see UK property as a relatively safe investment compared to alternatives, and consumer demand is in large part driven by lifestyle factors, with education being the top motivator.

For students continuing their educational pursuits overseas, the UK still offers world-class universities and schools, which will continue to be in high demand. With all these factors combined, Chinese demand for property investment in the UK should remain strong for years to come. 

Juwai.com CEO Charles Pittar even notes that developers and estate agents are likely sharpening their marketing pitches at this very moment, pointing to Brexit as an opportunity for offshore buyers to snap up properties at bargain prices.

“The vote for Brexit introduces some uncertainty into the market. In a backwards way, this could promote foreign property investment. If the pound loses ground on a sustained basis and domestic buyers drop out of the British property market, the results of the vote could lead to increased opportunities and a more appealing environment for foreign investors,” he adds.

This is in line with the 46% of respondents in the Juwai Brexit Survey, who indicated they felt there would be more demand for UK property if Britian exited the EU.

“If the fall in the pound persists and if local buyers continue to sit on their hands to some degree, that will create a more appealing environment for international investors…and Chinese buyers are much more likely to take note of property prices, exchange rates, available inventory and economic conditions than the simple fact of Brexit, however,” Pittar says.

Chinese consumer enquiries into U.K. property on Juwai.com in June has remained strong with a positive outlook expected still, and we’ll be watching closely to see just how things unfold for UK property seekers as Brexit looms.

2016 © Juwai.

Steve Randall
Mortgage Broker News

The Mayor of Vancouver says the city council may push ahead with plans to tax owners of vacant properties, even if there is no action from the provincial government.

Gregor Robertson wants premier Christy Clark to implement a tax on vacant residential homes but if that does not happen by August 1 then the city may decide to go it alone.

The mayor says that those who leave homes empty are treating their properties as a business asset and should therefore be taxed along the same lines that businesses are.

However, the provincial finance minister Mike Jong issued a statement which suggests that the city will not need to be a lone wolf on the matter: “We applaud the City of Vancouver for considering options to improve the low vacancy rate for rental accommodation. It’s essential that the local government, the provincial government and the federal government work together on this issue.”

Copyright © 2016 Key Media Pty Ltd

Gregor Robertson said this week that Vancouver will go ahead with implementing a tax on homes left empty ? but will it do any good?

Joannah Connolly
REW

The issue of homes being left vacant in Vancouver is one that has sat at the heart of the city’s wider affordability problems for some years now.

Certainly, it’s galling to see boarded-up houses and condos with darkened windows at a time when so many people are struggling to afford to buy a home in their desired neighbourhood, and when the rental vacancy rate is correspondingly at a record low.

Indeed, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has been saying for some time that he’d like to see a tax on the owners of those vacant homes to try to force the issue. However, his council hasn’t been able to do this, as implementing an increase to residential property taxes requires provincial support.

But the Mayor has now put his foot down and said enough is enough. This week, he announced on his website and to reporters outside City Hall that the City will be implementing some kind of vacant home tax, with or without the province’s help, and soon. (For the full story on that and the next steps the City intends to take, click here.)

The question is, is this a good idea? Will it work?

Now, I’m all for finding ways to get more units into the rental pool. Sure, Vancouver’s overall home vacancy rate, as far as we know from the limited studies that have been done, is not above average for a city of its size. But with rental availability so desperately short, anything that can be done to get more rental units into circulation is a good thing.

Gregor’s position is that if the new tax pushes just a third of our cited 10,800 empty homes into the market, that’s a flood of additional units that would otherwise take many years in planning and development, and would (given today’s demand) increase the rental vacancy rate to around a healthy three per cent.

That’s all great, and I sincerely hope he is right. But it’s extremely optimistic to think as many as a third of properties would go into the pool because of the new tax, whether it’s a residential or a business/investment levy.

For one thing, the system requires policing. How will the City assess whether or not a home is empty for 12 months of the year (which is what they say they are going after)? Hydro usage data? That’s a highly flawed system that is easily circumvented with the use of timers or a property manager. Snitching neighbours? Hardly an equitable or reliable measure. So there could be serious problems with measuring vacancy in the first instance, and you couldn’t charge the tax unless you were sure.

It would also be very easy for people to simply occupy the unit for some periods of time, to circumvent the tax, or to have family or friends staying there.

Next, rather than enter the property into the general rental pool, if an owner does feel obliged to rent it out, many will choose short-term rental systems such as AirBnB, which the Mayor says is under separate investigation. The vast majority of Vancouver’s empty properties are condo-apartment units, not single-family homes, and would be snapped up as vacation rentals. So that still wouldn’t help our desperate long-term local renters.

Another aspect would be that if you are wealthy enough to hold a unit without needing to rent it out, you can probably afford an additional tax – so for some, it will just become the cost of doing business. Now, that money would go into the pot for City affordable housing schemes, which is a good thing – but again, it doesn’t help our renters.

Finally, there are all sorts of other reasons why people leave their homes empty. Some would love to, but aren’t allowed to, rent out their units because of strata bylaws. Others (like local agent and developer Keith Roy, my guest on this weekend’s Real Estate Therapist Show on Roundhouse Radio 98.3FM at 9am) are planning to demolish and rebuild the home, but are waiting for permits, and the existing property is unrentable and unlivable. Should such owners be charged an additional levy – on top of the massive charges they already pay the City? Of course not – so presumably there would be many exemptions.

Once you subtract all the above units from the group of empty homes in Vancouver, you’d probably be lucky to see more than a thousand or so units actually enter the regular rental pool because of the new tax. Now, these are desperately needed homes, so maybe it’s still worth it. Or maybe, with all the additional policing, bureaucracy, administration and overheads the system would need, it’s not. As mortgage expert Peter Kinch, a regular guest on the Real Estate Therapist show, said this week, it may just be a “knee-jerk policy because of the mounting pressure on politicians to just do something.”

Maybe the City just needs to do a better job of improving the supply of both for-sale and rental housing for its residents. Maybe the province needs to give Property Transfer Tax breaks to Canadians. And I still think that the “vacant home” tax proposed by the UBC Sauder School of Business is a better idea, as it doesn’t rely on the homes actually being vacant (click here for more on that).

Either way, it looks like Vancouver’s new vacant home tax is coming in the next few months – so we’ll find out. 

© 2016 Real Estate Weekly

REW

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Susan Lazaruk
The Vancouver Sun

A surge in sales of recreational properties in British Columbia over the past year was fuelled in some areas by buyers in their mid-30s to late 40s, and not older baby boomers, according to a new report by Royal LePage.

Across Canada, Generation X buyers outnumbered baby boomers two to one, said Royal LePage in a release announcing the report.

The annual report was compiled from data from real estate agents specializing in recreational properties.

The typical buyer in the Central Vancouver Island region, including Parksville and Qualicum, as well as in Cranbrook and Kimberley, was the “Gen Xer in the 36 to 51 age range,” according to the report.

The average price for a lakefront property on the Island was $380,000, and $800,000 in Cranbrook and Kimberley, it said. A condo or non-waterfront cabin was going for $200,000, and a riverside place $300,000. Kimberley is a 10.5-hour drive from Vancouver.

The pricier areas, such as the Sunshine Coast, where an oceanfront property was fetching on average $800,000, and the Gulf Islands ($500,000 for oceanfront on islands without a ferry, $1 million for those with), were popular with baby boomer buyers.

Also popular with older buyers was the least expensive area, around 100 Mile House, a 5.5-hour trip from Vancouver, where a lakefront was selling for about $320,000.

The Sunshine Coast was attracting interest from foreign buyers and “buyers whose kids have been priced out of the Vancouver market,” it said.

Kelowna, with the priciest average waterfront prices of $1.6 million, was attracting “couples with young children” intending to rent out the properties, said Royal LePage.

Non-waterfront cabins in the Kelowna area were selling for $450,000 and condos for $350,000, according to the report.

“We’re seeing multiple offers on properties for the first time in six years,” said Mark Walker, a Kelowna Royal LePage real estate agent.

He said the market was depressed for the six years after the 2008 global economic crash.

Royal LePage said the average buyer who responded to its surveys were a couple with children, at 76 per cent; 63 per cent were between 36 and 51 and 33 per cent were between 52 and 70 years old.

Most said they were buying property for their retirement and 50 per cent said they were looking at the purchase as an investment.

The report said 10 per cent of buyers lived outside of Canada all or most of the time, and 80 per cent of those were from the U.S.

Royal LePage “expects sales activity to increase” through the year and identified “demand from retirees as a major factor driving the market.”

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc

Charterhouse at Hampton cove: Intelligent layout inspires owners to downsize and live clutter-free

Mary Frances Hill
The Province

Charterhouse at Hampton Cove

Where: 5510 Admiral Way, Ladner

Project size: 84 townhomes

Residence sizes and prices: Three to four bedrooms, 1,550-1,860 sq. ft., priced from $819,900

Developer: Polygon Charterhouse Homes Ltd.

Architect: Rositch Hemphill Architects

Interior designer: Polygon Interior Design Ltd.

Sales centre: 5510 Admiral Blvd., Ladner

Hours: noon-6 p.m., Saturday-Thursday

For many home hunters, a townhouse represents an ideal style of residency. Many are drawn by the sense of community, the cost relative to single-family homes and the fact that when they’re designed well, they can offer the spacious feel of detached homes.

Such appeal resonates with Celia Dawson, senior-vice president of interior design at Polygon Homes and organizer of the design of the display homes at Charterhouse at Hampton Cove, Polygon’s new community in Ladner.

The veteran designer of interiors at Polygon’s master-planned communities sees what buyers see — and more. She’s particularly sensitive to the ways in which the Charterhouse townhouses’ intelligent layout can inspire homeowners to downsize and live clutter-free.

“Townhomes are an efficient use of space,” Dawson says. “(They have) the luxury of all the main living areas without the corridors and unusable space that some homes offer. This makes for a fantastic home at an affordable price.”

For those downsizing from larger single-family homes, she says, townhouses allow for a “scaling back of all the ‘extras’ in household furnishings (so they can) live a clean and uncluttered life.”

Visitors are finding the Charterhouse display suite kitchens one of the biggest draws. While many designers lean toward modern, sleek white offset by similar shades, one scheme goes against trend: dark cabinets give warmth to the food prep and eating area, with an industrial iron look in the stools, hanging lights and chandelier. Dawson says her team aimed for a “French château” look, reminiscent of Restoration Hardware retailers.

“The Restoration Hardware look is appealing to many because it is a warm, grand feeling with traditional details and luxurious,” she says.

Polygon is no stranger to master-planned communities and the company appeals to buyers by offering clubhouses and attractive common spaces. Here, the 12,000-square-foot Hampton Club will feature an outdoor pool, barbecue and entertainment area, a playground, fitness studio, gym, guest suite and billiards room.

While crafting community spaces is important, it’s just as essential to respond to the sense of place that surrounds the homes.

Charterhouse’s proximity to the Fraser River influenced the way Dawson and the Polygon team approached the interior design.

“Charterhouse has a definite seaside and yachtsman appeal and yes, this definitely influenced our designs,” she says. “Its location, with its proximity to Richmond and Vancouver and located on the water, is a definite draw.”

© Copyright (c) The Province

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