Shaun Kimmins

The following are excerpts from an interesting article written by Alexandre Pestov at the Schulich School of Business

The cause of the housing bubble associated with the sharp run-up and the subsequent drop in home prices in the US over the period of 1999-2008 has been the focus of significant research attention. Despite numerous similarities, the Canadian housing market escapes the same l ...

Another month in the books. A few of the lyrics from Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire come to mind right now:

I fell in to a burning ring of fire
I went down,down,down
and the flames went higher.
And it burns,burns,burns
the ring of fire
the ring of fire.





Greed glands are pumping
Unfortunately, many would-be sellers' greed glands have been pumping wildly this year. The sad result for many, ...

Here's an article just circulated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver:
For the entire stats package: REBGV Stats Package_July2010-1.pdf

REBGV Stats

Homebuyers and sellers less active in July
Home sales activity in Greater Vancouver was quieter last month than most Julys over the past decade, with residential sales, prices, and the number of homes listed for sale ...

It's now clear, we are off the peak.


The latest Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver's average price graph supports recent media articles which have been quick to get on board the idea that our market is softening and that it's now a buyer's market. This has been the case in the luxury waterfront condo market for some time now but is now apparent thoughout the entire market. Prices are co ...

Apparently there is much confusion about the HST and real estate in BC. Have a read and remember, HST only affects NEW product, not resales so if you are buying a previously lived-in property, you won't have to pay HST.

Worries about the economy, mortgage rates leave potential owners 'sitting on the fence'

Have a look at this latest article from the Vancouver Sun

I can attest to the fact that sales have slowed in a profound way in Coal Harbour at the luxury condo end of the market.

If you have any questions or comments about the downtown and Coal Harbour condo markets please contact Shaun ...

Bank of Canada President, Mark Carney pulled the trigger and raised rates by .25% today



See the whole Globe and Mail article here.

Contact Shaun for more information on Vancouver's condo market.

Stats for the month of June 2010

Sorry for the delay in getting these into the Blog. Have a look at listing and sales stats through June 30 2010. There was a little bit of good news for sellers in terms of inventory levels coming down a little in most downtown areas while the number of sales increased slightly. However, in Coal Harbour while we saw an approx decrease in listings of 9%, we sa ...

Finally, we can move on from the safe, milky-toast descirption of our market as a "Balanced Market". It has now become impossible to ignore that we are in a BUYER'S MARKET and we can all get on the same page! I suspect that some sellers might still choose to ignore reality but it's going to be really difficult.

I can't tell you what a relief it is to me that The BC Real Estate Association ha ...

I wanted to touch base to remind everyone that BC's new HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) is now in effect for goods and services purchased in BC. As of July 1 2010 most goods and services now have a total tax of 12%. The 12% is a combination of the Goods and Services Tax or GST (5%) and Provincial Sales Tax (7%) and is payable on real estate commissions.

For those of you who's offers were accepted ...