Photo by Lu

We are happy and excited to announce the launch of a brand new Vancouver Golf Guide section of our JayBanks.ca website.

This golf guide serves as a place where Vancouver residents and our clients can find and exchange information about this noble game.  We are taking a user-friendly approach with the guide, trying to provide relevant information to recreational golfers and those of you who are planning to move to Vancouver.  We invite you to enhance the value of the Vancouver Golf Guide by contributing with your personal experiences from the fairways.

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it in full size

Greater Vancouver home sales have remained steady over the past four months, indicating stability in the residential housing market. With the MLS® sales to active listing inventory ratio indicating a buyers’ market, properties appropriately priced are selling.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totaled 2,337 in October 2010, a decline of 36.9% compared to the 3,704 sales in October 2009 and a 5.3% increase compared to September 2010 when 2,220 sales were recorded.

Photo by Jokin Lacalle

Hotel Marqués de Riscal is located in Elciego, in the heart of the La Rioja wine region of Spain. Traditionally the wineries in the region are not open to the public, but as a component of an overall plan to redefine and invigorate its public image, Marqués de Riscal commissioned the design of a small building intended to provide a unique experience for visitors to the winery.

Photo by L. E. MacDonald

Most of the real estate professionals are experienced people dedicated to their job of getting the best place to live in for their clients. However, real estate transactions involve large financial transactions and that is natural call for various scammers. White collar crime is avoiding the real estate industry and scammers are targeting homeowners, home buyers and home sellers with fraudulent deals. Their imagination is remarkable and oftentimes we can’t do much more than minimizing the damage they inflict. By becoming aware of the most common real estate scams, you may be able to protect yourself or someone you know. Consumers, beware !

Turning Torso
by Carol Neuschul

Our new article series brings to among spectacular buildings, which redefined the way we understand urban architecture. Our first stop on the way around the world will be in the third most populous city in Sweden after Stockholm and Gothenburg, in Malmö. This city in the most southern tip of Sweden is home to one of the most inspiring residential construction in Northern Europe.

Photo by Jason Pfeifer

You won’t probably see Jason Pfeifer’s work in major galleries or used as shiny magazine covers. Although Jason isn’t a professional photographer, he doesn’t forget to inject a large dose of passion and spirit into his pictures, something we are all looking for. To him, photography is something he’s not doing for living, but for his life, as he claims on his photoblog called Pfosphene.

Big change of rules on MLS® and agent-client relation is on the way. What are the implications for clients, but also for realtors?

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it in full size

September homes sales in Greater Vancouver were consistent with activity experienced in the preceding two months across most categories.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totaled 2,220 in September 2010, an increase of 0.8% compared to August 2010, and a 37.6% decrease compared with September 2009 when 3,559 sales were recorded.

Photo by Miss Turner

Canadian real estate service sector is close to one of the greatest regulatory reforms in recent years. Competition Bureau prepared new set of rules after extensive negotiations with Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), which lasted for three years. The core of the idea is to open the sector to a much broader and flexible sets of services.

Photo by Daniel R Blume

RBC Economics Research unit report Housing Trends And Affordability says homeownership costs in Canada are on the rise with Vancouver BC sticking out. The decline in the second quarter of 2010 was cased mainly by the market rebound and consequent price increase and mortgage rate increase.

Photo by Hannah Nicole

Some reason to feel better – Vancouver is expected to be the fourth fastest growing metropolitan area in Canada this year, outrun only by Toronto, Saskatoon and Hamilton. Vancouver is expected to add 4.3% to its real GDP in 2010 (partly thanks to the boost from the Winter Olympics), following the recession victim Toronto with 4.7% growth, and both Hamilton and Saskatoon with 4.5% growth, while the whole Canada growth should reach 3.6%, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s Metropolitan Outlook for Autumn 2010.

Growing up to the sky by Luis Argerich

August housing starts results sent Vancouver among the most growing metropolitan areas in Canada once again, according to the report released by the Conference Board of Canada.

Vancouver ranked fifth out of all 27 metropolitan areas. There were 14,091 new housing starts in August (seasonally adjusted), more than double, when compared to 6,945 starts in August 2009. Jane McIntyre, economist who wrote the Conference Board report, adds: “We expect more improvement in the next year in Vancouver. Basically, when the recession hit in 2008-09, housing starts took a big hit in Vancouver.”

There is an interesting article in The Globe and Mail on public policy and tax. It is written by Tony Wilson, Vancouver franchise lawyer.

HST is good public policy
and a good tax

I’m going to say it right upfront, so you know exactly where I stand: the HST is good public policy and a good tax.

Most tax lawyers and economists agree with me.

Read the article…

Safe by Rob Pongsajapan

According to the brand new survey from the Canadian Payroll Association‘s National Payroll Week Employee Survey, which polled 2,766 employees, Canadians feel more pessimistic about their financial situation than they did during the climax of recession back in 2009.

Photo by Danielle Scott

The Bank of Canada announced on Wednesday that it is adding another quarter of one percentage point to its overnight rate, once again after the previous increases in July and June. The rate doubled since 1 June 2010. Both the Bank Rate and the deposit rate were simultaneously up to 1 ¼ respectively ¾ percent.