Justin Leigh REAL ESTATE
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Both the BC and Alberta securities commissions have issued warnings to investors about investing in unregulated real estate-based securities.  Because these investment vehicles are not traded on any exchanges, they are not subject to disclosure regulations.  Individuals considering investing in these types of real estate-based securities are urged to do their homework before investing.  Here is a link to a Business In Vancouver article discussing this issue:


http://www.bivinteractive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1575&Itemid=32

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Here is an article from todays Vancouver Sun that should be of interest to property investors, landlords, and renters alike.  It discusses an apartment complex in Vancouver's West End neighbourhood that has recently increased rents by 38 percent.  Annual rent increases in British Columbia are limited by the Residential Tenancy Board to 3.7%.  Read on to find out how this whopping rent increase was allowed...
 
 
West End rental increase becomes election issue
 
West End NDP candidate Spencer Herbert says a decision by the Residential Tenancy Office to allow an almost 40 per cent rent increase at the Seafield Apartments in the West End signals the end of rent control.
 
"Rent control is effectively dead in this province," said Herbert, who represented the former Vancouver-Burrard riding before it was redistributed for the election. "And now, thanks to the Liberals, renters have no protection."
 
Rent control guidelines limit annual rent increases to 3.7 per cent, but a clause in the provincial Residential Tenancy Act allows landlords to apply for higher amounts if they can prove units in neighbouring buildings garner substantially higher rent.
 
In January, landlords Gordon Nelson Investments notified tenants of the Seafield, located at 1436 Pendrell St., of rent increases up to 73 per cent.
 
The tenants appealed, and this week the Residential Tenancy Office approved increases of up to 38 per cent. While arbitration decisions don't set legal precedents, they are often used by tenants to support future arguments.
 
Herbert said the rental legislation must be changed, particularly the geographic profiling clause. "In the case of the Seafield I raised the issue with [Liberal Minister of Housing] Rich Coleman and said the legislation has to be changed," Herbert said. "But he said it's fine. That's why I introduced a private members' bill asking to get rid of this part of the code."
 
Liberal Vancouver-West-End candidate Laura McDiarmid said while any legislation is open for review, she believes the law worked in favour of the tenants.
 
"I'm very sympathetic to renters as are all the B.C. Liberals," McDiarmid said. "But from the sounds of it there was a reduction in what the landlords had initially applied for. To me that sounds like a win for these tenants."
 
McDiarmid said the Liberals have offered incentives to landlords to keep rental units intact.
"We have to look at both sides," she said.
 
A message posted on a website run by Seafield tenants says they won't comment on the decision because they're seeking legal advice and are considering a judicial review of the decision.
 
The rent increase will affect nine units out of 14 at the Seafield, which means the rent on seven two-bedroom units will increase from between $1,358 and $1,450 to $1,833 by next year. If the initial application had been approved, the $1,374 rent on a two-bedroom apartment would have increased to $2,255.
 
The tenants facing the highest rent increase of 38 per cent are 82-year-old Roland McFall and his 93-year-old sister Mary who've lived in the building for 48 years.
 
According to the 12-page ruling by dispute resolution officer K. Miller, the landlords can raise the rent in three increments, with three months notice in between each increase.
 
The ruling notes the landlords didn't have to prove rents at the Seafield are significantly lower than "all" comparable apartments, but merely prove there are "some" units with higher rents than the subject units.
 
Neither the West End Renter's Survey, complied by the tenants, or the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's analysis of the survey, were considered as evidence.
 
Sandra Thomas, Vancouver Courier
Published: Friday, April 24, 2009
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Here is a Reuters report on Canadian resale house prices that indicates how the Spring real estate market is unfolding in Greater Vancouver compared with the rest of the country:
 
Resale house prices in Canada fell 7.7 percent in March from a year earlier, but sales rose from February, the Canadian Real Estate Association said on Wednesday.
 
The average home price in Canada was C$288,641 ($238,546) in March, down from C$312,852 a year earlier, CREA said.
 
Home prices were lower in 14 of 25 major markets that the association measures, led by Greater Vancouver. The average price of a home in Greater Vancouver, which had seen a very sharp run-up in prices in the past few years, was C$530,763 in March, down 13.9 percent from a year earlier.
 
Other Western Canadian cities also felt sharp price pressure, with average home values still down more than 10 percent in Victoria, Calgary and Edmonton.
 
The biggest increase in home prices was in the Atlantic province of Newfoundland and Labrador, up 24.3 percent from a year earlier to C$198.057.
 
But the average national price "continues to be skewed downward" because of fewer transactions at the higher end of the spectrum, CREA said.
 
However, in an encouraging sign that the housing market may be stabilizing, there was a pickup in sales for a second consecutive month.
 
Nationally, 31,135 homes were sold in March, up 7 percent from February on a seasonally adjusted basis and building on February's 10.3 percent rise from January.
 
British Columbia posted the largest increase in sales, up 13.6 percent, and Ontario followed with a 10.5 percent rise.
 
"On the whole, the report does provide some evidence that Canadian housing market activity may have improved modestly in recent months as homebuyers take advantage of the improved buying conditions -- namely, low mortgage rates and more affordable prices," said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities. "This is certainly encouraging."
 
He also added that the overall housing market would remain "soft" in the months ahead.
 
While the housing market is showing some signs of life, there is risk that consumer confidence can fall quickly amid a fragile economic environment where job losses have been steep this year.
 
"Further price declines and low mortgage rates will ultimately help trigger a recovery, but a reversal in the wave of job losses is one major prerequisite still outstanding," noted Robert Kavcic, an economist at BMO Capital Markets.
 
On a year-over-year basis, sales were down 20 percent in March on a seasonally-adjusted basis. Actual sales fell 13.7 percent, the smallest year-over-year decline in six months.
 
TORONTO, April 15 (Reuters)
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Here is an article that was published in the Financial Post last week that gives some information about Canadian Real Estate housing price trends:
 
OTTAWA - Canada's new house price index dropped again in February, down 0.7%, compared with a decline of 0.6% one month earlier.
 

Prices were down 1.8% from a year earlier, the largest year-on-year decrease since 1996.

Between January and February, prices declined 3% in Edmonton, followed by Vancouver (-2.9%), Saskatoon (-2.1%), Victoria (-1.7%) and Calgary (-0.9%). In all these cities, except for Saskatoon, poor market conditions continued to be the main reason for the decreases. In Saskatoon, declines were attributed to lower material and labour costs and competitive market conditions.
 
In Quebec, new housing prices increased 2.6% from a month earlier.
 
In Charlottetown, prices increased by 1.2% partly as a result of increased land values in the current market.
 
Prices also increased from a month earlier in Regina, up 0.9% and in London, Ont., also up 0.9%.
 
February was the second straight month in which prices declined year-on-year.
 

Financial Post with files from Reuters  Published: Thursday, April 09, 2009

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