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L WESES MAY 3
FINCOANTEST CLO
You could WIN
$15,000
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Come home to $15,000 worth of furnishings, home electronics and groceries . . . from Visions Electronics, Save-On-Foods and The Brick. Contest runs May 7 to May 31, 2009. Check out MetroVancouver’s new homes and play along each week to increase your chance of winning.
Coffee With explores the changing face of the housing market in one of B.C.’s fastest growing cities: Surrey ›› p.14
May 28, 2009
Housing: steady as she goes Prices will go up or down, depending on two reports
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5/26/09
Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender is excited about the new Golden Ears Bridge, scheduled to open to traffic June 16.
Rob Newell photo
Bridging the gap New Golden Ears Bridge will mean less traffic, more real estate opportunities KOLBY SOLINSKY It was January, 2006 when Premier Gordon Campbell and the province unveiled the Gateway Program, a $3-billion plan to open up B.C.’s and Greater Vancouver’s transportation network.
Included in the plan was TransLink’s now-soon-to-be-completed Golden Ears Bridge, which will connect Greater Vancouver’s eastern regions north and south of the Fraser River. At the time, Campbell said, “Congestion is having an increasingly negative effect on B.C.’s economy, communities and families.” He further estimated that a bad day takes a commuter two hours to get from Burnaby to Langley and also forces traffic onto residential streets in Surrey and Delta. Many believe the Golden Ears Bridge will most certainly solve these problems, and
it has been lauded by city developers and residents alike in its surrounding areas. This can only mean the best for new home development in Maple Ridge, Langley, and the entire region (which includes Surrey, Delta and Pitt Meadows), because easier transportation means improved business, more travel, and greater connectivity. Accordingly, new homes have been popping up as more people flock to the cities around the bridge, seeing it as a region in the midst of tremendous growth. CONTINUED ON P.2
An unpredictable economy means the housing market is also less predictable. 8:39 AM Two different forecasts released in the past week highlight that uncertainty. In its secondquarter forecast released May 19, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation lowered its expectations for new home construction, sales and prices, for this year and next. Yet a B.C. Real Estate Association forecast released Tuesday, May 26 says housing market conditions in the province have improved more rapidly than expected. As a result, the BCREA Peter Simpson revised its home price forecast upwards. The average price of a home in B.C. is expected to decline eight per cent to $420,600 in 2009, as opposed to the 13 per cent originally predicted. “The majority of the decline in home prices has already occurred,” says BCREA chief economist Cameron Muir. “Balanced markets are emerging in Victoria, Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. There’s now little downward pressure on home prices in these areas.” Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association CEO Peter Simpson was not surprised by either forecast. Some GVHBA members have sold all of their current homes, and are starting to look at the possibility of new developments, he notes. “Sales are starting to pick up. We’re hearing that from our builders,” Simpson says. Other GVHBA members will likely assess their current projects and sales and take note of any standing inventory they might have before deciding to put a shovel in the ground on a new project, but Simpson says GVHBA members CONTINUED ON P.2