After yesterdays crane incident at 2329 W 1st Ave in Kitsilano, the development is back on track and building has continued again today.  Another Crane was brought in last night to lift the truck crane that toppled over and almost fell into the 40ft pit yesterday.  It took most of the evening but the truck was lifted back out onto the road and was then towed away. 

Continue to check back at liveinkits.ca for updates on this future development in Kitsilano.

Today around 1:30pm I was at my place in Kitsilano having a late lunch when I heard this thunder like sound come from outside.  It lasted for about 20 seconds and then silence again until about 4 minutes later when I heard sirens coming from every direction.  I went outside and walked up to the new building development being put up at 2329 W 1st Ave and saw that the truck crane on it’s side narrowly missing the 40 ft fall to the bottom of the pit.  The truck was dropping off building supplies for the new 9 unit building being constructed.  The truck crane was lowering down supplies to the bottom of the pit when the sidewalk beneath the truck gave way and over it went.  No one was hurt and help was on the way to get the truck back right side up but a few more feet and things could’ve been much worse.  How’s that for activity in the Kitsilano Real Estate Market!

Now that we are closing in on July 1 and the new HST will come in to effect there are still some question on how it will affect real estate in BC.

Resale of homes will be HST exempt as they are now from GST. However, many of the services associated with the purchase or sale of a home will now be subject to HST. These services include property inspections, appraisals, lawyer/notary fees and real estate commissions.

New Homes/New condos will be most affected by the HST. As it stands now the federal GST New Housing Rebate is applicable to all new home purchases and will remain unchanged. The B.C. HST that will be an additional tax on new home purchases as of July 1, 2010 will also have a rebate. The net B.C. HST payable is 2% of the purchase price for all homes under $525,000. For homes purchased over $525,000 the net HST payable will be 2% of the purchase price on the 1^st $525,000 and 7% on the balance. This means there will be a flat HST rebate of $26,250 on all purchases over $525,000.

Below is a chart that helps explain the GST/HST rebates in different price ranges.

Vancouver, BC – June 7, 2010. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its Housing Forecast for the second quarter of 2010 today.

BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to ease back 3 per cent from 85,028 units in 2009 to 82,350 units this year, before increasing 4 per cent to 85,900 units in 2011.

“Eroding affordability will trim home sales by 3 per cent this year despite improving economic conditions and related employment growth,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “The push and pull of positive economic growth versus rising mortgage interest rates is expected to keep BC home sales near their 10-year average of 85,569 units both this year and next.”   

The average MLS® residential price is forecast to climb 6 per cent to $494,600 this year and remain relatively unchanged in 2011, albeit increasing by 1 per cent to $499,700.

"Strong consumer demand in Vancouver, Victoria and the Fraser Valley was largely responsible for driving the average home price in the province higher over the last three quarters,” added Muir. “However, demand has moderated in those markets and a larger inventory of homes for sale has pulled market conditions into balanced territory, providing less upward pressure on home prices"