| tart --> | | | | booming at this time already is probably an |
| I am not going to deny it: after thirty-four years of living | | | | understatement. But if one is to believe the projections |
| in this city I am still thoroughly in love with it. And mind | | | | of the Urban Futures Institute, the British Columbia |
| you, I was born in and am coming from another | | | | Economic Council, the City of Vancouver and, heck, |
| beautiful city, renown throughout the world for its | | | | even Statistics Canada, this is nothing compared to |
| beauty and fine arts: Florence, Italy. And this is the thing | | | | what it is going to happen to property values in this |
| with me. When you come from a pretty town like | | | | town. Here is why: the provincial and federal |
| Florence, Italy it takes truly a lot to make you fall in love | | | | governments will be injecting CAD 1.7 billion (yeah, |
| with another pretty town. In this respect, therefore, the | | | | that's billion with a 'b' ... like 'Bob') in the final four-year |
| judgment I render on Vancouver, BC is certainly more | | | | stretch of building, fundraising and planning for the |
| rigorous than the critiques other people might proffer. | | | | monumental event. World-class facilities have been |
| There are indeed quite a few things that make | | | | promised for the 2010 games, including a new Speed |
| Vancouver, BC one of a kind town. For starters, if you | | | | Skating Oval and Winter Sports Centre, improvements |
| choose to make Canada your new home - or second | | | | on the 120 Km Sea-to-Sky highway connecting |
| home - this is the only one place where temperatures | | | | Vancouver to Whistler, construction of the Vancouver |
| are 'civilized' pretty much all year round. Our 2 degrees | | | | Olympic Village, construction of the Whistler Sliding |
| Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit) minimum wintertime | | | | Centre - host of the bobsleigh, skeleton and luge |
| average does not sound that bad when you compare | | | | events. There will be a new ice Hockey Arena at the |
| it to the minus XX for the rest of the country. | | | | University of British Columbia (UBC), a new Curling |
| Secondly, Vancouver is definitely not a working town. | | | | Centre, a separate Figure Skating Centre, a |
| With a mean yearly income of CAD $84,000 per | | | | Short-Track Speed Skating Arena, retrofitting of the |
| household, a fantastic scenery and the prettiest girls in | | | | General Motors Centre and of the BC Stadium, |
| Canada, Vancouverites are faithful followers of the | | | | construction of a brand new express subway |
| West Coast lifestyle, originally imported from San | | | | connecting the Vancouver Downtown core to the |
| Francisco - except that here we do it better. In fact, | | | | airport and a myriad improvements all over town, so |
| whereas in San Francisco people actually work for | | | | as to make Vancouver ready when the olympic torch |
| eight hours a day (or so they say), here we do | | | | enters BC Stadium on February 12, 2010. All in all, if one |
| absolutely nothing day and night - except pretending to | | | | takes into account increased security, installation of all |
| go to work. | | | | sort of paraphernalia and electronic gizmos to make |
| Like San Francisco, Vancouver is crowded with | | | | us all feel more secure, and any and all other ancillary |
| Chinese people (which include Hong Kong, Macau, | | | | costs, the provincial and federal government will be |
| Taiwan in addition, of course, to Mainland China), | | | | handling a budget close to CAD $2 billions. |
| except that ours are the wealthy Chinese - at least | | | | All of which, then, translates into the creation of |
| judging from the fact that they have snapped up all | | | | 228,000 jobs in British Columbia over the next four |
| the real estate they could possibly buy, and then | | | | years, directly or indirectly generated by the resulting |
| gotten into high-rises development and given the | | | | estimated CAD $12-billion volley of economic activity. |
| Vancouver skyline a much needed facelift. Which, by | | | | And all this frenzy is expected to promote an influx of |
| the way, brings up to mind the fact that when I bought | | | | approximately 100,000 people per year into the |
| my one bedroom plus den apartment here in | | | | Metropolitan Vancouver area so that its population will |
| Downtown - one of the five properties I own - where I | | | | reach 2.2 million by 2010 - and that does not even take |
| am writing this Article right now, on the twenty-fourth | | | | into account tourists and visitors which will be flocking |
| floor of an ultra-modern skyscraper with all the facilities | | | | in from the four corners of the world, but mostly from |
| and amenities one could possibly imagine and a | | | | Ol' Uncle Sam's country of residency. Which, besides |
| fabulous view, I paid CAD $155,000 for it in 2001 (about | | | | creating a gargantuan traffic jam, will push prices of |
| USD $124,000 back then), and now a good friend of | | | | condos in Downtown from the present CAD $500 per |
| mine has just sold her own apartment, which is pretty | | | | square foot to about $1,000 per square foot, thus |
| much like mine but on the twelfth floor of the same | | | | catapulting Vancouver, BC from the present fifteenth |
| building for CAD $305,000 (I brought her an offer of | | | | most expensive place in the world to live in, to the |
| CAD $295,000 and she did not even counter ...). | | | | seventh. And, considering that in Downtown we have |
| All of which brings me to the substance of this Article: | | | | just run out of space entirely ... I believe it! |
| what distinguishes Vancouver from the rest of North | | | | So, if you are one of those investors who likes to |
| America is not the fact that property values have | | | | purchase real estate away from home, before you |
| appreciated so much. In the past five years, real | | | | consider Timbuktu as your next investment destination |
| estate went through the roof just about anywhere. | | | | you may be better off to take a closer look at what's |
| What does distinguish the Vancouver real estate | | | | happening right here, in Vancouver B.C. And since I so |
| market from all others is that in the wake of the 2010 | | | | happen to be involved, by grace of God, into real |
| Winter Olympics property values are forecasted to | | | | estate sales (boy, isn't this your lucky day ...) and know |
| almost double within the next four years. And this is at | | | | this market like the back of my hand, if there are any |
| a time when interest rates are on the rise and when | | | | questions, clarifications or merely additional info |
| north-american markets are poised to expand at an | | | | requested or required, just go to my blog - the Real |
| average rate of five to ten percent a year, depending | | | | Estate Chronicle - and send me an e-mail, which I will |
| on where you are. | | | | be more than thrilled to answer. |
| To say that the economy of British Columbia is | | | | |