The empty condo theory

A few reporters around town have been anticipating the release of this wee study from researcher Andrew Yan examining the city's "empty condo" theory.

Yan finds the idea of a plethora of foreign-owned vacant investor suites downtown is largely a myth. I suppose the investors' tax on empty condos won't be reappearing as a local policy proposal anytime soon.

What is a concern, he theorizes, is a lack of family housing in these new developments.

Here's the full study from the BTAworks website.

Downtown ‘Empty Condo’ phenomenon largely a myth, study finds
Majority of condos, non-owner occupied, but rented.

Vancouver, British Columbia - The popular belief that there are large numbers of empty downtown condos with offshore owners is largely disproved by a new study released by BTAworks. The study, undertaken to examine condo ownership in Downtown Vancouver also confirmed that the majority of the area’s condos are not-owner occupied.

BTAworks, a new research and development consulting division of Bing Thom Architects, examined data from the City of Vancouver, BC Assessment, BC Hydro, and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation for 2,400 condos in Downtown Vancouver – almost 10 percent of all the condos in the area.

“Working with BC Hydro data, we were able to determine that only 5.5 to 8 percent of study condos were unoccupied.” states Andrew Yan, a BTAworks researcher and Urban Planner who led the study. “While the number of empty condos in Downtown Vancouver is low, condos in our study were typically non-owner occupied, but rented out by their owners”.

In addition to an estimate on empty condos, the study found that:

• Condo ownership is a relatively new form of housing for Vancouver. Over 88 percent of condo units in Downtown Vancouver have been built since 1990.
• Less than 40 percent of downtown condos have more than one bedroom.
• The majority of condos are not occupied by the property owner.
• The majority of non-owner occupied condos are owned by BC residents, with a scattering of foreign owners, predominately from the western US states such as California, Washington, and Arizona.
• Owner-occupied units are typically worth $30,000 to $40,000 more than non-owner occupied units, and the more bedrooms the unit has, the more likely it is to be owner occupied.
• A family with one child in the City of Vancouver earning the median income of $75,000 a year would have great difficulty in finding and paying for a condo bigger than one bedroom, even if condo prices were to fall 25 percent below 2008 assessment levels.

The study findings outline some of the elements behind Downtown Vancouver’s remarkable housing boom and suggests that the majority of growth in Downtown condos has been dominated by investors and those looking for a second home, rather than homeowners. These trends signal emerging housing and planning challenges in providing suitable and affordable housing for working and middle-income households, especially those with children.

“If Vancouverism 1.0 is embodied by tall skinny towers and one bedroom, investor-driven condominium projects for Downtown Vancouver, then Vancouverism 2.0 needs to redress this imbalance by providing more affordable family-oriented housing units with great supporting amenities,” concludes Yan. “Without this, the sustainable communities with opportunities to live, work and prosper that the City aspires to are likely unachievable.”

“We’re proud to fund this study and inform the ongoing and important housing and planning dialogues occurring in the City” said Bing Thom, principal of Bing Thom Architects. “Vancouver is often viewed as a global example of downtown residential development and we must work to ensure that what we are modeling for the world has substance with a commitment to affordable and suitable urban housing for families with children to stay and grow with our city.”

- 30 -

Estelle who?

City of Vancouver News Release
March 11, 2009

City appoints new Chief Financial Officer

Following a national search, the City of Vancouver announces today the appointment of Ms. Patrice Impey as the Chief Financial Officer and General Manager of Financial Services for the City of Vancouver.

Ms. Impey brings over 15 years of senior experience in finance and administration roles. Most recently, she was the Vice President of Finance Americas for the international software firm Business Objects, a company with revenues of over $1.5 billion. Other experience includes CFO of Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Ltd. in Toronto, and senior financial roles with Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, California.

The search committee was chaired by the City Manager and included the City’s General Manager of Human Resources. The selection process included input from members of City Council, the City’s Corporate Management Team, and senior staff within Financial Services.

“We’re delighted to have Patrice join the team. Her skills and experience will be a tremendous asset to the City as we manage our economic challenges and explore new opportunities,” states City Manager Penny Ballem.

The appointment is effective April 16, 2009.

Ambassad'oh

The City of Vancouver is making moves to cut off funding to a controversial private security program.

That means plans to expand 'Ambassadors' security patrols with public money in business areas outside the downtown are on the chopping block.

And a deal to help fund patrols in the downtown core could be severed by next year.

"I don't believe it's the best way to be spending public money," said Coun. Raymond Louie.

Click to read more ...

Ranking system for property developers?

I wonder how this would go over here in Vancouver. From The National, Abu Dhabi's rather promising new daily:

"Property developers in Dubai will be ranked by financial stability and market experience under a system to be introduced by the Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) this year. It will be followed by a regulation requiring developers registering off-plan projects [or projects sold prior to construction] to fully own the land first."

It seems the "global financial crisis" has hit Dubai's once "explosive" property sector, with 25 developers having cancelled planned projects.

"Investor confidence in off-plan projects has been harmed by several cases of developers failing to go ahead with projects or not to delivering on promises," the reporter writes.

"The previous mechanism of just selling and injecting money from sales back into new projects isn’t there any more," the story quotes the head of the real estate regulatory authority, Marwan bin Ghalita, as saying.

Hmmm... selling and injecting money from sales back into new projects. That doesn't ring a bell does it?

Here's the whole story.

Study claims benefits to prescribing heroin to addicts

VANCOUVER, BC | EVERY MORNING FOR A YEAR, Rob Vincent walked into a clinic on the edge of Vancouver's roughest neighborhood, rolled up his sleeves and injected pharmaceutical heroin.

Each time, Mr. Vincent played the role of guinea pig in a controversial, three-year, government-funded experiment that supporters hope will change the face of addiction treatment in this picturesque but drug-riddled western port city.

The findings of the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, or NAOMI, were released here on Oct. 17 and the results, researchers say, are "remarkable."

"Heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) is very safe when done properly," Dr. Martin Schechter, NAOMI's principal investigator, said at a news conference held to announce the findings. "Our results show it to be very effective."

The study is the latest effort made by a city with a history of employing often counterintuitive methods of tackling its drug problem. But while advocates tout the study's results, critics say the efforts amount to nothing more than a band-aid solution and a dangerous step toward legalizing drugs.

Fluctuating levels of local and federal support could either undergird or derail the effort here, and, with heroin demand increasing worldwide, it's a debate other nations are monitoring.

Click to read more ...