CENTURY 21 Classic Realty Ltd. - Blog

Halifax Needs Karaoke Machines

inesa.manaj@century21.ca — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Conference Board of Canada predicts there will be another 14,000 jobs in Halifax over the next four years; and that was before they heard the Shipbuilding news! With $25 billion dollars being invested in creating a Shipbuilding Centre of Excellence, Halifax is poised to be a hotbed of economic activity. New jobs on the horizon, new prospects for growth, and a community that’s rallying around the growing abundance of economic opportunities will all help Halifax grow as a city and as a economic hub for Atlantic Canada.

Over the next four years, Halifax is expecting 15,000 new residents. Halifax is a growing city and a great place to live - FDI Magazine’s 2010/11 rankings placed Halifax 1^st for quality of life and 2^nd for Large Cities of the Future across North America. With job opportunities, an excellent quality of life, and affordable prices, more people are seeing the value of living in Halifax.

Want to know more? Here are 21 other interesting Halifacts:

Halifax represents 45% of Nova Scotia’s population and 17% of the people in Atlantic Canada.
Halifax’s population has grown by 5% in the past four years, representing over 18,500 new residents in the city.
Halifax is the economic heart of Atlantic Canada, generating 19% of the region’s economic output.
Halifax continued to grow through the recession with positive GDP and employment growth in every year of the financial crisis and recovery period.
In addition to the 30,000 university students already here, there are an additional 4,000 students attending Halifax’s threeNova Scotia Community College campuses.
Halifax is an attractive city for students; we have roughly 81 post secondary students per 1,000 people, 3X the national average.
There are more than 4,000 international students attending university in Halifax. And, they add an estimated $231 million dollars to the provincial economy.
Halifax has one of the largest concentrations of health care facilities and specialists in Canada, including the Dalhousie University Medical School. The school is ranked #1 outside of the US and #4 in the world as the best universities for postdoctoral fellows.
Halifax supports more than $31 billion in major projects and developments, most notably the Halifax Shipyard’s $25 billion contract to build a fleet of combat vessels for the Canadian Navy over the next 30 years.
KPMG’s Competitive Alternatives ranks Halifax 5^th out of 77 international cities in terms of the cost of doing business and 3^rd within the North American cities. They also say Halifax has one of the most competitive office rental markets in the country.
The Class A rental rate in Halifax is $17.17 per square foot, 15% lower than the national average.
The Halifax Regional Municipality is committed to sustainable development and earned Milestone 5 recognition from thePartners for Climate Protection Program for planning, measuring, and implementing a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Downtown Halifax has an extremely stable power supply with a System Average Interruption Index of 0.98; the downtown core is, on average, without service for one hour ever year.
Halifax’s Ocean sector has a strong research & development presence with more than 600 researchers at the Bedford Institute for Oceanography, 120 at the NRC Institute for Marine Biosciences, an advanced tech centre in Dalhousie’s Aquatron Labs, and one of the highest concentrations of Marine Science PhDs in the world.
Halifax has the largest share of Department of National Defence assets in Canada and employs 10,800 personnel in the city. It is the home of 7 Halifax-class frigates, 2 Iroquois destroyers, 6 Kingston coastal vessels, 3 Victoria submarines, and the HMSC Preserver.
Halifax has the second largest concentration of financial service companies in Canada and is the regional headquarter location for all 5 of Canada’s largest banks.
From Halifax, 43% of North America’s buying power can be reached by rail within four days.
The Halifax Gateway Initiative, an alignment of transportation and logistics enterprises, directly employs 11,500 workers and generates an economic impact of $3.7 billion, annually.
Halifax’ strategic location makes it the first port of call for westbound European ships and the last port of call for eastbound North American ships. This is why the Port of Halifax is home to 2 post-Panamax container terminals and more than a million square feet of transload, distribution, and warehousing space.
The Halifax International Airport Authority handled over 3.5 million passengers last year, thus contributing over $1.2 billion to the provincial economy. The airport has been ranked 1^st in its class for seven consecutive years by Airport Service Quality’s performance report.

Source: www.greaterhalifax.com

Is there a Housing Bubble in Canada…..will it burst in 2012…………?

bonnie.maclean@century21.ca — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The collapse of the US Housing Market has found Canadians, over the last few years, fearful of what has been brandished as a "housing bubble" and many are sitting and waiting for the bubble to burst in our homeland just as it did in the US. Well wait no longer as it is predicted with much certainty that the bubble will not burst but simply float a little closer to earth in 2012. (Globe & Mail)

"The Economist" has stated that our Canadian homes are overvalued by as much as 25% or more. This, I would guess, is for the most part, the blame of a very good run of a sellers market in Canada throughout the late 90's and into the 2000's. It is predicted that the bubble will now likely plateau in 2012.

New housing starts will be priced more reasonably and resale homes will bot come to market with drastic increases in value. A balanced market will not have the highs and lows, meaning no bidding wars which would drive up and stimulate a seller's market. Overvalued homes will simply sit on the market until their prices drop and become more competitive. Buyers will be willing to wait out sellers or simply move over to realistically priced homes offering a better investment.

With interest rates remaining stable this might be a great year for the first time home buyers to stop renting and get out there looking for their first Real Estate Investment! The economic future of Nova Scotia looks rosy indeed in 2012 ......with the start of the Ship Building contract, investing in our land will definitely pay off !!

Should you wish to discuss this article or any of your Real Estate needs please call, I am here to help!

Bonnie MacLean.... 444-1144.... myagent@eastlink.ca

GOOD NEWS ON THE CONDOMINIUM FRONT

mike.murphy@century21.ca — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

New rules effective Sept. 1, will offer better protection for Nova Scotians who own, or are thinking of buying a condominium.

"A growing number of Nova Scotians, everyone from first-time homebuyers to seniors, are choosing condominiums. These amendments will make sure those people are well-protected when they buy their home," said Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations Minister John MacDonell.

Starting Thursday, there will be limits on how much rent a builder can charge condo buyers who choose to move into their units before the condominium corporation is registered. Buyers can not own the condominium before it is registered.

For the first six months, builders will only be able to charge 0.75 per cent of the net purchase price per month; that amount will go down to 0.5 per cent after six months, and to 0.25 per cent after a year. This protects condominium buyers from having to rent a unit they planned to buy for long periods of time.

There will also be Condominium Dispute Officers available through Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations to help owners and condominium corporations solve their disputes quickly and effectively.

Other amendments to the Condominium Act include:

– more ways for condominium corporations to deal with problem tenants in their buildings
– better information for those buying new condominiums about the amenities, such as gyms or pools, to be available, and the date they will be complete
– a requirement that buyers get a copy of a new condominium corporation’s proposed budget, so they know what kind of fees they’ll be paying for the first year
– a requirement for anyone converting a building into condominiums to do a reserve fund study to ensure buyers know what kinds of maintenance the building may require and how it will be paid for.

For more information, visit www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/access/individuals/consumer-awareness/condominiums.asp.

There are about 12,000 condominium units in Nova Scotia.

This article is courtesy of the Government of Nova Scotia.

What type of Market are we in?

bonnie.maclean@century21.ca — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

What type of Market are we in??

I am asked this question every day by people when I introduce myself as a Real Estate Agent. A very fair question as depending on what your Real Estate goal is at present the market will denote how you should proceed and what to expect as you search for a property and negotiate a sale. When you think about it there really is no “bad” market, only opportunity waiting for those who are poised and ready to trade in Real Estate. Timing is everything and in a “buyers market” when inventory of homes for sale is high as compared to the relatively low number of buyers you can often negotiate thousands of dollars more off of homes than in the competitive “sellers market” when there are few listings and lots of buyers bidding for the same few homes.

So what type of market are we in now you may ask? Well in HRM in August 2011 we are firmly entrenched in a buyers market …….. The buyers are golden in this market and if you are a first time homebuyer or investor this is the very best time to think about purchasing.

What does this mean to sellers in a buyers market? Well this means that it has never been more important to have your home stand out most favourably amongst the competition in your area. If you are lucky enough to attract the eye of one of the few buyers in this market you want to put your very best impression forward as you may not get a second chance to impress. Click “here” to access a great article that gives you six of the best common-sense tips to sell your home faster, this is sure to help in the present market.

Should you wish to discuss this article in more detail please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions I am here to help!

Bonnie MacLean phone: 902.444.1144 fax: 902.444.3989 email: myagent@eastlink.ca