About North Okanagan, BC

ASHPA NAIRA GALLERY & HEADBONES GALLERY

August 6 - 21, 2009

Opening Reception: 7-9 PM, Thursday, August 6

Ashpa Naira Gallery is hosting an exhibition of works from Headbones Gallery, Toronto. Featuring new work by Julie Oakes, paintings by Robert Farmer, recent collages by Scott P. Ellis & prison drawings by Charles Bronson.

Julie Oakes - Back in the Okanagan for the summer, Oakes has brought four of her recent gouache paintings and new bronze sculpture with her to Ashpa Naira Gallery. Oakes will be creating work in the Fintry studio for Genesis; her next solo exhibition in Toronto at Lonsdale Gallery, October 1-31, 2009.

Bronson, The Prison Drawings - Courtesy of the Princess, are a play by play visual documentation of a prison romance from 1997 - 2000 told in graphite, ink and coloured pencil. The drawings are brutally revealing. Bronson's hand is controlled but his subject matter is not. The Princessis his muse, foil and interlocutor.

In late 1995, The Princess, woman prisoner TG0786 and Ontario College of Art (OCA) graduate, found herself incarcerated in the United Kingdom. With an interest in art therapy, she began writing to Bronson after seeing one of his drawings in a British tabloid and a romantic correspondence of drawings both singular and collaborative, was begun. Eventually, the happy couple pledged to be married, never having personally met, and the British tabloids went wild with their sensational story of love and commitment.

With a curiously sweet candour, brushed with naughtiness, Bronson tells his story, confined by the size of the paper and materials made available to him. With no emotional holds barred, Bronson tells it as he sees it from within prisons of cement blocks, spied upon by surveillance cameras and tortured by his very active imagination. This sociological, psychological and diaristic presentation of the life of an inmate is an exhibition that encourages study and contemplation, yet also rewards both the curious and the art lover.

ASHPA NAIRA GALLERY
9492 Houghton Rd.

Vernon, BC V1H 2C9
Tel: 250-549-4249
E: ashpanaira@telus.net
W: www.ashpanairagallery.com

Gallery Hours:
Friday to Sunday / 10 am - 6 pm

Other times also by appointment.

I am sitting in at an open house for The Oaks Townhomes today on Okanagan Avenue - and thinking about the local real estate market - so I thought I would run a preliminary report on the Single Family Dwelling criteria that the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board used to generate its statistics from.

And - well- it only makes sense to share the data so that you have the information! So - here you go:

From July 1 - July 26 2009 in the North Okanagan 81 homes have sold.

The neighbourhoods with the most sales were Armstrong, Coldstream and East Hill. For those that follow the statistics there will be no suprise there as these are the trinity of Vernon BC real estate.

The Median list price of homes sold so far in the North Okanagan this July sits at $369,000 with the median sale price sitting at $350,000 and the average days to sell at 99.

Poperties sold have ranged from $184,250 for a mobile home on .23 of an acre to a 1.89 acre estate on Okanagan Lake selling at $3,200,000

Meanwhile 145 single family homes were listed during this time, and the current inventory level sits at 753. So it looks like another fairly consistent month in North Okanagan Real Estate market activity. Inventory has been hovering at this level for a while now - and the number of places selling is about double was just a few months ago.

In 2008 our market peaked in August - so if the current trend continues - we will start to see the gap between 2008 levels and 2009 levels shrink and prices slowly creep back upwards. The Bank of Canada says the recession is over - and that we are now in the rebuilding stage... but of course - no one is saying how long that stage will take!

With warmest regards.

See you online,

Brell ~ Brenda Ellis REALTORwith Okanagan Heat @ Century 21 Executives Realty Ltd

Canadian Lakeview Estates, Vernon BC - Announcing a price reduction on 000 Peregrine Way, a single story. Now MLS® $890,000 and priced below assessed value- Lakeview Acreage & Access.

Looking for premium Okanagan living? Imagine your home, nestled in the natural park-like setting of Vernon BC's Canadain Lakeview Estates. Minutes from the airport and world recognized golf and ski destinations is a rare Vernon BC real estate opportunity 10 acres of natural Okanagan beauty.

Canadian Lakeview affords a panoramic view and easy accessibility to the surrounding Okanagan hills with Lakeshore only a stones throw away and in fact the beach in included for your use here. The ease of waterfront access at the community boat launch makes lake activity a must. If the expansive 80 mile Okanagan Lake is not enough, there are six other popular lakes and beaches within a short drive.

Vernon BC features many top rated golf courses within close proximity and boasts the professionally recognized Predator Ridge Golf Course just minutes away. Although spring, summer, and fall are traditionally active seasons, winter in Vernon BC is not to be left out. Skiing is second to none in the Okanagan with both Silver Star and Big White Mountains only a few turns and a climb away. The Okanagan has whatever your outdoor heart desires.

Located within the Okanagan wine belt residents can enjoy the sprawling country landscape of expansive vineyards, and experience the many popular wineries. Cultural experiences are plentiful in the Okanagan Valley with annual spring and harvest wine festivals, cultural events, the Okanagan regatta, live concerts, theatre and fine dining.

Property information

With the year half over, and the worth of homes as most peoples major financial asset we are working on a series of reports that deal with the Vernon BC Real Estate market - on a neighbourhood by neighbourhood basis.

This is our first post in this series.

Between January 1st and June 30, 2009 there were 60 real estate transactions in Vernon BC's East Hill Neighbourhood - and the breakdown looks like this:

Lots / Acreages= 1 sale

Single Family Homes = 53 sales

Strata Homes= 6

The building lot was listed at a price of $139,000 and sold for $137,000 in 77 days.

The houses that sold were listed at prices from $219,900 to $539,000 and achieved sale prices of $205,000 to $530,000 making the median list price $349,000 and the median or middle of the sale prices $330,000. The average list was $355,805 with the average sale price $342.004. These properties sold in a range of between 8 and 279 days with 85 days being the average time on the market for properties that sold. Twenty nine of the properties that sold had price reductions from the price they originally listed at, with these amounts varying from a low of $4000 to a high of $60,900 with the average reduction being in the area of $14,000

One home sold for 100% of the asking price and in 8 days. The other end of the spectrum saw the seller achieve 85.56% of the listed price at the time of the sale - after a $48,000 reduction or approximately 77% of what they had originally hoped - having listed just at the peak of the market. On average East Hill sellers attained 96.13% of the listed price at sale time when their properties sold. This is a reduction from the years prior.

Looking at pricing from a per square foot perspective, East Hill real estate in Vernon BC was valued from $126.72 to $282.03 per square foot - with the average being $185.00 Slightly more than half the homes sold had 4 or more bedrooms and the home sold in East Hill in the first half of 2009 ranged from 912 square feet to 3805 square feet. All but 7 homes had more than one bathroom.

Homes that sold ranged build date from 1907 to 1998. The average year built calculates at 1929. When we look at where the most amount of sales happened homes were built the 1970's top the list with 20 units of the 53 in total.

To look at how this compares to previous years and get an idea of what is currently listed in the East Hill neighbourhood Click Here.

With warmest regards.

See you online,

Brell ~ Brenda Ellis REALTORwith Okanagan Heat @ Century 21 Executives Realty Ltd

Join us at the Rarearth Jazz and Blues Fest this Summer

     Home buyers need sound advice from an inspection service before their deal goes unconditional.  If unexpected conditions are found during the inspection, proper guidance will help the buyer determine how to proceed with the deal.

     In British Columbia, effective April 1, 2009, all property inspectors must be licensed with the provincial government. This requirement will help ensure the independent inspection services are properly trained to serve the public. The three bodies approved for licensing are: the BC Institute for Property Inspectors (CPI's), The Canadian Association of House and Property Inspectors (RHI's), and the National Certification Program.

Choosing the right inspector for your needs in many ways comes down to recommendations received from trusted friends. Additionally, you should know how to qualify the inspector's quality of training and his work experience. Once these are established you should determine the methods used for the inspection, the timliness for the delivery of the report, and the costs are in line with the quality of the work product received.

     There are a number of useful websites which help expand on these consideration noted below. Regardless of the age of a property, property inspections are crucial for the buyer's protection. Doesn't it make sense to spend $400-600, to determine if your purchase might have tens of thousand of dollars more to be spent after your purchase? It can be considered cheap insurance to avoid costly future financial surprises.

     At VancouverPropertyFinder.com, the best properties are at your fingertips. You can browse property listings, do a Google hybrid map search, or perform a customized search to find properties for sale that best meet your needs.           

     And please remember, Vancouver is host to 2010 Winter Olympics . We encourage the world to enjoy our wonderful city.