Angela Reeves

The October sun shone brightly today at the Doggie Dash and Pet Expo at the Pitt Meadows Family Recreation Centre. This annual event in support of the Lower Mainland Network for Animals Society was attended by many varying breeds, large and small & consists of a 5km walk/run, followed up by a adult and human treats, doggie fashion show, trick contest, pet/owner lookalike contest. Entrants enjoyed fabulous prize bags, celebratory treats and doggie cupcakes, wonderful live music. All visitors enjoyed the many vendor & information booths, facepainting, balloons and treats. All in all, a great event, for a great cause!!

Scout was the star of the show - at least in my eyes (but chose not to race).

My Helpers did a great job manning the Royal LePage tent!

I'm encouraged as every few days a new article or report comes out and shyly suggests that the bottom of the market "might" be here, prices have "perhaps" started to rise...... however you slice it, it's better news than we've seen in quite some time.

Here's a news article from the Vancouver Sun on April 2nd reporting improvement in our local statistics:

Metro Vancouver real estate sales bounce back

Numbers down from one year ago, but a strong surge in the month of

March across Lower Mainland and the Island

BY FIONA ANDERSON, VANCOUVER SUN

APRIL 2, 2009 3:54 PM

Real estate sales have bounced back in March compared to February, up 53 per cent in Metro

Vancouver, 48 per cent in the Fraser Valley and 34 per cent on Vancouver Island.

Moreover, in some areas prices showed signs of recovery as well.

The numbers are still down significantly from last March but are still encouraging, said Paul Penner,

president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, where prices have eked up slightly.

"All the stats are encouraging," Penner said. "They are going in the right direction."

Fraser Valley realtors had more than 1,000 sales in March, the first time that level has been reached

since last July. But sales are still down 24 per cent from a year ago.

Benchmark prices are also down, just over 10 per cent from last March, though many areas saw small

price increases between March and February.

Overall, the average benchmark price was 1.3 per cent higher than in February, at $409,662, though

condominiums were down slightly and townhouses were flat.

Things are looking up, Penner said. "Traffic is way up, the amount of phone calls coming into the

offices has increased dramatically, the activity is definitely up," he said.

The benchmark price of a home in the Metro Vancouver region was down 14 per cent from the same month last year.

Photograph by:

CNS files, .

But Penner won't predict if the market has reached bottom.

"Hopefully this trend will continue and so far I haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe it

won't," he said.

Vancouver area sales jumped the most among the boards reporting numbers Thursday, yet volumes

were also down about 24 per cent from last March. And benchmark prices were down month over

month for detached homes and townhomes, though not for condominiums.

In March the benchmark price for a detached home in Greater Vancouver - which extends from

Squamish to South Delta and Pitt Meadows - was $649,342, down from $653,452 in February, and 15

per cent lower than it was in March 2008.

Townhouses were $420,563 in March, compared to $426,268 a month earlier, and 11 per cent cheaper

than in 2008.

Condominium prices went from $333,134 in February to $337,099 in March, which was 13.5 per cent

lower than a year earlier.

The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board - which covers Vancouver Island north of Victoria and

Saltspring Island - had 31 per cent more sales of single-family dwellings [the only stats that are

provided] in March than a year earlier, despite its 34-per-cent jump from February. Prices for the month

were up 3.45 per cent, though still six per cent lower than a year ago.

"I think consumer confidence is starting to return," said Ray Francis, president of the VIREB.

Prices have dropped and with low mortgage rates, people are willing to get into the market, Francis

added. "And we live in the most beautiful place in the world, or at least in Canada," he said.

fionaanderson@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

In this new era of caution in our consumerism, it is important to note that in a changing market, there isn't a real signal that the prices have hit their low point - it often only becomes apparent when prices begin to quickly rise - and at that point, the real opportunity is often lost.

Every day I'm out "preaching" the message of opportunity to people in my sphere of influence - THIS IS A FANTASTIC TIME TO BE A BUYER - BE IT FIRST TIME, MOVE UP OR INVESTOR!!!!!

Prices are low, interest rates are at historic lows, selection is still good. Buyers have time to shop, less pressure, more flexibility.

I hope the current trend of the media continues to report the golden opportunity that is here and now. People are generally uncertain about what is going to happen in the economy right now and the media has been fostering that fear through negative stereotyping in their reporting.

As the American economy and housing market begins to sort itself out, I can't help but be even more optomistic about our Canadian economic recovery.

I think the bell has tolled - did anybody else hear it?

In this so called "economic crunch" most people are feeling the need to tighten their pursestrings, here are a few simple and practical ideas we can all implement daily:

1. Find a credit card with a lower interest rate - air miles & such don't help you if you're having trouble meeting your bills - shop around.

2. Leave your credit cards at home. If you have to think and plan each purchase, you will spend less.

3. Do your grocery shopping at "discount" stores like the dreaded super store. Yes, it's going to be crowded and you can't buy a latte to enjoy whilst you shop, but you will save money.

4. Pack your own lunch.

5. Bring a coffee maker or kettle to work - with coffee being anywhere from $1.50 to $5.00+ a shot, the savings will add up.

6. Cancel your gym membership - go outside for a walk or run - do some situps & pushups while you save!

7. Find free or low cost entertainment that's fun for the whole family. Buy a boardgame at a thrift store like Life, Sorry or Monopoly for a couple of bucks, and you have many evenings of family fun.

8. Try your best to bank your child care money from the government if you get it. Saving is hard, but with compound interest, those cheques can really add up over the years.

9. Itemize your monthly expenses and allocate the money to marked envelopes. Once the $50 a month is gone for entertainment, it's gone.

10. Review your phone, cable and internet contracts - wherever possible bundle services - get rid of features you don't really need or don't use.

11. Instead of a vacation in the tropics - try a "staycation" a trip to a local sports venue, market, or attraction. You'll definitely be less depressed to return to work after a staycation - and no sunburn!!

An important new partnership with the Vancouver Police Department and Realty Watch was recently forged. The VPD is currently in the process of adding the Realty Watch fan-out to their official policy and procedures manual.

"This partnership is a significant boost to our Realty Watch efforts and one we hope is to use as an example as we continue to develop relationships with other police departments throughout the Lower Mainland", said Dave Wyatt - president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

Fan Outs - Police requested our assistance 3 times in January to help find missing people - a senior who had wandered from her care home, a patient who had left a hospital psychiatric ward and a senior reported missing from her home. All three were found safe.

In 2008, Realty Watch recieved 16 police requests to help find missing people, including one Amber Alert for an abducted child who was later found unharmed. Most people were successfully located, though five remain missing.

Fan Out Criteria - If there was a fan out for every missing person reported in the Board area, email boxes would overflow on a daily basis. Instead, police limi their fan-out requests to their most urgent cases - those that involve missing or abducted children, or missing seniors and vulnerable adults who have dissappeared in the previous 24 - 48 hours. On rare occasions the police will request a fan-out in life threatening situations that pose an immediate danger to the public.