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Sutton Group Medallion Realty 7832 - 120 St., Surrey, BC V3W 3N2 Ph: 604.572.1211 Fax: 604.572.3216
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Commercial Medallion Club Memeber
Fax: 604-535-3017 Email: ken.dhillon@rbc.com
Vol. 5 No. 38 - Saturday - April 25, 2015
Tel: 604-591-5423
- E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com
Professional and Award Winning Service
Canadian house prices 35% overvalued: report
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n a survey of housing costs around the highlighted are Australia, France, Britain world, the Economist magazine says and Sweden. The Economist puts the blame Canada’s housing prices are 35 per on “ultra-loose� monetary policy. Mortgage cent overvalued when compared to Cana- rates are at historic lows around the world. dian incomes. Against the level of Canadian Cheap borrowing has encouraged consumrents, housing prices ers to jump in and buy, British Columbia Vancouver come in 89 per cent Greater Vancouver’s average home driving demand and overvalued, accordprice has increased by 7.2 per cent from pushing prices higher. ing to the Economist March 2014. What $440K gets you: A The result is a bubble, as housing index. 925-square-foot condo with two bed- housing prices rapidly Face it, Canada’s rooms and two bathrooms. Victoria The outpace both consumer housing market city’s average price has increased 2.7 per incomes and rental costs. could fall like oil In cent since March 2014. What $440K gets In Canada, housing priccalling Canadian you: A 1,477-square-foot townhouse with es have risen steeply in house prices out of three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a the past decade, with the kilter, the Economist hot markets of Toronto two-car garage joins voices such as and Vancouver seeing Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz, rat- increases of 7.8 per cent and 7.1 per cent reings agency Fitch and even the International spectively in the past year. Monetary Fund, in pointing out that the rise Average Canadian of house values is out of sync with Canadian home price is $440K incomes. Of the 26 markets surveyed, the magazine found seven where housing prices what will that buy? are more than 25 per cent overvalued. BelThere’s a big difference in what gium leads the pack, with house prices 50 per the average home price can cent overvalued relative to income. But also buy across Canada
The average price of a home in Canada is up 9.4 per cent from March 2014
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he real estate market continues to be hot, with the average price for a home in Canada reaching a record high in March. But what does that mean for home buyers across the country? According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the national average price for homes sold in March was $439,144. The average is up 9.4 per cent from March 2014, although six provinces saw price decreases. CREA says that national sales activity data is skewed by Canada’s most active markets, Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto. (Excluding these two areas, the average price would be $332,711.) While higher house prices speak to the health of the Canadian market on the whole, there is still a big difference in what $439,000 can get you in different cities – from a 900-square-foot condo in Toronto to a 2,500-square-foot EFUBDIFE IPNF JO )BMJGBY t "Werage Canadian house price climbs 9% t)PVTJOH NBSLFU TPęFOJOH FWFSZXIFSF CVU
Toronto and Vancouver, BMO saysHere’s a snapshot of what you can buy for the current national average based on houses found on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Alberta Calgary Since March 2014, the city’s average home price has increased 4.1 per cent. What $440K gets you: A 1,321-square-foot condo with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Edmonton The city’s average home price is up 1.5 per cent from March 2014. What $440K gets you: A 1,622-square-foot detached home with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and an attached garage.
REAL ESTATE / FINANCE
2 L Saturday - April 25, 2015
Housing market softening everywhere but Toronto and Vancouver, BMO says
Toronto detached housing prices soar well past $1 million in seller’s market
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t’s not even close anymore, Canada’s largest housing market is clearly in sellers’ territory, the Toronto Real Estate Board said Tuesday. The Greater Toronto Area had 8,940 sales in March, an 11% increase from a year ago. The average sale price of all housing types across the GTA reached $613,933 while the average price of detached homes in the city of Toronto rose 15.9% from a year ago to $1,042,405. “It is clear that sellers’ market conditions in many parts of the GTA are driving price growth. However, looking at the detached market segment in the City of Toronto in particular, growth in the average selling price outstripped growth in the [board’s index],� said Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis, in a statement. “This points to the fact that the mix of detached homes sold UIJT ZFBS DPNQBSFE UP MBTU IBT TIJęFE towards more expensive properties.� Even the sale of homes worth more than $2 million is on the upswing in Toronto. Re/Max Realtron says sales in that category climbed 45% in the first quarter compared to a year earlier. “The value proposition of the Greater Toronto Area remains remarkably attractive, drawing affluent purchasers from both here and abroad,� said Barry Cohen, who specializes in high end properties for Re/Max. “The timing has also added to the mix, given that quality inventory in the city’s robust housing market is seriously depleted. Combine those factors with low interest rates, solid stock market performance, and a strong American greenback, and the likelihood the surge in the upper end will continue is relatively high.� The strength in Toronto’s housing comes as most of the country is seeing a pullback in sales and prices with the exception of Vancouver, the country’s most expensive market. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported a 53.7% jump in sales in March, which were 26.7% above the 10-year average for the month. The average detached home in the Vancouver area sold for $1,406,426 in March. As the two cities continue to show strength, the sales volume is likely to put more pressure on the average national price. This month Canada Mort-
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IF NVDI CBMMZIPPFE iTPę MBOEJOHw JO SFBM FTUBUF new data out of Calgary on Thursday shows that city’s may already be underway, Bank of Montreal average house price has now declined for two months says, as booming price gains in two of Canada’s three in a row as the impact of cheap oil filters through the biggest housing markets are the exception rather than broader economy. the rule in the rest of the country. A tale of two cities While the closely watched national average price figEven in Toronto and Vancouver, the price picture ure released on the 15th of every month by the Cana- isn’t rosy across the board. dian Real Estate Association is still showing strong anWhile the much-revered single family home connual gains, “strong gains have been entirely a Toronto tinues to inflate further and further out of reach for and Vancouver story,� BMO economist Robert Kavcic many (the average single-family home price is up 25 says in a research note Thursday. per cent in Toronto since 2012, condo sales make up The latest CREA numbers, released last month, an increasing percentage of the total housing stock, show the national average ticked up another six per and prices aren’t rising by as much as many seem to cent in March to $431,812. think. A construction boom has But there’s much more weak- “Suffice it to say that strong flooded the market with new ness than that headline figure Canadian home price gains stock, and that has kept a lid on would suggest. price increases. are now almost purely a In three-quarters of the 26 There were 57,000 condo biggest metropolitan areas in two-city phenomenon, and units under construction in ToCanada, average gains top out the so-called soft landing ronto at the end of last year. That at about four per cent, and are (harder in Alberta and contrasts with just 7,200 singleactually contracting in many family homes being built — the Saskatchewan) is well places. largest gap between those two “Suffice it to say that strong underway across most of types of housing since the 1960s, Canadian home price gains are the country� and a sign that the housing marnow almost purely a two-city ket really is different this time. phenomenon, and the so-called “Toronto is not building too TPę MBOEJOH IBSEFS JO "MCFSUB BOE 4BTLBUDIFXBO JT many homes, but rather the composition of the houswell underway across most of the country,� Kavcic says. ing stock is changing dramatically— buyers used to Montreal, Canada’s second-largest real estate mar- move out of the city for more affordable real estate, but ket, is one of the areas where the average house price they now have to effectively move ‘up’ the city,� Kavcic across all categories of housing is already in decline, notes. with the MLS HPI down 0.3 per cent in March, acWhile the fate of the condo market is an open quescording to CREA. tion, demand for single-family homes is forecast to Moncton, N.B., and Regina are also in negative ter- stay strong in part because of a demographic boom ritory. in Toronto of people aged 35-44, a cohort that Kavcic House prices across all types had been trending calls the prime “backyard-hunting years.� downward in Ottawa since the spring of 2014 before “Barring a major external shock, condo prices could an uptick last month. And average house prices in be in for a prolonged period of sluggish growth or Newfoundland declined by more than eight per cent stagnation, while detached home prices push higher in February compared to a year ago, CREA data shows. through the end of the decade until demographics beAlthough it’s still in the black on an annual basis, gin to weaken,� he said.
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BOLLYWOOD / FILM
Saturday - April 25, 2015 L 3
Katrina Kaif says she is excited to walk on red arpet
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ęFS TFWFSBM TIPPU EFMBZT BOE much visual effects (VFX) work, Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan will definitely release this year, with the film’s makers eyeing a November release. If it goes as planned, there will be two SRK films (with 3PIJU 4IFUUZ T %JMXBMF DPNJOH TPPO BęFS JO
Shah Rukh Khan’s two Films in one month the span of a month. “The Fan team initially thought of releasing the film in September on Bakri Eid. Then, there were talks of releasing the film around SRK’s birthday (November 2). Now, SRK, producer Aditya Chopra and director
Maneesh Sharma have tentatively decided on a November-end release date,” reveals the source. Moreover, with Khan having wrapped shooting for Fan, the VFX team is working hard to meet their deadlines, say production sources. “SRK will shoot for
Raees for a couple of months now and will start Rohit’s Dilwale from June. Rohit is known for his speed in executing projects, so Dilwale will definitely meet its December 25 release date. And if all goes as planned for Fan, there will be two SRK films on screens in one month,” our khabroo tells us.
4 L Saturday - April 25, 2015
Saturday - April 25, 2015 L 5
6 L Saturday - April 25, 2015
Recipe
FOOD
Vegetarian SAMOSA
Spinach dip
Vegetarian SAMOSA
turmeric, red chilli, green chillies, ginger, garlic,
masala, cashew nuts
Method eel and mash boiled Potatoes, Chop green chillies, garlic, ginger and the coriander
! "
and make a hard dough. Set aside for about 10 minutes, Divide the dough into round portions as per the size of the samosas required, Heat cooking oil, add cumin, when crackling add garlic and saute. Add the rest of the ingredients ex- till golden brown,
with green mint / 5 minutes. Mix in the rest of the ingredients, including the potatoes and mix well. Roll each portion of dough into a thin oval shape cut into 2 semi-circles. Take a semicircle. Apply water on the straight edge of the semi-circle. Hold the semi-circle in your hand, fold the straight edge, bringing together the watered edges, seal the watered edges into a triangular pocket. !
#
Deep fry in oil
P
Your f
avou
MORE THAN 40 VARIETIES OF DOSAS (VEG. NON VEG) We also make IDLI, VADA, CHICKEN 65, FISH PAKORA & LOTS OF SOUTH INDIAN SPECIALITIES
rite D
osa p
lace
CHEF SELVAM
Unit 110 - 8248 - Fraser Street, Vancouver, BC
Experienced chef in South Indian Cuisine
Ph: 604-312-9297
Saturday - April 25, 2015 L 7
What you smell.
What your guests smell.
Has your nose gone curryblind? Febreze eliminates the smells of kal ka khana and leaves a light,fresh smell.
Š 2015 P&G
8 L Saturday - April 25, 2015