Vancouver Home Prices - Nanaimo has some catching up to do.

The chart below indicates that Vacouver's average home price has risen by over 25% since 2008.  Nanaimo's has fallen by 3%.   Why?

There are no doubt many reasons contributing to this.  One, in my opinion, relates to new zoning bylaws enacted in Vancouver and many other communities including Nanaimo.  These zoning bylaws are the rules by which we build houses.  The trend has been to allow higher density, more function in the same space.  Does this mean more "value".  What is Vancouver's market saying?

Vancouver's newer zoning rules have been in effect a few years longer than Nanaimo's new Zoning Bylaw which only came into effect in August 2011.   Vancouver also has a much larger volume of new building permits.  New rules take a while to catch on and for value to be recognized by the market and the development/building community.   Vancouver has had many more trys at building things that people want.

The run up in Vancouvers prices in 2010/11 may, in part be a reaction to Vancouver's zoning  initiatives with higher density/higher value lane way housing (2 houses on one lot, 3 kitchens total)  

Prices rose, peaked and have declined slightly in last 2 years.

I can see a similar, yet delayed, response here in Nanaimo to the similar market forces.  There has been only a handful of projects with the smaller lots, increased heights & laneway housing that our new rules allow.  

Our market is simply smaller, much less volume.  It takes longer to process new information, reaction is slower.

I know I am older & slower to react but eventually I do catch up to the pack.  

Nanaimo's market line on the graph above is the red one.  It has turned up over the last 4 months.  Is that a trend?  Will it continue to increase like Vancouver's 2010/2011 period?

Is it a good time to buy something?

Save the Colliery Lakes

I went to the dam picnic today.  Saying "dam" to tune people in to what I am talking about has to be the most efficient and fun thing about this issue.  There really isn't much else about it that I think is particularly funny, efficient or interesting - dam dam dam. :)

I had a good hot dog, one of those big ones like at Costco & cake-lovely chocolate cake with the white icing, not too sweet.  After hiking up Mt Benson with nothing but half a chocolate bar for lunch I was prepared to buy & wear any t-shirt and sign any petition to get into this picnic.  No such opportunity or requirement - just enjoy the moment, welcome to Colliery

It was nice.  a nice gathering of nice people with dogs, kids and food - i missed the corn, it looked real good.

I met Jeff Soloman, he & I had talked on the phone recently about another issue but we had never met - nice guy.  Dale who I took to be another main man, same thing- nice people.  Where was all the raucus, Klu Klux Klan stuff I had heard about - not a sign, no signs in fact - how can you have a protest with no signs.

Ok, so it would appear to me that all the disruptive, bad manners that I've heard about with respect to this issue seems to have been contained within the Nanaimo City Council Chambers - hmmm, more on that point later, for now this group works for me - I am a sissy.

SO  the best part...   Ron Bolin was having a chat on a bench under a shady tree when I finished desert and wandered over,  Gord Fuller and his two dogs (one was a loaner) stopped by also.  I'm fishing for input on what the fuss is all about asking if its about saving the "park" or saving the "dam" I am trying to buy a T-shirt with something like that on it.  Ron drops the perfect line - "the t-shirts should say "save the Colliery Lakes".

"Save the Colliery Lakes",  Save the "Lakes"  the "lakes" is what this is all about,  the damn lakes (excuse me that was a real one )

Ok, lets look at what we are actually doing.  We are sitting on the dam. We gazing out at the lake, we are watching swimmers/boaters in the lake.  We are enjoying the breeze off the lake.  Who cares about the dam dam, its the dam lake that counts.

Has anyone considered Ron's idea of saving the "lakes", just the dam "lakes".  

Would it make everyone happy if we could keep the Colliery lakes?  

Would it be ok to stop swearing so much?  Could we just take the dam out of the conversation?