I have newer laminate flooring in the living room that flows into a bright and open style kitchen. The updated kitchen features brand new flooring and countertops, a double sink, dishwasher, lots of cabinet space, and a newer fridge. Also located in the kitchen is a separate newer stacking washer/ dryer for your convenience (basement suite has their own laundry.)

Outside you’ll find a fully fenced yard in both the front and back. The garage is not available at this time.

My new furnace and hot water tanks will help keep the utility bills low. I am situated in a good location close to schools, Kingsway Garden Mall, NAIT, Royal Alex hospital, Yellowhead trail, Wayne Gretzky drive, and downtown. Close to major bus routes on 118 ave and 97 st.

Call Bob at 780-700-1874 for more details.

Available April 1, 2012. Pet friendly- smalls dogs and cats OK with approval. One month’s damage deposit required up front, and tenant pays 60% of split utilities.

 Vancouver’s median home price of $678,000 in the third quarter was 10.6 times its median pretax household income of $63,800, making the city “severely unaffordable,” Demographia said in a report today. A ratio of 3 or less is considered “affordable,” according to the public-policy firm’s survey of markets in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the U.K., the U.S., Canada and Hong Kong.

 Sydney’s ratio of median home price to income was 9.2, while Hong Kong’s was 12.6, a record for the eight-year-old survey, surpassing the previous high of 11.5 for Los Angeles in 2007. Home prices in Hong Kong, Vancouver and Sydney haven’t plunged as they have elsewhere, such as in Ireland, now the second most-affordable country, after the U.S., the study said.

 “Housing affordability generally improved in the surveyed nations, though the most unaffordable markets, Hong Kong and Vancouver, became even more unaffordable,” wrote Wendell Cox, principal of Belleville, Illinois-based Demographia, and Hugh Pavletich, managing director of Pavletich Properties Ltd., a commercial developer and investment company in Christchurch, New Zealand.

 Policies limiting lots available for construction drove up land prices, putting homes out of reach for middle-class buyers and younger workers in cities such as Vancouver and Sydney, the researchers said. The median price of a detached house in metropolitan Vancouver reached a record $900,000 in April 2011, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

 ‘Massively Deteriorating’

“The causes of massively deteriorating housing affordability are not a mystery,” Cox and Pavletich said. “They inevitably result from more restrictive land-use regulations adopted by governments with insufficient attention to economic fundamentals.”

 The study focuses on the home-affordability ratio, not absolute prices. It doesn’t take into account such influences as falling interest rates, an influx of foreign buyers or the attractions of climate and coastal location.

 “There’s no question if you want to live in Manhattan or in a nice, close-in suburb, it’s going to cost you more,” Cox said in a telephone interview. “Demand doesn’t drive up prices. Demand drives up prices if there are constraints in supply, and the cause here is regulation.”

 Bubble Bursting

Home prices in the eight capitals of Australia’s states and territories fell 3.7 per cent in 2011 through November and were on pace for the biggest annual decline in at least 12 years on concerns that Europe’s debt crisis may damp the nation’s economic growth, according to figures released Dec. 30 by RP Data, a real estate researcher.

 “The bubble is bursting in Australia,” said Pavletich, who operates PerformanceUrbanPlanning.org, a website on urban public-policy issues.

 In New Zealand, Christchurch is “severely unaffordable,” with a ratio of 6.3, according to the study. The city is rebuilding after a series of earthquakes that started in 2010.

 “There’s huge pressure on the government to open up land supply and get affordable new lots,” said Pavletich, who is an advocate for the effort.

 From the end of World War II through the late 1980s, homes in the countries surveyed generally cost two to three times median income, according to Demographia. Today, only the U.S. is affordable by the study’s measure, with Ireland and Canada “moderately unaffordable,” at 3.3 and 3.5 times median income, respectively.

 U.S. Cities

 San Jose, California, and San Francisco were the least affordable among U.S. housing markets with populations of at least 1 million, according to the survey. Detroit was the most affordable market in that group, with a median multiple of 1.4 times income, according to the study. Atlanta followed with 1.9, and Phoenix with 2.2.

 Honolulu, with a smaller population, was the least affordable U.S. city, with a median multiple of 8.7.

 Outside the U.S., Dublin, with a median multiple of 3.4, and Edmonton, Alberta, at 3.5, were the most affordable cities.

Source: The Vancouver Sun

I feature a good sized bedroom, an open style kitchen/ living area, and an efficient bathroom. Large windows provide lots of light throughout the suite. Laundry is shared with the other suites.

I am close to schools, Kingsway Garden Mall, NAIT, Royal Alex hospital, Yellowhead trail, Wayne Gretzky drive, and downtown. I am mere minutes from major bus routes on 118 ave, 101 st and 97 st.

I am available Feb 1st for $695/ month including free utilities. Please call Bob at 780-700-1874 to set up a viewing. Pets OK with approval. $695 damage deposit required.

Available Feb 1st. No smoking, no pets, no kids. Perfect for a student or a single working person, not suitable for couples. Full month’s damage deposit required and 50% split on utilities. Call Bob at 780-700-1874.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A SUITE, BUT A SINGLE BEDROOM IN A HOUSE.

The suggests Calgary and Edmonton will come out on the winning side, while price corrections will sap the strength of the powerhouse markets in Toronto and Vancouver.

Housing sales grew in 2011 by 2.2 per cent, according to the report by economist Sonya Gulati, and prices rose by an estimated 7.5 per cent — though once the overheated condo markets in Vancouver and Toronto were removed from the equation the overall price gains were much more muted.

“Looking ahead, we anticipate a tug-of-war action to take hold in the Canadian real estate market,” Gulati said in the report. “At one end of the rope is the magnetism of low interest rates; at the other are subdued prospects for economic, income and employment growth. Ultimately, we expect the economic side of the equation to win out over the near-term.”

Economic factors will be influenced in the first half of 2012 at least by continuing global financial turbulence, and while that’s expected to die down in the second half of the year, renewed economic strength in 2013 will likely come with higher interest rates, which will reduce housing affordability.

Accordingly, sales are expected to fall by 2.4 per cent next year and 3.5 per cent in 2013, while prices will suffer average declines of 1.9 per cent in 2012 and 3.6 per cent in 2013, Gulati says.

TD estimates prices are over-valued 10 to 15 per cent, though that is expected to drop over the forecast period.

“Economic, income and employment drivers no longer support the pace of activity and price gains we witnessed in the early phases of the recovery,” the report said. “Our current forecast points to a gradual unwinding of over-valuation, but more turbulence in Europe, the U.S., or even here at home, may speed up the period over which the excesses are evaporated.”

The report breaks down the housing price, sales and starts forecasts for 12 cities across the country.

“Among the 12 major markets profiled in this report, Calgary and Edmonton ought to lead the pack,” Gulati writes. “Solid economic fundamentals and the absence of a recent run-up in prices support our call. Toronto and Vancouver do not appear to be as lucky — we have them experiencing a greater-than-average correction in both sales and prices over the next two years.”

BEGIN OPTIONAL END

Surprisingly, Saint John, which will record its fourth consecutive year of sales declines in 2011, is expected to see the best overall outcome for the period.

“Slightly better lumber prices and an increase in U.S. consumer demand support an improved job climate,” Gulati said. “As a result, the employment growth rebound on tap for 2012 and 2013 within Saint John, and the unemployment rate once again dropping as a result, should allow the region to be the only one on our short list to avoid a correction over our forecast period” with sales increases of 2.3 per cent in 2012 and 1.1 per cent in 2013.

Following is a list of our current Edmonton house rental vacancies;

Contact us for more details at info@stepchukinvestments.com

Your comfort is our main priority. Our partnership with Fort Park Property Management Company enables us to accommodate all your home-needs.

Search more Houses for Rent.

Great location close to schools, Kingsway Garden Mall, NAIT, Royal Alex hospital, Yellowhead trail, Wayne Gretzky drive, and downtown.

I am mere minutes from major bus routes on 118 ave, 101 st and 97 st. Utilities are inlcluded in the rent, one full months rent required as damage deposit. Small pets OK with approval.

Call Bob today at 780-700-1874 to set up a viewing or for more details!

Outside you’ll find a huge fully fenced yard in the back.

The new furnace and hot water tank will help keep the utility bills low, along with the updated vinyl windows. I am situated in a good location close to schools, Londonderry Mall, Kingsway Garden Mall, NAIT, Royal Alex hospital, Yellowhead trail, Wayne Gretzky drive, Fort Road, and downtown. Close to major bus routes and the LRT.

Basement tenants pays 40% of the utility bill to be split with the main floor. Pets OK with approval. Please call Bob at 780-700-1874 to set up a viewing. Available immediately!

If Qualico’s Ken Cantor is right, it’s a sign Edmonton’s first new office tower in 20 years will fit into the fabric of this rundown area on 101st Street between 104th and 105th avenues, creating a beloved public space and transforming the street for the better.

Edmonton residents will soon have a chance to decide if that’s true. The building officially opens Tuesday.

“There’s certainly nothing quite like it in Edmonton,” said Cantor, Qualico commercial manager. “We tried to do most of our modelling from the ground up because that’s the way we experience these buildings. It should be the kind of space where there is a sense of ownership from the public at large.”

The face of Epcor Tower is different from that of many other downtown buildings. It’s set back 20 metres from the road, giving space for planters and two fountains — perhaps shade and a place to rest on a street with few trees.

Pedestrians will also be able to see a large sculpture from Haida artist Dean Drever through the windows. It was lifted with a crane into the building Thursday, but will stay behind curtains until Tuesday’s opening.

The tower has four levels of parking underground over an area three times the size of the building footprint, and architects added a bike room with showers and locker facilities. The building will have a Wild Earth Cafe, a daycare, fitness centre and a restaurant.

But just like Commerce Place — which has been criticized for moving public life inside — the coffee and shops in Epcor Tower are only accessible from within the lobby. A balcony that circles the 28th floor is only open to Epcor employees.

At least one critic says if Qualico wanted to create a loved public space, then a 20-metre setback, two fountains and a statue behind glass isn’t enough.

“If you want to engage, you make a sculpture kids can climb, people can touch,” said Avi Friedman, McGill University professor and author of A Place in Mind.

“There needs to be much, much more. What we are trying to do is create places that are interesting,” he said. “If Edmonton is going to distinguish itself, it needs to be much more innovative in the way buildings work on the ground.”

The new 29-storey tower sits across from a weedy parking lot and the Baccarat Casino, at the edge of downtown, where briefcases give way to shopping carts. As Cantor spoke, police cruisers with lights flashing sat outside the MacDonald rooming house and the Boyle Street drop-in centre.

Qualico owns a strip of property from 101st Street to 97th Street, including the lands behind the proposed new Royal Alberta Museum and the bridge across 97th Street. Eventually, it would like to build two or three more towers on the site and will work with the museum design team Dialog/Ledcor to make sure the area is inviting, he said.

“We didn’t put up fences with barbed wire. We put in water features. What we are doing here is to be a tie to Chinatown and the north end, but it’s not going to happen overnight. Very few good things happen overnight.”

The building cost $250 million to build and stretches 148 metres into the air, making it compete with Manulife as Edmonton’s tallest building. Epcor’s spire and red airplane lights are higher, but Manulife has a higher occupied floor.

The building has green technology. The fresh-air intake runs through a 90-metre tunnel under the four-storey deep parkade. Since the ground stays at a constant 6 C at that level, the air pumped through these shafts slowly warms or cools before being pumped as fresh air through the building.

In heating mode, this system saves 1.5 million kilowatts a year; in cooling mode, it saves 85,000 kilowatts a year. That’s an annual savings of $51,700.

Epcor Tower will be one of several from Canada showcased at the World Sustainable Building Conference in Helsinki this October.

It also collects rainwater in giant cisterns underground, and is double plumbed so rainwater will flush the toilets year round. “We’ll probably save about 60 per cent of our water consumption with that alone.”

It has 250-square-foot balconies on every floor to give office workers access to fresh air, and most of the windows are tripled glazed, which provides enough insulation that the building doesn’t need radiators along the windows. Desk and furniture can sit right up against the edge.

It’s not “bleeding edge,” said Gord Shymko, captain for the Canadian team at the Helsinki conference, and a sustainable building consultant in Calgary for 28 years. “But it’s a good, well-balanced building.”

Small things, like the mechanical systems used to heat and cool the building, are highly efficient. It’s not new technology, but it’s not common either. It’s just that most buildings settle for the lower standard, said Shymko, who selected Epcor Tower for the conference showcase. “We’re constantly fighting that inertia.”

Even with the environmental choices, Qualico’s construction costs were about $250/square foot. “That’s right in the market range,” said Shymko. That’s important, he said. “We need examples of projects that are going to move the market in a real sense.”

Source: The Edmonton Journal

My huge main bathroom is upstairs, and my smaller 2 pc bathroom is handy on the main floor. An impressive user friendly floor plan includes open concept kitchen/dining area/sitting area on the main floor, a large bathroom and 3 bedrooms on my upper level, and a full and open basement. Use your imagination in this unfinished basement; great for storage and laundry area too!

(Significant upgrades were done in 2003 that included new paint, flooring, lighting, countertops, casings, and appliances.)

I am in a convenient location, near bus routes (across the street), shops and both separate and elementary schools. There are an abundance of parks in the area.

Please come live and fill me with love and laughter! Call Bob at 780-700-1874 for more details! Available Sept 1st, tenant pays all utilities.