The Demographia 5th Annual International Housing Affordability Survey for 2009 is out. It rates metropolitan markets for affordability of the housing in each market. Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States are all discussed.
The Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey employs the “Median House Price to Median Household Income Multiple,” (“Median Multiple”) to rate housing affordability. The ratings are as follows 3.0 or Less is defined as “Affordable”, 3.1 to 4.0 “Moderately Unaffordable”, 4.1 to 5.0 “Seriously Unaffordable” and 5.1 and above “Severely Unaffordable”.
In recent decades, the Median Multiple has been remarkably similar among the nations surveyed, with median house prices being generally 3.0 or less times median household incomes. This historic affordability relationship continues in many housing markets of the United States and Canada. However, the Median Multiple has escalated sharply in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and in some markets of Canada and the United States.
Over the past year, house prices have declined in most markets. This “bursting of the housing bubble” followed an unprecedented increase in housing prices in all markets except some areas in the United States and Canada. The result is that housing affordability has generally improved, though remains at Median Multiples well above the historic norm in many markets.
Vancouver came in at 8.4, Victora 7.4, Kelowna 6.8 and Abbotsford 6.5 to name a few. All the previously named markets are defined as “Severely Unaffordable”. The province of British Columbia was generally described as severely unaffordable based on the calculations employed in this survey. However, many of these severely unaffordable markets have experienced steep price declines in the last year. Among the major markets, Vancouver is the least affordable. The Kamloops market was not specifically cited in this survey, but as a part of the province of British Columbia one can draw the conclusion that we too are at least “seriously unaffordable”.
To read the entire PDF document from The Demographia Survey click HERE.
Neighbourhood: Lower & Upper Sahali, Kamloops, B.C. Real Estate. The area described as Sahali is on the south shore of the Thompson river. It is bordered by South Kamloops and the Downtown district (to the south), Southgate and Dufferin to the west and Aberdeen to the south west. Lower Sahali is the portion of Sahali that falls below the #1 highway and Upper Sahali is above the #1 with the Highway 5A being the dividing line between Sahali and Aberdeen. Click here to see the map.
Properties & Real Estate
Lower Sahali is a very popular residential area with decent sized lots and beautiful views of the valley below. It is within minutes of downtown, schools, including TRU and the hospital. Many of the homes in this area are older with the exception of some areas. There are also a number of multi-family residential units within Lower Sahali such as townhouse complexes and apartment units. The Sahali area always has a variety of properties for your choosing if you are looking for a home.
Upper Sahali has much fewer businesses and is mainly residential. There are a number of different types of residential units in this area anything from apartments to townhouses to single family homes. There is a mix of newer and older homes throughout the Upper Sahali region.
In the Coach Hills and Albert McGowan Park area are a number of the homes are newer than the surrounding areas where the homes are often defined as “old type”. Homes in this area range from 1990’s to early 2000’s.
In the Sedona Pines area the homes range from late 1990’s to new with Mesa Estates on Azure Place housing the newest construction.
The lots in Upper Sahali are also a good size and often have beautiful views. There are some specific regions where homes are located on steep slopes leaving little yard. Retaining walls are often found in the Sahali region as it covers a large part of the south slope of the valley.
Home prices in the Sahali area tend to be more expensive than other residential areas of Kamloops. Being such a desirable place to live, home buyers are willing to pay a premium to live in Sahali.
For up to date Kamloops real estate listings click here.
Thompson Rivers University is located in Southgate. The campus is positioned at the intersection of Summit Drive and McGill Road. TRU is a fully accredited University and offers a variety of programs and courses to students in many different areas of study. Sahali is often a very popular area for University students to stay due to the close proximity to the University.
Shopping & Services
Lower Sahali houses a number of Kamloops grocery stores and shopping. Save-on-foods, Superstore, Safeway, Toys-R-Us, Bed Bath & Beyond, Winners and Homesense are a few of the major stores in the Sahali area. There are a number of restaurants and popular shopping destinations in this area as well.
There are a number of professional offices in the Sahali area. Sahali Centre Mall, Tudor Village and Sahali Professional Centre to name a few. You will find lawyers, doctors, mortgage specialists, banks, insurance brokers and much more in this area. Click here to view the map.
The uptown area of Kamloops which is defined within the borders of Sahali has everything that you could need on a day to day basis.
Recreation
At the top of Summit Drive, there is a very popular water park called Albert McGowan Park, which is a popular place for neighbourhood kids to cool off in the summer and toboggan in the winter.
Throughout Lower and Upper Sahali there are a number of parks and green spaces. The Sahali area has everything close at hand, shopping, entertainment, schools for all ages, and park land. This is why it is one of the most popular regions of Kamloops.
Peterson Creek Park runs through most of Sahali from top to bottom. This is a 423 hectare park that is a natural creek corridor. There are over 30 kilometers of trails in the park and many sites to enjoy including panoramic valley views and Bridal Veil Falls. There are numerous access points and the park is equipped with picnic tables and grassy areas to enjoy.
Tournament Capital Centre is located in Southgate which is only a five to 10 minute drive from any Sahali neighbourhood. TCC has many different facilities all in one building such as gymnastics, swimming, indoor track, fitness facility, courts and much more. There are also a number of sports fields that surround the facility.
Sahali is serviced by BC Transit buses on a frequent and regular schedule. Click here to view the BC Transit website. Highway #1 is easily accessible to Sahali as it runs through the middle of it splitting the area into upper and lower Sahali.
To view current listings for the Sahali area clickhere.
To read more about other neighbourhoods click the link below:
1. Open House 693 St. Paul Street, South Kamloops 11:30am-12:30: South Kamloops home on a corner lot. 2 bedrooms on the main and 1 partially finished bedroom & den down (needs flooring). Large Kitchen with newer flooring. Basement is partially finished.
2. Open House 1143 Surrey Ave, North Kamloops 1:00pm-2:00pm: Priced to sell! Nicely updated 3+2 bedroom, 2 bath home. Original hardwood floors on main. Newer kitchen w/laminate floors. 5 appliances included. New hot water tank. Bathrooms are being reno’d & will be finished.
3. Open House 1725 Clifford Ave, Brocklehurst 2:30pm-4:00pm: RIVERFRONT fixer-upper mini estate w/indoor pool. Over 5,000 sf, 4 bdrms plus den. Bachelor suite w/sep entrance. Needs TLC, Definitely worth renovating.
I found this article recently by the Financial Post and thought it was worth posting…..
I’ve been hearing a lot of soothing sounds of late coming from the real estate and construction industries. “All is well,” they seem to say. “Don’t panic,” they encourage.
Two days ago, the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, a lobby group, insisted “there is absolutely no merit” in drawing a parallel between the U.S. real estate meltdown and the “cooling” market we are currently experiencing.
In mid-December, meanwhile, the Canadian Real Estate Association announced that national averages aren’t down as much as previously thought, and that it would be changing the methodology by which it calculates home prices, taking into greater account the rural homes that haven’t depreciated as quickly.
Taken at face value, these recent press releases might suggest that now was a great time to buy a house — a convenient conclusion for home builders and real estate agents.
But don’t you believe them. Maybe it’s appropriate that the CREA is changing its methodology to be more inclusive, but now seems to be an awfully convenient time to be doing so. And while it’s true that the Canadian housing boom was not propelled by the loose lending practices and low interest rates seen in the U.S., that doesn’t mean our boom was any less heated. In Canada, housing prices skyrocketed alongside a commodities boom that brought enormous wealth, in particular to western provinces.
So what do you suppose might happen when such a commodities boom crashes down to earth, as has happened over the last four months? If you’re still not convinced, take a look at the numbers below. They show six years of annual housing prices, leading up to their respective peaks, in the United States, as well as four Canadian cities. Also included are the most recent prices, to give you a sense of how far we’ve come down so far. Numbers are from the U.S. Census Bureau and the CREA — before they decided to revise their methodology.
United States
March 2002 – US$227,600
March 2003 – US$233,100 (2.4%)
March 2004 – US$262,900 (15.5%)
March 2005 – US$288,500 (26.8%)
March 2006 – US$305,300 (34.1%)
March 2007 – US$322,100 (41.5%)
Vancouver
May 2003 – $319,783
May 2004 – $370,545 (15.9%)
May 2005 – $418,757 (31%)
May 2006 – $518,176 (62%)
May 2007 – $591,722 (85%)
May 2008 – $624,639 (95.3%)
Most recent – $510,465
Calgary
July 2002 – $196,472
July 2003 – $209,932 (6.9%)
July 2004 – $220,978 (12.5%)
July 2005 – $245,704 (25.1%)
July 2006 – $357,831 (82.1%)
July 2007 – $436,739 (122.3%)
Most recent – $384,243
Toronto
April 2003 – $292,783
April 2004 – $321,131 (9.7%)
April 2005 – $342,032 (16.8%)
April 2006 – $366,683 (25.2%)
April 2007 – $379,025 (29.5%)
April 2008 – $398,687 (36.2%)
Most recent – $368,582
Montreal
July 2003 – $190,402
July 2004 – $218,313 (14.7%)
July 2005 – $222,972 (17.1%)
July 2006 – $253,420 (33.1%)
July 2007 – $263,018 (38.1%)
July 2008 – $277,703 (45.9%)
Most recent – $263,734
The lots in Upper Sahali are also a good size and often have beautiful views. There are some specific regions where homes are located on steep slopes leaving little yard. Retaining walls are often found in the Sahali region as it covers a large part of the south slope of the valley.
