British Columbia

The City of New Westminster is about to start charging highrise condo developers a bonus formula of $25 per square foot for the extra space achieved through higher-density zoning.

Commercial real estate construction in Metro Vancouver rose 2.3 per cent in the first quarter, compared to the previous quarter, to $586 million.

The price of a typical detached house on the toney West Side of Vancouver dropped the hardest of 20 communities surveyed in March by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. The "benchmark" price of a detached house on the West Side fell 9.

Simple Retirement Plan • Buy house for $700,000 • Pay down mortgage over 10 years to $350,000 • Sell for $1.4 million • Retire.

Judging from leading market reports and analysts focused on Metro Vancouver industrial real estate, it would appear that rabid demand and a looming shortage threaten the entire industrial market.

The BC Environmental Assessment Office has rejected the proposed Raven underground coal mine on Vancouver Island following a review of a 12,000-page application by Compliance Coal Corp.

Three Alberta cities - including the Edmonton bedroom community of St. Albert - are better places to live than Vancouver, according to MoneySense magazine.

Speculation is mounting that some of the new office towers being planned in downtown Vancouver could cut lease rates - or even cause them to be shelved - due to a lack of viable anchors.

Developers plan to spend more than $500 million to transform a triangular slice of eastern Port Coquitlam - formerly farmland - into Metro Vancouver's newest planned community, by blending homes, retail and industrial projects.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is urging all B.C. property owners and buyers to put the provincial property transfer tax on the hot seat during the upcoming provincial election. The province introduced the PTT 26 years ago.