Have you been taking the time to start spring cleaning? Are you finding some things around the house in need of a refresh or an update? This is a great time of year to refresh your home and Budget Blinds of Vancouver Island is ready to help with more than just blinds.

While Budget Blinds has window coverings for every budget, with the largest selection in North America, including a new partnership with Hunter Douglas, their many Vancouver Island locations also offer so much more for your home.

Budget Blinds on Vancouver Island offers a wide variety of home automation options from Lutron sure to spark the interest of the techie in your home. And if you don’t have a techie at home? Not to worry, their staff can guide you through the newest options to give your home a modern update and make day-to-day life at home even easier. 

Spring will be here before you know it, and now is a great time to start planning for a seasonal refresh. Freshen up your space with new window coverings for the new year with the great prices and selection offered by Budget Blinds on Vancouver Island.

From South to North, Budget Blinds has you – and your windows – covered on Vancouver Island.

Wherever you are located on Vancouver Island, the professional service and great prices that Budget Blinds provides are easy to find.

Sales in the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) area returned to seasonally normal levels in January after experiencing the busiest December on record. The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) has released its monthly sales report, showing sales returning seasonally normal levels in January after the busiest December on record. Higher interest rates and the new mortgage stress test are expected to erode purchasing power for some buyers in 2018.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) notes that the housing market in B.C. is still thriving due to the province’s strong economy. However, some economic headwinds in the form of higher interest rates and Guideline B-20 – also known as the mortgage stress test – are forecast for 2018. BCREA expects economic growth in the province to slow this year, expanding at a respectable 2.8 percent, but lower than we have seen in some time. Rising interest rates will erode affordability for some home buyers, and Guideline B-20 could reduce the purchasing power of conventional mortgagors by up to 20 percent.

Last month, the benchmark price of a single-family home in the Campbell River area hit $379,600, an increase of 22 percent from the previous January. In the Comox Valley, the benchmark price was $463,700, up 17 percent from last year. Duncan reported a benchmark price of $418,600, an increase of 15 percent compared to January 2017. Nanaimo’s benchmark price rose 19 percent to $514,400 while the Parksville–Qualicum area saw its benchmark price increase by 14 percent to $519,700 from one year ago and dip slightly from December 2017. The cost of a benchmark home in Port Alberni reached $259,100, up 20 percent from one year ago.

Excerpt from VIREB Press Release on Feb. 1, 2018.

The 2016 Buyer Profile provides statistical information summarizing “home characteristics” for VIREB’s overall board area within its boundaries. These include Duncan-Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, Port Alberni-West Coast, Parksville- Qualicum, Comox Valley, Campbell River, North Island, and the Islands.

At 81.5 per cent, owner-occupiers continue to be the primary buyers in the VIREB area.

In 2016, 26 per cent of homes that sold were under $250,000, 51 per cent were under $350,000, and 68 per cent sold for under $500,000, Only 1.4 per cent of homes in the VIREB area sold for more than $1 million dollars.

At 58 per cent, single-family detached homes represented the majority of purchases in 2016, with condominium apartments accounting for 10 per cent of purchases and townhomes garnering 7.2 per cent of total home sales.

In terms of aggregated buyer origin, home purchasers break down as follows:

• 31.6 per cent from Vancouver Island;
• 41.6 per cent from elsewhere in British Columbia (Vancouver and the Fraser Valley make up 27.8 per cent of that figure);
• 24.2 per cent from elsewhere in Canada; and
• 2.6 per cent from outside of Canada.

Receive up-to-date information on building permits, tenders, proposed developments and construction news for the Comox Valley, Campbell River, Port Hardy, Powell River and more locations on the North Island at BuildingLinks.ca.

Do you know how emerging trends like subguard compare to other options in contract security? Do differences between the options negatively impact stakeholders or benefit them? Get the answers to these questions at the upcoming Vancouver Island Construction Association (VICA) member meeting:

This topic will be of particular interest to general contractors, trade contractors, construction managers, project managers, owners, architects, and engineers. A wide range of industry perspectives will be presented and discussed, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Terry Brown will be your facilitator and featured panelists include :

• Owner – Rick Gudz, CFB Esquimalt Site Manager, Defence Construction Canada
• Insurer – Zurich Insurance
• Surety – Randy Singh, Construction Services Account Executive, HUB International
• Surety – Dave Bentley, Construction Services Account Executive, HUB International
• General Contractor – Anibal Valente, VP, PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc.
• Trade Contractor – Russ Hepworth, President, Tech Mechanical

One sponsorship spot is currently available for this event. Please contact admin.victoria@vicabc.ca for information regarding this opportunity.

This event is free for VICA members and $75.00 for non-members. To become a VICA member, visit their website.