Realtor Trent Rodney has a knack for selling West Coast modern homes that were built in the 1950s and ’60s.
Real eState
See the unique North Vancouver house a couple saved from demolition
He sent it out to 10,000 people on his database of West Coast modern aficionados. The goal: To save a small house on a big lot in North Van.
“Since it’s on a corner lot on Forest Hills Drive, one of the best streets, and is close to Edgemont Village, this is prime developer bait,” said Rodney.
In this case, the 9,660 square foot lot was occupied by a 1,363 sq. ft house. The zoning allowed for a new structure up to 5,500 sq. ft. The price: $2.3 million.
What made this house special is it was designed by the local West Coast modern architect Fred Hollingsworth as part of his “Flying Arrow” series in 1950. Rodney said only six Flying Arrows were built; this could be the only one left.
Hollingsworth had studied with architectural legend Wright in Arizona, who had an ambitious plan to build cheap but cool “Usonian” houses for the masses. Hollingsworth came back to B.C. and started designing his own homes for the middle or working class, called Neoteric or Flying Arrow houses. The Neoterics had flat roofs, the Flying Arrows had pitched roofs.
The houses were small but felt much bigger because they had an open-concept and floor-to-ceiling windows.
“The intention when it was built was to be indoor-outdoor living, living as much outdoors as you do inside,” said Rodney. “So they cared more about access to light, access to nature.”
The Flying Arrow homes had high angled ceilings (probably 15 feet in points) and a stylish “scissor truss” system of wooden beams that held up the roof.
Hollingsworth designs also featured brick walls, which gave them warmth, and large fireplaces that tended to be the architectural showpiece of the home.
In this case, the fireplace was five feet high and three feet wide. In a 1952 Western Living magazine story on the house, it said the original owner, Jim Atkins, burnt three-foot-wide logs in the fireplace.
“This was more of a forested lot, back in the day,” said Rodney. “The owner would go out and cut their own logs for the fireplace.”
The lot still has plenty of green space, including a handful of seven-storey-tall Douglas firs. The lot also feels very private, because the big windows are at the back, the front has smaller windows that are at eye level.
But the house was designed for the postwar era, when developers were building modest homes for people with a limited budget. The house has only two bedrooms, one bathroom and has a galley kitchen, which is out-of-step with the large contemporary homes in the neighbourhood.
Some owners of Hollingsworth homes expand them — there is a Hollingsworth next door where they added a second floor. But builders tend to knock small houses like this down and build as big as the zoning allows.
In this case, though, the house quickly sold for the asking price to a couple who loved the house. In fact, they had just sold a Hollingsworth Neoteric house they’d lived in for 18 years.
“There is a sense that you’re within a very tangible and thoughtfully designed piece of art, made specifically to ground its occupants to the land and trees that surround it.”
The Gilmours did an addition to their first Hollingworth house to make room for their family of four. Their two boys have grown up and moved out, and they were looking for something smaller.
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TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.
The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.
“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.
“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”
The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.
New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.
In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.
The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.
“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.
“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”
He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.
“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.
“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”
All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.
Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.
“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.
“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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