February 2020

All posts from February 2020

What you Missed at the B.C. Home and Garden Show

by Bevony on 26 February 2020 Comments Off on What you Missed at the B.C. Home and Garden Show

The British Columbia Home and Garden show was held from February 19 to 23, 2020. If you weren’t able to attend we have got you covered. We know that this winter weather has been unpleasant and we are all looking towards the change in seasons. The show gave attendees something to look forward to. There were lots of tips and ideas on how to spruce up your landscape.

The show was enjoyed by both attendees and presenters. All got the chance to check several horticultural boots sporting different themes. Some things you missed include;

  • Professional landscapes
  • Unique outdoor patio displays
  • Innovative ideas on growing
  • New and upcoming garden accessories
  • New styles of greenhouses.

What the BC Home and Garden Show is All About

The show is not just about outdoor living, it incorporates indoor living as well. It showcases collections of products and trends that are interesting, upcoming and relevant. You find everything from new styles of kitchens to art, the latest in sleeping comfortably to innovations in food preparation. You even missed some newer, more environmentally friendly cooling and heating units as well as a range of fixtures that can help your family to be more efficient with your water usage.

Presentations You Missed

The show included several informative seminars as well. These included the following;

  • On the 20th, there was a panel discussion on the Main stage at 6 pm. This was sponsored by the Homebuilders’ Association of Vancouver. Panelists included pros in the renovation and construction field and their topic was outdoor/indoor living with a major focus on outdoor living.
  • Victory Gardens’, Lisa Firoday presented on eco landscaping with a focus on how to make the most of your usable land.
  • Janis Matson from Shoreline Landscape Design did a presentation on “Drought Tolerant Gardening”. This provided useful information for when we get into the hot summer months and have water restrictions to contend with.
  • Alex Augustyniak from West Coast Seeds discussed how we can grow foods all year in our Canadian Climate.
  • Carissa Kasper from Seed and Nourish gave a presentation on “Seasons o Growth: The Future Garden”. She noted how changes in climates affect gardening practices and looked into the future of what gardens may look like a couple of years ahead.
  • Reiner Van de Poll from the Van de Poll Garden Design company did a presentation on how to create a natural patio setting.
  • Shelley Levis from Sow and Dipity presented on countertop gardens and the trends in this industry.
  • Leanne Johnson from GardenWorks explained plant parenting in her presentation on indoor gardening and the millennial generation.

BC Home and Garden Feature: GROW!

This year’s BC Home and Garden Show had a new feature called “GROW!” the feature was an interactive and informative one. It covered how to plant as well as what, where and when to plant. The feature was brought on by West Coast Seeds.

Gardening was not a major part of the show but there was a very significant gardening presence at the show. Art’s Garden Market had a range of plants on sale so that attendees could go home with something in hand. There was also a booth by B.C Nursery and Landscape Association.

We hope you didn’t miss the 2020 BC Home and Garden Show, and if you did, we hope to see you there next year.

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BevonyWhat you Missed at the B.C. Home and Garden Show

Benefits of Having Houseplants in your Home

by Bevony on 19 February 2020 Comments Off on Benefits of Having Houseplants in your Home

Having plants around will have a positive effect on your mood and your brain. They can help you to be more relaxed and to feel better. Walking into a house full of lush houseplants can take the edge off after a long and hard day. They call it Biophilia, according to Dr. Edward O Wilson. He theorizes that all humans want and seek connections with other life forms including nature. His definition of biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”.

We can all agree that bringing plants indoors brings a significant acoustic element. When you make use of plants such as moss that have natural textures the acoustics of the room are heavily impacted.

Some homeowners welcome plants and look forward to all the care and maintenance tasks that come along with them. There are others that like the idea of plants but don’t have the time or the interest to care for them. The latter will be happy to find that there is a new market of plants just for them. Enter the era of preserved plants. These plants have had their growth stopped. They are then treated with preservatives and color enhancers to keep them in tip-top condition. They won’t need sunlight or water so they are easy.

For those who want to care for their plants, many have a lot of trouble as they try to keep their plants alive. One of the biggest mistakes people tend to make is to overwater their plants. Then they forget to put the plants where they can get natural light which is equally as important as giving your plants adequate amounts of water. If you are worried about your plant getting too much of the sun’s rays you can easily place it at a window and leave a sheer curtain to take off some of the rays.

Caring For House Plants

Instead of following a watering schedule, you want to look at the soil your plant is in. 

  • If you have cacti or succulents you wait until the soil is completely dry then give it a good soaking and leave it alone.
  • If you have classical tropical foliage you need to place them where they can get the right amount of light. You want to hold off watering until the soil is partially dry up to three inches down.
  • For all other types of plants, you want the soil to be moisty evenly. Check the soil every day and only water when it feels dry.

With that said, you can add some houseplants to your space to bring it to life. Treat them well and enjoy their presence. If you are not sure if you will be able to care for your plants, try out one and see how it goes then you can commit to more plants for your home.

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BevonyBenefits of Having Houseplants in your Home

New Listings at a 10 year Low

by Bevony on 12 February 2020 Comments Off on New Listings at a 10 year Low

2018 was quite a disastrous year when looking at the performance of the housing market. In 2019, it looked a lot better with sales going up by approximately 22%. With sales hover above 10-year averages, the home price index is higher. It has increased by 3.5% from last year’s numbers and the trend is for it to continue increasing.

Homeowners are no longer listing their homes up for sale and this is the phenomenon that is driving this resurgence. With not many new listings, there is a decline in inventory. In December of 2019, the sales to new listing ration went up to 67%. This is the highest this has been since October of 2009. A ration of 40% to 60% is considered balanced and anything above 60% will put pressure on prices, causing them to rise. When looking at the statistics on a deeper level we see that listings haven’t been this low since February of 2010.

Why Are Canadian Homeowners not Listing Homes for Sale?

You will find that most places in the country are seeing an all-time high in prices. Canadian housing is on an almost 30-year bull market. So most homeowners are thinking that with prices continually rising there is no need to sell right away. In the meantime, any amount of correction in the market is met by global central banks’ ample liquidity. Banks aren’t increasing interest rates this time around. They are actually doing the opposite.

Leveraged buyers are finding incentives for taking more risks. Hoarding assets are now more attractive to homeowners even more so than putting money into bonds, savings accounts or GIC’s. The current market is not triggering or incentivizing Canadians to cash out and so new listings dot go onto the market unless it is extremely necessary.

What Does This Mean for First Time Home Buyers?

While there are not a lot of listings going up on the market, first time home buyers can find affordable housing solutions. Here at SilverBeam Homes, we are custom home builders that can help you make your dream of owning a home a reality. Give us a call, or send us a message. Let us set up a consultation and show you how you can own a home in a housing market that seems it is not going to be kind to you.

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BevonyNew Listings at a 10 year Low

Things Looking iffy for Luxury Builders in Vancouver

by Bevony on 5 February 2020 Comments Off on Things Looking iffy for Luxury Builders in Vancouver

We are looking at New York City luxury condos that are going unsold underneath a real estate market decline. In Manhatten we see almost 50% of luxury condos built and which remain unsold up to 5 years after their build date.

The future for Vancouver is looking similar as well. In the past decade, prices have risen three times faster than those in New York. With such high prices, we find that middle-class young people are finding their dreams of owning a home are getting slimmer and slimmer.

New York Vs Vancouver

Yes, the markets in New York and Vancouver are different. But both these cities are often ranked as some of the most sought after destinations in the world. So they do have a lot of similarities, enough to make the comparison useful. East and West Coast cities are also seeing a similar downward trend.

While the luxury condos and flashy highrises in New York are staying unpurchased. We over here are seeing the same. In Vancouver, our more expensive homes are going unpurchased too. Since the peak in 2017, prices have plunged more than a quarter. Single-family high-end residences in Vancouver are also seeing a plunge in prices as sellers try to get their houses off the market.

In the past two years across West, Vancouver prices have dropped more than 25%. This municipality is known for being one of the highest per capita income in the country. Vancouver and many of its suburbs are experiencing a similar dip were in 2019, values went down more than 11%.

What it All Means

While the luxury house market in Vancouver is not as badly hit as the one in New York it is undergoing a considerable amount of struggle. We see this very evident in the Oakridge neighborhood of Vancouver alone. Hundreds of units with price tags in the millions do not have buyers. With prices over $2400 per square foot, local wage earners cannot afford to own a home. Prices like these are very common as the city becomes more and more known as one of the most unaffordable cities in Canada. The truth is that the gap between the median wages and housing costs in Vancouver is even larger than those in New York City. 

Global Real Estate Consultants at Knight Frank estimates that there will be a price fall of approximately 10% in house prices in Vancouver. So sellers stand to lose more. Even with a decrease some buyers will still see certain homes out of their reach.

What Are Your Options?

Are you a potential homeowner with dreams that are looking out of your reach right now? Why not give us a try? Let us help you make your dream a reality. We can get you a custom-built home tailored to your housing needs and your housing budget. We may not be able to get you into the fanciest neighborhood in town but we have the expertise necessary to make your dream come through.

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BevonyThings Looking iffy for Luxury Builders in Vancouver