Blog

Looking to attract super-wealthy visitors wanting to buy a slice of the province

Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 6:54pm. 32 Views, 0 Comments.

Like the vineyard properties she hopes to sell, Christa Frosch's real estatesales pitches at Whistler during the Olympics will have to mature before they bear fruit.

The Olympics give Frosch and her colleagues at Sotheby's International Realty an enviable entrée into the elite strata of buyers able to contemplate laying down millions for acres of vineyard in the Okanagan, and then spending millions more on building a luxury residence.

An entrée, yes. A signed deal in hand - well, not likely during the Games themselves. Frosch said it can take up to a year to consummate a high-end real estate deal, meaning the Winter Games will be long over before she and the other realtors at Sotheby's will be able to determine whether their Olympic marketing effort has been…

Hopes (And Fears) Going into the Games

Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 6:49pm. 5 Views, 0 Comments.

The Olympics gave Sotheby’s an enviable entrée into the elite strata of real estate buyers able to contemplate laying down millions for recreational properties. But an entrée is different than a deal in hand. The company hoped to reach interested buyers through events and the expansion of its office at a luxury hotel in Whistler.

  Read the full Article

Sales in Montréal Area Reach 2008 Levels

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 6:26pm. 45 Views, 0 Comments.

Île-des-Sœurs,March 4, 2010 – February 2010 sales in Montréal Metropolitan Area hit the same level as sales in February 2008, which was just before the last recession. According to the Greater Montréal Real Estate Board’s MLS ® statistics, there were 4,465 sales transactions in the Montréal area in February 2010, a 45 per cent increase compared to February 2009 but only a 1 per cent increase compared to February 2008.

“It’s important to remember that last year – in February 2009 – the Montréal real estate market was feeling the effects of the recession and posted a 31 per cent decrease in sales. This explains why when we compare February 2010 to February 2009, sales are up by 45 per cent,” said Michel Beauséjour, FCA, Chief Executive Officer of the GMREB.…

Home sales activity strong through Olympic period

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 1:19pm. 150 Views, 0 Comments.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Greater Vancouver housing market continued to experience strong demand from homebuyers and an increase in total property listings in a month where the eyes of the world were focused on the region.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled
2,473 in February 2010, an increase of 67.1 per cent compared to February 2009 when 1,480 sales were recorded and a 28.6 per cent increase compared to the 1,923 sales recorded in January 2010.

More broadly, last month’s sales totals marked a 7.6 per cent decline compared to the 2,676 sales recorded in February
2008 and were 13.5 per cent behind February 2007 when 2,859 residential sales were recorded on the Multiple Listing…

Seattle Real Estate Firm Joins Sotheby’s International Realty Network

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 5:52pm. 164 Views, 0 Comments.

Realogy.Com 

PARSIPPANY, N.J. 02-23-2010 — Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC today announced that Realogics Brokerage, LLC, in Seattle is the newest member of its luxury real estate network. 

The firm, owned by Dean and Stacy Jones of Realogics, Inc., now will do business as Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty. Sam Cunningham will serve as the designated broker and co-owner. The firm will service the Greater Seattle area in western Washington and complements the brand’s existing affiliates in Bellevue, Friday Harbor and University Place: Brazen Sotheby’s International Realty, Island Group Sotheby’s International Realty and Morrison House Sotheby’s International Realty, respectively. 

“The executive team behind Realogics Brokerage has built a…

Finding your dream home in Montreal

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 1:53pm. 257 Views, 0 Comments.

That dream home you've been conjuring up in your mind need not be on a tropical island somewhere in the South Pacific. Scale down your dreams a bit, and here on our own island - though admittedly not that tropical - there are numerous options available. Whether it's a resale home that turns your head, a custom-made unit, pre-engineered (formerly known as pre-fab) or the venerable pioneer log cabin, 21st- century-style, the real-estate market for Montreal and its outlying areas is alive.

Bertrand Recher, senior analyst for Central Mortgage and Housing Corp. in Quebec, said the market has recovered after an early 2009 slump.

"There was a very short stall in the first quarter of '09," Recher said. "But now sales of 'plexes, houses, row houses and condos have…

World’s oldest hockey stick has local connection

Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 12:58pm. 173 Views, 0 Comments.

The world s oldest stick is being auctioned at the Molson Canadian Hockey House in Vancouver during the Olympics.

When Nancy Bailey-Brazeau received an invitation to an event in Toronto from Sotheby's International Realty, she was happy to be included—even before she knew she was going to see the world's oldest hockey stick.

It's not a particularly attractive stick, she says, and she's seen it before, but it has a history that means a lot to her—one she has heard often during family gatherings, and one that has a family connection.

The Toronto event featured an auction by vipthrills.com, and being auctioned was the hockey stick that was carved by her great-grandfather some time in the mid 1850s—thought to be between 1852 and 1856.
Vipthrills.com bills itself…

Showcasing the most beautiful living rooms

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 9:08am. 184 Views, 0 Comments.

See the most beautiful properties in Canada

Adult Living: Nature as neighbour

Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 4:02pm. 214 Views, 0 Comments.

Owning a ski chalet is a family tradition for Irene Christie.

Ms. Christie has such fond childhood memories of winter weekends at her parents' ski chalet in the Beaver Valley that she wants her eight-year-old son, William Blair, to have the same opportunities.

"We wanted a place for family weekend ski getaways," says Ms. Christie, a corporate lawyer who lives in Moore Park in Toronto.

Ms. Christie and her husband, Rodney Blair, also enjoy visiting their family cottage in Muskoka in the summer. They wanted a worry-free ski chalet close to the slopes in the Blue Mountain area. They found their dream home at Woodlands by the Sierra Building Group.

Although the economic slowdown had sent chills through the recreation property market earlier in 2009, things were…

SPLASH

Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 3:51pm. 106 Views, 0 Comments.

Held on Saturday, October 17th at the dramatically transformed Performance Works on Granville Island, Splash 2009 was a brilliant success. Celebrating its 27th year, this signature event raised more than $360,000 in net proceeds for Arts Umbrella!

Over 500 guests attended this sold out event, which featured a stunning collection of high calibre artwork and was one fabulous party. Prior to the Live Auction, guests spent time in the chic gallery setting viewing art and savouring canapés by Culinary Capers Catering and wine courtesy of the Sotheby’s Vineyard Collection. In the Rohde & Leisenfeld Lounge they were treated to tantalizing cocktails courtesy of Goldfish Pacific Kitchen while they had their picture taken in the event-branded photo booth for fun…