This has been an uncertain year in the world of housing. Looming above all else has been the vaporization of the American subprime mortgage market and its increasing impact on housing starts and prices in all sectors and regions. There can be little doubt that the era of cheap money that pushed U.S. real estate higher and higher has come to an end.

But if the Americans are in meltdown, why have housing prices been able to thrive in Canada, and boom here in the West? I would like to report that this was solely because of sage policies by our governments and lending agencies, but they have played a relatively small part.

We should all note that Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and other Canadian lending agencies have shown some signs of the U.S. contagion — quick approvals for ever-lower down payments combined with increasingly elaborate mechanisms to reduce payments temporarily. The U.S. housing market is sick in bed, maybe headed for hospital, while in Canada we are feeling a little off but keep going to work. And we worry that this decision will come back to haunt us.

Link to Globe and Mail article for further information....

A developer wanting to build condominiums on a one-acre parcel of downtown land that includes the historic Mount St. Angela building will try his chances at a second public hearing, likely on Jan. 17.

Roger Tinney, spokesman for developer Norm Isherwood, initially said the family wasn't sure if it wanted to continue with the project, which has run into opposition from heritage advocates and neighbours. But after two lengthy meetings, he decided to go ahead.

Victoria council agreed this week to another hearing after a flurry of communications from neighbours saying they still had concerns about the project and wanted a chance to comment on revisions to the plan.

Link to Times Colonist article for additional information....

If Victoria's homeless issue could be solved within weeks of receiving an independent report, we wouldn't have the problem we do.

A month and a half ago, the Task Force on Mental Illness, Addictions and Homelessness, an independent committee of more than 30 health and housing experts and community representatives, presented A Victoria Model, a comprehensive, evidence-based report that outlines aggressive targets to house and support 1,550 homeless over the next five years, with the first 50 to be housed by the March 1.

There is no question that homelessness is the No. 1 issue for Victoria residents and businesses. I struck this task force because we have an overwhelming problem on our streets. Over four months, this dedicated group of professionals and community leaders methodically and passionately dissected the homelessness issue and designed a best practices blueprint to guide the way we deliver services and ultimately guide 1,550 homeless residents into supported housing.

Link to Times Colonist Article for further information......

If you've got a rental apartment, keep it.

Greater Victoria's rental market remains tight and rents are rising.

The region's vacancy rate for October remained at 0.5 per cent, the same rate as in October 2006 and October 2005, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said yesterday.

Jim Bennett, Victoria Real Estate Board government relations co-ordinator, who also sits on local housing committees, said, "0.5 per cent is not good news."

It makes the challenge of housing the homeless in this region even more difficult, he said.

Link to Times Colonist article for further information....

Langford will amend its affordable housing program to ensure that when a new affordable housing unit is built the main level is accessible to persons with disabilities.

The municipality will require builders to make minor changes -- such as ensuring a main floor entrance has no steps, providing wider doorways on all main floor doors and a half-bath on the main floor in order to ensure "visitability."

"It's a concept that's similar to universal access but smaller in scale," said clerk-administrator Rob Buchan.

Link to Times Colonist article for further information....

Not content to live with one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country, Langford plans to start building subsidized rental apartment units as soon as next year.

Currently, no such units are being built in Greater Victoria, according to the Capital Region Housing Corp. -- despite figures released yesterday showing the region's vacancy rate is just 0.5 per cent.

"I would really like to see something built here in the next year. We've got the ability to do that. We've just got to find the land," Langford Mayor Stew Young said.

Link to Times Colonist article for additional information.....

A four-hour public hearing in Colwood Tuesday evening raised enough concerns from neighbours of a proposed development on Belmont Road that the planning and zoning committee asked developer Russ Ridley to revise his plan.

The committee and about 90 people in the gallery heard details of the two-tower, $230-million development that includes a component for veterans' housing.

Then the public had its say, and it seemed everyone either loved or hated the plan as it was presented.

Link to Times Colonist article for additional information.....

Most of us have been there. You're happily living your life in the place you call home and then a big white redevelopment notice board goes up on a nearby property.

Faster than you can say NIMBY, you decide you don't want that two doors down from your little nest where you relax with your morning coffee. You're no NIMBY, mind you. You're a guerrilla freedom fighter, saving the neighbourhood from the oppression created by capitalistic development. Or maybe not.

Jane Worton says maybe not. She's the co-founder of the YIMBY project. It stands for Yes In My Backyard.

Link to Times Colonist article for additional information ....

The number of towers planned for the property where the Bay parkade now sits has dropped to two from the original three proposed earlier this year.

Developer Rick Ilich of Richmond-based Townline Group said the design adjustment is in anticipation of completion of the $40-million Gateway Green office development by another developer across the street at Fisgard and Blanshard streets.

The changes are to improve light into the Bay site and increase neighbourhood livability, says a Townline letter to the city of Victoria. The exact design of the towers has not been finalized.

Link to Times Colonist article for additional information......

Two condominium towers, including one 19 storeys high, are planned for a downtown parking lot once touted as a location for a new provincial courthouse.

The City of Victoria had earmarked land at 750 Pandora Ave. for office development in a 1994 rezoning, but the current owner of the property, Rick Ilich of Richmond-based developer Townline Group, said the market in Victoria is for condominiums.

"Victoria is not a head-office town and never will be," Ilich said this week. "The projections of a pending shortage of commercial space [are] laughable."

He added increasing residential development in the north end of Victoria will help clean up the area, which in some parts appears seedy

Link to Times Colonist Article for additional information .....

Two condominium towers, including one 19 storeys high, are planned for a downtown parking lot once touted as a location for a new provincial courthouse.

The City of Victoria had earmarked land at 750 Pandora Ave. for office development in a 1994 rezoning, but the current owner of the property, Rick Ilich of Richmond-based developer Townline Group, said the market in Victoria is for condominiums.

Link to Times Colonist article for additional information....

More than a month after Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe promised to find homes for 50 street people within 120 days, there is no indication even one hard-to-house person has been identified or one home secured.

"I don't know, time will tell," Lowe said yesterday of meeting the deadline, which he says depends on the number of housing units available and how quickly proposed outreach teams mobilize.

Also, a governance structure, needed to implement the plan outlined in the mayor's task force report on homelessness released Oct. 19, has yet to be adopted.

Link to Times Colonist article for additional information.....

The federal government needs to put more money and create tax incentives to ease the housing crisis in Victoria, several groups told the federal finance committee, which was meeting in Victoria yesterday.

Henry Kamphof, the Capital Regional District affordable housing secretariat, who attended the hearing, said Canada is the only G8 country without a housing strategy and "we're at the bottom of the scale for providing any kind of tax incentive to create supportive housing."

The House of Commons standing committee on finance is swinging through several Canadian cities hearing submissions on ways to change the tax system in time for the 2008 federal budget. About 15 groups made presentations and topics ranged from the book publishing industry through to tax deductions for disabilities.

Link to Times Colonist article for additional information......

Esquimalt council has advanced a zoning bylaw that would see construction of a contentious 14-storey development at Constance Avenue and Admirals Road.

The first three readings of the bylaw -- four readings are required for passage -- were approved by council last night by a vote of 6-1, with Coun. Jane Sterk opposed. The bylaw was not up for final adoption because a development agreement for the proposed building is still being prepared.

The building, proposed for a three-lot site where three rental buildings now stand, would be Esquimalt's tallest. The municipality's recently amended Official Community Plan suggests 10-storey buildings in the area of the project -- although it also says higher buildings are acceptable "where appropriate" and if community benefits are provided.

Link to Times Colonist Article for additional information.....