I  was scrolling through our Facebook page and noticed a headline by our friend Miss604 about Ashiana Tandoori.

Way before kids, we lived within walking distance of Ashiana (in East Van). Before that, we lived within walking distance of Vij’s,  back when it was half the size, Rangoli, didn’t exist and if you wanted a table, you had to wait in line outside, no matter what the weather (although they usually brought you tea if it was cold and/or wet). But back to Ashiana…

The food was great and, well, we could walk home, which made it more enjoyable in the form of sharing a full bottle of Gewürztraminer with our dinner; our favourite wine for spicy Indian food.

At first I didn’t bother to open the Facebook post because, well, living so far away from Ashiana, I didn’t want to torment myself by reading about it. Then I noticed the word Surrey in the subtext. I clicked on the link and read to my delight that Ashiana has opened in Surrey (their website doesn’t seem to note this as of yet).

Backtracking once more, I remember when we first moved to Surrey years and years ago, I thought; as a lover of spice/curry/tandoori, that it would be wonderful to live in a city that had so many Indian residents and, no doubt, some amazing Indian restaurants. Well, it turns out, we had a difficult time finding Surrey’s answer to Ashiana for Tandoori, or  Vij’s for South Indian flare. Apparently, the Indian community doesn’t eat out at Indian restaurants often enough to warrant many establishments other than those catering mostly to weddings and events.

So, Ashiana, is now available in Surrey and Vij’s; coming to South Surrey. Most of us live minutes from a beach (or two). It’s like a poor man’s Kitsilano (you know, houses are only $1 Million  not $3 Million). Of course, if we keep saying how wonderful it is here, $3 Million can’t be far behind.

Our community is slowly starting to take (new) shape.

The City of Surrey is transforming its waste collection process to reduce emissions and divert waste from landfill.

 

---

Starting October 1st, 2012, residential waste will be collected using new state-of-the-art automated Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks, which emit 23 per cent less carbon emissions and 90 per cent less air particulates, compared to traditional diesel trucks. Studies show, replacing one diesel truck with a CNG truck is the equivalent to taking 475 cars off the road each year.
The new services will help residents separate kitchen and yard waste from solid waste by collecting organics separately from garbage, which will help the City meet its 70 per cent waste diversion objective before 2015. In the future, the organic waste will be delivered to the City's proposed Organics Biofuel facility, which will process it into fuel to power the waste trucks.
The new contract includes the use of standardized waste carts, which will be delivered in advance of the start date to all households receiving City waste collection service. The new carts will improve aesthetes and minimize scattered litter.
"The City of Surrey's new direction for waste collection and processing will help establish a benchmark in North America, and will go a long way to creating cleaner, more sustainable communities in the region," says Mayor Dianne Watts. "It's important for municipalities to demonstrate and advance new technologies, and to help facilitate new ways of reducing waste."

The City of Surrey is transforming its waste collection in order to reduce emissions and divert waste from the landfill.

The City approved a new residential waste collection contract this week with BFI Canada, and the new services come into effect on October 1st, 2012.

Under the new contract, residential waste will be collected using new state-of-the-art automated Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks, which emit 23 per cent less carbon emissions and 90 per cent less air particulates, compared to traditional diesel trucks. Studies show, replacing one diesel truck with a CNG truck is the equivalent to taking 475 cars off the road each year.

In addition, the new services will require residents to separate kitchen and yard waste from solid waste, which will help the City meet its 70 per cent waste diversion objective by 2015. In addition, the organic waste will be delivered to the City’s future Organics Biofuel facility, which will process the material into natural gas that will be used to fuel the waste trucks.

The new contract includes the use of standardized waste carts, which will be delivered to all households currently receiving City waste collection service in advance of the start date. The new carts will improve aesthetes and help minimize scattered litter.

The attached Corporate Report, Appendix 1, Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 which was approved by Surrey Council. This report provides greater detail of the City’s decision relating to the award of the Waste Collection Services Contract and the proposed service changes.

City staff is working towards a communications plan which will ensure that Surrey’s customer base is well informed of the required changes well ahead of the new contract start date.

Please provide us with any of your comments regarding the above by filling out the form below. Alternatively, you may contact the City of Surrey Waste Hotline at 604-590-7289 or by letter at:

City of Surrey Engineering Department
Solid Waste Management Section
14245 – 56 Avenue
Surrey, BC
V3X 3A2

Thanks to the City of Surrey for supplying this information

  OTTAWA – April 16, 2012 – According to statistic^[1]s released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national resale housing activity edged higher in March 2012.

Highlights:

• Home sales rose 2.5% from February to March.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 1.6% above levels in March 2011, the smallest year-over-year increase since last April.
• The number of newly listed homes eased 0.3% from February to March.
• While still well balanced, the national housing market tightened due to the rise in activity.
• The national average home price edged down 0.5% on a year-over-year basis in March.

Sales activity over MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations rose 2.5 per cent from February to March 2012. The increase lifted national activity to its highest monthly level since April 2010.

Activity in March was up from the previous month in two-thirds of all local markets, with Toronto, Calgary, and Edmonton contributing most to the national increase.

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 1.6 per cent above levels in March 2011, the smallest year-over-year increase since last April. It reflects moderate gains in a number of major centres, including Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City. Increases in these housing markets offset larger declines in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, where activity last year ran at unusually strong levels.

A total of 108,373 homes traded hands in the first three months of the year. This is 5.0 per cent above the five-year average for first quarter sales, 3.8 per cent above the 10-year average, and 4.4 per cent above activity in the first quarter of 2011.

New listings were little changed following their uptick in February, having edged lower by 0.3 per cent on a month-over-month basis in March. The number of newly listed homes declined from the previous month in just over half of all local Canadian housing markets, and rose in almost all of the remainder.

“The spring housing market is off to a good start,” said Wayne Moen, CREA’s President. “The number of sales and newly listed properties are up from levels last year, and the vast majority of housing markets remain balanced. That said, all housing is local, so buyers and sellers should talk to their local REALTOR® to understand current and prospective trends where they live.”

The national housing market remains well balanced, although the monthly increase in sales activity caused the balance between supply and demand to tighten slightly.

The national sales-to-new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, stood at 55.1 per cent in March. This remains firmly in balanced market territory, but is up from 53.6 per cent in February. Based on a ratio of between 40 and 60 per cent, more than half of local markets were balanced in March.

The number of months of inventory stood at 5.7 at the end of March on a national basis, down slightly from 5.8 months in February. The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and is another measure of the balance between housing supply and demand.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in March 2012 was $369,677, representing a decline of one half of a percentage point from the same month last year.

“Average prices are up from year-ago levels in most large urban centres,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “The slight decline in the national average price points to a tug of war between Toronto and Vancouver from the standpoint of their sales mix compared to last year.”

“The national average price was skewed higher last spring by record level high-end home sales in some of Vancouver’s priciest neighbourhoods. It was expected that this would not recur this spring, which the latest sales figures confirm. The decline in average price reflects the change in Vancouver’s sales mix, not housing price deflation.”

“At the same time, overall home sales activity in Toronto is stronger than it was last spring, and higher-end home sales are up from year-ago levels. Being by far the most active housing market in Canada, Toronto represents the single biggest factor supporting national average price compared to last year.”

¹ All figures in this release except average price are seasonally adjusted. Removing normal seasonal variations enables meaningful analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends.

PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national MLS^® sales information from the previous month.

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

Shred-A-Thons this weekend.

There are two shred-a-thons this weekend. One is being held at Semiahmoo Mall. Proceeds will go to The SouthSurrey/WhiteRock Food Bank. The other is in Ocean Park. Proceeds will go towards a new sports court & playground for the kids at Ocean Cliff Elementary.

Game Saturday, Mar 17 2012, 08:30 AM

All proceeds of this will go to the BC Cancer Foundation via the Ride to Conquer Cancer. Thank-you to everyone who came out to my last fundraiser game on Dec 28th. We raised almost $800! Not to mention it being a fantastic game. The cost of the ice time is coming out of my own pocket, so I am asking for a minimum donation of $25 towards the game

The Garage Sale list is a bit small this week, but better than last week. I’ll bet you can find some good finds at this weeks. Click on the photo for the map.

Happy New Year!

Similar to the holiday season, there are few sales going on at the moment. However, that does not mean that there is not quality to be found in the ones going on.

Click on the photo for the map and list.

2011 REAL ESTATE MARKET SHOWCASES REGIONAL VARIATION

(Surrey, BC) – Overall, Fraser Valley’s real estate market in 2011 was below the 10-year average in property sales and above average in the number of new listings received, however, according to the president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, results varied widely depending on the community and property type.

Fraser Valley Real Estate Board President, Sukh Sidhu observes, “I can’t remember a year that illustrates better how local real estate is and the importance of talking to your REALTOR® before making a decision to buy or sell. For example, in my community of Abbotsford, sales of single family homes dropped by almost 7 per cent compared to 2010, pushing prices down slightly, while in South Surrey/White Rock sales increased year over year by 45 per cent resulting in double-digit price increases.”

The Board’s Multiple Listing Service® processed 15,529 sales in 2011 compared to 14,891 the previous year, an increase of 4 per cent, while the number of new listings remained about the same – 31,592 in 2011 compared to 31,437 in 2010. Over the year, the number of active listings for buyers to choose from dropped by 9 per cent going from 8,139 properties in December 2010 to 7,399 in December 2011.

Although 2011 ranks the third slowest year for sales in Fraser Valley since 2002, it was only 10 per cent less than the 10-year average of 17,210 sales. The volume of new listings received in 2011 was 6 per cent more than the 10-year average of 29,867 new listings, placing last year third in ranking since 2002.

Sidhu adds, “One trend from 2011 that is clear was the preference for single family homes. For the most part in our region, both sales and prices of townhomes and condos either stayed on par with 2010 or decreased.”

In December, the benchmark price of a detached home in the Fraser Valley was $522,998, an increase of 3.3 per cent compared to $506,145 in December 2010 and a decrease of 1.7 per cent compared to November.

For townhouses, the benchmark price in December was $315,330, a decrease of 2.1 per cent compared to the same month last year when it was $322,054 and down 3.8 per cent compared to November. The benchmark price of apartments in December was $237,285, a decrease of 1.2 per cent compared to December 2010 and a decrease of 0.5 per cent compared to November.

Average prices year over year show detached homes up 9.1 per cent – $610,269 in 2011 compared to $559,456 in 2010. The average price of townhomes increased by 2.6 per cent, going from $336,484 in 2010 to $345,138 in 2011 and the average price of apartments increased by 0.9 per cent going from $223,910 in 2010 to $225,976 in 2011.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is an association of 2,893 real estate professionals who live and work in the BC communities of North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford, and Mission. The FVREB marked its 90-year anniversary in 2011.

Full package: Here

STEADY DEMAND FOR HOMES HEADING INTO THE HOLIDAYS

(click photo to download stats)

(Surrey, BC) – The November property sales in the Fraser Valley are up slightly compared to last year and didn’t experience the usual month-over-month seasonal decline.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,120 sales in November on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), an increase of 3 per cent compared to the 1,084 sales during the same month last year and a decrease of 2 per cent compared to 1,139 sales in October. In the last decade, sales decreased on average 9 per cent from October to November.

Board president, Sukh Sidhu says, “Given the time of year, Fraser Valley is experiencing steady buying activity with notable month-over-month increases in the sale of homes with an attractive price point.

“For example, townhome sales in central Surrey increased by 20 per cent in one month and in Langley by 43 per cent.” Sidhu adds, “Fraser Valley offers buyers the key value of affordability. Currently, over half of our townhomes and condos are listed for $289,000 or less.”

While sales remained stable, MLS® inventory decreased from October to November, typical for the time of year. The board posted 1,926 new properties in November, an increase of 9 per cent compared to November of last year and a decrease of 23 per cent compared to October. November finished with 9,471 active listings in the Fraser Valley, 5 per cent more than the same month last year and 5 per cent less than October’s 10,005 listings.

Sidhu says, “Even with fewer listings coming on stream, buyers can still take advantage of almost nine months of inventory, which is putting downward pressure on prices in certain areas and property types.” Prices for a typical Fraser Valley apartment are down year-over-year and month-over-month, while both single family detached and townhomes are still showing positive price gains compared to November last year and remain stable compared to October.

In November, the benchmark price of a detached home in the Fraser Valley was $532,086, an increase of 5.4 per cent compared to $504,848 in November 2010 and an increase of 0.3 per cent compared to October.

For townhouses, the benchmark price in November was $327,764, an increase of 2.5 per cent compared to the same month last year when it was $319,623 and up 0.7 per cent compared to October. The benchmark price of apartments in November was $238,461, a decrease of 1.6 per cent compared to November 2010 and a decrease of 2.2 per cent compared to October.