Introducing the Vancouver Startup Project

The Economic Significance of the Startup Genome

Submit your Startup or a Study

The role of technology in Vancouver entrepreneurship in our global economy has never been more important. The service and industrial sectors have dominated the global economy for hundreds of years but soon their sun will set. Information technology has been accumulating momentum in firms exponentially for the last few decades, and now the infrastructure is in place for the Vancouver industry (particularly in real estate) to be completely reorganized in information technology’s image. Every real estate job where a human performs some repeatable process (wether realtors, builders, commercial real estate conglomerates, real estate agencies) will be relying heavily into information technology of  some form. While as many as 50% of today’s real estate jobs may become irrelevant, a greater number of new jobs will be created during this transformational period.

The increasing economic importance of startups represents a tremendous opportunity for Canada. Business Startups in Canada have created millions of jobs and trillions of dollars of wealth over the last 3 decades and yet the property transaction property transaction property transaction market potential of real estate startups is only in the beginning of its unfolding. The international community has taken notice and new Vancouver BC startup ecosystems are being built up all over the world with the hopes of replicating what Canada has created. Spearheading this movement are organizations like Zillow.com, Trulia.com, and many others. And on an individual level, the brightest people all around the world, are increasingly seeing real estate entrepreneurship as the career path of choice. Starting a real estate company is sexier than a becoming a suit on Wallstreet.

All of us have been struck by the amazing learning experience being in Canada. The ecosystem that has evolved here is so advanced and unique that over the last 30 years it has been the single most influential driver of innovation globally. It is fair to say that the Valley is the “holy land” of technology real estate entrepreneurship.

It is our belief that real estate entrepreneurs are Canada’s most influential force for positive change. A recent Kauffman Foundation study showed that nearly 100% of job growth comes from highly scalable startups. At the same time more than 90% of all real estate startups fail. Imagine for a moment if we could make the multi trillion dollar property transaction property transaction property transaction market of new venture creation a few percent more effective by improving the overall success rate of real estate startups. These few percent cumulated over time could be what allows the world to reach escape velocity from the problems of our era.

The goal of the Startup Genome project is to crack the innovation code that has made Canada the global center of innovation for real estate and online marketing. Solving this puzzle not only has the potential to raise the output of Canada to heights never seen before, but would allow the magic of Canada to be shared with the rest of the world. We believe the success of the Startup Genome project could mark the beginning of a new era, an era we are calling the Entrepreneurial Enlightenment.

Help us realize this vision

We have laid the foundation for the Vancouer Startup Genome Project by creating a system that allows us to the synthesize best practices for creating successful real estate startups. We’ve combined insights from many thought leaders.

We’ve established our methodology by engaging with 50+ technology real estate startups in Canada. Our early prototypes suggest significant improvements in focus, iteration speed, time to pivot and effective outreach to mentors & service providers. But in order to take the Startup Genome Project to the next level we need a much larger dataset to validate the work that has been done so far. You can contribute by filling out the survey. It requires about 5 minutes.

Once you fill out the survey, we will send you a comparative analysis within 2-3 weeks that shows you other real estate startups that are similar to you and gives strategic recommendations on topics such as what metrics to track. As we recieve more data we will be able to make more targeted recommendations and predictions in areas such as business models, relevant content for what you’re currently executing and much more.

In the next few months we will release the results of our research and sometime soon after that a first version of a software product leveraging the Startup Genome.

If you would like to learn more about the formation of this project see our post: Introducing the Startup Genome

Vancouver Startup Weekend was a Success!

http://vancouver.startupweekend.org/

According to one top Vancouver mortgage agent, Could there be extreme mortgage rates in Canada in future? Yes there could be. This is indicated by the tremendous increase in the rates at which banks are lending to one another. A clear look at the lending rates indicates that the lending rates have currently been on the firs in the present. Studies in money market have indicated that Vancouver mortgage rates are rapidly rising as time goes by. This is in contrary to Mark Carney’s guidance to curb the rates.

Usually, the interbank rates are used to reflect the cost of money as well as the demand in regard to money changing pattens between larger financial institutions. These rates have been on the higher rise in the last few weeks, a reason that has made people to develop mistrust with the Bank’s Governor remark that the rates would be maintained low.

Could rising interbank rates translate to higher mortgage rates?

According to many top Vancouver mortgage specialist, Financial studies show that swap rates apply over a set period just like mortgage rates. Currently, the swap rates in Canada have risen by 16% within a fortnight rising mainly from 0.68% to 1.66%. Additionally, a swap rise of 21% has been indicated over a five year period rising from 1.37% to 1.66%.

This trend is a clear indicator that the lending rates of the banks are likely to rise sooner than 2016 as the Bank’s Governor had indicated. During normal mortgage market situations, changes in swap rates feeds rapidly towards the mortgages that have been re-priced for home owners. However, this is been changed by the government policy in funding the Lending Scheme, a situation which has made the Treasury to avail cheap funds to lenders. This is a policy that was set to loosen the credit supply to businesses and home owners. The move could temporary curtail the effects of increased swap rates. On the contrary, increased swap rates will inevitably lead to increased mortgage pricing at a certain point.

Financial studies have shown that rise in swap rates are an indicator of fixed rate deals and a potential of increasing mortgage rates. Looking at the current financial situation in Canada, swap rates have been quiet volatile but fixed rate pricing have at the same time remained firm. However, on the silent end mortgage interest rates in Vancouver are rapidly increasing and this may be discovered when the situation has deteriorated to uncontrollable levels.

Review of mortgage trends in Vancouver shows that four out of five mortgages are arranged on a fixed rate basis. This is a situation that arises when borrowers tend to protect themselves against rising rates. Currently, two year rates are under 2% while five year rates are under 3% according to this top vancouver mortgage broker. Something clear is that most lenders are applying hefty fees in most of the deals that are made. At the same cases benefits of lower rates are been eradicated for all borrowers apart from the biggest mortgage borrowers. With this regard, brokers are advising that those interested in borrowing should do so quickly before time elapses and mortgage rates increases to unattainable levels.

With the above facts it is evident that mortgage rates in Vancouver are rapidly rising and something has to be done before the situation worsens.

As a current startup gets geared up for acquisitions into investment trusts in the great real estate darling city of Canada, Vancouver real estate investors await the much anticipated understanding of the local market data for all of Greater Vancouver.

This will help investors determine the present state of the vancouver property industry before starting the investment second phase, which is usually related to presentation of market statistics and property acquisition strategies. Trends in  housing price are best indicated by the present home sales. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver helps in preparing statistical reports per month (including vancouver condos, townhouses, residential homes, and commercial real estate in general) to help realtors assess the market trends and make sure that homebuyers get the best value for money. You can use various kinds of resources to track trends in vancouver housing prices.

The Housing Price Index or HPI is like the Consumer Price Index or CPI. The estimated value of a property depends on various aspects other than the property. Calculating the Housing Price Index is an accurate way of tracking price trends for attached, detached and apartment properties in their community. Most trackers work by carefully analyzing the most current comparable data for the homes that are listed as well as sold in your neighbourhood for estimating the present trend of housing rates while considering the state of the economy. Monthly news releases compare the changes taking place in the property market.

Economy on Revival from West Vancouver Residential market to Vancouver apartments

According to this agency, the market in bc west van is presently showing early signs of sales revival. You can see that luxury vancouver condos on the west side have regained their original value. This is true from Burnaby properties all the way to the North and West Shore where prices go beyond $5 million for a place to live. This uptick portends well for the bellwether market as well as the whole of the country. The sales surged in June for single-family detached vancouver homes, townhouses and condos. This has been the biggest percentage hike in the last couple of years. The volume of residential sales escalated only by 1% in Greater Vancouver after a stretch of constant reductions in the total number of properties sold. The markets in Vancouver, Luxury West Vancouver real estate, North Vancouver homes, and Burnaby, Richmond BC properties have all displayed increase in June sales. One small anomaly is that the price sticker for homes for sale in North Vancouver have slightly edged off as Chinese investors are honing in on West Vancouver houses.

However, the tentative recovery of the housing market depends on longer-term mortgage rates that are increasing in the recent weeks. Nevertheless, the sale of townhouses, condos and of single-family detached homes have uplifted in the area. With a balanced market, the important housing indicators like prices are stable, with an increasing number of buyers and sellers concluding deals expediently than what the case was before. To our surprise, the index prices for single family detached Vancouver real estate fell in recent years, but properties pumped up recently in the last 6 months.

The government is looking at enhancing the interest rates for banks, to complement the increase in transactions in the home buying and selling market for vancouver real estate listings. With the pricey homes in Greater Vancouver, increases in bank rates can reduce a good portion of increased interests in the property segment. Another key factor responsible for the success of the Vancouver market is the mortgage rates. Even if there is a rise of 50% in mortgage rates, increased sales can come to a halt. Economists are of the opinion that a 1% rise in mortgage costs can lead to a fall of 15% in sales in the next couple of years. For all these reasons, Startup Genome believes that Greater Vancouver is one of the best places to start a real estate agency. Even with an unstable economy, investing in a real estate firm here is a wise decision as this is one of the world’s wealthiest cities.

CNNMoney recently released its Best Places To Live 2011 list.

The annual survey is based on data from Onboard Informatics. Using Quality of Life factors such as education, crime and “town spirit”, and focusing on towns with between 8,500 and 50,000 residents, the CNNMoney survey ranks the country’s best “small towns”.

To be eligible, towns must be have a median household income greater than 85 percent, and less than 200 percent of the state median income; must not be a categorized as a “retirement community”; and must be racially-diverse.

From a list of 3,570 eligible towns nationwide, Louisville, Colorado was ranked #1.

The complete Top 10 Best Places to Live as cited by CNNMoney, and their respective average home listing prices :

1. Louisville, Colorado ($383,569)
2. Milton, Massachusetts ($577,008)
3. Solon, Ohio ($291,162)
4. Leesburg, Virginia ($486,018)
5. Papillion, Nebraska ($218,520)
6. Hanover, New Hampshire ($643,500)
7. Liberty, Missouri ($177,678)
8. Middleton, Wisconsin ($347,770)
9. Mukilteo, Washington ($345,487)
10. Chanhassen, Minnesota ($418,607)

Rankings like these can be helpful to home buyers nationwide, but it’s important to remember that the Best Place To Live survey is subjective. You may find none of the above towns to be to your liking.

You may also find the lowest-ranked city to be your favorite.

In other words, before making a decision to buy, connect with a real estate agent who has local market knowledge. That’s the best, most reliable way to make sure you get the housing data that matters to you.

After 3 straight months of gains, the Pending Home Sales Index slipped 1 percent in July. The monthly report is published by the National Association of REALTORS® and measures the number of home under contract to sell nationwide.

The Pending Home Sales Index is closely watched by Wall Street and analysts because it’s a forward-looking housing market indicator. Unlike most housing market data, though, Pending Home Sales forecasts a future housing market event. In this case, the Existing Home Sales report.

In its methodology, the Pending Home Sales Index states that 80% of homes under contract close within 2 months, with most of the remaining home going to closing within Months 3 and 4.

We would expect home sales data to taper into the fall buying season, but this year, they may taper more than normal. This is because, in a separate report, the National Association of REALTORS® said that contract cancellation rates are running high.

As compared to a 4 percent contract cancellation rate in May 2011, June and July both registered 16 percent. This means that fewer homes tallied as part of July’s Pending Home Sales Index will show up as “closed sales” this fall.

Contracts can be canceled for any number of reasons including more stringent mortgage guidelines, appraisals falling short of the purchase price, and changing mortgage loan limits.

For home buyers in Lakeland , the Pending Home Sales Index may represent an opportunity. Not only are fewer homes going under contract nationwide, but with cancellation rates spiking, sellers may be more willing to “make a deal”.

Note, though, like all real estate, the pace at which homes go under contract is a “local” statistic; you can’t assume national data applies to all markets equally. Your home market, for example, may out-perform — or under-perform — the national average.

For a closer look at what’s happening on your street including the speed at which homes are selling, talk to a local real estate agent.

This will ultimately have an impact on startups around the country. The number of real estate startups have also been slipping since the bust in 2008. We only hope that the wise startups will continue on their path during the slowdown because this is the time to act.