Few great authors spring up overnight. Most work odd jobs while they struggle to create. The Literacy Site shares these stories of the famous before they became famous:

J.D. Salinger. Before breaking onto the literary scene, the author of The Catcher in the Rye and other classics, worked as an entertainment director on a Swedish cruise ship.

Langston Hughes. The would-be poet worked as a busboy at a prestigious Washington, D.C. hotel. One day the well-known poet Vachel Lindsay came to lunch, and Hughes worked up enough courage to show her some of his poems. Lindsay was impressed by his talent and resolved to help get his name out, which led to him being discovered and going on to lead the Harlem Renaissance.

Kurt Vonnegut. The future author of Slaughterhouse-Five and other classics, owned the first Saab dealership in the U.S. He went on to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II, which had a major impact on his subsequent writing.

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The Canadian economy expanded by 0.4 per cent. That is below Statistics Canada's original preliminary estimate of 0.7 per cent and follows a slight contraction in July.  The continued easing of restrictions was a main driver of growth in August, with increases in the accommodation and food service, retail trade and transportation sectors making strong contributions.  


However,  Statistics Canada's preliminary estimate for September  GDP is showing flat growth, which points to overall third quarter growth registering about 2 per cent on an annualized basis, in line with third quarter growth in the United States and well under the Bank of Canada's more rosy forecast of 5.5 per cent.  The middle quarters of 2021 have been fairly disappointing in terms of economic growth, with the economy contracting in the second quarter and underwhelming in the third. However, we anticipate that the economy will bounce back in the fourth quarter with Canadian real GDP expanding 4 per cent and carrying momentum into 2022.

Link:  https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-monthly-gdp-august-2021

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

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BCREA 2021 Fourth Quarter Housing Forecast

Vancouver, BC – October, 2021. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2021 Fourth Quarter Housing Forecast today.

Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province are forecast to rise 29 per cent to 121,450 units this year, after recording 94,013 sales in 2020. In 2022, MLS® residential sales are forecast to pull back 15 per cent to 102,750 units.

“After a frenzied start to the year, activity in BC housing markets has settled back to a level that is broadly in-line with long-run trends. The strength of the first half of this year has sales on track to easily break the previous record for annual sales,” said BCREA Chief Economist, Brendon Ogmundson. “While we do not anticipate a repeat of the record-setting market of 2021, we do expect housing market activity to remain vigorous in 2022,” added Ogmundson. 

Given strong demand and very low active listings, particularly in smaller markets around BC, the average home price in BC is projected to rise 17 per cent in 2021. Prices are forecast to rise about 3 per cent in 2022 as the composition of home sales changes due to normalizing demand for single-family homes and a recovery in active listings helps the market balance out.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

To view the BCREA Housing Forecast PDF, click here.

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I have sold a property at 312 7089 MONT ROYAL SQ in Vancouver
I have sold a property at 312 7089 MONT ROYAL SQ in Vancouver.
Champlain Village bright & beautiful south facing 2 Bed/2 Bath unit with den/flex space in desirable Champlain Heights! Completely and beautifully renovated! New kitchen & bathroom all with 3cm quartz counters, new cabinetry and stainless steel appliances. Gorgeous wide plank engineered oak floors & Hunter Douglas blinds throughout. Fantastic layout w/ bedroom apart both w/ their own full bathrooms, open kitchen w/ breakfast bar & lots of counter space. Large Living & Dining area w/ cozy gas fireplace. Home features oversized windows facing a quiet & peaceful treed walkway. Private sunny south facing balcony accessed from living & 2nd bedrm. Steps away from grocery, banking, restaurants & library. Close to transit & Community Centres. James Cook & Killarney Catchment. 1 parking included.
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Shortly after being forced out of Apple Computer, Steve Jobs bought a small computer manufacturer named Pixar.

In 2000, he relocated the company to an abandoned factory. The original plan called for three buildings, with separate offices for computer scientists, animators, and the Pixar executives. Jobs immediately scrapped it. Instead of three buildings, he wanted a single vast space with an atrium at its center.

As Pixar’s Ed Catmull explains, “The philosophy behind this design is that it’s good to put the most important function at the heart of the building. Well, what’s our most important function? It’s the interaction of our employees. That’s why Steve put a big empty space there. He wanted to create an open area for people to always be talking to each other.”

Jobs saw separated offices as a design problem. He shifted the mailboxes to the atrium, then moved the meeting rooms, cafeteria, coffee bar, and gift shop to the center of the building. “The atrium initially might seem like a waste of space,” says director Brad Bird, “But Steve realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen.”

Jobs insisted that the best creations occurred when people from disparate fields were connected, especially in an age of intellectual fragmentation.

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The Bank of Canada maintained its overnight rate at 0.25 per cent this morning, a level it considers its effective lower bound. The Bank reiterated what it calls "extraordinary forward guidance" in committing to leaving the overnight rate at 0.25 per cent until slack in the economy is absorbed and inflation sustainably returns to its 2 per cent target. The  Bank projects that will not occur until near the third quarter of 2022.  Of note, the Bank is ending its quantitative easing program of bond purchases and moving into what it terms the reinvestment phase where its Government of Canada bond purchases will be made solely to replace currently maturing bonds. In its statement, the Bank noted that growth in Canada is robust and it expects the economy will grow 5 per cent this year and 4.5 per cent in 2022.  However, shortages of manufacturing inputs and labour are limiting the economy's productive capacity in the short-term, leading to upward pressure on consumer prices. As a result, the Bank expects inflation to remain elevated into next year.

The Bank is currently challenged by the highly abnormal circumstance of an economy that is in many ways booming, from retail spending to the housing market, but one that is also suffering through significant supply side shocks from overwhelmed ports, global factory shutdowns and labour market shortages. The optimal monetary policy for the current environment is far from clear. The Bank's current timetable suggests a rate increase near the end of 2022, but we expect the Bank to take a cautious approach over the next year, carefully watching for signs that elevated inflation is becoming more persistent.

Link:  https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/bank-of-canada-interest-rate-announcement-1rtzggsi0j

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

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I have sold a property at 1004 5833 Wilson AVE in Burnaby
I have sold a property at 1004 5833 Wilson AVE in Burnaby.
Desirable Central Park/Metrotown VIEW condo @ Paramount Tower I by BOSA Appia Group. Fabulous SE corner unit w/2 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, gas fireplace, insuite laundry + large 168 sqft covered balcony. Lvgrm & 2 bedrooms opens out to balcony for your extended outdoor living. Well maintained concrete high rise w/live-in caretaker. Amenities include Gym, Dry/Steam Sauna, Library, Lounge room w/kitchen & pool table. Super convenient location, walking distance to Old Orchard/Crystal/Metrotown Malls, Theatres, Library, Bonsor Rec Center. Steps to Central Park & Patterson/Metrotown Skytrain stations. Easy commute to DT Vancouver, BCIT & SFU.
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Success breeds more success, or so they say. But a study reported in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology seems to suggest that watching other people succeed lowers the motivation to strive for success on your own.

In an experiment, a group of test subjects watched videos of people completing a series of puzzles. Another group was shown videos where the puzzles were not solved, and a third group watched no videos at all. Then the groups were asked to complete similar puzzles themselves.

Subjects who had watched the puzzles get completed actually had the lowest rate of completion. Scientists call this “vicarious goal satiation,” explaining that watching others achieve goals can provide a sense of achievement that drains the motivation to accomplish goals on one’s own. The lesson: to prime yourself for success, focus on what you need to do, and don’t get distracted by others’ efforts - successful or not.

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In September, sales, new listings and housing starts in BC all declined somewhat from August, extending the calming trend relative to peaks in March. While MLS® sales rose slightly in most regions of the province, a decline in the large market of the lower mainland caused a decline overall. Rental rates remain elevated in Victoria and Vancouver relative to pre-pandemic levels amid generally high consumer price appreciation.

Retail sales in BC rose in August to a fresh record, with sales 8.6 per cent above the same month last year. As of October, restaurant reservations in Vancouver are near the highest level since the onset of the pandemic, at roughly 80 per cent of the pre-pandemic level. This contrasts with a drop in reservations in Montreal and Toronto relative to post-pandemic peaks in late August. In BC, Google’s measure of movement trends remains high, although below the peak in late summer, currently about 14 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.

Although aggregate employment has recovered in BC to pre-pandemic levels, the accommodation and food service sector is about 9 per cent below the pre-pandemic level. The labour market has served high-income workers much better than low-income workers. Employment in high-income industries is about 10 per cent above pre-pandemic employment levels, while employment in low-income industries is about 6 per cent below pre-pandemic employment levels. Manufacturing in BC dropped for a second month in August mostly due to a 18 per cent drop in sales of wood products. Exports in the province edged up in August, while imports surged 21 percent to a fresh record. Consumer and business confidence in BC contracted slightly in September amid new COVID-19 restrictions. In August, US tourists finally began reentering the province, hitting roughly 20 per cent of the February 2020 level. 

For a more comprehensive overview of BC's economic recovery, click here

BCREA's updated COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard is available here

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

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Canadian seasonally-adjusted retail sales rose 2.1% to $57.2 billion in August. The rise was driven by sales at food and beverage stores (4.8%), gasoline stations (3.8%), and clothing and clothing accessories stores (+3.9%). COVID restrictions were generally eased across the country in August. According to Statistics Canada's survey, just 0.6% of retailers were closed at some point in August. Preliminary estimates, based on roughly 54% of respondents reporting so far to the agency, indicate that retail sales declined 1.9% in September. 

In BC, sales rose 1% to a fresh record in August, erasing a drop in July. Compared to the same month last year, retail sales were up 8.6% in the province. Only food and beverage store sales, electronics and appliance sales, and health and personal care sales were not up on a year-over-year basis in August. In the Greater Vancouver region, sales rose 2.7% month-over-month and were up 16.2% year-over-year. 

In August, Canadian e-commerce sales rose from $2.8 billion to $3 billion. As a result, e-commerce increased from 4.6% of total retail sales in July to 4.9% in August. This percentage is lower than at most points since the onset of the pandemic but is elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels. 

Link:  https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-retail-sales-august-2021

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

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