Truth be told, the name Silver came to mind simply because the development is on the corner of Silver Avenue and Beresford Street in Burnaby. And frankly, we thought ‘The Beresford’ was a bit unexciting for such a modern building.

So, we asked ourselves what it might mean if we called this shiny new residential tower Silver. We came up with a list of things it meant which could also apply to this “futuristic tower that will soon stand tall as a beacon of mixed-use modern design” ­– to paraphrase our recent article in 24 Hours Vancouver.

And here’s what we decided was true:

Silver is…. coveted, fashionable, new, 38 storeys, shiny, prestigious, modern, clever, precious, views, loved, metallic, brilliant white and more importantly, home. And, for most cultures around the world, silver means money and is equated with success, purity, brightness and fulfillment.

With that in mind we set out to design a logo that would recall those attributes and came up with the ‘S’ pattern that might be reminiscent of a high fashion brand, the pattern on a coin, or even a screen to divide spaces in a home.

We thought those are pretty fabulous attributes for our new project. And so, Silver became the name – not just because it’s on Silver Avenue but because it represents all that we think the building can and will be to those who choose to buy and live there.

Some of those attributes described above also apply to the neighbourhood. With Metropolis at Metrotown and its 300 shops just 200 metres away, the community already supports the notions of being coveted, fashionable and loved by many. And, with the transformation of Beresford Street, the area will become more precious, more modern, and more coveted.

Want to see how the name translates into reality? Then register at www.silverliving.ca so you can be among the first to see something we all might covet but few will own.

SPREAD THE GOOD WORD: If you’re a social media aficionado, LIKE us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and make sure to use our #silverliving hashtag in your tweets so we can follow the conversation.

Before we delve into some market and statistical talk, lets first define what is it is we do here at Intracorp in the Acquisitions department.

Acquisitions lies at the start of our development process.  We find, qualify and acquire development sites which are then passed on to our development team to continue the process.  As a project moves through the development process, Acquisitions is involved in pricing the residential component and selling the commercial component.  Furthermore, Acquisitions provides market intelligence at Intracorp and this involves consistently gathering and analyzing housing market data in order to inform our decisions.  One housing market metric that we track very closely is the Sales-to-New Listings Ratio as reported by the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board.

Now lets discuss this metric in a bit more detail.

Market Update

We watch the market intently in Acquisitions in order to determine where to look for opportunities.  Specifically, we track Supply and Demand metrics very closely.  As stated above, one of the metrics we track closely is the Sales-to-New Listings Ratio as reported by the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board.  This ratio measures the portion of new listings that sell in a given time period.   It is one of the measures that balances supply (listings) and demand (sales) providing insight into which areas are hot and which areas are not.  A ratio between 40-60% is believed to be a balanced market and prices will remain stable.  If it’s more than 60%, it’s a seller’s market.  If it’s less than 40%, it’s a buyer’s market.  For 2011 (Jan. to Dec.), Apartment Sales-to-New Listings Ratios were*:

• Burnaby: 58%
• North Vancouver: 52%
• Richmond: 50%
• Vancouver West: 53%
• Vancouver East: 55%

The above ratios imply a balanced market meaning prices are expected to remain stable.  Some food for thought about the always popular topic of Vancouver Real Estate.

To learn and read more on Acquisitions & our market updates, sign up for our quarterly magazine, EXTRA right here.

*source: Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver