1. Inspired design. Stirring, compelling architecture instills your sense of owner pride. Pride leads to an intense sense of fulfillment. And fulfillment leads to a relaxed, comfortable state of mind. A sense of relaxation while living in your home creates obvious benefits: better health, increased happiness, and the ability to cope with physical and psychological challenges. Well-designed, award-winning communities validate your lifestyle choices, while signature design elements enhance your individuality.

2. A trusted builder. A home is the largest personal investment you will make, both financially and emotionally. Make sure that your homebuilder will stand behind its craft. An extended warranty guarantees extended peace of mind and avoid unnecessary and unexpected maintenance costs. Outstanding customer service takes the dayto-day worry out of ownership and contributes to peace of mind.

3. Verified sustainability. Third-party certified sustainable home standards provide a triple bottom line for home owners. First, there's a direct financial benefit-for example, in your lower monthly energy bills. That feels good! Secondly, reducing your environmental impact enhances feelings of social responsibility. Finally, there's the knowledge that living "green" will improve the lives of others. Sustainably-built homes made from eco-consciously produced materials can offer a healthier environment.

4. Customization, not cookie cutter. You wouldn't like someone else telling you what to wear and how to act-why would your house be any different? You have your own style. Choose the way your home will look and feel inside.

5. A valued location. You get what you pay for; and the least expensive house will seldom fit your needs. On the other hand, affordability is important. The perfect home strikes a balance between what you need and what you desire. Enduring real estate value is usually tied to location. But it's more than that-today's homeowner deserves to be able walk to good retail shops, public transit, green, open spaces, and decent schools.

6. Truly useful amenities. A great amenity package should add an exciting new dimension to your life. A place to socialize, to recharge, to entertain, or to escape-where you can meet your neighbours, and make new friends. A worthwhile amenity program will make you feel good about your home investment.

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Residential sales picked up outside Metro Vancouver in October, according to a B.C. Real Estate Association report released Tuesday.

"B.C. home sales rose three per cent in October compared to September on a seasonally adjusted basis," BCREA chief economist Cameron Muir said in a statement.

"While consumer demand in Vancouver edged lower last month on a year-over-year basis, strong increases were recorded in the Fraser Valley, Kamloops, Kootenay, the North and on Vancouver Island."

Muir said that total active residential listings in B.C. declined by 3,360 units in October from September, although active listings were up 6.9 per cent from October 2010.

"Market conditions remained slightly in favour of home buyers last month."

Residential unit sales in the province rose 6.5 per cent to 5,865 units in October compared to the same month last year, while the average price was up 2.6 per cent to $535,695 last month compared to October 2010.

Year-to-date, B.C. residential sales dollar volume increased 16.8 per cent to $38 billion, compared to the same period last year, the BCREA said.

Residential unit sales increased 3.5 per cent to 66,922 units over the same period.

According to the report, the average Metro Vancouver price rose 8.5 per cent from October 2010 to October 2011 to $767,000.

Prices in the Okanagan dropped 14.3 per cent to $367,000 in that period, and fell 6.1 per cent in Victoria to $476,000.

Total sales dropped one per cent in Metro Vancouver in October compared to October 2010 to 2,359.

Sales rose two per cent in the Okanagan to 403 and were up 3.1 per cent in Victoria to 461.

New houses being built in Surrey, Langley and Burnaby helped push the Lower Mainland's October housing starts slightly higher than the same month a year ago.

In British Columbia, October's seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban housing starts moved slightly higher to 27,800 units from 27,400 units in the previous month according to the latest data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canada's national housing agency.

"So far this year, housing starts have been strong, higher than the same period last year," said Robyn Adamache, CMHC's senior market analyst, in a press release. "Multi family construction, including purpose-built rental projects, led the way during the first ten months of the year. Most construction during the first ten months of the year was in the cities of Vancouver, Richmond, and Surrey."

Countrywide, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of total housing starts decreased to 207,600 units in October, from 208,800 units in September.

Seasonally adjusted annual rates are monthly housing starts figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels.

The CMHC says this adjustment facilitates the comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historic annual levels.

Better housing forecast

B.C.'s Multiple Listing Service has forecasted a 3.2 per cent rise in residential real estate sales this year compared to last.

The B.C. MLS projects 77,000 units will be sold this year, up from 74,640 units sold in 2010. It also projects a further 3.9 per cent increase next year to 80,000 residential units sold.

“Low mortgage interest rates are expected to persist through 2012 keeping affordability on an even keel,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist, in a press release. “However, headwinds on the economic front will constrain consumer demand over the next year to below the ten-year average of 87,600 units.”

A record 106,300 residential sales were recorded by the MLS in 2005.

“Moderate consumer demand combined with larger inventories of homes for sale means BC housing markets will experience little upward pressure on home prices through 2012,” Muir said.

"The average MLS residential price in the province is estimated to rise 11.8 per cent to $564,600 this year, and is forecast to decline 2.5 per cent to $550,500 in 2012."

The sword of Damocles has never been a more apt metaphor when describing today’s economic environment. Stock markets are a bigger risk than spending the day at the casino and real estate has lost its Gibraltar-like air of certainty when it comes to having a secure place to put your money.

So, with all of the uncertainty and the prospect of the skies actually falling in the next year or two, why is it that some commodities continue to soar in price and desirability?

Exactly what commodities, you may ask? High-end collectibles, which range from rare Art Deco glass figurines and Tiffany lamps to rare antique and classic cars. Now, I know I have mentioned this on more than one occasion, but the continuing strength of the high-end collector car market continues to puzzle classic car collectors and enthusiasts and genuinely confuse investment gurus, who preach the placing of big money in more “sensible” investments.

To give you an idea of just how good an investment these cars have become, one only has to look at the performance of classic car auctions over the last few years. Where, once upon a time, the sale of a $500,000 car was treated as an event, in this market, a car valued at that level doesn’t make a ripple. Million-dollar-plus cars are becoming more and more the norm at a lot of auctions and it is not unusual for an auction house to post 10 or more cars selling at that level at just one sale. As a matter of fact, $4-million and $5-million cars are not uncommon. And now it takes a sale of $10-million for a car to really arouse media attention.

This August during the Pebble Beach Concours week, the Gooding & Company auction house achieved a world record auction price for a single car — $16,390,000 for a 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa prototype. (This is the same auction house that, by private treaty, sold a Bugatti Atlantique for $35-million a couple of years ago.)

At the same sale this summer, Gooding recorded 37 world record prices paid for cars. A Duesenberg Model J coupe established a record price of more than $10-million, putting an American-made car into territory normally occupied by European greats such as Ferrari and Bugatti.

The Canadian auction house RM also posted spectacular results at Pebble Beach, but that is not where it stops. RM has had several sales since then, and at auctions where prices would historically have been conservative — such as its event in Hershey, Penn. — prices this fall were still extraordinarily high. The world’s oldest running car, an 1884 De Dion Bouton steamer, sold for $4,620,000. That was despite a pre-auction estimate of $2-million to $2.5-million. Ten years ago, that car would probably not have sold for anything more than $200,000 or so. This all makes me feel good as I have a 1901 De Dion Bouton, and the sale of the 1884 De Dion can serve to pull up the value of other cars created by the same manufacturer.

There are several ways to play the game. One is to beat the bushes for extraordinary cars that are hidden in barns and garages. This is akin to hunting for Spanish treasure, although the odds are a bit higher. For instance, a rare original Italian car that I bought last year for $50,000 sold this year for $200,000 in its original shabby condition. I had even preserved the dust and detritus that was on it when it was pulled from its garage.

Another simpler method is to buy at auction, but this game is one of patience. While you can sometimes get a deal on the right car, most will invariably cost a premium. In some cases, aggressive bidding may end up with you as an investor paying a world record price — but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What this does is establish what someone (you) is willing to pay for the car. This means that it now has a new value exceeding its old value. Now, you can’t just throw it into the next auction or it will stall, but you can sit on it for a few years and then introduce it to potential buyers again. This is where you will likely make a killing.

Once people are comfortable with a car’s new price range, they will likely feel just as comfortable setting a new price range a couple of years down the line. This means that you are now a savvy player who can laugh all the way to the bank.

I used to advocate that cars are like art and should be bought because you like them first and secondly as investments, but, these days, with enough knowledge, there is little risk in buying them simply as investments. Seems a better bet than Research in Motion or Northern Telecom, doesn’t it?

Benchmark home prices in Metro Vancouver have increased 7.5 per cent to $622,955 in October 2011 from $579,349 in October 2010, according to the latest monthly report from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

However, since reaching its peak in June of $630,921, the benchmark price - that of a typical home - for all of the residential properties in the region has declined 1.3 per cent.

The report also said that sales of detached properties in October reached 974, which is about the same as October 2010.

In addition, new listings for all properties totalled 4,374 in October, which is an 18.3-percent increase when it is compared to October 2010, when 3,698 properties were listed for sale, and a 23-per-cent decrease compared to the 5,680 new listings in September 2011.

The total number of properties that are listed for sale now sits at 15,377, which is 9.3 per cent higher than the 14,075 properties that were listed for sale during the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the benchmark price of a single family detached home in the Fraser Valley in October was $530,335, an increase of 4.9 per cent compared to $505,759 in October 2010 and on par with the price in September, according to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.