Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[GabAlmighty]

I think it is still in the very very early stages, still working to approve the zoning with the city I think.

If you're familiar with the area, essentially the cedar mill next to Rocky Point got bought and they're making that into a 5+ tower NewPort type area. At least that's the plan.

edit: Flavelle Oceanfront http://www.flavelleoceanfront.ca

edit2: Personal opinion is I think you'd be stupid not to try and get as many presales as possible. Oceanfront in one of the most desirable suburbs of the lower mainland...

[Eff-1]

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

That's a low number. Some pre sales is like 90%+ sold before it goes for public and most of the good units are sold already.

yeah but this is $1600 psf!

[Traum]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

I think it is still in the very very early stages, still working to approve the zoning with the city I think.

If you're familiar with the area, essentially the cedar mill next to Rocky Point got bought and they're making that into a 5+ tower NewPort type area. At least that's the plan.

edit: Flavelle Oceanfront Flavelle Oceanfront Development

edit2: Personal opinion is I think you'd be stupid not to try and get as many presales as possible. Oceanfront in one of the most desirable suburbs of the lower mainland...

Looking at the proposed plans, let's assume there are 4 rows of residential buildings proposed at the site.

From my experience, I suspect the 2 rows (of buildings) closest to the railway tracks will experience vibrations and such from the passing trains.

Additionally, zoning and construction is going to take a long time. With the site at Clarke & Moody that I mentioned, the rumours I heard was that the developer was having a hard time finding enough workers to get started on the project. I'd also imagine some level of resistance from the local residents to slow the rezoning application. If Mayor Mike Clay continues at the mayoral office though, the projects will push through. He is very pro-development at the expense of residences.

(Full disclosure: I had a few run ins with him in the past, and I did not like him at all. IMO, he is not there to protect the Port Moody residents' interests.)

[Hondaracer]

One thing to consider for your parents is if they get getting into a town home, the stairs.

When I was still in the industry you’d be amazed how many older couples would sell their detached home, move into a townhome or row home that essentially consist of nothing but stairs, only to move out a few years later because the sheer volume up stairs you deal with on a daily basis is too much for older people

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

One thing to consider for your parents is if they get getting into a town home, the stairs.

When I was still in the industry you’d be amazed how many older couples would sell their detached home, move into a townhome or row home that essentially consist of nothing but stairs, only to move out a few years later because the sheer volume up stairs you deal with on a daily basis is too much for older people

Apartments or Townhome that's attach to apartment are better. Although is more expensive.

[twitchyzero]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Nothing like paying $1200/sq ft to live next to dem refugees

and Joyce was a shit hole in the 80s/90s
it's cleaned up a lot and I suspect Norquay may be similar

[winson604]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

One thing to consider for your parents is if they get getting into a town home, the stairs.

When I was still in the industry you’d be amazed how many older couples would sell their detached home, move into a townhome or row home that essentially consist of nothing but stairs, only to move out a few years later because the sheer volume up stairs you deal with on a daily basis is too much for older people

Totally my life right now lol. Was living at the father/mother and laws place the last 10 years on the main floor and never had to deal with the stairs because we rarely went upstairs. Just moved into our townhome which has 3 sets of stairs we deal with on a daily basis.

1. About 4-6 steps to our front door
2. About 15 steps from the front door into our main floor
3. About 15 steps from the main floor to our 2nd floor where the rooms are

Ok so the first 2 we don't deal with a ton just when we come and go but the stairs between the 2 floors are a huge pain in the ass right now lol but I guess it's giving me a work out

[Mr.HappySilp]

Got an offer for my apartment $615k over asking. I listed as $608k. Not sure if I should accept the offer or wait for a higher one since I only listed for a week and only did a day for open house......

[MarkyMark]

Gotta love Vancouver.

Offers over asking... "I'll think about it."

[Traum]

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

Got an offer for my apartment $615k over asking. I listed as $608k. Not sure if I should accept the offer or wait for a higher one since I only listed for a week and only did a day for open house......

At a minimum, your realtor must have helped you looked up all the recent sales in your building and in the nearby area, right? In terms of per sq ft price, how does $615k compare to the other recently sold units?

The condo / apartment market seems to be thoroughly confusing to me at this point. Some places are really quiet, and others seem like there isn't a market slow down at all. A unit at my complex sold quite a bit above asking after a weekend's worth of open house, while 2 other ones in the same complex sat for 3+ and 5+ month, respectively.

One important factor to consider is -- if your unit sits for more than "a few" weeks after it initially goes on the market, buyers and realtors are going to shy away from it. They'll either think there is something wrong with the unit, or they'll think the owner is a PITA to deal with and only fishing for a high price. IMO, the greatest amount of interest is almost always generated within the first 2 weeks of the apartment unit coming onto the market. After that, the level of interest kind of trails off and it becomes really easy for the sale to get stale. The tricky bit is, how long do you want to wait for your sale to gain exposure, versus how quickly interest drops off because the buyers think there is something wrong with your unit.

[Liquid_o2]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

Gotta love Vancouver.

Offers over asking... "I'll think about it."

That is because most home owners aren't old enough to remember a time when the market wasn't hot. Asking price is actually just a starting price for the bidding.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by Traum

At a minimum, your realtor must have helped you looked up all the recent sales in your building and in the nearby area, right? In terms of per sq ft price, how does $615k compare to the other recently sold units?

The condo / apartment market seems to be thoroughly confusing to me at this point. Some places are really quiet, and others seem like there isn't a market slow down at all. A unit at my complex sold quite a bit above asking after a weekend's worth of open house, while 2 other ones in the same complex sat for 3+ and 5+ month, respectively.

One important factor to consider is -- if your unit sits for more than "a few" weeks after it initially goes on the market, buyers and realtors are going to shy away from it. They'll either think there is something wrong with the unit, or they'll think the owner is a PITA to deal with and only fishing for a high price. IMO, the greatest amount of interest is almost always generated within the first 2 weeks of the apartment unit coming onto the market. After that, the level of interest kind of trails off and it becomes really easy for the sale to get stale. The tricky bit is, how long do you want to wait for your sale to gain exposure, versus how quickly interest drops off because the buyers think there is something wrong with your unit.

I think she did help a lot. She is been in the business for a long long time and most deals with homes that's a few million (She won't really deal with lower price house) so she is helping out as a friend this time. I wasn't to get an offer this quick to be honest, I was expecting about a month or so at least. Maybe she is good with connections and creating hype? She only did open house once on Sun and had over 10 + groups of people in...... not sure how she got so many people because for nearby open house that I went to only a handful or less people went......
As per Sq is around $1200/sq ft/ I agree with you price is so weird with apartments now. Literally a few apartments away units were listing for mid 550k to 600k but a block away is 620k+. Size is almost the size everything is almost the same.

[RiceIntegraRS]

^this is why I don't deal with realtors like this, sounds like she's not putting in the effort into selling ur place cause she's doing u a favor and she's making peanuts compared to what she usually makes off selling houses. For me the dead giveaway was having only 1 open house on Sunday, why not Saturday as well..... Anyways if ur at all happy with ur offer, I'd go back and make a counter offer, depending on how much more it is, I don't see them losing out on the sale for anything around 10k extra

[Hondaracer]

Both realtors I dealt with when we sold our appt gave me a stack of like 20 comparable sales in my building as well as others they printed off through MLX so I could see every single option and the sales history.

Imo I kinda agree she isn’t doing her job if she hasn’t laid out every option to you. Is your unit the best example that’s come up for sale? Are there nicer units that have sold for more/less

Imo you shouldn’t be just fishing for a number, you should know 100% whether to take a number or not.

Just because she’s “big” doesn’t mean shit in terms of service. I dealt with two massive Burnaby realtors who sell hundreds of homes a year and they both put the time and effort in on my “small” listing and the realtor I ended up going with actually did all 3 open houses at my place herself.

[Harvey Specter]

VANCOUVER—In the past six months, realtors working across Metro Vancouver say they’ve seen market conditions go from highly competitive multiple offers and condo pre-sale lineups, to falling prices and developers offering up to $100,000 “bonuses” in an attempt to lure buyers.

The correction is taking some time to work through the market, but the realtors pinpoint April as the month when conditions began to change. While the single family detached market has been softening for some time — ever since the previous B.C. government introduced a foreign buyer tax in the summer of 2016 — the latest change has affected condos and condo pre-sales, from the very high-end in downtown Vancouver, to mid-range and entry-level product in the suburbs.

It’s a dramatic change from a price run-up in condos that started in the fall of 2016, which also spilled over into a bubbly flipping market for pre-sale condo assignments.

Ian Watt, a realtor with Sothebys, focuses on high-end condos in downtown Vancouver, Yaletown and Coal Harbour. He pegs the price correction in that market at 10 to 15 per cent over the past six months, with very little movement in the highest-priced condos. Steve Saretsky, a realtor with Sutton Group West Coast, estimates Vancouver condo prices have declined four to five per cent since the peak of the market in January 2018.

Statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver show that Vancouver condo prices have declined 0.3 per cent over the past three months.

“In June and July there has been one sale of a unit above $3.5 million, which is unheard of,” Watt said.

“Usually you’d have five to 10 sales a month, but we’ve only had one in the last six weeks. Everything above $2 million is pretty much dead; anything related to international money is gone right now.”

Prices have also declined for downtown condos in the $600,000 to $700,000 range, Watt said.

In relatively affordable Langley and Abbotsford, where a two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhome goes for between $300,000 and $400,000, it’s a similar story: seven or eight weeks ago, sellers would receive multiple offers. Properties are now sitting on the market for longer, said Tim Sawatzky, a realtor with 2 Percent Realty Valley.

Where it was once common to see lineups to buy condo pre-sales contracts, Sawatzky said developers in Surrey, Langley and Abbotsford are now offering a variety of incentives, such as a $20,000 “furnishing package,” or between $20,000 and $40,000 off the closing price when the building is completed. (When buyers purchase a pre-sale condo contract, they typically pay five to 15 per cent of the price up front and then pay the full amount after the building is completed.)

A client recently sent Saretsky a brochure offering $100,000 off the “developer’s price” at 3755 Chatham, a lowrise condo building planned for Richmond’s Steveston neighbourhood.

In New Westminster, which had a rapid run-up in condo prices in 2017, things have similarly cooled, said Geoff McLennan, a realtor with Re/Max Advantage. It’s meant a less stressful experience for buyers, who are no longer having to compete with many other buyers and make rapid offers without having the time to fully research the property or place conditions on the sale.

At the high end of the market, Watt said the B.C. government’s increased foreign buyer tax, from 15 to 20 per cent, and the Chinese government’s stricter controls on money transfer out of the country, have been factors in that part of the slowdown.

But the realtors peg new federal stress test rules as the main reason the mid-range market has cooled. The tighter restrictions came into effect in January 2018 and mean that even buyers who have a 20 per cent down payment must also meet an additional test to ensure they can afford their mortgage if interest rates rise.

Watt and McLennan say what they’re seeing is not a collapse, but a return to more normal real estate conditions in what’s been a highly overvalued market.

“My advice to sellers is, it’s not 2017 anymore,” Watt said. “It’s back to reality.”

But as inventory continues to build because of the dramatic drop in sales, a much bigger price correction could be on the way, Saretsky warned.

“Prices are always sticky on the way down,” he said. “Fifty per cent of listings today are recycled,” meaning that the property has been listed, removed, and re-listed, usually with a change in price. “It’s almost like price discovery: what is my home worth.”

Jen St. Denis is a Vancouver-based reporter covering affordability and city hall. Follow her on Twitter: @jenstden

https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/20...-realtors.html

[Ch28]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

and Joyce was a shit hole in the 80s/90s
it's cleaned up a lot and I suspect Norquay may be similar

It took them like 20 years to clean up, and even now it's still not the best area. Quite a bit of crime still in the area, not to mention all the hooker dens, and sexual assaults. Obviously, this can happen anywhere, but it's not like the entire area is completely scrubbed clean.

[Ch28]

Anyone else find it really odd how realtors didn't come out and say shit when the market was hot, but now that the market has slowed a bit, we're constantly being bombarded with 'news' of the market slowing down?

I'd like to think that most of us in this thread are smart enough to do our own due diligence prior to buying, but this seems nothing more then trying to drum up more FOMO to get buyers back into the market.

[CivicBlues]

Realtors:

- Market is HOT! Buy now or be forever priced out!

- Market is slowing down! It's a great time to buy as you won't be involved in bidding wars!

- Market is dead! Great time to buy and pick up some deals!

- Asteroid crashing to the Earth! Great time to buy some new brownfield land! Cheap, cheap, cheap and hot, hot, hot!!

[Harvey Specter]

Reality is starting to set in that the market is returning to a "normal" RE cycle where the gains are slow and steady and there's no multi offer, flip a house in a day and sell it for a crazy profit a few months later. In a way it might be good if the market stays this way because it'll get rid of all the useless and shady realtors. The OG realtors will survive like they always do but panic is setting in for the realtors who joined the game when the market was hot and were living way beyond their means and can't pay their bills now. Either you ride it out and be smart with your money or find a safe profession.

[Hondaracer]

The realtors who got all their friends and family to sell their homes and now have no clientele lol

[G]

For all the realtors in here :

Q: How much do buyers value a layout/size vs price? i.e. if a 1 bedroom has a better layout and is bigger by 100sq.ft. would they pay/favor that over a 1 bedroom that has a weird layout but is cheaper?

[yameen]

Originally Posted by G

For all the realtors in here :

Q: How much do buyers value a layout/size vs price? i.e. if a 1 bedroom has a better layout and is bigger by 100sq.ft. would they pay/favor that over a 1 bedroom that has a weird layout but is cheaper?

you might've gotten it mixed around. but for me, when i bought into the lowrise wall centre, i had a few options but i chose a unit that's smaller (520sqft) with a more efficient layout over a larger unit (560sqft) which seemed smaller because of walls everywhere and an impractical layout. they were roughly around the same price. I don't know why the lowrises in the wallcentre has been selling for more than the high rises or maybe it's just a coincidence? but I believe i bought at the peak when i bought in May =(

[Hondaracer]

who cares if it is more sq ft if it's all hall way, or mechanical room

[Ch28]

Originally Posted by G

For all the realtors in here :

Q: How much do buyers value a layout/size vs price? i.e. if a 1 bedroom has a better layout and is bigger by 100sq.ft. would they pay/favor that over a 1 bedroom that has a weird layout but is cheaper?

https://www.rew.ca/properties/R22843...d-vancouver-bc

I thought the sq footage was good to either live in or rent out because of the proximity to Joyce Station and Kingsway. Saw this listing at the Wall Centre on the weekend because it was priced decently, but the layout is weird.

The kitchen is right after the entrance and there's no windows, so it's really dark in there even with all the lights turned on. The only source of natural light coming in was from the living room area, but there's a small hallway that only allows minimal light. If the lights were off in the kitchen then it'd be pretty damn dark. The right of the kitchen has a den that is pitch black if the light wasn't on. The bedroom was quite small but the living room area was of a decent size and had a ton of natural light. It's a NE facing unit so you get a lot of natural sunlight in the living area and bedroom, but the entire den, kitchen, and entrance is walled off.

Saw another listing in the building beside it that was about 50 sq ft smaller, but roughly the same price. If I had the choice between those two then I'd definitely go with the smaller place because the bedroom was bigger and the overall functional space was much more efficient. The fact that there's no dark spots in the condo makes the place also look a little more spacious

[68style]

Expert or opinion wanted: I have a 1 bed + den and it’s got a fake electric heater fireplace that has never worked since I moved in, it’s housed in a large drywall enclosure where they basically force you to hang your TV up above it... it’s annoyingly high and too close to the couch I feel I’m always staring upwards, I got a quote for someone to come in and just tear out the whole box it would make the living room so much more spacious and I could put the TV at sitting level height... but my wife insists that it will destroy resale value to lose the fireplace. I disagree completely, they won’t even know it wasn’t there or likely won’t care and frankly I don’t care about that, I want to be able to watch TV in comfort lol...

What do the professionals here think about the value going down from removing a useless fireplace?

Massive structure in question: