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lowside67 · 10-10-2012, 09:35 PM

I wish I had a crystal ball... there are so many relevant factors at play.

On the one hand, there are so many units going up that it seems hard to believe that there is the demand to absorb them all. Yet on the other hand, sales for most developments have been brisk, and some such as Wall Centre and a few of the Pinnacle buildings have 100% sold out. At this point there definitely is some stagnating, most of the buildings such as Opsal, Meccanica, etc are around 50% sold after some time on the market. Opsal, for example, is the only high rise in the area, but it has been for sale for 3 YEARS! They actually shut down the sales center and re-opened after re-branding the project... to give you an idea of what a fail it was.

On the flip side, prices for new construction in the area have appreciated about 15% over 2010 levels... there are about 2 dozen assignments for sale at the Wall Center which is underway now and will be complete in early 2013, about a year ahead of most of the other projects. Many of these assignments are as much as 20% over the price of the original sale and are still competitive with the market. If you were there early in the presale for Wall, you could have bought a 16th floor penthouse unit 950sqft 2BR with a huge wrap-around terrace for around $600k - they sold several of them. Now, that same unit is $729k. On the flip side, you'd still have to pay north of $800k in the actual Olympic Village and few other buildings in the SEFC area will be as well well located as Wall is.

Personally, I've decided that speculating 2 years out is more risk than I am willing to accept at this point. I am looking at assignments as they come up in Wall as the time frame is much shorter - the interest rates are a real factor in this decision too. I can qualify for 2.9% fixed on 5 years and they will honour this rate for 6 months from my approval date, but if I want an 18 month spot on a 5-year fixed rate, it's at 4.5%! This, combined with the taxes to be paid, make it a much less attractive bet for me.

Mark

10-10-2012, 09:35 PM	#90
lowside67 Old School RS Join Date: May 2004 Location: Port Moody Posts: 4,641 Thanked 4,157 Times in 1,262 Posts Failed 130 Times in 80 Posts	I wish I had a crystal ball... there are so many relevant factors at play. On the one hand, there are so many units going up that it seems hard to believe that there is the demand to absorb them all. Yet on the other hand, sales for most developments have been brisk, and some such as Wall Centre and a few of the Pinnacle buildings have 100% sold out. At this point there definitely is some stagnating, most of the buildings such as Opsal, Meccanica, etc are around 50% sold after some time on the market. Opsal, for example, is the only high rise in the area, but it has been for sale for 3 YEARS! They actually shut down the sales center and re-opened after re-branding the project... to give you an idea of what a fail it was. On the flip side, prices for new construction in the area have appreciated about 15% over 2010 levels... there are about 2 dozen assignments for sale at the Wall Center which is underway now and will be complete in early 2013, about a year ahead of most of the other projects. Many of these assignments are as much as 20% over the price of the original sale and are still competitive with the market. If you were there early in the presale for Wall, you could have bought a 16th floor penthouse unit 950sqft 2BR with a huge wrap-around terrace for around $600k - they sold several of them. Now, that same unit is $729k. On the flip side, you'd still have to pay north of $800k in the actual Olympic Village and few other buildings in the SEFC area will be as well well located as Wall is. Personally, I've decided that speculating 2 years out is more risk than I am willing to accept at this point. I am looking at assignments as they come up in Wall as the time frame is much shorter - the interest rates are a real factor in this decision too. I can qualify for 2.9% fixed on 5 years and they will honour this rate for 6 months from my approval date, but if I want an 18 month spot on a 5-year fixed rate, it's at 4.5%! This, combined with the taxes to be paid, make it a much less attractive bet for me. Mark __________________ I'm old now - boring street cars and sweet race cars.