Vancouver Condo Info

Reductimat sent in a link to this article on News1130 about the recent Angus Reid poll on home prices. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an article that lays down so many giant day-glow dots and then refuses to connect them. From the photo of several condo towers under construction downtown (supply) to the demand side economics “three-quarters of current home owners say they could not afford the prices currently being charged for real estate in their neighbourhood.”

Its tough to pick the best gem from this brief article, but I like this paragraph :

Lucas Marshall from Angus Reid says waiting could cost you even more money. “It’s dangerous…chances are prices aren’t going to be more favourable, and most people who do own homes say they’re very lucky they got in when they did.” In fact, 95% of current owners who took part in the survey said they’re happy they bought when they did.

Are you kidding me? How many people holding an asset that’s shot up in value are going to be unhappy with their purchase? 5 percent apparently. And since when did past performance create any sort of guarantee for future results?

Lucas says the overall message from the survey is do your best to buy now because prices are not likely to drop.

So when was the last time a poll indicated a price drop, and if we reach the point were %100 percent of owners couldn’t afford the house they’re living in at current prices where are we going to find buyers? The move-down crowd?

REsteven has just started a blog to track current market stats for the GVRD and FV – this is similar to Rob Chipmans numbers blog (rireb), but REsteven is breaking the stats down by area. I’m looking forward to seeing how the inventory issue plays out with rising rates.

Whether house prices continue to go up or not, they just got more expensive – The Bank of Canada is set to raise interest rates for the first time in more than a year.

After tomorrow, bank officials make their next decision on Sept. 5, followed by Oct. 16 and Dec. 4. In its last statement in May, the central bank said “some increase in the target for the overnight rate may be required in the near term to bring inflation back to the target”.

Once the current batch of locked-in preapproved rates have worked their way through the demand side of our housing market we’ll see what effect this rate increase will have.

Theres a related story today in the Tyee:

Two-in-three Canadians think houses in their neighbourhood are overpriced, according to a poll released today by Angus Reid Strategies. Almost three-in-four homeowners say they could not afford a down payment on their house as it’s presently valued. And the vast majority of Canadians rank home ownership as a top priority, but are pessimistic about their chances of buying a house in the current market.

Here’s the open topic for Friday July 6th – Talk about anything to do with the Vancouver Real estate market here. A few topics I’ve noticed this week:

- June Stats released, SFH benchmark price of $717,715
- Storage locker business booming
- Edmonton prices fall and listings boom
- US home equity loan payments not coming in on time.

What are you seeing out there? Post your news, anecdotes and links here!

One more step up the mountain – the Benchmark price for a detached home in Vancouver hit $715,715 last month according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Here’s my standard short term graph, we’re one month short of a year on it:

Townhomes and apartments were up as well – according to the REBGV this was the “second best June on record”. The attached benchmark hit $443,060 while the benchmark condo now goes for $360,469:

Last year prices saw a high point hit in September – Where will this years peak be?

Thanks to Agent Will for the stats package.

City staff are considering ways to allow for more office space in Vancouver despite the opposition of some residential developers. Options include allowing for taller buildings and expanding the boundaries of the ‘office only’ central business district. City planner director Brent Toderian points out the need to consider what sort of office space is appropriate for the type of Jobs vancouver typically creates:

Skyscraper-type office buildings in Vancouver’s central business district are typically attractive to head offices or high-end professional firms. “There is still a question about whether Vancouver can be that kind of downtown,” said Toderian. “The fundamental question is are we going to attract the jobs to this city that require high buildings.”

Toderian says there won’t be much point in allowing tall office towers in the central business district if there aren’t enough large businesses to occupy them. “We don’t want to kid ourselves by saying we have created capacity simply by allowing more height. We want to make sure we create real capacity.”

Instead, the city might produce more useable office space by allowing more height and density in areas such as Yaletown and Broadway, which tend to serve the “smaller users” that are more typical of the city’s downtown businesses.

Residential developers seeking space for new condos developments are concerned that the city is over-estimating how much office space it will need.

Condo marketer Bob Rennie, who is involved with key projects all over the city, warned in May there is a risk condo prices will skyrocket if the city constricts too much the amount of land available to them.