Sun
”Vancouver is the . . . Swiss bank account of [international] real estate.”
– Cameron McNeill, MAC Marketing Solutions,at a local homebuilders’ conference
By virtue of representing more local developers over the years than they could name (unprompted, of course!) the MAC partnership of Cameron McNeill (left in the photo below) and Jason Craik (right) is one of the leading conduits of offshore money into local real estate. So when McNeill says the city is a deal (relatively) and desirable (extremely) for real-estate buyers from outside North America, we locals should listen up.
By his reckoning almost 80 per cent of the buyers of new product downtown are residents of China, Korea or India. And they don’t find daunting square-foot list prices for a Coal Harbour concrete apartment of $750 to $1,000 or a Yaletown apartment, without a view, of $550.
These prices, by the way, mean Vancouver is still a cheaper buy than Seattle, McNeill says. Story, D14
LOCAL HOME STARTS DROP 21 PCT. IN NOVEMBER
Number of homes started in metro Vancouver last month: 1,341
Percentage change, between November 2005 and November 2004: -21
Number of multiple-residential homes started in metro Vancouver last month: 913
Percentage change, between November, 2005 and November, 2004: -30
”Fewer housing starts were expected in November after achieving a record . . . in October. Typically, multiple housing starts, which comprise three-quarters of all new construction activity, vary widely from month to month.”
— Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., on the November starts
“Solid housing market fundamentals are driving consumer demand.
Strong employment growth, rising wages and relatively low mortgage rates continue to induce home purchases in greater Vancouver.”
— Cameron Muir, the lead market-watcher in the national agency’s Vancouver office
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
