Vancouver No. 1 in most expensive area to buy a home

Duffie Osental
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

According to survey conducted by Century 21, Greater Vancouver comes up on top as Canada’s most expensive metropolitan area to buy a home.

Vancouver has eight neighbourhoods in Canada’s top ten most expensive areas in price per square foot, with its downtown coming in at first place at an average price of $1,345 per square foot.

To collect this data, Century 21 asked its franchisees to track the average price per square foot in their local markets from January 1 to June 30 of each year. This information was then compared with past data to gather insights on pricing trends.

“This year’s annual survey of prices per square foot underline that many Canadian markets are seeing fluctuating prices,” said Brian Rushton, executive vice-president at Century 21 Canada.

“In several urban areas we saw prices decline in one suburb but increase in the neighbouring one. That trend has very likely only increased further since our cut-off for data earlier this summer. Now more than ever it is important to have good information when making real estate buying and selling decisions.”

Downtown Vancouver and West Side Vancouver take the top two slots, with the average price per square foot of the latter neighbourhood at $1,147. Downtown Toronto and Montreal are the only neighbourhoods in the top ten that are outside of British Columbia.

Copyright © 2018 Key Media Pty Ltd

Three-bedroom townhomes launch onni group?s master-planned tsawwassen landing community

Simon Briault
The Vancouver Sun

Tsawwassen Landing

Project location: 4738 Hemlock Way, Tsawwassen

Project size and pricing: the 30 first-phase townhomes at Tsawwassen Landing start at $669,900 and top out at $785,900. They range in size from 1,325 to 1,530 square feet

Developer: Onni Group

Architect: Yamamato Architecture

Interior designer: In-house

Sales centre: 4789 Fisherman Way

Hours: noon — 6 p.m., Sat — Thurs

Telephone: 604-638-3500

Website: www.onni.com/tsawwassenlanding

Tsawwassen is somewhat of a “hidden gem” in Metro Vancouver, observes the Onni Group’s Andrew Joblin, but odds are, it will be far less hidden in the years ahead.

Work has begun on residential development on a 270-acre piece of land just west of the huge new Tsawwassen Mills mall, and Onni has almost half that property — 120 acres — for its new master-planned community, Tsawwassen Landing. The company is beginning the development with 30 three-bedroom townhomes, with future townhome phases to come, as well as single-family homes and low-rise condominium buildings. There will eventually be more than 1,000 residences.

Tsawwassen, says Joblin, is “kind of tucked away from the rest of Metro Vancouver. A lot of people who grow up in Tsawwassen end up staying there, so it’s a very well-connected and close-knit community because of that. There are lots of great schools, it’s very family-oriented and there are quite a few parks in the area.”

The development will be right across the street from Tsawwassen Mills, which is north of Highway 17 and features an astonishing 1.2 million square feet of retail space and a 1,100-seat food court. There’s also Tsawwassen Commons mall nearby, which has big-box stores like Walmart, Canadian Tire, Rona and PetSmart.

Apart from the location, the pricing of the homes on offer has proven to be a big factor for many buyers, according to Joblin.

 “There are lots of buyers from the local area because there is definitely a shortage of new townhomes around there,” he said. “But we’re also seeing people coming from other areas of Metro Vancouver that are looking for some more affordable housing options.”

“A lot of times, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a townhome that is under $800,000 in Metro Vancouver,” Joblin added. “This is an excellent option, especially because you can be in downtown Vancouver in about 30 minutes. That’s why we’ve got people coming from Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby, where you’re often looking at $1 million and over for a townhome. This is a much more affordable price point.”

First-phase townhomes at Tsawwassen Landing, all of which have three bedrooms and either side-by-side or tandem garages, start at $669,900 and top out at $785,900. They range in size from 1,325 to 1,530 square feet.

“Some of them are really quite large and they’ll be great for growing families or downsizers who want a little less to do in terms of upkeep but still need space to host family and guests during holidays,” said Joblin. “Electric fireplaces are included with all living rooms and they have natural marble surrounds that complement the marble features in the kitchen. It’s a nice statement piece for the living room and it’s a feature that you’ll often find as an upgrade option. But we’re including that as standard.”

Those kitchen features include white quartz countertops, kitchen islands, built-in pantries, marble backsplashes, overhead pot lighting and a choice of either walnut veneer flat panel or shaker-style cabinetry. The appliance packages are by KitchenAid.

Main bathrooms have soaker tubs or frameless glass showers, quartz countertops, ceramic tiles and shower niches. Master ensuite bathrooms have floor-to-ceiling tiled walls, frameless glass showers and/or soaker tubs with pressure-balanced rain shower heads.

One of the biggest draws of the homes at Tsawwassen Landing is sure to be the gargantuan common amenity space that comes with them. This will include a swimming pool and hot tub, a gym, squash courts, a steam room and sauna, a lounge and entertainment suite, a children’s play area and an outdoor sports court. There will also be a yoga room and a golf simulator.

 “In many developments, you’ll have maybe 8,000 to 15,000 square feet of amenity space, whereas this is 30,000 square feet,” Joblin said. “It really adds a lot of value to the townhomes to have that amount of extra space to meet with your neighbours and entertain guests.”

“It’s great for a rainy day with the kids,” Joblin added. “You don’t even have to get in the car and drive to a community centre. It’s the kind of place where I would want to live if, for example, I wanted to have a workout either before or after work. I wouldn’t have to worry about driving to a gym – it’s right there at my doorstep. If it’s sunny out and you want to take the kids swimming, there’s a pool right there. It’s like having all the benefits of a community centre just steps from where you live.”

The first homes at Tsawwassen Landing are scheduled to be move-in ready in the spring or summer of 2020. Onni’s sales centre at 4789 Fisherman Way is open from noon to 6 p.m. every day except Friday.

© 2018 Postmedia Network Inc.

Incentives attractive in cooler market caused by reduced job, population growth

Glenda Luymes
The Vancouver Sun

First-time homebuyers leaped at the chance to live mortgage-free for one year in response to a Langley developer’s offer to make their mortgage payments.

The savvy marketing move by Kerr Properties, the developers behind The Landing, 78 one- and two-bedroom condos in Langley, attracted several buyers before the promotion ended last week, development manager Travis Tournier said Friday.

“People really seemed to like it,” he said, adding “we hope to bring the promotion back in the future.”

Real estate analysts say creative purchasing incentives could become more popular as the Lower Mainland’s housing market begins to cool and prices come down.

Realtor and analyst Steve Saretsky said cities farther from Vancouver seem to be “cooling a little quicker” due to the one-two punch of a sales drop and inventory spike. Langley was the region’s strongest condo market just one year ago, with year-over-year price growth peaking at 51 per cent in December 2017. But in the months since, inventory has jumped 387 per cent and sales have declined.

Saretsky said the trend is concerning, although he cautioned the glut is exaggerated because 2017 saw inventory hit record lows.

“Some of last year’s demand was built on speculation,” he explained.

The trend seems to be hitting Abbotsford and communities farther east as well. In October, home sales plummeted 50 per cent year-over-year in the Fraser Valley, while prices also dropped.

A Canada Mortgage and Housing Association forecast released earlier this week said slowing population and employment growth have cut into housing demand in the region.

But the developers behind The Landing remained optimistic.

While Tournier agreed that the market has “absolutely changed,” he expects it will impact pre-sales the most. Kerr’s project, which is six to eight months from completion, is seeing significant interest from first-time homebuyers who harbour no illusions about breaking into the Vancouver housing market, no matter how much it cools.

Saving for a down payment continues to be one of the biggest barriers for people starting out, and the developer’s offer of one year free mortgage has proven popular, he said. Buyers must put 10 per cent down, while the developer “matches” that with a cash-back payment of five per cent, which works out to about one year’s mortgage. At closing, the developer gives the buyer the five-per-cent payment allowing them to essentially live mortgage-free for one year.

Tournier said the idea was hatched when the developer realized many first-time buyers borrow money from their parents for their down payment. The cashback allows them to repay the debt quickly, making it a more effective incentive than simply reducing the condo’s price.

Units at The Landing range from just above $300,000 to under $500,000, with the average price falling around $400,000. A 10-per-cent down payment would be about $40,000, while the five-per-cent cashback would likely work out to about $20,000. According to an online mortgage calculator, the monthly mortgage payment for a $400,000 unit, less the down payment, would be about $1,862 with a 3.84-per-cent, three-year fixed-rate mortgage.

© 2018 Postmedia Network Inc.

Sales forecast to rise 12% in 2019, says BCREA

Steve Randall
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

Home sales in British Columbia have been subdued during 2018 and are expected to end the year 23% lower than 2017 with 80,000.

The figures from the British Columbia Real Estate Board (BCREA) reflect the tough year the province’s housing markets – especially Vancouver – following policy changes including the mortgage stress test and interest rate hikes. It could have been worse though had the economy not remained supportive.

But there is better news ahead with sales forecast to rise 12% in 2019 to 84,000 units, just above the 10-year average of 80,000.

“The marked erosion of affordability and purchasing power caused by the mortgage stress test and rising interest rates continue to be a drag on the housing demand,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “However, continuing strong performance in the economy combined with favourable demographics is expected to push home sales above their 10- year average in 2019.”

Most markets in BC have moved to balanced conditions with fewer sales and rising inventory. That has meant an easing of price appreciation which is expected to more closely track consumer price inflation in 2019.

Record construction in BC is also bringing new supply to the market which BCREA believes should further support price stability.

Copyright © 2018 Key Media Pty Ltd

City says Beedie’s numbers on homes and park space in huge redevelopment of former mill site are still subject to public consultation

Gary McKenna
Vancouver Courier

The City of Coquitlam is pushing back against several assertions made by a developer about its plans for the Fraser Mills site in southwest Coquitlam.

During a presentation last week to the Real Estate Institute of BC, David Roppel, Beedie Living’s director of residential development, said plans for the riverfront project included 16 acres of park space, 118 market-rental units and 117 below-market rental units. 

But Jim McIntyre, Coquitlam’s GM of planning and development, said some of the numbers are still being discussed and that any final agreements for the site would be subject to public consultation. “The project is still in review,” he said. “It hasn’t had the full-blown public consultation process yet. That is all to come.”

One area of disagreement between the city and the developer appears to be how much park space will be included in the project. According to Beedie’s Fraser Mills website, the area will include “16 acres of public park, a state-of-the-art public aquatic and recreation centre, comprehensive pedestrian and bike trails, pier, plaza… and other amenities.”

McIntyre said the amount of parkland proposed is actually much smaller because Beedie’s 16-acre figure includes 6.9 acres of environmental preservation areas, including 1.9 acres of riparian space around Como Creek and five acres of greenway habitat compensation.

“Under federal and provincial government legislation, this green space protection would be required of any development,” McIntyre said. “The true usable park total is about 9.4 acres.”

In a follow-up email, Roppel acknowledged that while much of the land will be used for open spaces, including a foreshore walkway, riverfront park and riverfront plaza, some of the 16 acres includes riparian planting. 

McIntyre said any talk about hard numbers around market and below-market rental housing is premature, noting that the figures are still under discussion. There is also a disagreement over the size of a public aquatic complex Beedie would be required to provide as part of the development.

While Roppel and Beedie’s website state the facility is expected to be 40,000 sq. ft., the number has yet to be finalized and is still part of negotiations. 

At completion, the 95-acre Fraser Mills development is expected to contain 4,700 residential units in 16 to 18 towers. The project is also expected to include employment space for at least 1,500 jobs.

 

^{SETTING IT STRAIGHT}

Re. “Beedie lays out plan for massive Fraser Mills dev’t. that will be years in making” (The Tri-City News, Nov. 2).

The referenced story incorrectly reported that Beedie Living’s Fraser Mills development planned in southwest Coquitlam would have 13,000 sq. ft. of commercial/retail space. In fact, while the final number is still being negotiated, it is expected to be significantly higher, creating enough floor space for at least 1,500 jobs. The article also stated that an aquatic centre included in the project would be 30,000 sq. ft. But in a follow-up interview, Beedie stated the facility is expected to be 40,000 sq. ft., although the final number has yet to be finalized with the city.

Glacier Community Media © Copyright ® 2013 – 2018

Canadian Housing Starts ? BCREA

BCREA

Canadian housing starts increased 9 per cent on a monthly basis in October to 205,925 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR).  The trend in Canadian housing starts continued to moderate lower, averaging 206,000 units SAAR over the past six months. In BC, total housing starts rebounded slightly in October after a sharp September decline. Total starts were up 17 per cent to 29,861  units SAAR and but were still down 45 per cent year-over-year. On a monthly basis, starts of multiple units were up 30 per cent to 25,464 units SAAR while single detached fell 8 per cent to 7,784 units SAAR. Compared to October 2017, multiple units starts were down 51 per cent while single detached starts were 22 per cent lower.   Looking at census metropolitan areas (CMA) in BC: 

• Total starts in the Vancouver CMA bounced back somewhat in October, rising 26 per cent on a monthly basis to 14,238 units SAAR as multiple units starts rose 41 per cent from September. However, starts have been trending lower for the past few months and were down 49 per cent compared to October 2017. Most new construction activity in October was concentrated in the City of Vancouver, which accounted for over half of all starts in the Metro Vancouver area.

• In the Victoria CMA, housing starts fell 12 per cent in October to 2,728 units SAAR but were 71 per cent down year-over-year. However, on a year-to-date basis, housing starts in Victoria are just 6 per cent below the record level set in 2017.
• In the Kelowna CMA, new home construction remained slow in October, falling 7 per cent to just 629 units SAAR. On a year-over-year basis, total starts were down 64 per cent to just 62 total units.  While housing starts in Kelowna have fallen off of the record pace of 2017, they remain on pace to finish above the 10-year average for the city.

• Housing starts in the Abbotsford-Mission CMA nearly tripled from September to 1,734 units SAAR due to 120 new multiple unit starts in October. On a year-over-

50 Electronic Avenue part of a transformation in Port Moody?s core

Michael Bernard
The Province

50 Electronic Avenue

What: 358 homes ranging from one- to four-bedroom units in two six-storey wood-frame buildings

Where: 50 Electronic Avenue, Port Moody

Residence size and prices: From $459,000 for a one-bedroom home; from $649,900 for a two-bedroom home and $879,000 for three-bedroom units (four- bedroom homes available in phase two)

Developer: Panatch Group

Sales centre: 50 Electronic Avenue, Port Moody

Hours: noon — 5 p.m., Saturday to Thursday

Phone: 604-492-2202

Twenty years ago, when Kush Panatch bought a 3.5-acre parcel of industrial land opposite Port Moody’s downtown, he knew it might take a long time for it to appreciate in value. What he hadn’t anticipated was the new SkyTrain Evergreen extension or the nearby Westcoast Express station would make it excellent space for a 358-unit condominium development.

“I remember coming here. I went down and walked around the park. It was simply a big industrial area with a sawmill,” Panatch said.

Called 50 Electronic Avenue, the two six-storey buildings are part of a transformation the area has been undergoing in recent years.

Panatch’s family business, the Panatch Group, is fuelling that urban renewal with an offer to help young families get started in real estate by offering a rent-to-own scheme for some 30 homes in the complex.

The plan, developed after some Port Moody council members expressed concern about the lack of affordable housing in the neighbourhood, provides below-market rentals for qualifying families. Panatch said those families are given the option two years later to buy the home by applying the money they have saved on the discounted rent and receiving credit for all rent payments they have made.

The project, designed by Rob Ciccozzi and his firm Ciccozzi Architecture Inc., works hard to engage with the community and to “activate” street life on both Murray Avenue and Klahanie Drive, which the two buildings border, Ciccozzi said.

Interiors were designed to combine traditional elements with modern innovations to make family living more convenient and practical, say Cheryl Broadhead and Nicole Duval of BYU Interiors.

A tour of the two show homes — a two-bedroom unit with a rooftop patio and a one-bedroom unit — illustrate how the firm maximized the use of space. The homes make liberal use of pantry cupboards extending into the space adjacent to the kitchens. The two-bedroom home features his-and-hers closets and drawers in a corridor leading to an ensuite.

Medicine cabinets are incorporated into all bathrooms, as are the accompanying niches for storage around the mirrors.

BYU was also responsible for planning the use of Club 50, the amenity building, which has a separate area for children attached to an outside playground, a video arcade for teens and a lounge area for adults.

The amenity also has a fitness facility, yoga studio, dog-wash room, bicycle repair room, media room and co-working space with two boardrooms.

Kitchens come with a Bosch high-performance wall oven, a 30-inch gas cooktop, and quiet dishwasher with custom panel, a 36-inch Fisher & Paykel french-door refrigerator with ice maker, a Panasonic stainless steel microwave and Venmar hood fan. Countertops are quartz with a waterfall edge and porcelain tile backsplash.

The homes come in light and dark colour palettes and have open floor plans with nine-foot ceilings.

© 2018 Postmedia Network Inc

“Strong economy, favourable demographics” will push market to recovery, asserts B.C. Real Estate Association

Joannah Connolly
Western Investor

Although home sales on the MLS across B.C. are expected to be 23 per cent lower in 2018 than last year, they will bounce back by around half that in 2019, according to a November 8 forecast by the B.C. Real Estate Association.

Having topped 103,000 sales in 2017, this year’s transactions are predicted to total around 80,000 by the end of December, said the BCREA. Next year, however, the association expects a rise of around 12 per cent to total 89,500 home sales across the province.

That figure would be a healthy annual sales total, with the 10-year average of provincial home sales standing at 84,800 units.

The graph above shows that the bulk of the sales recovery is expected to be seen in the Lower Mainland/Southwest region, with more incremental increases across the province.

The association also said it expects the growth of the average home sale price to steepen again, after a relatively modest 1.3 per cent annual increase in 2018 to $718,600. It is forecasting a record $760,000 average sale price next year, which would be a 5.8 per cent year-over-year rise.

he BCREA said that its bullish forecast was based on a strengthening economy and a surge of demand from the two largest buying groups – Millennials entering the market, and downsizing Baby Boomers.

Cameron Muir, BCREA’s chief economist, said, “The marked erosion of affordability and purchasing power caused by the mortgage stress test and rising interest rates continue to be a drag on the housing demand. However, continuing strong performance in the economy combined with favourable demographics is expected to push home sales above their 10-year average in 2019.

Copyright © 2018 Western Investor

Survey of home costs per square foot reveals gaping bang-for-buck differences between neighbouring areas

Joannah Connolly
Western Investor

Despite the recent market slowdown, condos in downtown Vancouver and detached houses on Vancouver’s West Side are the most expensive homes in Canada on a per-square-foot basis, a new national survey reveals.

The average price of a downtown Vancouver condo is pegged at $1,345 per square foot, which is a staggering 39 per cent higher than one year previously, according to the Century 21 Canada report released November 7.

Since last year’s survey, downtown condos have overtaken West Side houses as Canada’s priciest per-square-foot home type. West Side detached homes slid nearly five per cent year over year, but followed close behind at $1,147 per square foot.

Stepping over the border into Burnaby offers much more living space for your money, with per-square-foot house prices averaging $599, up 1.91 per cent from the same period in 2017.

At $898.50, West Vancouver’s house prices were the fourth priciest homes per square foot in Canada, beaten out – as they were last year – by downtown Toronto condos. The West Vancouver per-square-foot figure is a 10 per cent increase over the same period last year, despite absolute home prices dropping in that time.

So why are West Vancouver’s notoriously expensive houses so much less expensive than the West Side’s, on a square-foot basis?

“In West Vancouver, most of the homes are on considerably larger lots than the 33-foot lots that are typical for the West Side,” Brian Rushton, executive vice-president of Century 21 Canada, told Glacier Media in response to last year’s survey, which saw similar results. “That means when you break the numbers down on a per-square-foot basis, it’s the West Side that’s more expensive.”

Per-square-foot house prices in Richmond also increased by more than 10 per cent year over year, to $677. And in Delta, they were up 14.3 per cent to $423.

Century 21 acknowledged that because the survey compared price data in the first six months of 2018 with the same period in 2017, price declines since that time are not taken into account.

Rushton said of this year’s survey, “It is no surprise that Vancouver’s downtown and West Side once again topped the list of Canada’s most expensive properties per square foot, even with a small decline over the last year. Looking across B.C., the price variation is remarkable. Going out just one or two suburbs cuts your price in half, while prices in more rural areas are closer to a quarter or less of those in Vancouver.”

Rushton added that the bigger bang for your buck is prompting home buyers to move to better-value areas. “We are hearing anecdotally from agents in the Fraser Valley and in communities like Victoria that they are seeing an increase in the number of Vancouver residents moving to take advantage of lower house pricing, which the surge in prices in Chilliwack and elsewhere would seem to support.”

Victoria’s detached houses offer much better value than Vancouver, even with an 11 per cent annual increase taking them to $509 per square foot. In Fort St. John, the cost of a square foot of detached house dropped more than 27 per cent to just $171. Prices in Vernon increased 10 per cent year over year to $366 per square foot, added the report.

The real estate brokerage said that per-square-foot prices were calculated by Century 21 franchisees across Canada, taking into account local average or benchmark sale prices and square footage of homes sold in their area.

Copyright © 2018 Western Investor