Strong economy boosts White Rock, Victoria, Kelowna into $1m club
Paul Luke
Province
You have to reach way down into your pocket to even begin to afford a luxury home in Vancouver. The city boasts Canada‘s highest starting point for luxury homes at $2 million, according to a Re/Max survey released yesterday.
B.C.’s strong economy has pushed three other provincial cities into the million-dollar club for high-end palaces, the survey of 16 markets across the country found.
The starting point for luxury in White Rock is $1.2 million and $1 million in Victoria and Kelowna.
Luxury in Calgary starts at $1 million and $900,000 in Edmonton. In Greater Toronto, it’s $1.5 million.
“Strong economic performance, especially in Western Canadian provinces, has bolstered consumer confidence levels to such a degree that purchasers in the upper end are comfortable with a million-dollar-plus investment in real estate,” said Re/Max vice-president Elton Ash.
“Recent volatility in the stock market may trigger further investment in real estate as purchasers move to reallocate their holdings,” he added.
B.C.’s red-hot luxury home sales will stabilize over the next year as challenges in the U.S. housing market have a psychological impact on Canadian buyers, Ash said.
In Vancouver, luxury home sales between January and June jumped 48 per cent over the same period last year. Single-detached luxury sales in Kelowna rose 64 per cent.
Edmonton led Canada with a 521-per-cent surge.
The strong market for luxury property echoes the overall resale market, which is on pace for a record year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.
Booming Saskatchewan, which has boasted some of the highest percentage price increases in Canada over the past year, also has a scorching luxury market.
Re/Max says buyers now need $500,000 to buy a luxury home in Regina or Saskatoon. Regina luxury sales are up 450 per cent through the first seven months of 2007 compared to a year ago.
Saskatoon sales are up 328 per cent.
Re/Max credited the growing trend of inheritance as a key factor, estimating Canadians will collect $1 trillion in the coming years.
– The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reports that total residential sales reached 3,384 units in August, a 12.9-per-cent increase when compared to 2,998 sales in August 2006.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties tightened, decreasing by two per cent to 4,408 units compared to the 4,500 units in August 2006.
Fraser Valley MLS sales last month were the second highest on record for an August, rounding out the summer market of 2007 as second only to 2005.
Combined sales for June, July and August 2007 reached 5,800, compared to 6,866 sales for the same months in 2005.
© The Vancouver Province 2007
