Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[VR6GTI]

Lived in the Klahanie development for 5-6 years.
You can walk to almost everything you need, was awesome. Only reason i moved was i needed alot more space.

[Gululu888]

I just been to the newly opened Walmart in Richmond. Man.. it was full of Chinese/Asian products. The experience was great (so were the prices). Spacious, large and very brightly lit. Covered parking lot. I would say this is the best Walmart I have been to in metro vancouver. Very lucky for those Richmond residents. I would probably go back once a week now. They have some serious competition now in terms of grocery shopping in Richmond.

[Gululu888]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

dafuq are you eating Big Macs in Switzerland anyways?

Anyways, back on topic...sorta - Are China FOBs really basing their RE purchases on proximity to Hot Pot supplies?

Let's solve this motherfucking housing crisis then and build T&Ts out in Hope or some other bunghole.

2 major criteria: T&T and close proximity to good schools

speaking of good schools, this was on the news today:
Vancouver real estate: Lawsuit claims $6.7M house deal tied to private school entry - British Columbia - CBC News

woman got scammed cuz she thought her kid would get into York House based on a real estate sale

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by Great68

Man, why does the T&T in Crystal Mall smell so bad?

I had to stay in the Metrotown hilton for a course, and the smell from that place would waft up to the Conference rooms and make me gag.

Crystal Mall doesnt have a T&T, Metrotown does and it is no where near the Hilton.
You are probably smelling the kitchen from the restaurants downstairs.


As for Meme, never heard of Big Macs being used that way but I have heard of Starbucks being used as a measuring stick. Good to know Big Macs work too.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

Crystal Mall doesnt have a T&T, Metrotown does and it is no where near the Hilton.
You are probably smelling the kitchen from the restaurants downstairs.


As for Meme, never heard of Big Macs being used that way but I have heard of Starbucks being used as a measuring stick. Good to know Big Macs work too.

Whatever, there was some sort of market in there. This was almost 2 years ago.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Port Moody has already seen quite a bit of price increases over the last year. Prices for condos are now very close to what you would pay at Brentwood.

While there are a few newer low-rise buildings along St. John's, most of the dense residential is by Ioco in the Suterbrook and Klahanie developments. Suterbrook was built by Onni, while Khahanie was a Polygon development. Suterbrook has more of an urban, Yaletown feel while Klahanie is less dense. 2-bedroom condos are now in the 550k range, but they are typically 1000 square feet or more. There are rowhomes in Klahanie that are now in the 700K range.

Newport Village is an older development that has a number of low rises and high rises. The prices are similar what you would pay in Suterbrook or Klahanie. Some buildings were built by Bosa.

If you're looking at townhouses, there are several east of Ioco in the Coronation Park area. That neighbourhood is set for rezoning, so buying a unit there may not be too bad from an investment perspective.

The old heritage homes south of St. John's are going to be all re-zoned for multi-family over the next decade. Some of them have been moved for new rowhomes. These rowhomes arent cheap - they're in the 750K range.

Port Moody city council has taken a much more cautious approach to rezoning around the Skytrain, but my sense is that once the line gets going, rezonings will only accelerate. Murray St, which is right by Rocky Point is designated as an industrial zone, but the city has asked for a change in designation to multi purpose which would allow restaurants, retail, and possible residential in he future.

If you're asking yourself why you would want to live in Port Moody when Coquitlam is 5-10% cheaper, here are some reasons:
- closer to Vancouver
- it's more affluent
- higher gentrification in the form of breweries, bakeries, and restaurants

My view is that New West and Port Moody are the cities where yuppies will go to if they outgrow Vancouver or want to upsize. For this reason, I am quite bullish on these 2 cities.

dunno if you or anyone else knows this that lives in the area, but what is Barnett HWY like in rush hour?

i hadnt driven the route from poco to Vancouver in ages, i didnt even remember that Barnett turned into hastings. Seems like a good stretch though and probably a definitely quicker route than the hwy?

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

dunno if you or anyone else knows this that lives in the area, but what is Barnett HWY like in rush hour?

i hadnt driven the route from poco to Vancouver in ages, i didnt even remember that Barnett turned into hastings. Seems like a good stretch though and probably a definitely quicker route than the hwy?

The Barnet Highway is pretty smooth during rush hour. However once you hit Port Moody or Burnaby, traffic slows to a halt.

[Harvey Specter]

On a side not about RE, I'm still shocked to see some realtors and even mortgage brokers I know spending money like ain't no thing. The RE market slowing but some of these guys are still spending like crazy. It's scary to think how many people out there are living way beyond their means and still can't come to terms with a slowing RE market.

And I've been keeping a close eye on house prices in Vancouver & Burnaby and prices are on the way down. I've noticed a lot more inventory of older homes in the $1.5m range but I reckon you'll see homes in the $1.2m range in Vancouver in a few months. I know a few developers and flippers who are trying to unload but can't find buyers. The worst part is they purchased at the peak so I can't imagine the loses they'll be taking.

[Nlkko]

Barnett Hwy is free flowing during rush hour. Game over at Hastings when there are lights and left turners.

If you are in an HOV vehicle though. It's quite fast thorough Hastings too, only have to dodge occasional buses.

[dat_steve]

Originally Posted by Harvey Specter

On a side not about RE, I'm still shocked to see some realtors and even mortgage brokers I know spending money like ain't no thing.

a majority of the agents/brokers i know are like that regardless if they're doing well or not. i think it has more to do with the demographic of people who are RE agents and mortgage brokers. not a shot at the jobs or the work itself, just a realistic observation.

ie. RE agent sells her first house for a pretty decent commish, then it's vegas vegas mykonos coachelly wanderlust for a extended period of time, without thought of how sustainable her income stream is. hey, maybe she'll be the next land assembly queen but probably not.

[Tapioca]

When you want to be successful, you have to project an image of success.

There's no reason why a run of the mill realtor should drive a new 5-series or E-class when a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord is more than enough car for taking clients around. But, all realtors pretty much drive European luxury cars.

[dat_steve]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

But, all realtors pretty much lease European luxury cars.

fixed for clarity.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by dat_steve

a majority of the agents/brokers i know are like that regardless if they're doing well or not. i think it has more to do with the demographic of people who are RE agents and mortgage brokers. not a shot at the jobs or the work itself, just a realistic observation.

ie. RE agent sells her first house for a pretty decent commish, then it's vegas vegas mykonos coachelly wanderlust for a extended period of time, without thought of how sustainable her income stream is. hey, maybe she'll be the next land assembly queen but probably not.

lol that's not as bad as a few I know.

A couple guys will go celebrate even gaining "potential" business by going on essentially benders for a few days.

"Yea man, for sure I will call you in the next few months and we can list my place!"

Proceed to party and buck rails for the next 3 days in celebration lol

[lowside67]

You guys must all be travelling a different Barnet Highway than I take... I live in Klahanie in Port Moody and work DT at Burrard and Dunsmuir.

For me, the Barnet highway is great if I leave before 6:45am or after 8:00am, but between those times, if you don't have a passenger to use the HOV lane, it's pretty terrible and is often stop and go for a good portion of the drive.

However, on the balance of things, I find Port Moody to be quite convenient as far as living in the suburbs goes - outside of peak hours, Barnet and Hastings are quite fast, and it's got good access to head East as well over Pitt River Bridge, etc.

I very much like living in the area; the only area that we would prefer to live is lower Lonsdale from a commute (Seabus vs WCE) perspective, but the price premium to live there absolutely does not make it worthwhile in our opinion.

TL;dr:

Port Moody is great value and a pretty nice spot to live, but I hate the Barnet in rush hour.

Mark

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by lowside67

You guys must all be travelling a different Barnet Highway than I take... I live in Klahanie in Port Moody and work DT at Burrard and Dunsmuir.

For me, the Barnet highway is great if I leave before 6:45am or after 8:00am, but between those times, if you don't have a passenger to use the HOV lane, it's pretty terrible and is often stop and go for a good portion of the drive.

However, on the balance of things, I find Port Moody to be quite convenient as far as living in the suburbs goes - outside of peak hours, Barnet and Hastings are quite fast, and it's got good access to head East as well over Pitt River Bridge, etc.

I very much like living in the area; the only area that we would prefer to live is lower Lonsdale from a commute (Seabus vs WCE) perspective, but the price premium to live there absolutely does not make it worthwhile in our opinion.

TL;dr:

Port Moody is great value and a pretty nice spot to live, but I hate the Barnet in rush hour.

Mark

I've only ever taken the HOV during rush hour and it seems to flow quick enough in both lanes in my experience. The problem is getting onto the Barnet. Murray and St. John's are bottlenecks.

You can't beat the drive into town on a nice evening with the sunset and water.

[Hondaracer]

yea it was a beautiful drive the day i took it, for the last 15 years the furthest i've ever driven down it was to reed point marina

[Adorkami]

Does it seem like condo prices in Vancouver are going to go down anytime soon? A unit in my building sold for asking in less than a week(735k for 800sqf), a month ago a unit sold for just under 730k in slightly over a week.

[6thGear.]

4 units in my development sold within a week at asking as well.

[unit]

well it depends on what they are asking.
my landlords have been trying to sell my unit for the last 3 months.
price is probably about 10% above market (imo), but they're being optimistic.
pretty annoying for me, but hey my place is clean as fuck these days since it's constantly being showed!

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by Adorkami

Does it seem like condo prices in Vancouver are going to go down anytime soon? A unit in my building sold for asking in less than a week(735k for 800sqf), a month ago a unit sold for just under 730k in slightly over a week.

WITH CONDOS is all about location. If it is in a good location price is still going up. If it is in a so so or crappy location price is likely to come down.

Most people who live/chose to by condo now wants everything within walking distance IE malls, shopping centers, restaurants, even transit skytrains.

[sonick]

In surprised more strata meetings don't end up like this

Coquitlam police are investigating after a strata AGM that had "gotten out of hand" culminated with RCMP officers dragging two senior citizens down a flight of stairs.

[Harvey Specter]

Originally Posted by Adorkami

Does it seem like condo prices in Vancouver are going to go down anytime soon? A unit in my building sold for asking in less than a week(735k for 800sqf), a month ago a unit sold for just under 730k in slightly over a week.

Anything with 2 bedrooms and under a million will continue to sell unless houses start selling for a million which I doubt will happen any time soon.

[Hondaracer]

My unit hasn't sold

Two weeks on the market 1 open house about 6 showings

30 year old concrete high rise. Most are scared of the age even though it's a great building with a fantastic depreciation report. Also the nicest unit for sale in the building imo

[frozen]

No one is gonna give a shit about some 30 year old high rise when the new ones are getting built here and there. Particularly the Asian buyers will avoid those like a plague.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by frozen

No one is gonna give a shit about some 30 year old high rise when the new ones are getting built here and there. Particularly the Asian buyers will avoid those like a plague.

Few things drive people to older units

Price and Size

Also the construction in terms of sound barriers between units is far supperior. But people are, for the most part, dumb and would prefer to have a $150 stainless microwave and hear your neighbors over a foot of concrete and complete silence for 98% of the time.

Being new does not ensure your unit/building won't have problems. I'd say it's actually the opposite in most cases.

Either way, id buy in this same building again if I had to. Lifespan of a well maintained high rise can be up to 80 years if well kept. Eventually you'd just hope you're bought out at market value by a new developer etc