The latest report on real estate around the country has come up with a familiar result — it’s expensive to buy in Vancouver.
Century 21 released a report this week, looking at 50 communities around Canada which found, on a dollar-per-square-foot basis, Vancouver was number one.
A detached home in Vancouver’s West End was calculated at an average of $1,110 per square foot. The average condo in the downtown area is worth $1,206 per square foot, according to the report.
Despite the high prices, the real estate company says B.C. is seeing the effects of “uncertain buyers” as both prices and total sales drop.
Condos downtown have seen a 4.59 per cent decrease from the previous year, and homes in the West End have seen a 4.39 per cent decrease.
Real estate agent Rhiannon Foster says the price varies from city to city around the region — even if in close proximity.
“An area like North Vancouver hasn’t seen much in terms of price decline at all. And, in fact, their sales are still actually quite strong. It’s very unlike most of the other markets and especially unlike West Vancouver, which is right beside it, which is, at best, sucking wind,” she told 1130 NewsRadio.
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Not surprisingly, she says the price per square foot drops dramatically as you move away from major centres like Vancouver and Kelowna.
“Living down in the Lower Mainland, your price per square foot is going to be much higher than somewhere like in Kitimat, which is a little bit further to get to, and is probably not the first destination for most people when they’re moving to the province.”
Meanwhile, Burnaby house prices have dropped by more than 12 per cent.
Foster says that’s likely the result of investors who have not been able to maintain a return on investment, causing them to sell.
“If those investors are all needing to get out at the same time, that’s going to drive the price down — especially when buyers are taking their time with looking at listings and ensuring that they get the best deal possible in a market where, of course, interest rates have seen an increase. And then they just have more to choose from.”
She says sales in B.C. are likely to slow in August “when real estate is not a top priority for people.”
