Despite a steady drop in average home sale prices, buyers in Metro Vancouver remain sluggish when it comes to sealing the deal.
“Interestingly, there hasn’t been quite enough of a decline to get a lot of buyers off the sidelines quite yet,” said Andrew Lis, chief analyst for Greater Vancouver Realtors.
“There are good levels of inventory, prices have come down, there’s good selection, so it’s definitely a good time to be shopping.”
In response to this, one Vancouver development group has come up with a creative way to attract buyers to check out its new building on Commercial Drive.
“Ace is a 6-story building,” said Wesgroup Properties senior sales manager Carmen Ip.
“We have 61 homes in total, and we offer one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes. Our new program is the ‘Try before you Buy.’”
It’s like test-driving a new car before buying it. Wesgroup is inviting qualified buyers to spend the weekend at one of their units to get a feel of what it would be like to live in the neighbourhood before making the big decision.
“You get to sleep there, use the amenities, and you get a taste of what living on the Drive feels like,” Ip said.
Those with pre-approval from a mortgage broker can apply to stay, and the group says the program has already garnered lots of attention.
“We create a personalized itinerary for them during that weekend stay, so we’ll provide gift cards to local shops and restaurants so they can really taste and feel what it’s like,” said Ip.
This is part of a growing trend of incentives being offered by developers to get more bodies into empty units.
“From the CMHC data, they track the number of unabsorbed units that are developed but waiting to be purchased,” Lis said.
“There are like 7,000 units right now. With that, a lot of developers are trying to move these units off their books, and with that, it comes with incentives.”
One-bedroom units at Ace on the Drive start at around $650,000.