Downward movement in condo prices hopeful for buyers
Ephraim Vecina
REP
The recent downward movement in Vancouver’s condo prices was enough to give a slightly higher proportion of hopeful buyers access to the property type, according to Royal LePage.
“With a deceleration in Vancouver’s condo market, buyers for the first time in several years can benefit from the changing landscape. Higher inventory levels have resulted in the market nearing the point of oversupply and price per square foot has been decreasing considerably in this category,” Royal LePage West Real Estate Services real estate advisor Adil Dinani said.
From January to July this year, the median price of a condo unit in the City of Vancouver crawled back by 6.3% annually, down to $1,044 per square foot. During the same time frame, the Greater Vancouver region also saw its median condo price decline by 8.3% to $764 per sq. ft.
Despite these drops, however, Greater Vancouver remains Canada’s most expensive condo market – especially when compared with other asset classes.
Although condo affordability is more feasible in the City of Vancouver, where single-family homes were at $1,279 per sq. ft., the overall trend in the region is that a unit is more expensive than the average singe detached property ($648 per sq. ft.).
“We are also seeing a trend of buyers moving beyond the city core and closer to the transit corridor where properties are more affordable,” Dinani stated.
“We predict condo buyers in the coming year will continue moving east where properties are more affordable, especially while interest rates remain low,” he added. “In addition to better affordability, many neighbourhoods in Burnaby, the Tri-Cities and the Valley are developing attractive necessities that were previously only available in Vancouver.”
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