Shopping - Real Estate

The thing you'll discover — within days, perhaps hours — of setting foot in Vancouver is how peculiarly fascinated we are with real estate. Spend a Sunday afternoon strolling Stanley Park’s seawall and at least half of the conversations you’ll hear in passing contain phrases like “kitchen reno,” “Yaletown loft” and “our fourth and final mortgage.” It is an expensive addiction, yes — and like many addictions, a hard one to break. Which led us here at GuestLife Vancouver to wonder if we locals — as active market participants — have addictive tendencies, and if our market might be described as has having a personality. To pursue these questions, we assembled a panel of real estate psychologists — a developer, a marketer, a sales guru, a planning prof and an economist — and with their help sketched a profile of “Vancouver Real Estate.” Then, using one of those personality tests (like those found in Cosmo — but, we hope, with a little more gravitas), we evaluated ourselves, our market, on 14 defining traits. Two stood above all others: Dramatic and Adventurous.

DRAMATIC: All The World's A Stage

That we should rate highly on the dramatic scale should surprise no one. We like to be seen and noticed, we care a lot about our physical appearance, we eagerly respond to new ideas — characteristics of the dramatic style, and all evident in the explosive growth of our sleek downtown core. So proud are we that we’ve coined a name for it — the Vancouver Model — and with typical dramatic flair, we’ve trumpeted our beauty and brilliance on the world stage. For several years now, the dollars have marched in lockstep with the drama: Vancouver’s is one of the fastest growing downtowns in North America, with the condo market representing almost half of all sales in the Greater Vancouver area last year. Though the consensus is that 2006 won’t be as generous to condo developers, the belief remains that there will be an encore of some sort.

That encore may take place on a different stage. While downtown continues its build-up at, if not a breathless, an excited pace, our panel sees the “magic” of the Vancouver model being re-created to the west and east. Many point to the area on the west side of the University of British Columbia campus as one area to watch, taking the reins from central slickhaven Yaletown in attracting highrise aspirants. The “point tower” condos that mark the downtown are making inroads in suburbs to the east as well; for the first time in memory, high-end highrises in the burbs — a development in Burnaby — produced lineups for presales; 85 percent of the 170-suite building sold out on opening day. Only in Yaletown, you say.

ADVENTUROUS: No Risk, No Reward

Still, for all the plaudits our sexy skyline receives, the ideal real estate investment for most buyers remains closer to the ground. With the benchmark price for a detached house pushing $500,000 in Vancouver, the challenge is to seek out innovative, affordable and largely untapped means of living within city limits. Or to push those limits. Luckily, according to our profile, we’re a brave bunch and love a good challenge.

One of the biggest opportunities in Vancouver’s single-detached market, should you take the plunge, is in secondary suites. City council finally approved these so-called “mortgage helpers” in 2004, meaning those who had illegal suites can bring them up to code and charge market rents; and those who were discouraged by the hoops of fire the old bylaw presented can now consider them. More important, according to one panellist, the change will “create the mechanisms to start pushing for more duplexes, more fee-simple townhouses — the diversity that we need in our single-detached neighbourhoods.” If you fall a few pennies short of $500,000, or don’t like the idea of renters in the cellar, there remains that ever-shrinking-but-stillslightly-more-affordable region called east Vancouver — with “east,” in local real estate parlance, meaning “less desirable.” At press time, Fraser Street marked the dividing line — gentrification to the immediate west, from Fraser to Main; and way west, from Granville through to Point Grey, flat-out gentry.

Finally, there’s the option of redefining what it means to “live” in Vancouver. South Surrey and White Rock, which abut the U.S. border, offer the same sea-and-mountain views that Vancouver’s tony set pay dearly for — at least $1 million — but at less than half the price. To the north, the hot bedroom community “with views” is the Sunshine Coast (see “The New Commuter Cities”below), accessible only by ferry. Unlike those burgs, the commute does not include a 45-minute stop-and-go crawl down the blacktop, but rather an idyllic 45-minute sail down scenic Howe Sound. All things being equal, it does seem a better way to live. Call us crazy — or, perhaps, just adventurous.

THE NEW COMMUTER CITIES

The antidote of choice for families facing real estate sticker shock in Vancouver used to be the Fraser Valley suburbs, but these days some are flying the mainland coop altogether, alighting in the coastal communities of Nanaimo and the Sunshine Coast.

Nanaimo has lured many urban professionals and their families over the past two years, thanks in no small part to HarbourLynx, a fast ferry that connects residents with their downtown Vancouver workplaces in about 80 minutes. For the time-starved, Harbour Air makes the downtown-to-downtown trek by float plane in a quarter of the time. Nanaimo’s ocean views and exceptional parks are an easy sell to families looking to escape the traffic woes of Vancouver for a quieter atmosphere, and a more affordable average selling price of $230,000 for a three-bedroom home.

On the Sunshine Coast, with equally stunning views and a laid-back beachcomber lifestyle, BC Ferries is still the sole source of mainlandbound transportation, dropping Sunshine Coasters in Horseshoe Bay where they make their way into the city. Rumours abound that a new passenger-only ferry will soon cut a swath from Gibsons to Downtown Vancouver; until then, a thousand or so ferry commuters already take advantage of their ability to relax, eat breakfast and get a jump-start on their work day during the morning commute. Real estate prices, although higher on average than Nanaimo ($285,000 for a family home), are still cheaper than city dwelling. Factor in savings of $150,000 or more over Vancouver real estate prices and the choice, for some, is as clear as the view to Bowen Island from the 6:20 a.m. Langdale sailing.

HOW THEY COMPARE

A cheat sheet for shoppers looking to get into the market

KITSILANO
Detached: $763,920; Attached: $544,268; Apt: $314,643

KERRISDALE
Detached: $976,765; Attached: $444,093; Apt: $373,782

SOUTH MAIN
Detached: $455,358; Apt: $209,300

YALETOWN
Apt: $567,612

COAL HARBOUR
Apt: $455,858

WEST VANCOUVER
Detached: $1,023,821; Apt: $460,030

NORTH VANCOUVER
Detached: $646,385; Attached: $433,062; Apt: $271,617

RICHMOND
Detached: $506,877; Attached: $315,372; Apt: $215,594

COQUITLAM
Detached: $460,620; Attached: $300,524; Apt: $194,357

Compiled by: Ronica Prasad and Stephanie Macdonald
Source: Real Estate Board of Vancouver