Realtor David Hutchinson knows the anguish of many buyers who desire a single-detached home Vancouver.
In pre-pandemic times, the narrative was that if one doesn’t have a million dollars, then you might as well kiss your wish goodbye.
COVID-19 arrived, and the new realities brought about by the novel coronavirus drove more demand for freestanding homes.
People wanted bigger and more spacious homes. Plus, interest rates went down to rock bottom. Also, people have more savings because they can’t travel and do many of the things they did before.
As a result, home prices increased.
In November 2020, the value of a typical single-detached residence in East Vancouver rose to $1,533,600.
On the west side of Vancouver, homes of the same type saw benchmark increasing to $3,122,100.
Across the Fraser River, the price of a typical home in Surrey also increased in November 2020. It rose to $1,156,800.
The Straight recently asked Hutchinson about interesting listings of any type of homes,whether it’s a mansion, detached home, townhouse or condo, as the residential market continues to sizzle.
Interestingly, he came back with a number of single-detached homes priced in the neigbourhood of $1 million.
“Detached homes around the magic one-million mark are still available in Metro Vancouver,” Hutchinson said.
This means one thing for those wishing to have a single-detached home.
“There’s still affordability in the detached market,” Hutchinson said.
But there’s a condition.
“That is, if you don’t mind putting a little elbow grease into it, and getting your hands dirty,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson cited 2135 Triumph Street. It’s on the market for $928,000. It’s a reduced price from its original listing of $999,900.
The East Vancouver single-detached home has four bedrooms and two baths. The 1926-era home was built on small lot with a frontage of 24.75 feet. A standard city has a 33-feet frontage.
Hutchinson said that the home is in a good location near Commercial Drive, transit, and parks.
The realtor and avid market observer also found 3824 Knight Street. The detached Vancouver home is selling for $1,050,000. It has six bedrooms and four baths.
Another example is 3280 East Georgia Street. It’s priced at $1,098,800. The freestanding home has three bedrooms and one bath.
“You have to look around for them, and when you find one that’s suitlable it may need some TLC [tender loving care] or maintenance,” Hutchinson said.
Owning a detached home is unlike having a condo. With a condo, an owner can call the property manager if there are problems with the apartment.
“With a detached house, you are the property manager,” Hutchinson said.
3280 East Georgia Street is priced $1,098,800.
There are also options east of Boundary Road.
A detached home at 2505 Larkin Court in Burnaby is on the market for $999,000.
Another example is 3735 Parker Street, also in Burnaby. It’s listed for $827,000.
Further east is New Westminster.
A good example is the detached home at 531 Fourteenth Street in New Westminster. The residence features seven bedrooms and three baths. The home sits on a large lot with a 66-feet frontage.
This seven-bedroom, three-bath single-detached home at 531 Fourteenth Street is on the market for $1,125,800.
As always, buyers have a choice of what kind of home they will purchase.
“Do you want 489-square-feet of prestigious luxury at Alberni by Kengo Kuma?” Hutchinson said, referring to a Vancouver high-rise condo development currently under construction. The Westbank Corp. project on Alberni Street was designed by Kengo Kuma, a famous Japanese architect.
“Or,” Hutchinson continued, “would you rather have a fixer upper detached house in the suburbs?”
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
