vancouver
FROM DREAM TO REALITY: HOMEOWNERSHIP BASICS FOR VANCOUVER
REALTOR®
FIRST-TIMER
BUYING IN VANCOUVER
BETTER THAN AVERAGE
Expert advice for first-time homebuyers
Three gems that can be found on a first-timer budget
While it’s a hot market, Vancouver isn’t impossible to break into, says REALTOR® Sebastian Albrecht of Vancouver’s Royal LePage West Side. Here are Albrecht’s top tips for first-time homebuyers wanting to buy in Van City.
The hot Greater Vancouver housing market still has a lot of affordable gems. Here are three homes we found on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) at press time. While they may no longer be for sale, they are representative of the deals out there.
tips
steals
Know Your Priorities
Steal NO. 1
Start with realistic expectations and understand what’s important to you. While the average cost of a single detached house in Vancouver hovers around $2.5 million*, the median price of a firsttime home purchase is $440,000*. “With a budget of $420,000, you have many options, from a studio apartment in downtown Vancouver to a townhouse in Langley,” says Albrecht. “Neither option is a bad choice: they each appeal to different types of buyers with a varied set of priorities.”
$293,000
This bright and airy, two-bedroom, two-bath Port Coquitlam condo is 962 square feet. It boasts a balcony, ensuite laundry, and walkthrough closets in the master, plus a short walk to public transit. Downtown Vancouver is a mere 30-minute commute.
Exlore Beyond the Core “In downtown Vancouver, $400,000 to $420,000 would buy a studio condo of about 400 square feet, but if you go out to East Vancouver, it might be a one bedroom of 650 square feet,” says Albrecht, explaining that prices drop the farther from the core you travel. “You may find a [resale] two-bedroom condo just five to 10 minutes outside Vancouver, still within city limits, for a similar dollar value. Heading a little farther out, to areas like Delta, Surrey and Langley, you’ll be able to find townhouses in the $425,000 price range.” For those with deeper pockets, Burnaby, Squamish, Port Coquitlam, Delta, Surrey and Langley offer single detached houses for well under the $1-million ceiling. Work With a Realtor® A market as dynamic as Vancouver’s can be a tough nut to crack, which is why Albrecht recommends working with a REALTOR® familiar with the region. A REALTOR® can direct you to pockets of affordability within an expensive region, has the potential to get you in to see homes newly listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sooner so you can get ahead of the game, and will have insights into how well run stratas (condos and townhouses) are – all of which will make the path to first-time homeownership so much smoother.
Steal NO. 2
$420,000
Located in Vancouver proper, this twobedroom, two-bath condo is just shy of 800 square feet. It offers a clean, modern aesthetic, roomy balcony, ensuite laundry and, for avid urban-cyclist commuters, secure bike parking.
A GVA bargain for the low, low price of Steal NO. 3
$419,000
This Mission home costs less than onethird of the benchmark price ($1.5 million) of a detached Greater Vancouver home. The 1,688-square-foot ranch has three beds and two baths and is in the heart of the Fraser Valley, just over an hour’s drive from Vancouver.
RELATIVE AFFORDABILITY Vancouver’s red hot real estate market invites comparison with other in demand cities around the world. But if you crunch the numbers, its affordability is better than its reputation. Take a look: Average cost of residential real estate *Prices per square foot, in U.S. dollars. *Source: America's Top Cities: Cheapest Real Estate in the World (Sept. 26, 2011; updated Aug. 7, 2014), creditsesame.com
Vancouver
New York City
$759
Hong Kong
$1,068
Stockholm
$1,118
London, UK
$1,516
$1,590
WHERE THE HOUSES ARE DEALS! Chilliwack:
$442,318
3 8
5
1
1
Abbotsford / Mission:
$574,447
9
4
$2,518,525
10
Sept. 2015: $900,735
Delta / Richmond:
$1,270,441
Areas ranked by median property value for September 2016 1. Vancouver Downtown 2. Delta / Richmond 3. Coquitlam / Port Coquitlam / Port Moody
4. 5. 6. 7.
Surrey Burnaby / New Westminster Vancouver North and West Langley
Sept. 2005: $424,789
8. Maple Ridge / Pitt Meadows 9. Abbotsford / Mission 10. Chilliwack
*Source: CREA Housing Data, median prices for single detached properties only for time period YTD 2016 (as at Sept. 2016)
1
8%
7 9
Vancouver Downtown:
Homeownership is one of the surest ways to build your nest egg. Property values continue to grow in the Greater Vancouver Area.
average increase year over year
2 2
$3,287
INVESTMENT VALUE
If a traditional detached home is what you seek, here’s where you’ll find deals in the city and the Greater Vancouver Area. 6
Paris
Genworth Canada Housing Data, median prices for single detached properties only for time period YTD 2016 (as at Sept. 2016)
*Source: CREA Housing Data, average prices for single detached properties, year over year change
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Sign up at www.homeownership.ca/sign-up
800.511.8888 | Genworth.ca | Homeownership.ca |
Homeownership.ca/fb
REALTOR®
FIRST-TIMER
BUYING IN VANCOUVER
BETTER THAN AVERAGE
Expert advice for first-time homebuyers
Three gems that can be found on a first-timer budget
While it’s a hot market, Vancouver isn’t impossible to break into, says REALTOR® Sebastian Albrecht of Vancouver’s Royal LePage West Side. Here are Albrecht’s top tips for first-time homebuyers wanting to buy in Van City.
The hot Greater Vancouver housing market still has a lot of affordable gems. Here are three homes we found on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) at press time. While they may no longer be for sale, they are representative of the deals out there.
tips
steals
Know Your Priorities
Steal NO. 1
Start with realistic expectations and understand what’s important to you. While the average cost of a single detached house in Vancouver hovers around $2.5 million*, the median price of a firsttime home purchase is $440,000*. “With a budget of $420,000, you have many options, from a studio apartment in downtown Vancouver to a townhouse in Langley,” says Albrecht. “Neither option is a bad choice: they each appeal to different types of buyers with a varied set of priorities.”
$293,000
This bright and airy, two-bedroom, two-bath Port Coquitlam condo is 962 square feet. It boasts a balcony, ensuite laundry, and walkthrough closets in the master, plus a short walk to public transit. Downtown Vancouver is a mere 30-minute commute.
Exlore Beyond the Core “In downtown Vancouver, $400,000 to $420,000 would buy a studio condo of about 400 square feet, but if you go out to East Vancouver, it might be a one bedroom of 650 square feet,” says Albrecht, explaining that prices drop the farther from the core you travel. “You may find a [resale] two-bedroom condo just five to 10 minutes outside Vancouver, still within city limits, for a similar dollar value. Heading a little farther out, to areas like Delta, Surrey and Langley, you’ll be able to find townhouses in the $425,000 price range.” For those with deeper pockets, Burnaby, Squamish, Port Coquitlam, Delta, Surrey and Langley offer single detached houses for well under the $1-million ceiling. Work With a Realtor® A market as dynamic as Vancouver’s can be a tough nut to crack, which is why Albrecht recommends working with a REALTOR® familiar with the region. A REALTOR® can direct you to pockets of affordability within an expensive region, has the potential to get you in to see homes newly listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sooner so you can get ahead of the game, and will have insights into how well run stratas (condos and townhouses) are – all of which will make the path to first-time homeownership so much smoother.
Steal NO. 2
$420,000
Located in Vancouver proper, this twobedroom, two-bath condo is just shy of 800 square feet. It offers a clean, modern aesthetic, roomy balcony, ensuite laundry and, for avid urban-cyclist commuters, secure bike parking.
A GVA bargain for the low, low price of Steal NO. 3
$419,000
This Mission home costs less than onethird of the benchmark price ($1.5 million) of a detached Greater Vancouver home. The 1,688-square-foot ranch has three beds and two baths and is in the heart of the Fraser Valley, just over an hour’s drive from Vancouver.
RELATIVE AFFORDABILITY Vancouver’s red hot real estate market invites comparison with other in demand cities around the world. But if you crunch the numbers, its affordability is better than its reputation. Take a look: Average cost of residential real estate *Prices per square foot, in U.S. dollars. *Source: America's Top Cities: Cheapest Real Estate in the World (Sept. 26, 2011; updated Aug. 7, 2014), creditsesame.com
Vancouver
New York City
$759
Hong Kong
$1,068
Stockholm
$1,118
London, UK
$1,516
$1,590
WHERE THE HOUSES ARE DEALS! Chilliwack:
$442,318
3 8
5
1
1
Abbotsford / Mission:
$574,447
9
4
$2,518,525
10
Sept. 2015: $900,735
Delta / Richmond:
$1,270,441
Areas ranked by median property value for September 2016 1. Vancouver Downtown 2. Delta / Richmond 3. Coquitlam / Port Coquitlam / Port Moody
4. 5. 6. 7.
Surrey Burnaby / New Westminster Vancouver North and West Langley
Sept. 2005: $424,789
8. Maple Ridge / Pitt Meadows 9. Abbotsford / Mission 10. Chilliwack
*Source: CREA Housing Data, median prices for single detached properties only for time period YTD 2016 (as at Sept. 2016)
1
8%
7 9
Vancouver Downtown:
Homeownership is one of the surest ways to build your nest egg. Property values continue to grow in the Greater Vancouver Area.
average increase year over year
2 2
$3,287
INVESTMENT VALUE
If a traditional detached home is what you seek, here’s where you’ll find deals in the city and the Greater Vancouver Area. 6
Paris
Genworth Canada Housing Data, median prices for single detached properties only for time period YTD 2016 (as at Sept. 2016)
*Source: CREA Housing Data, average prices for single detached properties, year over year change
Receive Expert Knowledge, Resources and Tools, Right to Your Inbox The Homeownership.ca Newsletter
Sign up at www.homeownership.ca/sign-up
800.511.8888 | Genworth.ca | Homeownership.ca |
Homeownership.ca/fb
