Investors
are continuing to shift from residential to mixed-use projects that combine
housing with retail or commercial. There
are also predictions of more pressure on affordability over the next five years
as increases in immigration keep demand for housing high. Millennials
are driving up Vancouver’s very tight rental market, searching for new,
higher-quality units, closer to amenities and transit. It points out rental
units have been in incredibly short supply for the past five years, adding that
an emerging challenge is the lack of amenities from stores to schools in the
downtown core.
Nationally,
housing prices will drop about one per cent in 2017 with concerns of a bigger
pullback in Vancouver and Toronto. Canada’s overall housing market is
poised for a year of stability.
Vancouver is expected to lead all Canadian cities with 3.3% in GDP
growth in 2017 propelled by strong employment gains and rousing housing starts.
Most of these starts will be multifamily units as developers focus on building
mixed-use developments and high-density condos. It remains to be seen how the
British Columbia government’s additional property transfer tax for foreign
buyers will affect the Vancouver market over the long term. While intended to
curtail foreign property investment, skeptics suggest the tax will do little to
dissuade foreign buyers who can already afford the market’s sky-high prices.
Millennials are driving up Vancouver’s rental market, searching for new,
higher-quality units near amenities and close to transit. Rental units are in
incredibly short supply, with vacancy rates consistently around or below 1% for
the past five years. Another emerging challenge is the lack of amenities from
stores to schools in the downtown core.
For further details contact Carmen Leal at CL Personal Real Estate Corporation
D: 604-218-4846 E: carmen@carmenleal.ca W: www.carmenleal.ca
