Thursday, 3 November 2016

Vancouver still top real estate market to watch in Canada

    
   


Despite drops in sales and prices in Vancouver, a national report has just named the city as the top Canadian real estate market to watch in 2017 and millennials are playing a large part in that.
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




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