Buyers find better bargains in the suburbs if they’re looking for space
Wyng Chow
Sun
CREDIT: Bill Keay Photo, Vancouver Sun Lara Toews, a young advertising account executive, works in downtown Vancouver but has no regrets about her recent purchase of this home for under $180,000 in Abbotsford. The house has a legal suite she can rent to raise revenue.
April Homes: Lara Toews doesn’t mind commuting from the Fraser Valley to her job at a downtown Vancouver advertising agency.
She says the travelling time is only about 30 minutes longer than riding the bus from her rented apartment in Kerrisdale.
The $240 a month she’ll have to spend to take the West Coast Express from Mission is a bit more costly than paying for monthly downtown parking if she drove her car.
But the overwhelming upside is, out in Abbotsford, the 22-year-old advertising account executive could afford to purchase a detached house rather than a shoebox of a condo somewhere in Vancouver.
That’s exactly what Toews did in April, paying $179,500 for a five-bedroom house with 2,050 square feet of living space, complete with a legal basement suite for use as a mortgage helper.
“I saw my rent money in Vancouver going down into a bottomless pit,” the first-time home buyer said Friday. “So I decided to invest in my own home.
“I went looking for about 10 months around the city, along West Broadway, South Granville and the West End. I saw some pretty gross places. Nothing really suited me.”
If she had insisted on staying in Vancouver, Toews reckoned she could only afford to purchase an old resale condo, something about 500 square feet.
“Otherwise, I would have had to look for a roommate to help me pay the mortgage,” Toews said.
The latest Multiple Listing Service figures released Friday show that Toews got a major bargain at $179,500, since the average selling price of a detached house in Abbotsford last month was $248,200.
Overall, in the six Fraser Valley communities, April’s average detached price was $286,200, up 4.8 per cent from $273,100 the previous year.
A total of 1,640 detached houses, townhomes and condos changed hands in the Fraser Valley last month, a drop of 10 per cent from 1,818 sales in April 2002.
The average price of a valley condo rose 5.8 per cent year-over-year to $120,200, while the average townhome price fell 4.7 per cent to $179,000.
“Even though the market has softened, compared with the furious activity of last year, it is still active,” said Reg Davies, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.
“And, if interest rates remain low, the market will continue [to be] strong through the balance of 2003 and into 2004.”
Maple Ridge realtor Ron Antalek notes that as housing prices continue to escalate in Greater Vancouver, a growing number of young couples are moving out into the suburbs.
“You can own a brand new, three-bedroom detached house in Maple Ridge for the price of a condo in Kitsilano,” said Antalek, of Re/Max Ridge-Meadows Realty, who sold $67-million worth of properties last year.
In Greater Vancouver, MLS data shows a total of 3,095 housing units sold in April, an 18-per-cent decline from 3,785 sales the previous year.
However, average prices continued to climb, with detached houses fetching an average of $438,600, up 10 per cent from $399,000 the year before.
The year-over-year average condo price rose nine per cent in April to $203,700, while the townhome average inched up one per cent to $255,100.
“While residential real estate sales are lower than last year, they are significantly higher than 2001,” said Bill Binnie, head of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
“Last year was a banner year during which consumers were satisfying pent-up demand for housing. Looking back at historical statistics, it’s clear that we’re still experiencing a very healthy market.”
APRIL DETACHED HOUSING SALES
Units Sold-Change from last month-Average Sale Price-Change from last year-Median Sale Price-Change from last year
BURNABY NORTH 73 15 $434000 $31100 $402000 $14000
BURNABY SOUTH 64 8 $403700 $41900 $379000 $29000
COQUITLAM 115 -35 $366400 $49400 $344000 $37000
DELTA SOUTH 54 6 $402500 $41800 $355000 $21000
MAPLE RIDGE/PITT MEADOWS 131 -43 $299300 $36600 $284900 $28000 NEW WESTMINSTER 33 -9 $309500 $37500 $275000 $12500
NORTH VANCOUVER 125 -6 $502600 $62300 $479500 $60500
PORT COQUITLAM 60 -4 $301900 $42700 $279000 $29000
PORT MOODY 31 2 $435800 $53000 $445000 $98000
RICHMOND 175 4 $392700 $15300 $358000 $13000
SQUAMISH 29 2 $324800 $104100 $299100 $106600
SUNSHINE COAST 76 30 $264300 $67300 $220000 $40000
VANCOUVER EAST 247 -5 $364300 $33300 $351000 $44000
VANCOUVER WEST 168 -7 $756000 $22900 $680000 $52000
WEST VANCOUVER 68 -7 $842400 $65900 $750000 $100000
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