Vancouver record for one-day sale shattered Saturday
Amy O’Brian
Sun
Jack Bernard and Rhiannon Mabberley check out the Yaletown condos that went up for sale on Saturday. Despite the speedy sales, the two towers — which won’t be completed for two years — did not sell out. There were still about 90 units available Sunday at closing. CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
VANCOUVER – A condo-buying frenzy that hit an unprecedented fever pitch Saturday had calmed to a dull roar by Sunday afternoon.
The Vancouver record for one-day sales was shattered Saturday as frantic buyers snatched up 494 suites in two new Yaletown towers — some even sleeping outside Friday night to get a piece of the evolving skyline.
But by Sunday afternoon, most of the folks browsing about the model suite for the Yaletown Park condo development were casually checking out what all the fuss was about.
“I just couldn’t believe it. That somebody would wait outside and sleep outside. It’s absurd,” Rhiannon Mabberley said as she sized up the model towers.
“It’s amazing that the market is in that situation.”
The market is so hot that Saturday’s sales more than doubled realtor Bob Rennie’s previous record, which he said was set in 1992 when he sold 189 suites in one day.
That record was held city-wide until Saturday, when Rennie beat himself with sales totalling $123 million, which is nearly half of his sales total for all of 2003.
Despite the speedy sales, the two towers — to be completed within about two years — did not sell out Saturday and there were about 90 suites still available Sunday at closing time. Rennie said six of Saturday’s sales fell through and about 30 were sold Sunday.
Saturday’s overwhelming sales activity wasn’t a tremendous shock to Rennie, who cited several factors that likely contributed to the mayhem.
“I have never had low interest rates and low inventory and high consumer confidence and jobs coming all at the same time,” he said.
Of all the condo projects under way downtown, Rennie said 95 per cent of the suites have been sold and he doesn’t predict the degree of availability will increase any time soon.
There are plans for several major development projects that are guaranteed to supply jobs, meaning the real estate market is going to remain tight for at least a few years.
“When you’ve got the RAV line and the convention centre . . . and Olympic infrastructure, we’ve got real jobs coming. So for the foreseeable future, I see a market that’s very low on inventory,” he said.
But the people who were milling about the sales centre Sunday weren’t frightened by Rennie’s prediction.
Ryan McCuaig, a 30-year-old intern architect, said there will always be supply in the market — even if it’s a little thin — and he believes the real estate bubble will eventually burst.
“I lived in Calgary during their boom and they said it would last forever and it didn’t,” McCuaig said.
Mabberley, 23, and her boyfriend Jack Bernard, 23, share McCuaig’s faith that the market can’t sustain itself for too much longer and are not rushing to buy.
“If we found the right thing, we would buy now, but I’m not going to buy something at an outrageous price when it’s going to drop,” Mabberley said.
The two already live in Yaletown in a rental suite and said they got good deal on it because of the high number of rental vacancies that sprang up as a result of low interest rates.
At 545 square feet, their apartment is about the same size as many of the units in the new condo development, and the building manager gave them one month’s free rent when they signed a year lease. The two pay $1,140 per month in rent, which is their main motivation to buy.
“Rent is just too much,” Mabberley said. “We’re tired of paying rent.”
But Vancouver‘s high rents are exactly what triggered Seattle investor Dave Johnson to drive north Sunday for a piece of the action.
The restaurant owner bought a one-bedroom suite with a home office and is confident it will be a profitable venture once he starts renting it out.
“You really can’t go wrong. In terms of the way places rent here in Vancouver,” Johnson said.
“It’s a win win situation for any buyer.”
The towers won’t be complete for about two years, but Johnson said that is a tremendous bonus for the buyer.
“That’s two years to not be paying into a mortgage and the price essentially could go up, especially in Yaletown which is, of course, the hottest area of downtown in which to buy,” he said.
Andy Paterson had been first in line in front of the sales centre nearly 22 hours before the doors opened Saturday morning and was pleased to get the suite of his choice.
Paterson paid $269,900 for a two-bedroom condo on the fifth floor of one of the towers.
Lech Dolecki and his mother Danusia Dolecki were second in line Friday and snatched up a one-bedroom suite with an office and a den for $244,000.
© The Vancouver Sun 2004