A THREE-BEDROOM WATERFRONT HOUSE IN WEST VANCOUVER
VIRGINIA C. McGUIRE
Other
$2.5 MILLION (2,575,000 CANADIAN DOLLARS)
Built in 1987 and renovated inside and out in 2006, this house is at the water’s edge in West Vancouver, an affluent suburb of British Columbia’s largest city. The house is on a private dead-end road, and faces southwest over the ocean. Bowen and Passage Islands are just offshore, and eagles, whales and dolphins can be spotted from the large windows.
Glossy black double doors open into an entryway with a heated limestone floor. The living room, a few steps down, has a hardwood floor and a polished travertine fireplace. From there, glass doors open onto a waterfront deck with a small pool shaped like a trapezoid. The dining room, adjacent to the living room, has a rectangular metal light fixture and an open floor plan that flows into a kitchen designed for entertaining, with a six-burner gas stove, two dishwashers and a granite-topped breakfast bar.
All three bedrooms are on the second floor. The master suite has picture windows framing the view; the bathroom has a maple cabinets topped with granite. A hall bath serves the other two bedrooms, and a hallway lined with skylights leads to a family room over the two-car garage.
The neighborhood is very secluded, despite being a 20-minute drive from downtown Vancouver. The commercial zone of West Vancouver is a 10-minute drive; the nearest shopping center is 7 minutes away.
The buyers of this house could add a swimming platform at the water’s edge as some of the neighbors have done, but currently the nearest public access to the water is a park a short walk up the road.
MARKET OVERVIEW
The real estate market in the Vancouver area is showing healthy activity, according to Jason Soprovich, an independent real estate agent affiliated with Prudential Sussex Realty. He said the market had been stagnant until February, when sellers became more realistic and began lowering prices 8 to 10 percent, on average, to stimulate demand. “Once prices dropped,” Mr. Soprovich said, “there was a resurgence of sales that started in July.” He added that concerns about rising interest rates were also stimulating buyers.
Prices in West Vancouver dropped more than in the rest of the market — 15 to 17 percent, Mr. Soprovich said. The extent of the decline may reflect the fact that prices had farther to fall than in the rest of the region. “We are a bedroom community with probably the highest prices in the country,” he said. “Think of us as a Sausalito,” he added, referring to the San Francisco suburb.
Waterfront homes in West Vancouver cost $6.3 million to $14.55 million (6.5 million to 15 million Canadian dollars) as long as they’re relatively new and close to downtown Vancouver. The Howe Sound area, the site of this house is, is less centrally located, so prices are lower — starting at $2.44 million for a waterfront home.
WHO BUYS IN WEST VANCOUVER
Most of the buyers in West Vancouver are from mainland China. According to Mr. Soprovich, Chinese buyers outnumber even local buyers by three to one, because they see the Vancouver area as a solid place to invest. They’re drawn by good schools, easy flights to Beijing, and the large Chinese community already established in the area.
BUYING BASICS
Foreigners face no restrictions when buying property in Canada, but Mr. Soprovich cautioned that they may face higher taxes when they sell.
“Tightened lending restrictions have made it harder to secure a mortgage,” he said, “especially for foreigners.” Transaction costs include a property purchase tax (PPT), paid to the province of British Columbia. Mr. Soprovich says this is equal to 1 percent on the first 200,000 Canadian dollars of the purchase price, and 2 percent on the rest. Suzanne Miscisco, an agent with Sotheby’s International Realty Canada and one of the listing agents for this house, estimated that its PPT would be 49,500 Canadian dollars if it sold for the asking price. In addition to the PPT, new homes carry a federal 5 percent goods-and-services tax, Mr. Soprovich said. Legal fees vary depending on the complexity of the sale. Eric Christiansen, the managing broker of Angell Hasman & Associates Realty, says legal fees range from 700 to 5,000 Canadian dollars. Real estate agent commissions are paid by the seller.
© 2013 The New York Times Company