Bidding war erupts for heritage home during the pandemic
John Mackie
The Province
Real estate listings, and sales, have plunged during the COVID-19 crisis. But some properties are still selling.
Realtor David Richardson recently listed a handsome heritage home at 2120 East Pender for $1.588 million. Open houses have been nixed during the crisis, so his office set up private viewings by appointment on April 25 and 26.
So many people wanted to see it they had to extend the viewings for two days. They received 14 offers, and the buzz in the real estate industry is that the house sold for $1.928 million, $340,000 above the asking price.
Richardson wouldn’t confirm the price because the deal hasn’t closed yet. But he said there was a lot of action.
“We sent out 8,000 flyers (for the listing, noting it was) by appointment only,” said Richardson. “We lined them up every 20 minutes, and it took four days to show 75 people.”
The house was built in 1906, when its neighbourhood (Grandview) was vying to be one of Vancouver’s elite areas.
It’s big (four bedrooms, 2,500 square feet) and is brimming with character, with a turret on the outside, big open spaces on the main floor and lots of old growth wood and stained glass. It’s also on a large lot, 50 by 66 feet.
In short it’s the kind of home you might find in parts of Kitsilano or the West End. But you’d have to pay much more for a house like this on the west side, so Richardson said many of the people looking were west siders looking east.
“There’s a 20 per cent price difference (between the west and east sides),” said Richardson, who usually sells west side properties. “On a $2 million house, that’s $400,000.”
Richardson thinks one of the reasons the house attracted so much attention was a lack of listings during the pandemic.
“Normally a guy like me carries 12 to 15 listings at this time of year. I’m carrying one or two, and they’re being snapped up right away.
Realtor Les Twarog said things have been slow.
“The real estate board normally has 120 sales a day, and we’re doing about 40 or 50 sales a day,” he said.
But things are starting to pick up: Twarog has listed eight properties in the last couple of weeks.
“I listed a property on Kingsway and Boundary, $350,000, and I got eight calls in two days on it,” said Twarog. “I have another property I listed in Victoria yesterday at five o’clock, and I got 15 calls. The price is $500,000.”
Twarog said the two key factors in selling seem to be “a lack of inventory and the price point.”
“Things are happening, but most sales are under $1.2 million,” he said. “Five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred thousand, those are the hot price points.”
On Vancouver’s west side, there were 421 detached houses for sale in April, but only 37 sales, which is down from 699 listings and 64 sales in April, 2019. In east Vancouver, there were 349 detached house listings and 49 sales, down from 664 listings and 66 sales in April, 2019.
There were 647 condos and townhomes listed on the west side in April, and 78 sales, down from 977 listings and 137 sales a year ago. Fifty-seven of the 78 sales were for $1 million or less.
On the east side, there were 386 condos and townhomes listed and 67 sales, down from 583 listings and 141 sales last April. Thirty-three of the 67 sales were for condos $600,000 and under.
Selling a home is a bit different during the COVID crisis. Realtors have been using online tools like Zoom, Google Meet and Instagram to try and show listings.
To see 2120 East Pender, you had to book an appointment in advance, and not be late.
“Each appointment was individually booked at a time,” said Sarah Starling, who works with Richardson.
“So we had 11, 11:20, 11:40, 20 minute intervals. Everyone was required to wear a mask and gloves, and we provided booties. So everybody had to go with mask, gloves, booties, one group at a time.”
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