But the practice of announcing rankings has been stopped
Derrick Penner
Sun
Two of Vancouver’s top real estate marketers have racked up a combined total of close to $1 billion in condominium sales so far this year, but whether those results make one of them the city’s new condo king is up for debate.
Jason Craik, leader of MAC Marketing Solutions, claims the top spot with 2,640 unit sales worth $434 million, figures backed up by the Multiple Listing Service. Given the normal commission rate of between 2.5 and five per cent, that would translate into $10 million to $20 million in fees for Craik’s sales team.
However, George Wong of Platinum Marketing Services, Macdonald Realty, says his team has posted 640 unit sales worth $530 million, but only some of those are reflected in MLS statistics.
And the city’s dominant condominium project marketer, Bob Rennie of Rennie Marketing Systems, who was last year’s top seller with $405 million in sales, could not be reached Tuesday.
There won’t be an official condo king, or queen, for 2005 anyway, because the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is discontinuing its Medallion Club ranking of top-selling agents.
Carmen Patrao, who is in member services at the board, said the public ranking is being stopped for privacy reasons as it adopts new rules under B.C.’s freedom of information and protection of privacy legislation.
Amanda Malone, external communications coordinator for the board, said that each real estate agent’s sales figures are considered part of his or her personal file, and the board can’t release the information to anyone else.
Malone said those in the industry can access their own information, including their own ranking, on the MLS system, but can’t access anyone else’s record.
However, the figures released to The Vancouver Sun by Craik and Wong confirmed that the market for condominiums in 2005 remained brisk. Craik’s sales team, which includes partner and marketing guru Cameron McNeill, sold 1,000 units in three towers of the five-tower Infinity project being built in Surrey, and 230 units in the Park 360 tower in Burnaby.
MAC Marketing Solutions also sold out the 145 units of the luxury, lakeside Barona Beach resort development in Kelowna, the 230-unit Elan tower in Yaletown and the unique Flatiron building being constructed at Coal Harbour.
“The demand doesn’t really surprise me,” Craik said in an interview. “It’s an incredible city that we live in, and it is really looked upon as a safe haven.”
In the past year, Craik said he has noticed a significant influx of buyers from “all the new world powers,” such as China, India and South Korea.
Wong’s 2005 highlights included the record-setting $7.75-million penthouse sale at the Two Harbour Green development at Coal Harbour, which Platinum Marketing also sold at an average of $2.5 million a suite.
Wong’s group also sold out a 250-unit, entry-level development called The Ocean Walk in Richmond within three months. As well, it launched a development called Dcor in Whalley.
“Two Harbour Green is the exclusive upper end, but a big part of what we’ve seen in 2005 is the starter market, the entry market,” Wong said. “That will continue to be our bread and butter.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2005