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The Real Deal – North Shore
is fast becoming the hottest real estate market in Vancouver
Is the North Shore (North Vancouver) the new
Yaletown? Find out why real estate analysts predict the next hot
spot in real estate to be the North Shore.
Source: 24 Hours
Date: December 02, 2005
With entry-level prices on the North Shore hovering
around the $500,000, the mid-range real estate market has hit
considerably loftier heights.
These days, keeping in mind that the average price of a lot on
the North Shore (North Vancouver) is $500,000, it should be no
surprises a mid-range single-detached home, 20 years old, in a
nice neighborhood and close to amenities will cost you between
$675,000 and $800,000. For the owner of a mortgage-free, smallish
Lower Lonsdale bungalow (now worth about $500,000) looking to
step up, such a move is easily achievable given the equity.
But for those buyers with less equity, it might be a bit of a
struggle. “It all depends on lifestyle choices individuals
make,” said Dan Morrison, at Remax Creat Realty, and the
active Lower Lonsdale condo market is providing choices. Morrison
calls the Lower Lonsdale are the hottest in North Vancouver with
three condo towers opening up or under construction. Pre-sales
have been brisk, with units two-bedroom units starting in the
mid $400,000 range on the lower floors.
Morrison thinks it may be a little early to dub the area the
next Yaletown and at prices averaging $500 per square foot “it’s
still a bargain compared to Coal Harbour.”
Janet Cunningham, a 25-year realtor now with Prudential
Sussex Realty in West Vancouver, agrees that the condo market
is very active in spite of prices of about $350,000 for a basic
650 square foot one-bedroom unit in a new concrete high-rise building
on the North Shore.
Two-bedrooms with 850 square feet are sellilng for as much as
$450,000, she noted, while the 970 square foot penthouses are
going for $500,000.
Alan Skinner, of Remax Crest, says dubbing Lower Lonsdale the
next Yaletown is fair comment. “It’s very viable bedroom
community for Vancouver,” Skinner said, “and psychologically
you’re not living and working in downtown.”
Many such buyers, he added, are comfortable with their purchases
because there are no rental restrictions. “There are also
some first-timers and empty nesters buying two-bedroom units ($350,000
to $400,000),” he said. “They’re saying: ‘the
time is perfect, we can sell our home and move up.’”
Written by Colin Wright of 24 Hours.
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