Vancouver Housing Market - Still Affordable?
Greater Vancouver's superb quality of life - it's scenic beauty, moderate climate and high level of services - make it the third best place to live in the world and the best place in Canada.
That's according to a new quality of life survey by Mercer Human Resource consulting, which measured 39 indicators including health, education, climate and availability and quality of houses in 215 cities. Only Zurich and Geneva ranked higher.
A shortage of buildable land and product, coupled with demand has lead to higher home price appreciation.
Is this making Vancouver unaffordable? Right now, the benchmark price of detached home in Greater Vancouver is $ 610,382. The average sales price in January was $ 655,936. How does Greater Vancouver stack up when it comes to affordability? By international standards, Vancouver remains very competitive. Over, and over, again we hear that timing is everything in real estate. If we're waiting in hopes that the market may be showing signs of slowing in the coming years or prices may be coming down, consider this.
As the 2010 Olympics draws closer, global attention will focus on Greater Vancouver. As visitors arrive and experience our clean air, sparkling mountains, vast outdoor recreational opportunities and safe environment, our popularity - and our home prices - will likely continue to increase. Whether you are Buying or Selling, this is a great time to invest in BC.
Trevor Barnett is your reliable and trusted source for all your real estate needs. His network of highly qualified and experienced realtors throughout BC, will assist you in relocating or simply purchasing investment property.