Bob Rennie plans to address the scarce living space in downtown Vancouver during his keynote speech at the Urban Development Institute’s AGM this Thursday in Vancouver.
“The stats are shocking in how little inventory is [becoming available] downtown,” he told reporters during a media tour at the opening of the Vancouver Olympic Village last Saturday.
Rennie noted that his Rennie Marketing Systems, which is selling the Olympic Village condo units, placed 3,298 downtown condominiums on the market in 2007, but expects to place only 500 downtown units on the market in 2012.
“What happened in 2008 is the developer ran to the sidelines along with his bank,” said Rennie.
“So any potential for Olympic overhang was curbed by the economic downturn. So we don’t have that supply in the city that you’d normally worry about after the Olympics.”
That short supply makes him confident that he will be able sell out the Olympic Village in two years.
Prices for condos in the village range from $389,000 for a 475-square-foot studio to $10.5 million for a 4,000-square-foot penthouse.
Of the 737 condos in the village, 263 have been sold.
Dozens more were sold during the weekend, when 200 more units were put up for sale.
The rest of the units will be put on the market in phases during the next two years, as dictated by market conditions.
“I would much rather under-promise and over-achieve than tell everyone it’s going to sell in three months,” said Rennie.
He noted that, given the average price for condos in the village, it likely won’t be populated with many first-time buyers: “$600,000 is just getting out reach for the first-time buyer.”
He said baby boomers who are looking to downsize are among the main demographics interested in living in the village.
Rennie added that the Olympic brand won’t necessarily influence the value of the square footage in the space, but will affect absorption rates in the broader area.
“Everything else that comes up in the area is going to say ‘across from the Olympic Village,’ ‘close to the Olympic Village,’ looking at the Olympic Village.”