Collective relief
Writing these words toward midnight on election night, the worst fears of the real estate community have not been realized.
Adrian Dix did not “waltz into government with 35% of the popular vote,” as Rob Macdonald of Macdonald Development Corp. predicted for the Urban Development Institute (UDI) in January 2012, nor did voters show a willingness “to overlook 10 years of great, good, sound government,” as Eric Carlson, president of Anthem Properties Group, told UDI earlier this year.
People voted for the familiar – Winnie-the-Pooh over Eeyore, to use one of Carlson’s metaphors – and the province will return to business as usual under a Liberal majority government.
This promises continuity and stability – one of the province’s touted strengths through the economic crises of the past five years. People will not leave B.C. for Alberta as forecast (not on account of the government, anyway), corporate taxes will not rise as much and the sale of BC Pavilion Corp. is not on the table.
Will the property transfer tax be adjusted, as the real estate industry wanted? This is one of the prime opportunities the new government has before it, but it could just as easily ignore the issue given the need for job creation (unemployment sits at 6.6% provincewide and 6.8% in Vancouver) and leadership on resource and pipeline development.
In the meantime, Bosa Properties Inc. CEO Colin Bosa said he’s continuing to sell homes.
“We’re moving product on a weekly basis,” he said. “It’s more of a balanced market. We’ll see what happens after the election ... and how that impacts the market [but] I’m optimistic.”
Parsing intentions
Just what makes Vancouver homebuyers different from those in the rest of Canada?
A recent Pollara Strategic Insights survey for BMO Bank of Montreal holds some clues. Vancouver homebuyers are not unlike those in other major cities, ranking good neighbours and proximity to friends and family among the least of their concerns.
While safe neighbourhoods are the top concern, coming first among 62% of Vancouver buyers, the city lags behind Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Atlantic Canada, where more than 70% of buyers prioritize safe neighbourhoods.
What do buyers want, then? Proximity to stores and restaurants – 32% of buyers surveyed rank this as a top priority, more than any other city or province in the country.
Similarly, short commutes are favoured – a third of buyers want this (only Prairie buyers want short commutes more earnestly) while 29% of buyers rank public transit as a top priority, more than anywhere else in the country save Toronto (at 31%).
Vancouver buyers, it seems, are willing to endure the isolation of city life, but being able to get around town easily for work and play makes it bearable.
UBC prospects
While the Musqueam Indian Band prepares a rezoning application for its 22-acre site on University Boulevard, John Gee of Colliers International is soliciting offers on a $14.9 million freehold property just steps away.
The 0.62-acre parcel between Toronto and Kings roads is touted as a “highly sought after” location with rarely available freehold status. While most of the new developments that have transformed UBC’s campus in recent years are on sites leased from the university, the listing Gee has is located off-campus.
It is a fee-simple property, giving an owner relatively unfettered ownership.
Gee is pitching the property as an investment. It has 12 townhome units with below-market rents, promising investors an opportunity to increase rents.
However, the brochure also notes that the “easily workable polygon shaped parcel” has an allowable density of 1.45 FSR – well beyond the current density – suggesting that redevelopment in the future is an option for purchasers. •
