The real estate market is very active now a day with a Sales-to-Active Ratio at 32% in Greater Vancouver, the highest it has ever been since 2007. A lot of buyers are buying, some for investment purposes and some for personal use. I also see more companies selling real estate investment seminars now that the market is hot. One of the most common questions we get as real estate agents are: WHERE SHOULD WE BUY?
My answer is: It depends. Are you buying as an investment or to live in? If it is an investment, do you want cash flow or appreciation? If you are buying a home to live in, it also depends on your lifestyle, where you work, and many other factors.
MAC Marketing Solutions, a marketing company for pre-sale constructions, has compiled an infographic overview of the economic factors and statistics affecting the Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market in 2015.
The graph below shows the area with the most price increase in an eight year span from November 2006 to November 2014. Vancouver Eastside has the most price increase in the eight year span, followed by West Vancouver and Vancouver Westside. So if you want appreciation, maybe this graph provides some hints.
The below graph shows the absorption rate of new concrete condo in 2014. Burnaby South/Metrotown’s new concrete condo has the best absorption rate at 75%. Meaning 75% of all new constructions released in 2014 were sold. It is followed by Vancouver Downtown and Burnaby North.
The below graph shows the condo rental rates per square foot for properties less than 20 years old that are currently rented out by ADVENT Property Management. According to the CMHC Rental Market Report, the condo vacancy rate in Metro Vancouver is only 0.7% in 2014, and it is way below the Average of 2.0% in major cities across Canada.
I combined the two graphs together to see which area give me the most return solely based on the rental amount. There are many other factors to consider such property tax rates, amount of down payments but this gives us a very simplified overview.
You can also compare this graph to the first graph that shows which city has the most appreciation. You can download the complete MAC-Intel-2015 here.