FROM DREAM TO REALITY:HOMEOWNERSHIP BASICS FOR VANCOUVER

This bright and airy, two-bedroom, two-bath Port Coquitlam condo is 962 square feet. It boasts a balcony, ensuite laundry, and walk-through closets in the master, plus a short

walk to public transit. Downtown Vancouver is a mere 30-minute commute.

The hot Greater Vancouver housing market still has a lot of affordable gems. Here are three homes we found on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) at press time. While they may no longer be for sale, they are representative of the deals out there.

While it’s a hot market, Vancouver isn’t impossible to break into, says REALTOR® Sebastian Albrecht of Vancouver’s Royal LePage West Side. Here are Albrecht’s top tips for first-time homebuyers wanting to buy in Van City.

Start with realistic expectations and understand what’s important to you. While the average cost of a single detached house in Vancouver hovers around $2.5 million*, the median price of a first-time home purchase is $440,000*. “With a budget of $420,000, you have many options, from a studio apartment in downtown Vancouver to a townhouse in Langley,” says Albrecht. “Neither option is a bad choice: they each appeal to different types of buyers with a varied set of priorities.”

“In downtown Vancouver, $400,000 to $420,000 would buy a studio condo of about 400 square feet, but if you go out to East Vancouver, it might be a one bedroom of 650 square feet,” says Albrecht, explain-ing that prices drop the farther from the core you travel. “You may find a [resale] two-bedroom condo just five to 10 minutes outside Vancou-ver, still within city limits, for a similar dollar value. Heading a little farther out, to areas like Delta, Surrey and Langley, you’ll be able to find townhouses in the $425,000 price range.”

For those with deeper pockets, Burnaby, Squamish, Port Coquitlam, Delta, Surrey and Langley offer single detached houses for well under the $1-million ceiling.

A market as dynamic as Vancouver’s can be a tough nut to crack, which is why Albrecht recommends working with a REALTOR® familiar with the region. A REALTOR® can direct you to pockets of affordability within an expensive region, has the potential to get you in to see homes newly listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sooner so you can get ahead of the game, and will have insights into how well run stratas (condos and townhouses) are – all of which will make the path to first-time homeownership so much smoother.

REALTOR®tips stealsFIRST-TIMER

Located in Vancouver proper, this two-bedroom, two-bath condo is just shy of 800 square feet. It offers a clean, modern aesthetic, roomy balcony, ensuite laundry and, for avid urban-cyclist commuters, secure bike parking.

A GVA bargain for the low, low price of

This Mission home costs less than one-third of the benchmark price ($1.5 million) of a detached Greater Vancouver home. The 1,688-square-foot ranch has three beds and two baths and is in the heart of

the Fraser Valley, just over an hour’s drive from Vancouver.

Know Your Priorities

Exlore Beyond the Core

Work With a Realtor®

BUYING IN VANCOUVER

BETTER THANAVERAGE

Expert advice for first-time homebuyers

Three gems that can be found on a first-timer budget

Steal NO. 2 $420,000

Steal NO. 1 $293,000

Steal NO. 3 $419,000

Vancouver’s red hot real estate market invites comparison with other in demand cities around the world. But if you crunch the numbers, its affordability is better than its reputation. Take a look:

Vancouver

$759Hong Kong

$1,118London, UK

$1,590New York City

$1,068Stockholm

$1,516Paris

$3,287

RELATIVE AFFORDABILITY

*Prices per square foot, in U.S. dollars.

Average cost of residential real estate

WHERE THE HOUSES ARE INVESTMENT VALUEHomeownership is one of the surest ways to build your nest egg. Property values continue to grow in the Greater Vancouver Area.

8% average increase

year over year

1 Genworth Canada Housing Data, median prices for single detached properties only for time period YTD 2016 (as at Sept. 2016)

Sept. 2015: $900,735

Sept. 2005:$424,789

9

1

2

2

6

3

5

47

8

9

10

If a traditional detached home is what you seek, here’s where you’ll find deals in the city and the Greater Vancouver Area.

Vancouver Downtown:

$2,518,525Delta / Richmond:

$1,270,441

Areas ranked by median property value for September 2016

Chilliwack:

$442,3181

Abbotsford / Mission:

$574,447

DEALS!

1. Vancouver Downtown2. Delta / Richmond3. Coquitlam / Port Coquitlam /

Port Moody

4. Surrey5. Burnaby / New Westminster 6. Vancouver North and West7. Langley

8. Maple Ridge / Pitt Meadows9. Abbotsford / Mission10. Chilliwack

*Source: CREA Housing Data, average prices for single detached properties, year over year change*Source: CREA Housing Data, median prices for single detached properties only for time period YTD 2016 (as at Sept. 2016)

*Source: America's Top Cities: Cheapest Real Estate in the World (Sept. 26, 2011; updated Aug. 7, 2014), creditsesame.com

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