Tag Archives: Fraser Valley real estate

Cheaper and cheaper to buy at the edge

July 11, 2013 By in Housing, Real Estate and Property Taxes Tags: , , 4 Comments
New apartments for sale, Edge Street and Brown Avenue, Maple Ridge, July 2013

New apartments for sale, Edge Street and Brown Avenue, Maple Ridge, July 2013

I’ve considered the question of Vancouver housing prices for some years, and will venture a conclusion.

Housing prices are high and rising in the City of Vancouver because people want to live in Vancouver. (And at a benchmark price of $2 million for a detached home on the west side, those prices are spectaular.)

Housing prices are lower and declining around the urban perimeter, for example in Mission or Squamish, because fewer people want to live there. Does this seem too simple? Continue reading →

Speculation and stagnation in the real estate market

December 16, 2012 By in Housing, Real Estate and Property Taxes Tags: , 3 Comments
Burnaby Heights

Burnaby Heights

Home prices have sagged across Fraseropolis in recent months, but they’re still something of a marvel.  Realtors estimate the “benchmark” cost of a detached house in north Burnaby at close to $1,000,000;  west of Ontario Street in  Vancouver, the figure last month was above $2,000,000.

So, inevitably: is there a residential real estate bubble in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland? Are we verging on a crash?  Is it time to panic?  This debate has run on for years, and I won’t issue a ruling here, except to observe that the pricey parts of the region have tended to get pricier over time, despite the fretting, while home prices in the least expensive areas have stagnated (see the chart at the bottom of this post.) Continue reading →