09 Oct Vancouver Luxury Home Sales Up 65%

Good news for investors and home-owners alike: Vancouver luxury home sales rose by a staggering 65% in the first 6 months of 2013, when compared to the last 6 months of 2012. Luxury homes are defined as single-family properties which sell for over $1 million. Defying some predictions of more modest sales figures, this massive surge has boosted confidence in the fundamental health of Vancouver’s overall real estate market, though some concerns about overheating do remain, as condominium sales demonstrated a 20% drop in sales when comparing the first half of 2012 to the first half of 2013. As far as the luxury market goes, however, things are looking up!

In April of this year, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada’s Top Tier Trends study determined that approximately 40% of luxury homes sold in Vancouver are bought by foreign buyers, principally from China, Iran, and the United States. While many people mistake these purchases solely as foreigners looking for safe investments, that’s not necessarily the case. As Ross McCredie, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, explains: “For a young family trying to start out in Vancouver, there is almost no chance that they could do it on their own.” Therefore, many wealthy foreigners will buy properties for their Canadian children and grandchildren who live in Canada. “A lot of people have this perception that people are getting off an Air China flight and are buying these million-dollar properties and that is an incredibly rare event. What you are seeing is second or third generation Chinese[-Canadians].”

Led by a strong luxury real estate market, McCredie sees continued prosperity for home-owners throughout the country, including BC: “All Canadian cities are growing and we have very low vacancy rates in almost all of our cities. So when you have all those different dynamics, it speaks to a healthy market.” Based on the latest sales figures, it would seem that most high-end buyers and investors agree!