Vancouver real estate: new sales, listings below $350,000 show pockets of affordability in expensive city
Everyone knows that homes are expensive in Vancouver.
It’s one of the most unaffordable places in the world, where many residences are priced in the millions of dollars.
That said, there are pockets of affordability that remain.
Recent listings and sales show that one can own a home, a condo to be precise, for less than $350,000.
One example is a condo unit downtown that Royal LePage Sterling Realty listed on February 22.
The second floor unit at the Sequel 138 condo development at 138 East Hastings is priced at $349,000.
Sequel 138 was built in 2014.
The one-bedroom, 443-square-foot property has a 2021 valuation of $334,000 as of July 1, 2020, based on figures from B.C. Assessment.
RBC’s mortgage calculator shows how much it costs to carry a $350,000 mortgage on a five-year term, with fixed-interest rate of 2.04 percent.
It comes up to a monthly payment of $1,488.85.
That’s cheaper than renting an almost comparable studio.
A check with rental information site PadMapper shows that a 500-square-foot studio at 1188 Bidwell Street in the West End is available for $2,290.
In East Vancouver, Nu Stream Realty Inc. sold a one-bedroom condo for $346,000.
Unit 207 at 6991 Victoria Drive measures 465 square feet.
The property was originally listed for $299,000. The price was later increased to $349,000. It sold on February 3 for $346,000.
Per B.C. Assessment’s valuation as of July 1, 2020, the Victoria Drive condo has a 2021 worth of $323,300.
The transactions were tracked by real-estate site Zealty.ca.
The online resource operated by Holywell Properties lists other examples of these listings and sales below $350,000.
One might even go up to a budget of below $450,000.
Again using RBC’s mortgage calculator, that means a monthly payment of $1,914.23.
That’s still cheaper than renting a $2,290 studio in the West End.
Below $450,000 can be considered affordable, according to realtor David Hutchinson.
“Even in a hot market like this, we can find affordability. You just have to know where to look,” Hutchinson told the Straight.
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