Always so interesting to see what people say to publications far away, compared to what they say to locals.
WHO BUYS IN VANCOUVER
As many as a quarter of the buyers in the Vancouver area are foreigners, Mr. Fitzpatrick said. The majority come from Asia, especially mainland China, but the United States is also well represented, and there are even a few buyers from Europe.
That said, however, international buyers have been fewer in number over the past year, Mr. Fitzpatrick added, because of concerns about the financial crisis.
Full article below the fold
House Hunting in … Canada
By VIRGINIA C. McGUIRE
TWO-BEDROOM WITH OCEAN VIEWS IN WEST VANCOUVER
$1,587,700 (1,598,000 CANADIAN DOLLARS)
This corner apartment in Cypress Park Estates, a neighborhood of West Vancouver, is one of three units on the 12th floor of a 15-story development completed in 2004. The view encompasses the Pacific, the Lions Gate Bridge, and parts of the city. On clear days, Mount Baker and Vancouver Island are visible.
The spacious foyer has cedar floors and a coat closet. A half bath is to the left, along with a den, which could function as a third bedroom. The kitchen is to the right; it has oak cabinets, a roomy pantry, and stainless steel KitchenAid appliances including a six-burner gas stove. The double stainless steel sink is set into an island topped with black granite with rust-colored flecks. The kitchen is open to the living-dining room, which has a fireplace surrounded with quartz and a wall of windows overlooking the water. The family room is adjacent, through French doors. Both it and the living room open to a private balcony large enough for a table and chairs, and even a small grill.
A hallway off the foyer leads to the carpeted master bedroom, which has a double set of closets and a floor-to-ceiling window. The en-suite master bathroom, floored in white marble, has a glass-enclosed shower, a bathtub, and two round porcelain sinks set into a granite countertop. The building is so close to a steep wooded hillside that the large windows in the master bath face trees. The second bedroom, next to the den, has an en-suite bath with a glassed-in shower and marble flooring.
The hilly waterfront community of West Vancouver is just across the Lions Gate Bridge from Vancouver proper. The apartment is a five-minute drive from several shopping districts with high-end restaurants, and 40 minutes from Vancouver Airport. Cypress Mountain Ski Resort is a 10-minute drive, as is Ambleside Beach. Ferries leave nearby Horseshoe Bay for the recreational mecca of Vancouver Island.
The sale price also covers two parking spots and a storage area in the underground garage.
MARKET OVERVIEW
Concerns about global financial turmoil have made buyers more cautious in recent months, said Jeff Fitzpatrick, a Vancouver-based agent for Sotheby’s International Realty Canada. New mortgage lending restrictions have reduced buying power for many Canadians; the total number of sales in the Vancouver area was down 30 percent in 2012, Mr. Fitzpatrick said. Despite this, he added, sellers mostly are sticking with their prices, which have fallen only about 10 percent over the same period.
Some segments of the market are faring better than others: condominiums have held their value better than single-family homes, for example. Their prices grew more slowly during the boom years, so the price corrections over the past year didn’t affect them as drastically. “The ones that took it on the chin were higher-end homes,” Mr. Fitzpatrick said.
Many buyers prefer West Vancouver, a separate municipality, because of its large lots and scenic views. The Cypress Park Estates area has both condos and single-family homes, said Iain Edmonds, a broker with Prudential Sussex Realty who works exclusively in North and West Vancouver. He put the average neighborhood sale price for a single-family house at 1.9 million Canadian dollars ($1.888 million, at 0.99 Canadian dollars to the dollar), and for a condo at 1.39 million Canadian dollars. The condo profiled here costs slightly more than that because it has coveted panoramic views and is in a newer building, said Mehrnaz Chitsaz of Coldwell Banker City Centre Realty, the listing agent.
WHO BUYS IN VANCOUVER
As many as a quarter of the buyers in the Vancouver area are foreigners, Mr. Fitzpatrick said. The majority come from Asia, especially mainland China, but the United States is also well represented, and there are even a few buyers from Europe.
That said, however, international buyers have been fewer in number over the past year, Mr. Fitzpatrick added, because of concerns about the financial crisis.
BUYING BASICS
Canada welcomes foreign buyers, said Rob Zwick, an agent for Vancouver-based ReMax Crest Westside. “If you’re from the United States, it’s fairly straightforward,” he said, adding that American buyers can obtain mortgages in Canada. “You can use U.S. income and U.S. assets to build a case for financing a mortgage.”
Transfer taxes vary from province to province. In British Columbia, they make up 1 percent of the first 200,000 Canadian dollars of the purchase price, and 2 percent of the remainder, Mr. Zwick said. If the property profiled here sells at asking price, taxes will be around 30,000 Canadian dollars. Legal fees cost 800 to 2,500 Canadian dollars, and real estate agent commissions are paid by the seller.
WEB SITES
Cypress Mountain Ski Area: cypressmountain.com
West Vancouver official site: westvancouver.ca
Visit Vancouver: tourismvancouver.com
Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver: rebgv.org
LANGUAGES AND CURRENCY
English, French; dollars (1 Canadian dollar = $1.01)
TAXES AND FEES
Condominium fees are 776 Canadian dollars a month, according to Ms. Chitsaz, the listing agent. Property taxes came to 5,451 Canadian dollars in 2012.
CONTACT
Mehrnaz Chitsaz, Coldwell Banker City Centre Realty, 1-604-351-1962;
city-centre-realty.com
http://city-centre-realty.com/officelistings.html/details-27307838