The Lotus Has Blossomed
Posted April 1st, 2010 in Real Estate, Statistics | 
Podium
Vancouver takes a bow from the podium as it wins the Gold Medal for what may be record. It may be the highest average price for a detached home in Canada.
Average Price 1977 – 2010
Detached
At $1,002,020, Vancouver has eclipsed itself in reaching this new high for a detached home. Up from February’s $963,191, it is suspect that this new price level may propel this city into the most unaffordable place on earth in which to live.
Attached
Attached properties slid from February’s $550,873 to its current average of $533,481.
Apartments
March saw apartments hold their own at $432,754 down from February’s $432,964.
Vancouver Real Estate Average Price Numbers:
| Detached | Attached | Apartment |
| Feb 10 – 963,191 | Feb 10 – 550,873 | Feb 10 – 432,964 |
| Feb 09 – 792,551 | Feb 09 – 437,233 | Feb 09 – 353,064 |
| Feb 08 – 920,644 | Feb 08 – 512,731 | Feb 08 – 424,839 |
I give it one more month.
Wow now we can say we cracked a million before it all came crashing down. I still dont know when its coming down, but a million bucks for the average home probably wont last.
“it is suspect that this new price level may propel this city into the most unaffordable place on earth in which to live”
I thought we already were the most unaffordable place to live…
http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf
Simply amazing. Not 15 years ago I though a million dollars was a huge amount of money; enough to buy a mansion and a sports car and have servants (I was pretty young 15 years ago). Now it turns out it is just the amount of money required to buy the average home in Vancouver. It is just mind numbing.
@davers
WOW! is right. I admit to being a little numb when I saw the numbers.
– but what IF it is only the beginning of another level?
Yes this is indeed mind numbing, but if Larry’s earlier analysis on the West Vancouver / North Vancouver dichotomy shows, the “affordability” limit is somewhere north of a cool million but less than 1.5 million, on average.
@larry
Then I’m moving to Phoenix!
@davers
so you like cactus, lizards, and deserts with 150 degree temperatures.
You’ll want to talk to Jay Thompson @http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/ – he’s the man.
@Cornelius
you may be right on that affordability number which many will consider unachievable
quoting @other Mike ‘s comment-
“Dunbar boggles my mind. I grew up in Dunbar. I love Dunbar. I want to like, one day, live in or around Dunbar.
We are a 2 income family with total family income of about $275k. We could slap down a down payment of about $400k ($500k if we really had to) without getting near the RRSP’s.
Yet to buy a decent house in the old neighboorhood it would mean borrowing well over $1million.”
A detached house in the city is not an “average home”.
Catus and lizards arent so bad. The heat might get to me but I could use a tan anyway. I’ve seen 4 bed houses with pools for 100K so it should make the heat a bit more bearable.
The only thing stopping me from moving to Phoenix before was lack of a decent hockey team. Should they make it past the second round of the playoffs I mid as well start packing my bags. Season tickets are less than a 8 game pack for the canucks!
@ANON
what then would you have it be?
@davers
is that all it takes? Careful of those bargains. Many have been stripped bare including the plumbing. Jay and others have horror stories.
Check out this piece on the richies living at Shangri-la downtown. These supposed rich people do exist and it has a gross impact on our real estate market, like it or not. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/social-strata-on-display-at-luxury-shangri-la/article1511883/
@Cornelius
Having seen the view from the top suites it’s actually an incredible building . I accept that I cannot afford to live there but, I also accept that there are exceptional people who make exceptional amounts of money and who have the wisdom and ability to buy the best their money can buy. Would any of us be any different were we to wear their shoes?
@Larry
I’m sure there are lemons out there, but if I actually was to buy down there I would probably rent for 6 months, find the area I like and take my time purchasing. No need to rush as their market doesnt look like it is heading for the sky any time soon.
Re: Shangri-la
If I was that rich I can honnestly say I wouldnt be throwing down millions for a view. For that kind of cash I could get a place in Hawaii, a condo at whistler, lots of land somewhere in Washington state and rent a very nice house for hundreds of months.
Besides, a friend works security in a building beside the Shangri-la and can get me roof access almost any time I want. So paying millions for a view I can get for free doesnt make much sense.
Larry, you’re absolutely right about people trying to “buy the best their money can buy”. I believe the take-away is that the current prices are reflective of that.
@davers
UP ON THE ROOF – let me know how it goes with your main squeeze when the wind and rain starts.
Wow. Simply wow! I remember on VHB’s site people scoffing at the idea of the average price for a home hitting a million bucks. It was held out as THE example of ridiculous unaffordability (excuse the made up word). I am stunned.
Outside Asia, Vancouver now has the highest priced homes in the world. London, New York, San Francisco–all previous contenders–have come down in price.
Don’t get too excited about the Shangri-la. I spoke to a worker on a leaky condo who told me the company he was working for was bidding on a contract to fix their windows. Apparently, they’ve been installed incorrectly and are letting in water.
Hey! Wait a minute. Maybe that IS the BEST money can buy in Vancouver.
I very happy we made it to a million because the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
When we look back on this in a couple of years we’ll wonder how this ever happened.
April 19 is coming.
Then July 20.
@Larry
You got a point there, it is really a fair weather destination.
However, how many places in the Shangri-la can boast a 360 degree view?
The bubble is about to burst…if you think not you’re delusional. The housing affordability index is through the roof and we are in the greatest recession since the great depression. America is in the toilet and until they recover, Canada is up the river without an economic paddle. The Canadian dollar is too high for our exports other than oil…all in all devaluation is about to take hold in the housing industry. Just look what happened in the states; Canada is a mirror image of that and it’s about to happen with Canadian interest rates going up.
Oh my…the average house in Vancouver are above $1M!!! With all those expensive homes, it should make paying off the Olympics very easy. You would just have to sell a couple $1M homes lol!
I wonder what the “net worth” of all the houses in Vancouver are?
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