Is a Burnaby house listing that doesn’t actually include photos of the inside a tip-off that it’s a likely teardown?
That’s what happened with house on Waverly Avenue in Burnaby, which just sold for $2.4 million – more than $400,000 over the asking price – after just seven days on the market
The listing has a few exterior photos that show a rotting house that is 92 years old. It’s 2,800 square feet and sits on what the listing calls a “mega lot” that is .20 acres.
“Fantastic holding property,” reads the listing.
Right now, it’s a great time to be selling a property with robust prices and plenty of buyers looking to invest.
There has been a flurry of old houses selling for more than $2 million in Burnaby during the past few months. There is also an influx of newish homes that are selling for between $4.1 and $6.3 million.
Burnaby South currently sits at a benchmark price of $2,067,100 (+4.2% in one month) while Burnaby North was at $2,021,400 (+4.9% in one month), according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s March report.
Burnaby East stayed under $2 million at $1,776,300 (+2.7% in one month).
Canada’s housing market will “moderate from historic 2021 levels” in terms of price, sales, starts and rentals over the next year – but not to the point where owning or renting a home will be any more affordable than it is now.
That is the forecast published by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, this morning in its latest Housing Market Outlook. The report noted that, despite the expected moderation in prices and the number of sales throughout Canada, costs growth will continue to outpace income growth in several major cities – placing “greater pressure on the affordability of home ownership.”
“Improving levels of employment and immigration are expected to be key factors, as the impact of pandemic restrictions continue to recede,” said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan in a statement about sales, prices and housing starts remaining elevated in 2022. “In 2023 and 2024, the growth in prices will trend closer to long-run averages, with sales and starts activity expected to remain above 5- and 10-year averages.”
The report paints the same picture for Metro Vancouver, Canada’s most expensive real estate market. According to the CMHC outlook, price growth of homes should slow down this year from the blistering pace seen in 2020 and 2021 – but immigration-driven demand and rising debt servicing costs will lead to a worsening of affordability.
CMHC projects the growth rate of home prices in the Greater Vancouver region will not continue on its double-digit rate beyond Q1 2022, and the rate of growth in prices will actually fall to below 5% year-over-year by 2023.
- With additional reporting by Chuck Chiang, Business in Vancouver
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
