Condos won’t be immune in case of market correction: realtor

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – One local realtor is doubtful the condo market will hold up in the case there’s a major correction in the Metro Vancouver real estate market. According to figures Steve Saretsky has compiled, condo prices have dropped five per cent over the last three months.

The big thing Saretsky has noticed is the drop in how many homes in that segment are selling over the asking price — 65 per cent in June and 29 per cent in September.

However, it’s not all bad news for Vancouver real estate. Economist Tom Davidoff with UBC’s Sauder School of Business points out the commercial sector is booming. “We have very low interest rates, people like Vancouver as a city obviously, so you may be seeing a shift toward non-residential real estate.”

A recent RE/MAX study backs that up, finding sales in the commercial segment were up 94 per cent for the first half of this year in our region.
While the new 15 per cent foreign buyers tax has kicked in for residential properties, it does not apply to the commercial sector. “The demand for Vancouver real estate was so high, that was true of the commercial sector as well,” explains Davidoff. “You would expect some of that demand for residential to now bleed into commercial because it’s a way out of the tax.”

In the wake of the foreign buyer tax introduced by the province, September saw sales down 28.9 percent in comparison with the same month last year, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

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