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Leasehold Home, Pros & Cons!

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Leasehold Home, Pros & Cons!

With Vancouver’s scorching home prices not looking like they are cooling down any time soon, many people may be turning to the seemingly more affordable option of a leasehold home. So when – if ever – is a buying a leasehold a good move?

As with any home purchase, it’s all about defining what you want to achieve out of home ownership.

A leasehold home, she explains, is where you own the home but not the land it stands on (or share of the land, in the case of a strata unit). That makes leasehold units more affordable than freehold homes as much of the cost of homes is in the land. But it also means that the landowner charges rent for the land and, even though many leases are pre-paid, the cost of renewing that lease could potentially be extremely onerous.

Answering a listener question on the latest Real Estate Therapist show on Roundhouse Radio, about whether she recommends buying a leasehold home on False Creek as an affordable option.

If it’s purely about lifestyle, you want to have that great location, a waterfront home that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford, then maybe leasehold is right for you.

“But if you’re, say, a young couple getting married, maybe there are kids in the future, if you buy a leasehold, you don’t have a legacy to pass on to them.”

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Cambie Corridor will have 11,500 New Homes; City says

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Cambie Corridor will have 11,500 New Homes; City says

Huge vision for Cambie Corridor’s Phase 3 will focus on rental housing, townhouses and row homes

The draft plan is the City’s first to introduce below-market rental housing as part of its housing policy. Of the 11,500 new homes planned, more than 4,000 are intended as “affordable” homes, including social and rental units linked to residents’ incomes.

“The third phase of the Cambie Corridor Plan is the first of many exciting steps that puts the City’s Housing Strategy into action with vision for the neighbourhood that delivers a housing mix that meets peoples’ needs,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “I’ve heard loud and clear that people want a mix of housing – rental, townhomes and row houses – near schools, parks and transit in Vancouver’s low-density neighbourhoods. This plan for the Cambie Corridor provides that and more.”

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Lego-like modular housing in Vancouver

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Lego-like modular housing in Vancouver

The City of Vancouver is a few pieces closer to finishing its Lego-like modular housing pilot project at the corner of Main Street and Terminal Avenue.

Work crews hoisted finished sections of the 40-unit building into the air Wednesday, lowered them and snapped them into place, fleshing out a structure that the city had previously announced. The bulk of the building is formed from moveable, modular housing units that have a 30-40 year lifespan and are intended to be rented out at affordable rates.

Among those on hand to watch the construction — and speak to reporters — was Vision Vancouver Coun. Kerry Jang.

“People need a place that’s decent, that’s clean and warm and gives them dignity … a place to be stable and to start to heal,” Jang said before touting the merits of modular homes.

“(T)his ain’t no trailer park,” he said.

The city is underwriting the $3.5-million project, which is expected to be completed in mid-February. Most of the units are 250 sq. ft., though the first floor has larger, wheelchair-accessible homes. Vancouver Sun

A Quick Review on 2016 Vancouver Real Estate Year

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A Quick Review on 2016 Vancouver Real Estate Year

From soaring values, to shadow flipping, to foreign buyer tax and much more – it has been an incredible year. Here are the real estate news highlights of 2016

 

Phew! What a year it’s been for Vancouver and BC real estate stories. From soaring values, to shadow flipping, to foreign buyers tax, to tough new mortgage policies and then Donald Trump’s US presidential election win… 2016 has seen it all. Here are the highlights of our local year in real estate.

January

January real estate news is always dominated by the New Year’s BC Assessment figures, which shocked everyone in January 2016. The value of residential real estate in Vancouver compared with the previous year went up by 16.96 per cent – far greater than the already-high 9.5 per cent of the previous year but only the fourth steepest increase in BC, according to BC Assessment figures released January 4. Lions Bay in West Vancouver saw the province’s highest rise, at 17.96 per cent year over year, followed by Squamish at 17.33 per cent and Burnaby at 17.07 per cent. However, the most expensive properties in the province were to be found on Vancouver’s West Side – check out this separate story here about the 2016 roll’s top-valued homes (but first, take a guess whose house made the list again…).

In other January news, Royal LePage came out with its annual outlook, predicting that home prices in Vancouver would rise another nine per cent across 2016. The ensuing super-hot spring market, combined with the summer and fall’s drop in sales and detached-home prices, means that this prediction could turn out to be fairly accurate – albeit not necessarily for the expected reasons.

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First-time buyer zero-interest loan program potentially make the B.C.’s real estate market hot again

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First-time buyer zero-interest loan program potentially make the B.C.’s real estate market hot again

British Columbia’s new assistance program for first-time home buyers has the potential to bolster a segment of the property market that has stayed strong in the midst of sliding sales, according to one market observer.

“The net impact (of the program), it does draw more people into the market, into the condo and town home market,” said Bryan Yu, senior economist with Central 1 Credit Union.

However, while sales have dropped off in the market for pricier single-family homes, Yu said the more affordable condominium and town home segments of the market have remained more active.

And that additional demand could push “upside pressure on pricing,” Yu said, because the multi-family housing sector is still struggling with a lack of supply to meet demand.

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New Home Sales in Metro Vancouver

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New Home Sales in Metro Vancouver

“Metro Vancouver’s new home market was negatively impacted by the recent government initiatives to slow down sales activity in the region,” according to the latest quarter Urban Development Institute State of the Market Q3 2016 report, compiled by real estate think tank Urban Analytics and released November 17.

Just over 3,000 new multi-family home sales were recorded in 2016’s third quarter, which is a decline of 34 per cent from the same quarter last year and a drop of 55 per cent from the six-year record set in 2016’s second quarter, said the report.

The figures run contrary to recent media reports suggesting that the new home market is bucking the downward trend seen in Metro Vancouver’s resale market. There have also been several press releases issued recently to media by developers citing recent presales successes.

“Some developments are doing really well, but there is an overall slowdown in the new home market,” Jon Bennest, principal at Urban Analytics and one of the report’s authors, confirmed to REW.ca. “There are a number of reasons for this, and the new foreign buyer tax is just one of them. In fact the market was already showing signs of cooling prior to the introduction of the foreign buyer’s tax.” Read more