Vancouver Property – From Hot to Not

What a difference two years makes. Vancouver – the hot property market in the world two years ago – now ranks as the weakest among major cities worldwide when it comes to luxury property.

The once hot property market in Vancouver has cooled dramatically over recent times, following legislation brought in against overseas property investors by the government.

The latest luxury property market report from global realty firm Knight Frank shows that Vancouver has dropped from top spot two years ago to last place of the 43 cities in the index, with luxury prices dropping 11.3 per cent in the past year.

Singapore now takes first place in the index, with a hot 13.1 per cent price growth. While Toronto keeps the flag flying for Canada, ranked in seventh place with growth of 8.5 per cent.

The report said: ‘Toronto continues to see prime prices rise in its exclusive areas of Rosedale and Yorkville. Vancouver, however, sits at the bottom of our rankings as upmarket areas such as West Vancouver have seen a marked slowdown in sales and prices as a result of the raft of measures introduced in February’s (provincial) budget.’

However, though luxury property has dipped in Vancouver, the overall property market sees the two Canadian cities reverse roles.

Vancouver continues to be hot, ranked in 10th place in Knight Frank’s assessment of the entire housing market last month, while Toronto saw a steep drop to 137th place, out of 150 cities, down from first place a year earlier.

Many of the previously hot property cities in the world have slowed down of late, including Sydney and Hong Kong.

But other factors have taken a more direct toll on Vancouver’s once hot real estate. The foreign buyers tax, introduced in 2016, has reduced demand from overseas property investors, and new housing taxes introduced this year are keeping potential buyers from entering the market, as they wait to see what the effect will be.

It seems the once hot property market in Vancouver may remain cool for a while to come.