An entire city block recently sold in East Vancouver, reflecting the strength of the new condominium market as developers look to capitalize on increased demand.
The 1.35-acre site comprises the 5000 Block of Earles Street in the Norquay Village neighbourhood. The sale price was nearly $31.9 million, translating to a cost of $544 per square foot.
“This is really going to be a benchmark sale for the industry and it will show renewed confidence in the marketplace and developers are looking for sites, particularly of scale,” said Mark Goodman of Goodman Commercial, who brokered the deal.
The site is occupied by six detached houses, although it’s already zoned for condominium construction and falls under the Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan, which allows for multi-family developments up to four storeys in height.
The buyer, a local residential developer, plans to construct two four-storey buildings featuring 130 market condominium units above two levels of underground parking.
“Just to have six different owners over time and consolidate that to one owner is a feat in itself,” Goodman said. “There’s increasing demand, unprecedented, and in turn prices have gone up for development sites.”
Surging demand and spillover from sky-high detached and townhouse prices have bolstered Vancouver’s condo market. High rates of both immigration and inter-provincial migration, combined with limited inventory, have put upward pressure on prices.
According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the benchmark price for a condominium reached $761,800 by the end of 2021, a year-over-year increase of 13 per cent from $676,500 at the end of 2020.
Contrast that with the experience from a few years ago, when the condo benchmark dropped from $664,100 at the end of 2018 to $656,700 a year later.
“The condo market is very strong now compared to 2018 to 2020 — end unit values have increased substantially which, in turn, increased the land value,” said Goodman. “For example, East Vancouver wood-frame condo sales range from $1,100 to $1,200 [per square foot] depending on location.”
