Some condo prices in Burnaby's Metrotown beginning to exceed downtown Vancouver
It is no secret that the gap in housing prices between Vancouver and the rest of the Metro Vancouver region has been narrowing for some time now.
While that may be true, there have long been some assumed constants that overall condominium prices will always be highest within and near the downtown Vancouver peninsula, with the exception of the regional pocket of West Vancouver.
But it now appears downtown Vancouver’s condominium market has been taken over by another part of the region in one category: one-bedroom units.
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According to a real estate board data retrieval by Jesse Kleine, a realtor with Sutton West Coast Realty, the median price per sq ft for a one-bedroom condominium unit in Burnaby’s Metrotown district overtook downtown Vancouver for the first time in July 2022 — exceeding by $6.
There has since been some flip-flopping between downtown Vancouver and Metrotown, with both areas seeing a very thin difference in the median price per sq ft for a one-bedroom unit.
As of August 2022, the median prices were $1,113 in downtown Vancouver and $1,112 in Metrotown.
Downtown Vancouver condominium median prices saw a pre-pandemic slump after reaching an all-time high of $1,137 per sq ft for a one-bedroom unit in late 2018. The pre-pandemic downturn saw a low of $1,034 per sq ft in Fall 2019.
Median prices in downtown Vancouver have largely recovered over the course of the pandemic, but all the while Metrotown soared. Median prices for a one-bedroom unit in Metrotown broke the $1,000 per sq ft line for the first time ever in May 2021, and it has never trended below that line ever since.
Kleine says the premium for condominiums in downtown Vancouver has historically been as large as 70% compared to the rest of the region.
While a significant amount of new condominium supply is being built in Metrotown, that does not appear to be an overriding factor. When variables are isolated, the resale factor shows the same trend line of Metrotown overriding downtown Vancouver marginally.
According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s August 2022 statistics, the benchmark price for an apartment in the Vancouver Westside, which includes downtown Vancouver, is now hovering at $830,000 — representing a 3.6% drop compared to six months ago when the interest rate hike-induced housing slowdown first began. This accounts for apartments of all sizes — one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.
The Vancouver Eastside’s condominiums now have a benchmark price of $702,000 — down 1.7% from six months ago.
The condominiums of Burnaby South, which includes Metrotown, now have a benchmark price of $776,000, which is a 1.2% decline from six months ago. Burnaby North, including Brentwood, is at $717,000, representing a drop of 0.9% over the same period, while Burnaby East is at $795,000, representing a decline of 0.9% as well. A significant amount of new supply is being built in Burnaby East, specifically in the Southgate City development in the Edmonds area.