Strong home pre-sale activity in Metro Vancouver in early 2024

Artistic rendering of Juno within the growing number of future towers in Surrey City Centre. (StreetSide Developments)

March 2024 is forecast to be an exceptionally strong month for home pre-sale activity within the real estate board jurisdictions of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

According to a newly released report by MLA Canada, a total of 2,150 future new ownership homes are expected to be released over the course of March 2024, including 1,348 concrete homes, 424 woodframe homes, and 378 townhomes.

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The significant number of concrete home launches are led by Wesgroup Properties’ initial north tower for Reign and Anthem Properties’ Ethos tower in Metrotown in Burnaby, and Bosa Properties’ Parkway 2 tower in Surrey.

Reign will entail 38-storey and 35-storey towers with a total of over 600 condominium homes, Ethos will be a 34-storey tower with 218 condominium homes, and Parkway 2 will be a 52-storey tower with nearly 400 condominium homes.

Artistic rendering of Reign at 6280-6350 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby. (Chris Dikeakos Architects/Wesgroup Properties)

In total, 14 project launches of all types are anticipated across the Lower Mainland for March 2024.

This is up from the total of 590 pre-sale units within six project launches in February 2024, and 434 pre-sale units within three project launches in January 2024.

February 2024’s pre-sale tally includes the launch of StreetSide Developments’ Juno concrete tower in Surrey City Centre, with 50% of the inventory sold within weeks after the project launched, representing strong initial activity.

“In line with the resale market, the volume of new presale supply increased month-over-month, matching typical seasonality,” said Garde MacDonald, director of advisory for MLA Canada.

“On our active sites, foot traffic and deal activity are generally increasing, giving us confidence going into the Spring. We anticipate new project launches to double from February to March and give us an indication of market breadth for the remainder of 2024.”

Artistic rendering of Ethos in Metrotown. (Anthem Properties)

bosa properties parkway surrey city centre 1

Artistic rendering of the Parkway towers in Surrey City Centre. (Bosa Properties)

The full impact of the provincial government’s new short-term rental restrictions beginning in May 2024 remains to be seen.

MLA Canada suggests the short-term rental restrictions will have some impact on woodframe projects, which are known to appeal to buyers looking for investment properties or entry-level pricing. The new short-term rental restrictions could also particularly impact other tourism-based markets in BC, such as the Okanagan.

There could be more activity as the year progresses from the expectation that the Bank of Canada will start a years-long cycle of gradually decreasing its policy interest rate from the current rate of 5%.

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