Values for apartment buildings in East Vancouver have grown steadily over the past 10 years and have generally tracked rents in its upward trajectory. The supply of rental units in this market is limited to new condos in areas such as Main and Fraser Street. Transaction activity has been fairly limited in this market with few sellers; however, a number of buildings have been acquired by investors looking to take advantage of rising rents, particularly in trendy areas near Main Street and Commercial Drive.

This market is predominantly characterized by low-rise buildings and complexes over 40-years of age. The average sales value over the past five years in this market is about $145,000.

East Vancouver has traditionally been considered an affordable option to renters relative to the Westside or West End; this is evident in rents which are on average approx. 15% lower. According to CMHC, the average one-bedroom rents for $915 in Mount Pleasant/Renfrew Heights, and $845 in the East Hastings Area.

Much of the transaction activity taking place in East Vancouver over the past few years have been of older apartment product that has been renovated and reintroduced to the market at higher rental rates. Average cap rates have hovered in the 4.0% to 5.0% range, with lower cap rates for older buildings with upside potential.

According to CMHC, vacancy rates for apartments are generally around 1.0%; which will continue to be tight amid little new rental supply. Investors will continue to look to East Vancouver for buildings with upside as well as those properties which are well-positioned for future growth and rent increases.

Below is an update to some data we posted previously outlining activity and pricing for Downtown Vancouver condo resales. Sales volume was down 30% YoY in August 2012. For product less than 2 years old, the market has come off in terms of both pricing and sales activity. The majority of newer condo product downtown continues to trade in the bandwidth between $600 and $800 per sq ft.

Source: REBGV stats.

Below are average cap rates derived from aggregated sales data over 6 months ending September 2012.

North Shore Outlook – A new kind of grocery store to take over Safeway lot in West Van.

From the outside, it doesn’t seem like much is happening to the boarded-up former Safeway building on Marine Drive in Ambleside.

But crews are quickly working on extensive renovations to make way for Fresh St. Market, a grocery store that will offer 70 per cent veggies, fruit and meat and 30 per cent grocery items.

Read more: http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/news/170352856.html

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver has released stats for August which show mixed results amid a general slowdown of sales activity since May of this year. A sample of selected areas in Metro Vancouver shows pricing as flat or in decline during the summer.

Year over year pricing is in slight decline pretty much across the board, with the exception of some of the Fraser Valley suburbs which did not exhibit significant price increases over the past two years. Pitt Meadows condos, for example, have shown a slight increase of 1.2% since May 2012. Other markets with much higher levels of new inventory, such as North Burnaby, have declined about 2.5% over the summer, and have remained relatively flat since 2010.

Prices are continuing to come off on the Westside of Vancouver, which was one of the hottest markets in 2010/2011 and was the basis for much of the commentary on the health of the overall residential market.

The HPI for single family homes on the Westside declined 2.5% in August alone, and is down over 6% since May 2012. The HPI remains 20% above where it was in August 2010, indicating that with a prolonged lack of sales activity, there may be a further decline in store. Between June and August, sales volumes were down 50% over 2011.