Absurd Vancouver Property of the Week (September 20th, 2012)
Can anyone tell me why, exactly, anyone would pay $1.3 million dollars for this home (just west of Main Street):
Why??? When, literally, 4 blocks away (east of Main Street) you could buy this for $789K:
I get that there is a difference in the lot size, but it still boggles my mind. Are people still wrapped up in having the precious “W.” in front of their address? Surely we’ve moved past the “Eastside vs. Westside” b.s. …who cares? Obviously, people do – and it is reflected in the housing costs.
Tell me your thoughts? Am I missing something here?
Vancouver…are you f*%#ing kidding me?
ROFL!!! oh man so stupid….
Looks like an obvious choice to me. My oh my. Maybe one day I’ll be able to afford to take advantage of an E address… One day.
It depends where on Main, also, one looks a lot narrower. Having said that, you are right, both are rediculous.
No kidding. I grew up in Vancouver and I remember east of OAK st. was consider bad. When I was in university I lived in a little condo at cambie and 16th avenue, and my friends jeeringly nick named me E.O.C. (East of Cambie) because of the undesirable area I was living in. As ridiculous as I think that mentality is now, growing up in Vancouver there was always an invisible line that separated west (the ‘haves’ from east the ‘have nots’). That line has slowly but surely been pushed east, particularly in the last ten years as property prices on the west side have skyrocketed. There was a time when I would have shuddered at the thought of living east of main, and now I own a beautiful home a block east of main street and the funny part is that I am surrounded by many of the ‘old westside gang’ from the that used to turn their noses up with me at the ‘eastside’. My neighbourhood is SO great, now i would never move wear. I guess in the long run I’m going to have to eat my words! Lol!
That’s not only absurd but also seriously dishearting to those of us with a dream of being first time home owners in Vancouver. Yikes!
Raj
As with 90% of the vancouver “houses” that appear on this blog, the answer is in the land. Of course a 33′ lot sells for more than a 25′ lot, it is 1/3rd wider. In every case the houses that you show have zero value; the value is all in the lot. It might make for a fun blog but it doesn’t have any scientific value. One needs to be comparing apples with apples to draw any real information from the listing comparisons.
I would argue that I HAVE seen comparable houses on comparable lots blocks either side of Main street that have HUGE price discrepancies. And, yes, my blog is “fun”….but I think it is also important to spark these conversations.
And as for the houses having zero value…I would argue that point also. Not all buyers are developers, it seems we just price for them. Many families would be happy to live in either of these homes…they are not dilapidated or unlivable.
“but I think it is also important to spark these conversations.”
-frankly, the east vs. west debate is tired. you seem to instigate/need it though, strange.
“Not all buyers are developers, it seems we just price for them.”
-who is “we”?! are you referring to yourself, trying to keep up, helping to continue to drive up the market? say it like it is, vancouver real estate agents are crooks…
OK, well if we compare apples to apples the Westside lot is 25% larger (33×115 vs 24.75×122) but is listed at 65% more ($1.3M vs. $789K.
Hmmmm.
3 final comments on this topic:
- Width is much more important than depth. That last 7 feet of lot is of negligible value relative to the width.
- List prices are not that relevant. Need to look at what properties are actually selling for. People can list their home at whatever they price want, it doesn’t mean that that’s what the property is worth.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not arguing that there isn’t still a division between east and west, there still seems to be some difference (I would guess 5%-10% max) but it is far less dramatic than it used to be.
- The price for the properties is set by the price that people are willing to pay. Builders are in competition with young families for the “starter home”, aka the “tear down” depending upon your point of view…typically it is the owner-user buyer that bids the price of a liveable house up to a level above what a builder can afford to pay. Builders who know their business are pretty disciplined about not overpaying for lots, whereas homebuyers are much less so…
I agree it is completely absurd. I don’t believe that the houses have zero value and yes it shouldn’t be priced for developers. It should be priced for normal people just wanting to live in a home. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.
Agi:)
vodkainfusedlemonade.wordpress.com
my uncle is a developer so i have some insight here. the reason is the lot size. both houses are worth around 60k and the lot is the rest of the value. i see on mls there are lots of homes over 1 million offered right now much farther east. it has nothing to do with east west it has to do with land speculation and the land prices are falling as we speak. the house west of main that you show has been for sale for almost a year and even after a couple price drops, it still remains unsold. so nobody is willing to pay 1.3 for that house….just because it is offered there doesn’t mean someone is stupid enough to buy it. i live in north van…. not east or west.
[...] tired? I actually think so…which was actually the point I was trying to make in my last Absurd Vancouver Property of the Week [...]
I do think catchment district could have something to do with it, as well as lot size. Are these two houses in the same catchment district? Which has the better school? Main is a major dividing line in catchment districts. From talking to parents, I gather Livingstone (east of Main) is well regarded, while Nightingale (also east of Main) is not. So it could have something to do with the schools as well as the lot size. (Or maybe I’m giving the Vancouver real estate market too much credit for intelligence?)