|
|
Vancouver West and West Vancouver have the most number of homes assessed at more than $1 million.
Other cities are gaining at a faster clip. Richmond, B.C. now has 1,781 million-dollar homes, up 1,036 from the previous year.
Landcor Data Corp. prepared the analysis for Black Press using newly released property assessments.
In total, 17,446 additional homes joined the million-dollar ranks in the Lower Mainland in 2008. Vancouver accounts for more than half of the 53,256 homes region-wide now with millionaire status.
Landcor president Rudy Nielsen said the growing number of homes worth $1-million-plus is no surprise.
“It’s going to keep increasing,” he said.
Nielsen notes Greater Vancouver is wedged between mountains, ocean and protected agricultural land and the region’s constraints on growth have driven prices steadily up.
“The land values are the key,” he said. “Over the next while you’re going to see a lot of teardowns where the land value exceeds the improvements.”
The trend will continue towards smaller lot sizes and building up, he said.
“Whatever land is available for development, you’re going to see developers going in there and developing it.”
Nielsen predicts there will be no collapse of housing prices here, as is happening in many U.S. markets as a result of the sub-prime mortgage crisis there.
“As a whole, I think western Canada is going to be pretty sound,” he said.
In spite of the optimism, many experts cautioned that the slow down in the US economy may dampen the housing market in Canada, especially the major city centers in Western Canada.
