Listed this spring at $4.6 million, this view property at 2050 Russett Way in West 麻豆传媒映画recently sold for $2.8 million, a price below even its assessed value. West 麻豆传媒映画price reductions of from 20 per cent to 30 per cent have been seen since the introduction of the foreign buyer tax a year ago. Photo REW.ca
A year after the introduction of Canada鈥檚 first foreign-home buyer tax drove Metro 麻豆传媒映画sales down 44 per cent, the three most popular markets for foreign buyers have yet to recover.
West Vancouver, Richmond and the Westside of 麻豆传媒映画鈥� all areas with the highest proportion of foreign buyers prior to the implementation of the 15 per cent tax on August 2, 2016 鈥� are all seeing lower sales now than in 2016.
West 麻豆传媒映画and Richmond are also the only major municipalities with house prices lower now than a year ago, and house prices have flat lined on Vancouver鈥檚 Westside, according to recent Real Estate Board of Greater 麻豆传媒映画data.
Only 52 detached houses sold in West 麻豆传媒映画this August, down from 72 in August of last year and benchmark house prices have fallen by 6.3 per cent, the biggest drop in the Metro region. Realtors say the price plunge is more dramatic at the high end of the market.
鈥淭here, we have seen price reductions of 20 per cent to 30 per cent,鈥� said Brent Eilers of Remax Masters Realty in West Vancouver. According to Eilers, foreign buyers today immediately discount any asking price by 15 per cent to compensate for the tax 鈥渁nd then begin negotiations downward.鈥�
He points to a view-property house on Russett Way in West 麻豆传媒映画that was listed last year at $4.6 million. After four price reductions, it recently sold for $2.8 million.
鈥淭he market is extremely sluggish,鈥� Eilers said.
In Richmond, where foreign buyers accounted for 10 per cent of housing sales prior to the foreign-home buyer tax, according to provincial government studies, the August benchmark price of a detached house was down 0.9 per cent from a year earlier.
This compares with a 43 per cent price increase in the previous 12 months.
In the last year, Richmond detached sales have dropped 31 per cent to 959 houses. The benchmark price for a Richmond house in August was $1.57 million, down from $1.7 million in August 2016.
On Vancouver鈥檚 West Side, detached housing sales so far this year are down 42 per cent from the same period in 2016 and, as of August, the benchmark house price had been shaved by an average of $135,000 to $3.5 million.
Neil Hamilton, a senior property advisor with Macdonald Realty Ltd. on the West 38th Avenue, said mainland Chinese buyers had been 鈥渙ne of the major forces driving the Westside property market over the past few years.
鈥淩ecently the Chinese government has been diligently attempting to limit the flight of capital out of [its] country. So the higher-priced 麻豆传媒映画West Side markets have been experiencing a downturn in activity as a result.鈥�
Hamilton, however, noted that the Chinese government could loosen its restrictive policies. 鈥淚 believe that this temporary downturn represents a solid buying opportunity. I can see a very strong spring 鈥�18 market,鈥� he said.
Eilers is not so sure. 鈥淚t is a hell of a lot better time to buy now than last year,鈥� he said, but he suspect that prices for higher-end houses will continue to decline. 鈥淓ventually, sellers have to adjust their price.鈥�
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