Asians continue to fuel hot Richmond market
Two of three towers in Lotus project sell out in one weekend
Michael Sasges, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, February 25, 2006
A real estate agent in line, outside, before dawn started the first two days of selling from the Lotus new-home-project presentation centre in Richmond. An announcement from the Cressey development company that 175 homes had been bought, worth more than $65 million, ended them.
Almost two of the three towers were sold in one weekend.
What happened?
The homes are well priced relatively and well located absolutely, reports Jason Craik of Mac Real Estate Solutions, the Lotus marketer.
"The price difference between downtown Vancouver and Richmond is about $250 per square foot, compared with $100 per square foot not long ago," he said in a news release from Cressey.
Geographical proximity, to Richmond's hotels, shops, restaurants, schools and, across the street, Minoru Park, is only one part of location's contribution to the pace of sales.
Cultural proximities, too, contributed, Craik says.
''The Richmond real-estate boom is being fuelled by demand from the Lower Mainland's Chinese community, many of whom are young professionals who moved to Canada with their parents as children.
"They've finished their education, they have a career, and now they are ready to buy a home. They want to live in Richmond because many have family nearby and they like being close to the wide selection of Chinese stores and malls.
"Many of our buyers tell us if your family background is Chinese, Richmond is the place to call home."
What did not happen?
The Lotus success was not achieved at the expense of other new-home projects in Richmond, in the opinion of one real estate agent.
''The early spring market is starting to roll, and we see that in increased traffic to our presentation centre, where sales have been brisk,'' said Sean Lawson of Steveston Real Estate Ltd.
George Wong brought to market the first new-home project in the Lotus neighbourhood, Ocean Walk in May, 2005.
There, his Platinum Project Marketing Group, Macdonald Realty, sold 200 homes in one week. Wong expects to bring more than 500 homes in four Richmond projects to market this year, beginning next month.
Geographical and culture proximities fuelled Ocean Walk's success, he reports.
''Buyers snapped up the condos because we saw the potential of this area to emulate the high end and exclusive feel of Terra Nova and [to provide] proximity to the dike, which many people like, and to Vancouver. The Arthur Laing Bridge is five minutes away.''
Interestingly, George Wong's ''Chinese'' may not be Jason Craik's ''Chinese.''
''In the '80s and to about 1995, Chinese buyers in Richmond were primarily of Hong Kong origin and were preparing themselves for the hand over of Hong Kong to China, in 1997," Wong said.
Since then, the number of Chinese from the People's Republic living in the Lower Mainland and, therefore, buying homes here has been increasing. At Ocean Walk, more than 40 per cent of the buyers' origin is the PRC.
''We're also seeing Mainland Chinese buying in many other areas, the west side, and the UBC area especially, the east side, Burnaby, Coquitlam.''
At Ocean Walk, non-Asians accounted for 20 per cent of the buyers. ''I see an increasing trend in non-Asian buyers looking to buy in Richmond. The main reasons for this include proximity to Vancouver, the large Richmond employment base, one of the largest in the region and the eventual arrival of the new Canada Line in Richmond.''
The Schacter Team - Your Langely Real Estate Experts