Buyers lined up for three days in Richmond last month for a chance to purchase a new condominium, while, a week earlier, more than 400 buyers crowded into a New Westminster pre-construction sales office and snapped up $50 million worth of new apartments in less than two hours.
"We haven't seen local buyers lineup for new condo developments like this in the last three years," said Pilothouse Real Estate Marketing president Bill Morrison, who led the marketing of the Eight West project in New Westminster.
Morrison said buyers snatched up the 79 suites in phase 1 in 45 minutes while the second phase of 70 condos sold in 60 minutes. Eight West made headlines in May when its developer, Wanson Development, announced it wasn't charging the controversial harmonized sales tax (HST) on its condos, which started at $168,000.
In Richmond, marketing agents rushed to bring blankets, tents and Wi-Fi connections to the sales site of the Quintet project where buyers began lining up three days in advance of the sales office opening. The Wi-Fi service allowed potential buyers to watch the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
"Phase one of the development involving the first two of five towers sold out as soon as it was put on the market last fall," said Quintet sales director Barrett Sprowson. "We were anticipating a lot of buyer interest, but the lineups well ahead of the sale have completely taken us by surprise."
Quintet Richmond, a seven-acre development in downtown Richmond, will feature a Trinity Western University campus, a community centre, a 75-foot indoor lap pool, private dining areas and a two-acre rooftop garden.
The first 100 of 300 suites in phase two of the development had prices starting at $249,900 for one-bedroom suites. Two-bedroom suites start at $359,900.
Quintet, by Canada Sunrise Development Corp., is scheduled for completion in 2015, with phase 1 scheduled to open in 2013.
Meanwhile, resales of condominium apartments across Greater Vancouver tracked lower in May, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Sales, at 1,228 units, were down 9.3 per cent from May of 2010. The typical price for a resale condo apartment in Greater Vancouver was $407,400 in May, up 2.2 per cent from the same month a year earlier.
from Western Investor July 2011
