James Wong Richmond Realtor

Richmond Terra Nova Neighborhood

This is a planned residential sub-division to the north west corner of Richmond. The residential homes here are consisted of single family houses, townhouses and some co-op (under Richmond's social housing guideline) townhouse units. Development works started in 1990 and by 1992 home buyers took possession of their new homes.

Historical Prospective - 1992 to 1995

The earliest sub-division where the new homes were built were around the Cornwall sub-division. The lot sizes were mostly from around 5,500 to 6,600 sq ft and the built up area ranged from around 3,000 to 3,400 sq ft.

There were a few homes on larger lots with built up area just over 4,000 sq ft. Most of these homes were designed with 2 garages, 4 or 5 bedrooms and 3 to 5 bathrooms.

From 1992 to late 1995, home prices in Terra Nova followed the market uptrend cycle. From the base price around $400,000 - $450,000 in early 1992, single family home prices in Terra Nova gradually increased to the peak price level around $550,000. The market took a turn towards the end of 1995 and started the long decline until 2001. During this period, home prices in Terra Nova held on to their values quite well. Homes owners who sold during this period were selling their homes at $450,000 to $500,000 range.

Buying Interest Returned in 2001

Home prices in Richmond started to rise after 2001. By 2003, detached home prices in Terra Nova were changing hand at around $600,000. More gains were recorded every year after that ,pushing home prices higher to $700,000 and then $800,000 range in 2005. By 2007 most single family homes in Terra Nova between 2,750 t 4,000 sq ft were selling at $900,000 range. Current prices are holding steady at close to $1,000,000.

There were a few homes sold at $1,2000,000 range and the larger homes on River Road with great river and mountain views were sold at $1,500,000 range recently.

The gains in home prices in Terra Nova had been spectacular. Townhomes in Terra Nova also gain in values over the past 7 years. The Terra Nova sub-division is a preferred neighborhood for home buyers.

Future Outlook

With the demand and sales of residential properties in Greater Vancouver dropping off sharply, the market sentiment has changed. Many home buyers are cautious and they are watching the market closely. Home sellers are adjusting to the market, and some are lowering their selling prices.

The supply and demand for homes is now in favour of home buyers. For those who are looking to buy, they are in no hurry to make their offers. More low-ball offers can be expected from home buyers, and selling prices will drift down due to lower demand. Home prices in general have already declined 12% to 15% from their peaks. A moderate decline of another 8% to 15% in the home prices are anticipated over the next 18 months.

You can view the Terra Nova detached homes and Terra Nova townhouses currently listed for sale in Terra Nova.

If you are interested to find out more information on properties for sale in Terra Nova, kindly call me at 604-721-4817 or email me.

West Richmond detached homes sale in June and July 2008 at 115 and 92 units respectively were down significantly from the average sales of 150 units for 2007.

Homes prices dropped 4% compared with the previous month. High inventory combined with dropping sales will exert pressure on home prices until the supply and demand for housing is in balance.

New Home Sale Activities

For builders who purchased older homes as building lots at peak prices of $750,000 or more, they need to build and sell the new homes at prives over $1,500,000 or more to stay in business.

According to Richmond MLXchange sales data, only 11 million dollar new homes under 2 years old were sold in July. With supply of 250 homes in Richmond priced over a million dollar, the market has 22 months supply. With the housing market slowing down, home builders will be under pressure to drop their selling prices.

Will Richmond Housing Repeat What Happened in 1993?

When compared with the housing peak in 1993/1994, the stake this time is much higher. The average selling price then for new homes in prime Richmond locations were just around $850,000.

The selling prices for these new homes dropped to $685,000 level. The market languished for almost 8 years before recovering to the $850,000 level in 2002.

New home prices now are double the previous 1993 peak. The are a fairly large number of million dollar homes for sale in Richmond currently. The next few months sales will provide a clearer picture as how the market will adjust to the slower sales for million dollar homes in Richmond.

Garden City Residences On a Park

The Garden City Residences is consisted of 2 nineteen-storey high-rise towers and the condos are designed with glass and concrete construction. Joining the 2 high-rise towers, the project incorporates 20 townhomes with private patios to cater to home buyers who prefer a townhouse residence. The residences are consisted of one bed, one plus den, two bed and two+den townhomes. There are some luxurious penthouse suites for buyers who favour them.

Garden City Residences offer some of the most luxurious homes in the city. Higher-level condos enjoy the views of Northshore mountains, Mount Baker and Garden City Park.

The McLennan North Neighborhood

As part of this master planned residential community is 21 acre Garden City Community Park planted with shrubs, flower plants, lake, park picnic benches, kids playground, walking/jogging trails, etc.

Other residences at McLennan North sub-division are consisted of the Katsura/Hampton project, Mandalay, Fulleton, etc.

According to the MLS listing information, there are now 57 1, 1 + den, 2 and 3 bedroom condos at the above high-rise project available for sale. These condos units are available for sale from the Receiver Manager after the developer ran into financial difficulties. It may be assumed that buyers for these presale condos did not accept the new prices offered by the Receiver Manager, and agreed to cancel their contract and their deposits returned to them.

These new condos are now priced from around $410 for lower level units to $490 per sq ft for the higher levels units. Most of the condos are priced from $435 to $465 / sq ft. These units are directly competing with condos that are offered as assignment sale at Versante that are priced around this price range. Adjacent to the Garden City Residences are the more luxurious Mandalay mid-rise condos by Cressey's Development.

The Garden city Residences condos can be compared with recently completed high-rise condos at Acqua by Bosa Properties, Ocean Walk, Lotus Living, Flo, Paloma, etc. These resale condo units are priced at $460 to over $500 per sq ft inclusive of GST. The cost per sq ft on the GST component and transfer tax paid by these condo sellers is estimated to account for around $20 per sq ft.

For more information on any of the above condos, kindly contact James Wong 604-721-4817.

Steveston Village, Richmond

Steveston is a historic fishing village and and a popular tourist destination because of its rich heritage character and many interesting places for tourists to visit.

Post-war Steveston developed along with Richmond into a residential suburb for Vancouver as farmland was converted to housing. Since the 1970s the community, which remains an active fishing port, has developed its heritage character and its waterfront to attract business and tourism.

Today, Steveston is still very much a small fishing village. Steveston Harbour is the home to Canada's largest commercial fishing fleet - home base to more than 600 seiners, gill-netters, trawlers and other vessels that line the docks.

Steveston & Tourism

The village boasts over 350 businesses and services to accommodate its growing population. Steveston has become a popular place to visit and live. On sunny days, visitors flock to Steveston's waterfront boardwalks to enjoy the scenery, people and food.

Whale watching is a popular tourist attraction for many visitors to Richmond. Steveston harbour now is a the gateway shuttling boatloads of tourists and locals out to the Gulf of Georgia to watch orca (killer whales), seals and bold eagles.

Each weekend, hundreds of local residents, people from other parts of BC and foreign visitors come to the Steveston waterfront to relax and enjoy their visit here. There are 101 things to do in Seveston Village.

New housing developments in Steveston greatly expanded the village, and many new residents choose to live in the Steveston neighborhood for it's proximity to the river and the very unique village character.You can view detached homes, townhouses and condos located at Steveston South neighborhood of Richmond.

Steveston Area Condos

Some of the condos around Steveston area are:

The Village -4280 Moncton St, London Station - 6233 London Rd, 6077 London Rd, Imperial Landing - 4211 Bayview St, Britannia - 12911 Railway Ave, 12931 Railway Ave The Villa @ South Cove - 5800 Andrews Rd and River Reach - 5700 Andrews Rd.

The village atmosphere is retained with the blending of modern buildings around the village helps to preserve Steveston Village's semi-rural and country heritage. If you like to have more information on properties for sale in Steveston Village area, kindly emal me or call me @ 604-721-4817.

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Richmond Housing Report - List Vs Sold June, 2008 Source: RealtyLink Online, Listings versus Sales

The Richmond total unit sale for detached homes, townhomes, and condos/apartments for June, 2008 registered a large drop of 19% - 345 sold for the month as compared with 424 for May 2008. The selling prices were maintained at around the same levels for May.

Active listings for detached home increased from 790 units to 895, and condo/apartment listings increased from 895 to 995. The List/Sale ratios or Absorption Rates for condos and detached houses at 6.82 and 7.78 months respectively were higher than the 6-month threshold.

Similarly, the List/Sale ratio for townhomes shot up from 3.30 months to 5.30 months. The sale momentum was reversing and and home sellers could be under pressure to reduce their prices in order to sell their homes.