Unlike Whistler, Vancouver’s Olympic Village condos have had a rough ride - poor sales, receivership, controversy over subsidised housing in this expensive waterfront neighbourhood and the Vancouver taxpayer being left on the hook.

 The condos were pulled off the market last Fall when Millenium Water, the developer, went into receivership. The City also has been criticezed for overpricing the condos and is owed $783 million for the Village.

I will be attending a relaunch on February 17th and will publish an updated post at that time. Sales start March 5th and the presentation centre is now open for pre-viewing.

It is recommended that you have your own buyers agent , as the sellers agent works for the seller, not for you!

In the last-ditch effort to sell what has become Vancouver’s financial albatross, the Olympic village receiver is due to file a plan with the court Thursday that includes a new name, price reductions of up to 50 per cent on a new phase of condo sales, and a $7-million sweetener for buyers that will pay off the health-club mortgage and the hefty lease costs for the project’s signature energy-use monitors.

Sources say the plan from receivers Ernst & Young, which proposes that the 1,100-unit project be re-branded as The Village on False Creek, argued that buyers need to be enticed in various ways.  The plan also outlines a strategy of holding back 140 of the most expensive condos until the luxury market is better and renting out as many as 110 high-end units just to get rid of the village’s ghost-town feel.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/vancouvers-olympic-village-plans-deep-discount-condo-sale/article1901656/

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Vancouver’s Olympic Village Plans Deep-Discount Condo Sale is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale

Cities that win Olympic bids experience neither boom nor bust in their real estate prices, but gain construction jobs as they prepare for the Games.

We do not find support for the argument of host city backers that the Olympics delivers positive economic benefits, nor of the arguments made by opponents that there is some post-Olympic bust,” says Tsur Somerville, lead author and Sauder’s Real Estate Foundation of B.C. Professor in Real Estate Finance.

The study’s co-author is Sauder PhD student Jake Wetzel, a three-time Olympian and 2008 gold medalist as a member of the eight-man rowing team during the Summer Olympics in Beijing.  “Our results conclusively demonstrate that while construction employment dramatically increases in the period prior to the Games, house prices are the same as they would be in the absence of the Games,” says Somerville.

The UBC study is the first to use real estate variables to test the Games’ economic impact on host cities. Sauder School of Business researchers analyzed house prices and construction employment in the years leading up to and after the Olympics in Australian, Canadian and U.S. cities.Read the report

UBC Study Reports the Effects of the Olympics on Real Estate Prices is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale

Real estate marketer Bob Rennie says the tide has turned

Vancouver’s once-troubled Olympic Village development has 75 per cent of units occupied.

But that number includes the project’s 119 rental homes, Rennie said; of the 737 condominiums for sale, 436, or about 60 per cent, have been purchased so far.

Rennie rejoiced Tuesday that sales of the Village’s high-end units are picking up steam, which could bode well for the city, which remains hundreds of millions of dollars in debt on the project.

The question for taxpayers

Is the Village going to make money or lose money?” Rennie said. “I’ve got 640,000 citizens of Vancouver watching me, and I’m stabilizing the Village to make sure that we maximize that revenue coming in.”

City manager Penny Ballem provided an update on the status of the project at Tuesday’s council meeting, confirming that Vancouver remains $446 million in debt on the Village.

Ballem said she doesn’t think the city’s financial forecast has substantially changed since April, when it estimated it would recoup all but $40 or $50 million

Read more

Would you buy into Vancouver’s Olympic Village? Or, if you have, share your thoughts with us

Vancouver’s Olympic Village Now 60% Sold – Vancouver Homes for Sale is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale

How’s the real estate market in False Creek and the Olympic Village neighbourhood? Are prices up or down? What’s the average price? What’s the average days on the market? Is this area good value for waterfront property?

Generally developers do not list all their pre-sales on MLS and only some of the Olympic Village condos are listed on MLS, so I cannot keep track of those for you.

The inventory in this neighbourhood is increasing, due to the number of new buildings that are preselling and the olympic village condos. Prices are very reasonable due to this. A good buyers market.

Geographical Outline

REBGV now calls False Creek the area east of Burrard Street, west of Ontario Street and north of 6th Avenue. Vancouver’s Olympic Village is part False Creek.

There are resales, many bought by investors and not occupied, there are condo buildings in the neighbourhood that aren’t part of the Olympic Village and there are also many condo  presales (Pinnacle, Wall Centre, Maynards,  James, Opsal, Central).  So take your pick! Very reasonable prices, starting under $600psf.

The Numbers (compared to previous month)

• 82 listings – down
• 8  sales – down
• average days on market  50
• sellers  moved only 2% from their List Price
• average of $561psf
• The average sale price clocked in at $580,356

Busiest price range?

• 50% was under $500,000
• 50% between $500,000 and  $620,000

90 day trend? sales down and listings up

12 month trend? listings up and sales down

Prices down and sales flat.  Good time for buyers!

View my Olympic Village trends

Buying or selling in this neighbourhood? How are you finding the market?

Vancouver Real Estate Update for False Creek – August 2011 is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale

Buyers Love Price Reductions!

60 Homes under $379,000! Situated behind the Olympic Village , this super convenient location will make a great home of vancouver real estate investment

1 bedrooms WERE $ 347,900 – NOW starting from $315,900

2 bedroom view residences – NOW starting from $479,900

Presentation Centre located at 29 East 2nd Avenue. Open daily 12-5pm, closed Fridays

View the website

Opsal Reduces Prices – New Vancouver Condo is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale

How’s the real estate market in the Olympic Village neighbourhood? Are prices up or down? What’s the average price? What’s the average days on the market? Is this area good value for waterfront property?

REBGV now calls False Creek the area east of Burrard Street, west of Ontario Street and north of 6th Avenue. Vancouver’s Olympic Village is part False Creek.

There are resales, many bought by investors and not occupied, there are condo buildings in the neighbourhood that aren’t part of the Olympic Village and there are also many condo  presales (Pinnacle, Wall Centre, Maynards,  James, Opsal, Central).  So take your pick! Very reasonable prices, starting under $600psf.

• 94 listings -
• 14  sales
• average days on market  48
• sellers  moved only 3% from their List Price
• average of $571psf
• The average sale price clocked in at $513,725

Busiest price range?

• 35% was under $400,000 & $500,000
• 35% between $600,000 and  $700,000
• no sales over $700,000

90 day trend?

Sales down, average sales price down, more bottom end sales

12 month trend?

Prices down and sales flat.  Good time for buyers!

View my Olympic Village trends

Buying or selling in this neighbourhood? How are you finding the market?

Vancouver Real Estate Update for False Creek – June 2011 is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale

Dreaming about buying your Vancouver condo in the Olympic Village and living on the waterfront?

Well, the selection of condos is slightly  better than it was a year ago.  There are resales, many bought by investors and not occupied, there are condo buildings in the neighbourhood that aren’t part of the Olympic Village and there are also many presales (Pinnacle, Wall Centre, Maynards,  James and Opsal).  So take your pick!

Only resale Olympic Village condos are listed on MLS, not the new ones, so stats are a little skewed for the time being

• March had over 6 months of inventory
• 37 listings
• 11  sales
• average days on market  - only 11
• sellers  moved only 0% from their List Price
• average of $660psf
• The average sale price clocked in at $521,000.

Busiest price range?

• 80% was under $520,000.
• 20% between $520,000 and  $963,00

90 day trend? Sales up and  Listings down

12 month trend? Prices,  listings and  sales all up slightly.  Good time for buyers!

View my Olympic Village trends

Buying or selling in this neighbourhood? How are you finding the market?

Vancouver Real Estate Market Update for Olympic Village Neighbourhood is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale

Looking for a Vancouver condo pre-sale?

Bastion Developments is keeping busy in the Olympic Village Neighbourhood. I just did a post on Opsal, the heritage site. Well, they are also offering a pre-sale one block away, on Ontario and 2nd Ave.

The Proximity high-rise tower will stand as a visible reminder of the Vancouver’s industrial history. The sleek concrete tower will rise adjacent to the heritage site of Opsal Steel, one of city’s landmark buildings, which will soon offer retail and amenity space in the new Opsal block

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Just moments from Vancouver’s Olympic Village site and its abundance of community amenities, this tower will mark a new development within a very historic neighbourhood. Sustainably designed to include green rooftops and solar panels, a new landmark will rise with Proximity.

Contact me if you require my Buyer Services. Get your own representation, the developers agent works for them!

Vancouver Real Estate Condos is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale

Looking for a Vancouver condo pre-sale?

I often drive by the Olympic Village and today I noticed a new condo pre-sale at Quebec and 2nd, by Bastion. The Opsal Steel Heritage Site is about to undergo a big change and will look quite different from what was built there in 1918. It was originally the Columbia Block and Tool Company and sits on the South East side of False Creek.

In fact it became a dilapidated old building and has now been torn down to the two by fours and will serve as a commercial space to connect a 20 storey tower on either side of it, featuring one and two bedroom condos. Pre-selling starts soon. Register now

The Olympic Village neighbourhood is changing fast. If you walk north on Quebec, you will see many development signs. A great place to live – steps to the waterfront and easy access to Downtown Vancouver.

View my buyer services

Vancouver Real Estate Condos is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale

Dreaming about buying your Vancouver condo in the Olympic Village and living on the waterfront? 

Well, the selection of condos is better than it was a year ago.  There are resales, many bought by investors and not occupie, there are condo buildings in the neighbourhood that aren’t part of the Olympic Village and there are also presales (Pinnacle, Wall Centre, Maynards and James).  So take your pick!

• February had over 6 months of inventory (based on MLS listings – only resale Olympic Village condos are listed on MLS, not the new ones, so stats are a little skewed for the time being)
• 46 listings
• 7  sales
• average days on market 71 days on the market
• sellers  moved only 2% from their List Price
• average of $621psf
• The average sale price clocked in at $572,000.

Busiest price range?

• 45% was under $500,000.
• 45% between $500,000 and  $1M
• 10% sold over $1M

90 day trend? Sales way up and the busiest month for a while. Listings

12 month trend? Prices and  listings are up and sales flat.  Good time for buyers!

View  my Olympic Village trends

Buying or selling in this neighbourhood? How are you finding the market?

Vancouver Real Estatate Trends for Olympic Village is a post from: Vancouver Real Estate-Vancouver Homes For Sale