For decades, the ideal home for most Canadians was one in the suburbs, preferably in a subdivision or a private community. Now, more and more families are opting to live in downtown houses and condos, to the point that urban life is now seen as the ‘new normal’. At least, that’s the view expressed in the annual real estate outlook report by international consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and non-profit Urban Land Institute. As CBC News reports:
Members of the millennial generation are not the only ones giving up the more generous living space of suburbia for downtown living. Baby boomers with empty nests and the generation following the millennials, which the report calls “Generation Z,” are also joining the trend.
Companies are also opting to locate in urban areas, where they can attract qualified workers, the report says. This has begun a new boom in high-end office development, but could result in office vacancies in both the urban core and suburban areas as employers seek out more desirable addresses, the report says.
Given this current trend, real estate experts won’t be surprised if the number of buyers interested in condos for sale in Vancouver continues to grow. After all, even without young, first-time buyers and substantial business activities driving the condo market, condo life is simply appealing by itself. It allows people to enjoy certain amenities, like swimming pools and saunas that often come with condo living.
Additionally, as condos are generally built to suit a particular demographic, they give people with similar lifestyles the opportunity to live in close proximity to each other. Buyers simply need to find a condo that best suits their tastes and needs, which they can easily do when they work with respected realtors like Jean Seguin of Vancouver Canada Homes.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, there are three distinct condo types available to buyers at present. ‘New condominiums’ are, as the name implies, freshly-built dwellings that espouse modern features and amenities, and provide buyers with some freedom to customize their units. ‘Resale condominiums’, by contrast, are older buildings that were previously-occupied, and generally require lower deposits and rental costs.
‘Conversion condos’, are commercial or office buildings that were renovated for residential use. As a thriving metropolis, Vancouver has a great abundance of these properties, though first-time buyers are advised to look for older condos, rather than new ones, to help them adjust to the new lifestyle more quickly.
For now, there appears to be adequate condos for sale in Vancouver, BC, but that could change as more people start to embrace Canada’s ‘new normal’ life of downtown living.
(Source: Downtown living the ‘new normal’,report says, CBC News, October 28, 2014)
