That the numbers of condominiums and other types of shared-complex homes being sold in major metropolitan cities in Canada dwarf those for detached homes will come as a surprise to no one in the industry. Cities like Vancouver and Toronto are growing upwards rather than expanding outwards simply out of necessity and in response to the ever-growing demand for housing there and in surrounding satellite cities.
What is likely less understood is the fact that developers are keenly aware of the value prospective homebuyers will place on having a rapid transit station nearby their homes. That’s also a direct reflection of the trend whereby increasing numbers of young professionals (see qualified buyers) have been priced out of the metro market and are looking to buy in the suburbs and commute into town on weekdays.
Thankfully, more and more of these individuals and couples are realizing that driving to work every day is no end of a headache, and they’d really much rather prefer to commute via transit. Who wants to have to walk a block or two or more in the rain to get to the subway station? Having it right next door to your home or reasonably close by is vastly preferable for these folks.
So what does this mean for real estate agents in these cities?
The Evergreen Boom
Look no further than what’s happening in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam. Translink, the city’s independent Transit authority, has recently expanded its Skytrain system to include the new Evergreen extension, which now connects the easternmost part of Burnaby with Port Moody, Coquitlam, and Port Coquitlam.
Just as soon as the extension was announced in 2013, developers began securing property along the line for development. Just up the road from the Lougheed Station departure point for the Evergreen line, a major condo development began at the corner of North Rd and Como Lake Rd, and since then the same has occurred at a number of different locations in all three of those municipalities.
The similarity between each of them? They are ALL within immediate or reasonable walking distance of one of the Evergreen Line Transit Stations.
It’s certain that in many of these cases agencies representing builders had the foresight to identify properties where homeowners could be convinced to sell their properties, and thus enable the builder to acquire the land they’d need to build the development. That wasn’t the case with the project mentioned above (it was built on the site of the old Como Lake Safeway) but you can be sure it did apply to some of the more than 5 different developments that have sprouted up explicitly because of the development of the Evergreen Line.
Density, Demand – And Delivery!
Yes, this trend itself isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, and home sellers near transit hubs in Toronto and Calgary will probably say that aspect of their location was a big plu$ for them too. But in the new world reality of exploding city population densities and the resultant demand for housing it’s one that might be worth taking into greater account and factoring into the way you tailor your marketing and lead generation efforts.
A good many of your clients see living outside of Metro as a necessity, and they see a whole lot of value of being delivered to and from work with maximum convenience. Quite natural really!
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