By ThinkPol Staff

Dozens of homes in Metro Vancouver bought in the last two years are currently listed to be sold for a loss as speculators appear to exit Canada’s hottest real estate market.

An industry insider sent ThinkPol sales data for single family houses in the Lower Mainland showing roughly 40 properties that are currently listed for prices lower than what the sellers originally paid for them.

As the property purchases were made within the last two years, ThinkPol was able to validate this data using information published by BC Assessment.

The biggest loser percentage-wise was a property on the 6200 block of Bellflower Drive, Richmond, which is being sold for $1.68 million^[1]https://www.rew.ca/properties/R2169543/6291-bellflower-drive-richmond-bc after being bought in April 2016 for $2.2 million ^[2]https://www.bcassessment.ca/Property/Info/QTAwMDA1WEdVMw==, for a potential loss of 24%.

BC Assessment data for the property show that the previous owners had flipped the property after having bought it for $1.35 million just five months earlier in November 2015.

The runner up was a property on the 6600 block of Broadway, Burnaby, which is listed for $1.29 million^[3]https://www.rew.ca/properties/R2227241/6633-broadway-burnaby-bc after being bought in March 2016 for $1.46 million ^[4]https://www.bcassessment.ca/Property/Info/QTAwMDAzVldDMg==, for a potential loss of 12%.

In third place, a property on the 5600 block of Jaskow Drive, Richmond, is now on the market for $1.7 million^[5]https://www.rew.ca/properties/R2222319/5691-jaskow-drive-richmond-bc, after being bought in May 2017 for $1.9 million^[6]https://www.bcassessment.ca/Property/Info/QTAwMDA1WE5SSA==, for a potential loss of 11%.

According to the data we received from the industry insider, the homes being sold for a loss were mainly in Richmond, Burnaby, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and East Vancouver.

The whistleblower believes that speculators are expecting a significant correction in 2018, and are willing to even take a nearly 25% hit to exit the falling market.

“The talk in town is that the NDP government is going to introduce a speculation tax in next year’s budget,” they told ThinkPol. “[Metro Vancouver’s] real estate prices are driven purely by speculation and reflect very little of the market fundamentals.”

“The fact that these people are willing to take an almost 25% hit means that they expect the correction to be even greater,” they added. “As smart money cuts their losses and run, many others will gladly line up to catch falling knives.”

The insider also feels that news outlets are being coerced by the real estate industry to refrain from reporting on the market slowdown.

“The DJs have left, the music has stopped, but the industry wants to keep the party going,” they said. “The industry will stop at nothing to hide the fact that housing has crashed in Metro Vancouver. They will use all means necessary to silence anyone who gets in their way.”

We have repeatedly reached out to BC’s Finance Minister Carole James and Housing Minister Selina Robinson for comments without success.

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Note to REBGV ‘lawyers’: All information in this article is publicly available.

[Photo Credit: BC Assessment]