Real Estate Rivalry: Seven Ways Vancouver Triumphs Over Toronto

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - June 22, 2015) - It's no secret that Canada's two top real estate markets of Vancouver and Toronto have a long standing rivalry. As both head into a white-hot and likely record setting sales season, real estate brokerage, TheRedPin, analysed the merits of each market. Their fact finding mission concluded that there are seven clear market advantages for homebuyers in Vancouver:

1) First Time Friendly

The conventional belief is that Vancouver prices have skyrocketed and there is a huge financial barrier to entering the local housing market. However, Research shows that although Vancouver housing prices are significantly higher on average, first time buyers in Vancouver spend an average of $420K, compared with $425K in Toronto - making first time home purchases actually lower than Toronto prices.

2) Land Transfer Tax Factor

Vancouverites come out way ahead on land transfer taxes by only paying provincial dues. Unless you're a first time buyer in Toronto, you get a double hit of both municipal and provincial land transfer taxes. This can add up to serious money on a market priced home.

			E.g. For a $500,000 home
			Vancouver = $8,000
			Toronto = $12,200

3) Constant, Consistent Curb Appeal

In Vancouver, mild temperatures keep lawns green, flowers blooming and buyers/sellers active year round. Though the best months to buy and sell match Toronto's (January and May respectively), the Vancouver sales season never really winds down, allowing significantly more viewings and potential buyers.

4) Parkland Proud

Vancouver decimates Toronto in available parkland:

Vancouver's largest urban park, Stanley Park, is 400 hectares vs Toronto's High Park which is a mere 161 hectares. Enjoying nature in Toronto is a two hour drive from downtown. In contrast, mountains are only 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver and the beach is only five minutes away.

5) International Bragging Rights

Vancouver consistently tops liveability and best city studies. When compared against international and North American cities as recently as this year, Vancouver ranked fifth, decimating Toronto (ranked 15th). The study analysed factors related to safety, healthcare, educational resources, infrastructure and environment in 230 international cities.

6) Condo Crazy

Greater Vancouver condo resales soar over condo resales in Greater Toronto. In March, 40% of all homes sold in the Greater Vancouver Area were condos, compared with on 22% in the GTA.

7) In Vancouver, Over-Ask and You Shall Receive

Two recent Vancouver transactions show that the sky really is the limit when it comes to real estate prices:

A home that was listed at $5.99 Million sold in 12 days for $2 Million over asking in May.

Mere weeks ago, a home listed at just under $3 million sold for $1.1 Million over asking, in just hours.

"The GTA is an important market for us, but it only represents 25% of Canada's real estate market," said Rokham Fard, CMO and Co-Founder of TheRedPin.com. "Now that we've perfected our streamlined buying model we're ready to extend our unique real estate services to Vancouver, the next major real estate hub of Canada."

TheRedPin.Com is the first online real estate brokerage to combine both resale and new homes under one umbrella for the Greater Vancouver Area. The company is now servicing home buyers in Vancouver and will be adding selling services in the coming months. They will also be rolling out in Calgary and other major Canadian real estate hubs throughout 2015.

About TheRedPin:

TheRedPin connects people, data and technology. Our platform carries the largest database of active residential listings in the Greater Toronto Area, with plans to expand nationally. We are a challenger brand, with a unique business model that streamlines the real estate journey, and provides exceptional end-to-end services and benefits, not found at other traditional brokerages.

Founded in 2010, four friends recognized that the real estate industry might be the only sector not influenced by technology. The four saw this as an opportunity to reinvent the way people bought and sold properties, more specifically the way homes were searched. Today, TheRedPin is much more than that.

We are a tech startup that doesn't answer to the industry, we answer to our clients and ourselves.