East Vancouver home's $1M listing price could 'cause a riot,' realtor says

The unusually low listing price for a detached home in East Vancouver that features both a basement suite and laneway house is raising eyebrows online.

The six-bedroom, six-bathroom property on Fleming Street is being advertised for just $1 million – something local realtor Jimmy Ly said would likely attract a frenzy of desperate prospective homeowners.

"What the sellers are doing to this house is going to cause a riot," Ly said in a viral TikTok video.

"Like I understand listing below market value, but this?"

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The property is located in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage neighbourhood in East Vancouver, where the benchmark price of a detached home was $1.74 million last month, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

That benchmark is just below the home's appraised value, as of the most recent assessment.

The listing, which was posted last week by YVR International Realty, promises "high rental income and cash flow" between the basement unit and laneway house.

It also boasts some unique bells and whistles, including an eye-catching mural on the front of the property from local artist Juan Pablo Zamudio Cazares.

In another TikTok video, Ly suggested listing the home at $1 million could contribute to what he sees as an erosion in the public's trust in realtors.

"My problem with this is that it wastes so much of people's time and it gives us realtors – who already have a bad rep with the public – an even worse reputation," Ly said.

"At this point, they might as well list it at 100K, 500K, doesn't even matter."

Speaking to CTV News on Thursday, Ly stressed that he didn't post the videos to criticize a particular realtor, but to highlight what he believes is an issue within the industry.

"This type of practice creates kind of a false narrative about the real estate market's prices, and it really leaves buyers disheartened, disappointed – hopeless, really," he said.

Based on his experience, he estimated the property could easily sell for double the listing price.

"If I were to buy it, hypothetically, I would pay $2 million," Ly added.

The realtor from YVR International Realty who represents the listing declined an interview with CTV News, but said the property attracted more than 200 groups at an open house last weekend.

While real estate prices in B.C.'s Lower Mainland remain high, the market has been cooling over recent months following a series of interest hikes from the Bank of Canada.

Home sales in the Vancouver area last month were down 9.8 per cent from August, and down a whopping 46 per cent compared to September 2021.

Compared to the 10-year average for the month, they were down 37.5 per cent.

The benchmark price for all types of property was around $1.16 million, which represents an 8.5 per cent decline over the past six months, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. 

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Lisa Steacy

 

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