'Housing porn': Vancouver home flipped 3 times in 3 years, most recently for $6.3M
A two-storey home in the heart of Vancouver's posh Shaughnessy neighbourhood was listed and sold twice this year.
The three-bedroom, three-bath single family home is on a 13,048-square-foot lot, which it shares with two other buildings.
It’s surrounded by lush gardens and trees, boasting of “privacy and serenity,” according to its listing.
The home on The Crescent Street most recently sold for $6.3 million, which is $280,000 less than its listing price. Back in February, it sold for $5.3 million.
And before that, in 2018, it was snatched up for $4,840,000.
“My first reaction to it is rich people do rich people things,” said Tsur Somerville, a professor in real estate finance with the UBC Sauder School of Business.
The most striking thing, according to Somerville, is the apparent "flipping of it without renovation."
“It's hard to tell if those are necessarily arm's length transactions," he said, describing a potential situation in which "people transfer the unit from themselves to themselves for corporate holding reasons.”
Steve Saretsky, a Vancouver realtor with Oakwyn Realty who was not involved in this listing, said fewer homes are being flipped – bought and sold within a two-year window – than in previous years.
“If we look at flipping activity, homes that are flipped as a percentage of total sales is hovering just below five per cent,” he said. “If you look at the data from a historical perspective, that's on the low side. I think we reached around seven or eight per cent in the last housing cycle.”
Prices have also gone up across the board.
“When people can borrow on a variable rate mortgage today at 1.2 per cent and inflation is running, you know, north of four per cent, it becomes a pretty compelling place to park your capital,” Saretsky said.
And demand remains high, with home sales up 20.8 per cent last month over the 10-year September average, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
But when it comes to the luxury housing market, Somerville said there typically isn’t as much activity.
“It's a market that's less liquid, but if you're selling a really expensive home there's just fewer people out there. We're going to buy it so they tend to sit on the market for longer times,” he said.
But not The Crescent Street home, which sold in just two days.
“It's the housing porn thing and we're all sort of fascinated by what rich people do,” Somerville said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
RCMP not investigating possible foreign interference cases related to Chiu, Dong: Duheme
Canada's federal police force is not investigating any possible instances of foreign interference in the cases of former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu and Liberal-turned-Independent MP Han Dong, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Air France flight from Paris to Seattle lands in Iqaluit after heat smell in cabin
A plane travelling from Paris to Seattle was forced to make an emergency landing in Iqaluit after there was a heat smell in the cabin during the flight.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
Boy Scouts of America changing name for first time in 114 years, aiming for inclusivity
The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America. It's a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
Federal government grants B.C.'s request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces
The federal government is granting British Columbia's request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces, nearly two weeks after the province asked to end its pilot project early over concerns of public drug use.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Trudeau's handling of Poilievre's 'wacko' House turfing a clear sign of Liberal desperation
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca