Police say an elderly woman has been left "emotionally traumatized" after an armed invasion at her home in a posh neighbourhood on Vancouver's West Side.

The 70-year-old woman was outside her Point Grey home near West 2nd Avenue and Blanca Street around 4 p.m. Wednesday when a man confronted her and allegedly forced her back inside at gunpoint.

The man "confined" the victim in a chair while he started rifling through her belongings in search of valuables, said Const. Anne Longley. She said it's still unknown if the woman was tied down, or just told not to move.

The suspect fled the home in the woman's four-door Toyota Corolla sedan. Investigators still aren't sure what, if any, belongings he took with him.

Longley said the woman was not physically injured and was able to make her way over to a neighbour's home to call police.

"She felt she needed to go and get help and that's what she thought of doing and we're so glad she did," she said.

Officers conducted an extensive sweep of the area with the help of a canine unit but the suspect and car have not been found.

Investigators say the case is unusual, especially given the brazen nature of the crime and the fact it happened in the middle of the day.

The VPD issued a public warning in hopes that someone may have seen the suspect leave the area.

"This is a disturbing incident," Longley said.

Investigators will now be cross-referencing the robbery with previous home invasions to see if there's anything to link them.

Police say it is too early to know if the elderly woman was specifically targeted. The victim was at home alone during the incident, but it's still not known if she lives on her own.

Longley said the woman is still very upset by the incident, and understandably so.

"We hope that over time those emotional wounds will heal and she'll be able to move forward," she said.

The suspect is described as a white man in his early 30s, approximately 5-9 tall with a medium build and a trimmed fuzzy red goatee. He was wearing a white t-shirt with purple writing, blue jeans and a black baseball cap.