New Paper Millionaires Have Popped Up All Over The Lower Mainland

So the property assessments have come in and new paper millionaires have popped up all over the lower mainland. 1331 new million dollar home assessments have been given in Surrey, White Rock, And Delta alone. I guess the municipalities will be getting a bump in revenue come tax time. Even though they say it won't happen. Read the article below for the full story.

The number of millionaire homes in the Lower Mainland is up sharply from a year ago, quadrupling in Burnaby and at least tripling in places like Surrey, Richmond and Maple Ridge.

Aside from Vancouver proper, the most homes worth at least $1 million are in tony West Vancouver, where more than 7,900 detached houses are in the seven-figure range. They now account for more than 70 per cent of the market there, up from 41 per cent just a year ago.

Millionaire houses now make up 47 per cent of the market in the village of Anmore – exceeding the rate in Whistler – and 32 per cent in Belcarra.

The numbers come from property assessment data crunched by Landcor Data Corp.

They show that while million-dollar real estate accounts for less than three per cent of the homes in most suburbs of Greater Vancouver, they are growing fast.

Langley Township now has 68 seven-figure homes, up from nine a year ago.

More than 1,200 houses crossed over to millionaire status in Surrey, where 1,676 now qualify, making up 2.7 per cent of the market.

Millionaire houses tripled to 711 in Richmond, quadrupled to 654 in Burnaby and more than tripled to 286 in Coquitlam.

Six per cent of homes in North Vancouver District, or a total of 1,190, now qualify.

Landcor president Rudy Nielsen said the same trend is being felt across B.C., but is particularly acute in the Lower Mainland because of limited land available to develop.

“We’re bordered by rivers, we’re bordered by mountains and we’re bordered by Agricultural Land Reserve,” he said.

Nielsen said lot sizes continue to get smaller in the region and he expects the trend of building up in higher densities will accelerate.

“We’re going to go vertical rather than horizontal,” he said, adding ALR lands must be preserved to produce food.

The other factor in play, he said, is that the province and its attractive lifestyle is now increasingly being discovered by people from across Canada and all over the world.

He said $600 million worth of B.C. properties were sold to Albertans last year, often Calgarians looking for a second home or recreational property. Americans, often from California, are also major buyers here.

Six per cent of residential properties sold in 2005 were to out-of-province buyers, he said.

Corporate vice-presidents in Toronto now increasingly like to live here and use technology or commute back when necessary.

Americans fearful of terrorism also see a home in Canada as a hedge against catastrophe at home, he added.

“If all hell breaks loose down there they can move up here and have a safe place to live.”

Million-dollar houses:
- Surrey – 1,676 (up from 496)
2.7 per cent of market
- Delta – 206 (up from 139)
0.9 per cent of market
- White Rock – 145 (up from 61)
5.2 per cent of market