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The assessed value of all single-room occupancy hotel buildings in Vancouver increased by a striking 84 per cent during the last five years. And even though values dipped slightly last year, there has been a string of sales in recent months, with some trading hands at yet higher prices.

Real estate prices in Vancouver drew worldwide attention and sparked a slew of tempering measures by governments at all levels when the assessed value of all properties in the city went up by56 per cent between 2015 and 2020, according to numbers crunched by Andy Yan, director of The City Program at Simon Fraser University. The assessed value of single-family homes rose by just32 per cent.

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Yan said the sharp increase for SRO buildings is why community advocates are concerned. Speculation brings high risk for already vulnerable, low-income tenants who depend on these units for shelter.

“It’s been an issue for some time, but it’s becoming worse. It’s the moving of tenants, which allows for increasing rents that reset new (property) values,” said Yan. “And this is feeding into the (growing) homeless population.”