By ThinkPol Staff

Dozens of homes in Metro Vancouver bought in the last two years are currently listed to be sold for a loss as speculators appear to exit Canada’s hottest real estate market.

An industry insider sent ThinkPol sales data for single family houses in the Lower Mainland showing roughly 40 properties that are currently listed for prices lower than what the sellers originally paid for them.

As the property purchases were made within the last two years, ThinkPol was able to validate this data using information published by BC Assessment.

The biggest loser percentage-wise was a property on the 6200 block of Bellflower Drive, Richmond, which is being sold for $1.68 million after being bought in April 2016 for $2.2 million , for a potential loss of 24%.

BC Assessment data for the property show that the previous owners had flipped the property after having bought it for $1.35 million just five months earlier in November 2015.

The runner up was a property on the 6600 block of Broadway, Burnaby, which is listed for $1.29 million after being bought in March 2016 for $1.46 million , for a potential loss of 12%.

In third place, a property on the 5600 block of Jaskow Drive, Richmond, is now on the market for $1.7 million , after being bought in May 2017 for $1.9 million , for a potential loss of 11%.

According to the data we received from the industry insider, the homes being sold for a loss were mainly in Richmond, Burnaby, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and East Vancouver.

The whistleblower believes that speculators are expecting a significant correction in 2018, and are willing to even take a nearly 25% hit to exit the falling market.

“The talk in town is that the NDP government is going to introduce a speculation tax in next year’s budget,” they told ThinkPol. “[Metro Vancouver’s] real estate prices are driven purely by speculation and reflect very little of the market fundamentals.”

“The fact that these people are willing to take an almost 25% hit means that they expect the correction to be even greater,” they added. “As smart money cuts their losses and run, many others will gladly line up to catch falling knives.”

The insider also feels that news outlets are being coerced by the real estate industry to refrain from reporting on the market slowdown.

“The DJs have left, the music has stopped, but the industry wants to keep the party going,” they said. “The industry will stop at nothing to hide the fact that housing has crashed in Metro Vancouver. They will use all means necessary to silence anyone who gets in their way.”

We have repeatedly reached out to BC’s Finance Minister Carole James and Housing Minister Selina Robinson for comments without success.

ThinkPol needs your help. While other media outlets are content reproducing real estate industry press releases, we carry out painstaking analysis of real estate data, spending hours combing through the data. And the data isn’t free. Each title search alone costs us $12. Please consider chipping in to help ThinkPol. Note to REBGV ‘lawyers’: All information in this article is publicly available.

MLS# Address List Price Date Bought Price Bought Loss % R2169543 6XXX BELLFLOWER DR RICHMOND $1,680,000 5-Apr-2016 $2,200,000 23.64 R2227241 6XXX BROADWAY BURNABY $1,288,000 26-Mar-2016 $1,460,000 11.78 R2222319 5XXX JASKOW DR RICHMOND $1,699,000 08-May-2017 $1,900,000 10.58 R2209943 10XXX SANTA MONICA DR DELTA $799,000 13-Jun-2016 $875,000 8.69 R2204197 3XXX 51ST AVE E VANCOUVER $1,785,000 15-Jun-2016 $1,945,000 8.23 R2218320 3XXX MONS DR VANCOUVER $1,300,000 07-May-2016 $1,400,000 7.14 R2205335 15 GROSVENOR AVE BURNABY $1,998,000 08-Jul-2016 $2,145,000 6.85 R2210097 3XXX OXFORD ST VANCOUVER $1,199,800 12-Jul-2017 $1,280,000 6.27 R2219222 3XXX PEARKES PL PORT COQUITLAM $780,000 15-Feb-2016 $830,000 6.02 R2203517 XXX WAVERTREE RD NORTH VANCOUVER $2,588,000 12-June-2016 $2,750,000 5.89 R2210763 XXX SHANNON WAY DELTA $1,530,000 05-Mar-2016 $1,620,000 5.56 R2193677 1XXX CLEMENTS AVE NORTH VANCOUVER $1,898,000 15-June-2016 $2,000,000 5.1 R2207083 29-2XXX COAST MERIDIAN RD PORT COQUITLAM $579,000 16-Sep-2017 $610,000 5.08 R2223949 XXX KINGS RD E NORTH VANCOUVER $1,998,000 10-Jun-2016 $2,098,000 4.77 R2222401 10XXX LAWSON DR RICHMOND $1,299,000 14-Mar-2016 $1,362,000 4.63 R2220137 4XXX VENABLES ST BURNABY $1,599,900 26-Apr-2016 $1,675,000 4.48 R2203721 1XXX CHARTWELL DR WEST VANCOUVER $5,480,000 30-May-2017 $5,690,000 3.69 R2208677 1XXX 55 ST DELTA $1,099,000 14-May-2016 $1,140,000 3.6 R2219002 11XXX 64A AVE DELTA $1,198,000 8-Mar-2016 $1,240,000 3.39 R2218637 8XXX 15TH AVE BURNABY $1,999,900 22-May-2016 $2,061,150 2.97 R2214628 1XXX ROSEBERY AVE WEST VANCOUVER $3,980,000 15-Apr-2016 $4,100,000 2.93 R2202203 7XXX MALAHAT AVE RICHMOND $2,098,000 17-April-2017 $2,150,000 2.42 R2211176 1XXX GROVER AVE COQUITLAM $1,298,698 28-Feb-2016 $1,325,000 1.99 R2217114 XXX 50B ST DELTA $1,299,000 28-Nov-2016 $1,325,000 1.96 R2215885 XXX MONTGOMERY ST COQUITLAM $2,399,900 30-January-2017 $2,446,500 1.9 R2200706 2XXX RUSSET WAY WEST VANCOUVER $4,088,000 29-Feb-2016 $4,160,000 1.73 R2214920 1XXX RALPH ST NORTH VANCOUVER $1,499,900 04-Feb-2016 $1,525,000 1.65 R2221107 9XXX SAUNDERS RD RICHMOND $1,748,000 23-May-2016 $1,775,000 1.52 R2225210 2XXX 21ST AVE W VANCOUVER $3,480,000 24-Nov-2016 $3,530,000 1.42 R2192551 6XXX INVERNESS ST VANCOUVER $1,648,000 31-May-2016 $1,670,000 1.32 R2219140 5XXX WINDSOR ST VANCOUVER $1,499,000 28-Mar-2016 $1,518,800 1.3 R2216679 6XXX INVERNESS ST VANCOUVER $1,649,000 31-May-2016 $1,670,000 1.26 R2225212 6XXX SALISBURY AVE BURNABY $1,850,000 26-June-2016 $1,870,000 1.07 R2223043 4XXX SUNLAND PL BURNABY $1,299,000 14-Mar-2016 $1,309,000 0.76 R2209078 1XXX MOORE AVE BURNABY $1,588,000 02-Mar-2016 $1,600,000 0.75 R2209178 6XXX MALVERN AVE BURNABY $1,999,000 10-May-2016 $2,008,000 0.45 R2226360 4XXX 34TH AVE W VANCOUVER $4,980,000 4-May-2016 $5,000,000 0.4 R2225324 9XXX KIRKMOND CRES RICHMOND $1,998,000 28-Aug-2016 $2,000,000 0.1 R2218972 3XXX TURNER ST VANCOUVER $1,399,000 27-Apr-2016 $1,400,000 0.07 R2214314 1XXX PROSPECT AVE NORTH VANCOUVER $2,798,000 25-Apr-2016 $2,800,000 0.07

[Photo Credit: BC Assessment]