The cancellation of a $500-million luxury hotel and condominium project in downtown Vancouver is the latest in a string of troubled developments in Canada's most expensive real estate market which experts say is in a serious slump.
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"Vancouver's market is already crashing, it's no longer a question," said Brian Ripley, CEO of consulting group Oakes Ripley & Associates Inc.
Ripley believes Vancouver will be one of the hardest hit in the current reversal of housing prices across Canada because its prices ran up the most and is now the least affordable city in the country.
The credit crunch and economic downturn are wreaking havoc in Vancouver's real estate market where sales are on a steep slide and prices are falling.
Some condo developers are giving away cars and cutting prices by up to 40 per cent to try to unload unsold units. There are also lawsuits flying between developers and buyers attempting to walk away from pre-sale contracts.
Another red flag for Vancouver's real estate market came Tuesday when the Holborn Group halted its 60-storey Ritz-Carlton project in the city's downtown after only 62 of the 123 units were sold.
"It would be really foolish for us to go ahead with the project," said Holborn president Joo Kim Tiah.
The development would have been the second-tallest building in the city and was scheduled to be completed in 2011. Prices ranged from between $2.5 million and $10 million, with the penthouse set at $28 million. Buyers will get their deposits refunded.
source| http://money.canoe.ca/News/Other/2009/02/25/8532436-cp.html