If you’re looking for a place to drop some cash, at least one investment magazine believes the Edmonds neighbourhood in Burnaby is your safe bet.
Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine has named Edmonds as one of Canada’s top 100 neighbourhoods for 2015.
The magazine said it used data from the National Bank House Price Index and industry analysis to form definitive rankings on price appreciation, yield and rental value.
“The story of Top Neighbourhoods in Western Canada is more complex than ‘B.C. is too pricey for investors to make a monthly profit from their rentals,’” said Canadian Real Estate Wealth editor Vernon Jones in a press release. “In fact, this year’s list suggests that even with exceptionally high acquisition costs for some B.C. neighbourhoods, the value for property investors remains.”
More specific to Burnaby, the magazine noted the Edmonds area saw a 39 per cent increase in population between 1986 and 2006, and is home to more renters than any other Burnaby neighbourhood.
The magazine lists the average price for a unit at $270,000, with the average monthly rent at $2,000.
Coun. Sav Dhaliwal said he hasn’t seen the ranking, but noted city council took an interest in making public investments in the Edmonds area.
Some of the investments in the community he noted included the Tommy Douglas Library, the Edmonds Community Centre and Edmonds Park.
There is also a major development in the works for the old Safeway warehouse site.
Dhaliwal would agree that the prices for land in the Edmonds neighbourhood is reasonable compared to the Brentwood or Metrotown area.
“There’s a fair amount of possibility of development and compared to many areas of the Lower Mainland, it still attractive pricewise,” he told the NOW.
He also suggested in the next decade a number of the older apartment buildings in the area built in the 50s and 60s are at the age where owners are facing either major remodelling or constructing a new building.
In all, 20 B.C. neighbourhoods made it into the magazine’s top 100 list.
As for the real estate market, it continues to remain fairly pricy.
According to the September numbers from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the benchmark price for a home in Burnaby East, Burnaby North and Burnaby South was $677,100, $614,600 and $670,700 respectively.
Compared to September 2014, the bench mark price for a home increased by 14 per cent in Burnaby East and Burnaby North, while increasing by 13 per cent in Burnaby South.
