The percentage of downtown condo units standing empty, and their possible meaning to the RE market, remains a hotly debated topic. Vacation homes for wealthy out-of-towners? Speculative vehicles? Owned by locals or foreigners? And, perhaps the most important question: – How many of these units would come on the market if we start seeing substantial price drops and/or if the economy shows a double dip? -vreaa
This observation from davers as reported in a comment at VREAA 5 Dec 2009 4:07 pm -
“A friend of mine works at a certain high rise downtown very close to the Shangri-la. He got us access to the roof, and we had a great view of the whole city, as well as the top 30 or so floors of the Shangri-la. In the top 27 floors (I counted) there were 9 places lit up on the 2 sides we could see [less than 5%]. Maybe 14 at most because it is tough to tell where one unit ends and one begins. I know those are all high class places and many owners may not live there full time, but I expected at least 1/4 of the units to be lit up, and there were hardly any. This was at 9:00 pm on a weeknight, when I would expect most people to be home. Maybe there really is an endless supply of rich people buying Vancouver real estate. Or maybe they are stretched to the limit and can’t afford to light their home, who knows?”
Or how about that they are buying those condos as a second property and only visit Vancouver in the summer? If someone can afford 1/2 million dollars, surely they can afford electricity.
That is what I said. I know many dont live there full time, but less than 5% of the windows were lit up.
And I wasnt actually serious about them not being able to afford electricity. They have $1 million condos, I was just kidding.