Younger buyers are key

Metro Vancouver's real-estate market was wallowing in quicksand a few weeks ago, but the ground is firmer now and consumers are beginning to buy again.

That was the good news delivered yesterday by Bob Rennie, Vancouver's top condo marketer, but his optimistic words came with a challenge.

"Confidence is almost back," Rennie told more than 700 of the region's developers, realtors, industry insiders and politicians who attended yesterday's Urban Development Institute annual meeting in Vancouver.

"But the economy has changed -- it's not bad, but it's going to be different."

The difference is in the buyers, Rennie said.

In the past year, the baby-boom generation has watched their retirement funds slip away, which has turned them into more cautious buyers. Younger people -- the first-time home buyers -- didn't have much money in the stock market to lose.

They've watched the mortgage interest rates slide and they're ready to buy.

"Whether it's West Vancouver or Port Coquitlam, it's the affordable price range in every region that is seeing most of the activity," Rennie said.

"It makes sense -- it's the rich guy who got whacked. Young buyers did not have mutual funds or assets that eroded. They had no assets to lose so they're on very stable ground. We have to pay attention to them."

Developers need to focus more on first-time home buyers and reconsider their past reliance on baby boomers who demanded more upscale units and have now become more careful.

"The reality is, the market is going to be recovering from the bottom up," he said. "It's back to basics, it's back to a basic affordable model.

"Somebody in this room, along with local governments, is going to have to come up with the proper affordable model so that we can take care of this first-time buyer."

The current "sweet spot" for sales, he said, is under $500,000, but there is not enough for sale in this price range.

(prepared by Wendy McLellan/Vancouver Province)