Island property makes Top 10
Asking price for Greater Victoria waterfront home is $28.8 million
One of Canada’s priciest houses is for sale in Metchosin for $28.8 million, putting it at the top of Greater Victoria asking prices.
Its sale price in November 2012, when the 27-hectare waterfront property last changed hands, was $4.984 million.
The luxury listing features an award-winning custom home and cascading pools of water connected to the sea. This waterway is key to a geothermal heating and air conditioning system that draws water from the ocean and runs through the house, separating the living and bedroom areas.
The 529 Swanwick Rd. property is in sixth place among listing prices for luxury properties in Canada. It is the only one on Vancouver Island to make the Top 10, which range in price from $25 million to $44.999 million. Eight are in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
B.C.’s real estate sales numbers are smashing records and properties worth millions can sell quickly in the Vancouver area.
A total of 12,560 residential unit sales took place through the multiple listing service in B.C. in March, up 38 per cent from March 2015.
Vancouver has had the highest home prices in Canada for several years, said Cameron Muir, chief economist at the B.C. Real Estate Association.
Sales in the “uber-rich category” represent a smaller chunk of the market. “Those sales don’t happen very often, simply because the pool of buyers in that price range is quite small, indeed.”
Money is not really an object, as these buyers look at factors such as location, lifestyle and safety, Muir said.
B.C. has generally seen a “substantial uplift in prices” in the past year, he said.
“List price and sales are often two different prices.” List price can be much higher or even much lower than market value, he said. A lower price can be a strategy to generate multiple offers.
Another influence is whether properties have subdivision potential, he said.
Anyone buying in the top end, Canadian or not, is likely in the international market in that they could have homes elsewhere, Muir said.
The Swanwick Road property is among four listings above $10 million in Greater Victoria.
In the Vancouver area, 48 residential properties are listed at $10 million and higher.
“What we’ve seen in Vancouver is that the appreciation has been the strongest at the highest end,” said Thomas Davidoff, professor at the University of B.C.’s Sauder School of Business.
The Swanwick Road property belongs to Richmond businessman Raoul Emil Malak, land title documents show. Ansan’s website said he is the owner of Ansan Traffic Group, Western Canada’s largest provider of traffic-management services. Malak could not be reached for comment.
This property was on the market last year for $13.25 million.
It is now listed with Morning Yu, of Metro Edge Realty in Richmond. She could not be reached.
In 2007, its original owner listed it for $24 million.
At that time, then-listing agent Robert Milloy described the fivebedroom home as an “architectural sculpture.”
Its indoor and outdoor lighting, entertainment and communications systems can be operated with a touch of button, earlier marketing information stated.
The main house was fitted with technology to allow off-the-grid living with its own groundwater, electricity and heating.
Other features include a boat house, covered pool, tennis court and Garry oaks.
The assessed value of the property, with a farm classification, is $4.3 million, B.C. Assessment states. The buildings alone are assessed at $3.7 million.