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West Point Grey: Posh digs aplenty

The most expensive West Point Grey home on Realitylink.org is listed at a cool $17.5 million.

The most expensive West Point Grey home on Realitylink.org is listed at a cool $17.5 million.

The 2,900-foot-home on a 52,000-square-foot lot overlooks the sea from Belmont Avenue and was designed by Geoff Massey, who worked with the late Arthur Erickson.

Fifteen homes in the area that stretches from West 16th Avenue to English Bay, Alma Street to Blanca are listed at more than $5 million.

"Over the years, it has held its value probably more than any other area," said Sue Johnson, a resident of and realtor in West Point Grey for 24 years. "Markets always ebb and flow. They go up and down. That area goes down the least and goes up the most."

Johnson has visited spectacular homes, custom built with attention to detail, with even more spectacular views.

"Where glass meets the ocean and its all open on the main floor," said Johnson, a realtor with Dexter Realty. "Its seamless, theres no walls. You are in a space where you can cook, a chefs kitchen, and entertain in a group setting and then turn around and be in front of a beautiful, cozy fireplace... all set at the oceans edge because the way the glass is seamless and transcends from the outside to the inside."

Prices in Point Grey range from $1.4 million for a lot to $17.5 million for the top-priced "piece of art," as Johnson put it. That makes the average price of a home in West Point Grey $3.8 million.

Including only homes priced under $5 million puts the median at $2.7 million to $2.9 million. For that amount buyers can choose a new to one-year-old 2,800-square-foot home on a 33-foot lot that doesnt have a view, a dated character home on a 50-foot lot that has a view from a top floor or a "teardown" on a large lot on a busier street.

Johnson says West Point Grey has historically attracted local and international buyers.

"Nothing has changed," she said. "Newsworthy has been the Chinese market, the Asian market, but also internationally from people all over the world."

She and her real estate partner, Sarah Thompson, have noticed buyers in West Point Grey tend to stay in West Point Grey. "They love the parks, they love being literally 12 minutes to downtown, close access to the airport, the topnotch schools," Johnson said. "Ive built, personally, three of my homes there."

The estimated sale price of a typical detached home on the West Side, according to March figures from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, was $2 million, down 9.1 per cent from the previous year, but up 28.2 per cent from five years ago.

Johnson says the market is becoming more balanced for buyers and sellers, and that "accurately" priced homes are moving. The spring market just started to blossom last week and lately shes even seen multiple offers and properties selling within a week.

crossi@vancourier.com

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