You Never Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate

Why Invest in Surrey?

As the fastest growing city in Canada, Surrey is predicted to take Vancouver’s place as the largest city in British Columbia in coming years. With major transportation projects underway in the region, more people will be attracted to Surrey as a place to live and do business. In the next decade, the city will continue to see explosive population growth, one of the most important factors to consider when deciding where to invest. This population growth – combined with the major transportation improvements the region will be enjoying over the coming years, and the relatively affordable housing (when compared to other cities in the Lower Mainland region) – will continue to position Surrey as one of the top regions in the province for economic and real estate growth.

Surrey’s central location in Metro Vancouver has allowed Surrey to become one of the fastest growing cities in North America. With access to the second busiest border crossing in Canada and as a Gateway to the Pacific Rim, and important investments in infrastructure, such as the Port Mann allows Surrey to become central in many peoples’ day to day lives. Covering 317 sq. km, has over 6000 acres of designated parkland and green space, dubbing it as the “City of Parks.” With the current population of 472,000, Surrey would rank as the 37th largest city in the United States and was the 12th largest city in Canada in 2006. Surrey’s growth rate averages nearly 10,000 new residents annually and accommodates 18.7% of Metro Vancouver’s regional population. In 2010, Surrey had over $1.2 Billion in commercial development permits and in the past 5 years, has averaged $1 Billion in commercial development permits.  Every year, over 2000 businesses have been moving to Surrey, and with a growing work force that already has over 230000, the demand for housing will only increase.  Furthermore, only 3000 homes were added last year, even though over 10,000 new residents moved to Surrey.

In studies of the effect of transportation improvements on real estate in other jurisdictions around the world, it was found that real estate value increases occur for properties located within 500-800 metres of stations on the new transportation lines. This will include property around: the new rapid transit stations the Canada Line, as well as the UBC Line, the Evergreen Line, and Surrey’s rapid transit system when these projects are completed.

Real estate prices in key neighbourhoods will increase more quickly than other regions due to the improved transportation linkages provided. Improved accessibility drives real estate demand. As with rapid transit, accessibility to major highway and highway improvements proved to be a major determinant for increased property values in all studies. Studies show that, as highway networks are created and existing corridors to the CBD (Central Business District) are improved, the value of real estate in the area increases.

Values in older and more established neighbourhoods are impacted more significantly than in newer developments.

Investors should only focus on regions where they know the projects are moving ahead or are already completed. With that in mind, the key areas in these regions that will or have been positively affected are:

Primary Impact: Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, North Langley, Fort Langley, Abbotsford, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, and Surrey.

Secondary Impact: Delta, New Westminster, Mission, Chilliwack, and Richmond.

There are negative effects (nuisance, property crime, noise, increased traffic, etc.) on properties located in the immediate vicinity of many stations.

The decision of which particular investment properties to acquire within a region still requires extensive analysis of the fundamentals of the specific property.

It is because of these reasons that Surrey has invested in a new downtown core.

The City Centre development includes:

  • A New City Centre Library (77,000 sq. ft)
  • A new City Hall (180,000 sq. ft)
  • a Performing Arts Centre
  • SFU expansion
  • Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre
  • Surrey Memorial Hospital expansion with a New Outpatient Facility
  • Seniors Centre
  • RCMP E Division Headquarters
  • Park Place, a Concord Pacific project involving two High Rise Condos, with the possibility of two more in the future. As well, Concord has proposals for further developing the area surrounding Park Place.
  • The Gateway Program projects will deliver a 10%–20% enhancement of real estate values in the regions most affected. In the future, these Gateway areas will outperform the rest. If the market goes up everywhere, these areas will increase by about 10%–20% more. If the values drop, these will drop by 10%–20% less.

 

 

With new economic incentives for companies and incentives for clean energy companies, Surrey further wants to attract as much expansion and development as possible. That is why Surrey is becoming one of the best places to invest your money in. Surrey offers the lowest property tax and the second lowest business taxes in Metro Vancouver and an active Real Estate market that still features affordable real estate investments.

Contact The John Samus Group to find out more reasons why you should invest in Surrey.