Hungerford Properties

A new Urban Analytics survey aims to alert real estate investors to the industry wisdom that the best way to assess investment properties is to examine how much net profit rental income will generate.

The Vancouver consulting firm focused on Burnaby neighbourhoods - primarily because the research was sponsored by Hungerford Properties, which is developing the two-tower Altitude project at UniverCity on Burnaby Mountain near Simon Fraser University (SFU).

The study found that rental prices atop Burnaby Mountain are either above or equivalent to other areas of the Lower Mainland, but that the cost to buy property is lower.

Urban Analytics principal Michael Ferreira told Business in Vancouver that the cost of condos in the SFU neighbourhood is about $450 per square foot. That compares with $540 per square foot near Brentwood, $570 per square foot near Metrotown and $500 per square foot in the Highgate neighbourhood.

When it comes to buying a condominium as an investment property, there’s more to consider than just cost and size.

“Through our different sales centres, one of the things we’ve realized is a gap in knowledge of how you can look at an investment from a residential condo perspective,” said Jason Dolker, director of sales and marketing for the Hungerford Group.

There are a number of facts and figures which people don’t think about when deciding whether a property is a good investment or not, Dolker said.

To help educate potential investors, the Hungerford Group is hosting a free public forum dubbed Real Estate Investment 101 on Saturday, Sept. 22, 12 to 1 p.m. at 8955 University High Street, Burnaby.

【明報專訊】本地一個房地產開發商為了進一步打入中國市場，將帶最新的樓盤於本月底前往北京及上海銷售，主打中國人最重視的教育。他對中國投資者有強大信心，認為大溫樓市長期來說仍會有更多中國熱錢湧入。

「現在只是暫時休息，並不是完全停止。」亨格福德地產公司合伙人亨格福德(Michael Hungerford)對本報表示，雖然目前本地樓市愈趨緩慢，前來購屋的中國熱錢也未有像往年般熱絡，但這只是暫時反映全球經濟不穩定，並非代表中國投資者已經對大溫樓市失去興趣。

Altitude in METRO NEWS and seen as a “shrewd investment”.

Simon Fraser University has officially crossed over from being a commuter campus to a full-blown community, according to Michael Hungerford, a partner at Hungerford Properties, whose condo development Altitude will be starting construction on Burnaby Mountain this fall. The burgeoning Burnaby Mountain community has grown leaps and bounds in the last 20 years, and real estate there is a shrewd investment, he said. “It’s got a real critical mass of community now,” said Hungerford, whose father has been a longtime director on the board at SFU.

The SFU Burnaby Mountain neighbourhood now has retail, including grocery shopping, a daycare and an elementary school, he explained. The university was a major factor that attracted Hungerford to the project. “For anybody investing in real estate, having links to higher education is a very wise and prudent investment decision,” he said, explaining that universities do well in recessions and the rental market at SFU is very strong.