| The opinion about the Winter Olympic's influence on | | | | immigration into Canada. So much influx of people was |
| Vancouver real estate prices is divided, and retreats | | | | due to the fact that the area was free from political |
| and increases in value, along with supply and demand, | | | | instability. |
| fluctuate just they do in any other metropolis. | | | | Vancouver interested many Asian immigrants |
| Apparently, the real estate market in Vancouver is a | | | | because of the stability and the excellent quality of life, |
| physically singular and culturally diverse geography. | | | | not to mention is was just a direct flight away from |
| Living in parts of Vancouver may be better, not | | | | Asia. Inside the area, rumbles of discontent filled the air |
| cheaper, than similar locations. Vancouver real estate | | | | because locals believed that Hong Kong buyers had |
| has the attraction of a 'better life' than places else | | | | artificially inflated prices with a sudden demand for |
| where. | | | | residential property. |
| The first private real estate sale in Vancouver took | | | | Many immigrants from Hong Kong looked to |
| place in 1886, when Walter Graveley, an Ontario native, | | | | Vancouver for a fresh start from the oppression they |
| bought land from the Canadian Pacific Railway in | | | | faced in the East. Although Canadians, as a whole, are |
| British Colombia. He never left once he arrived in the | | | | not prejudice, the strong influx of Asians from Hong |
| area. | | | | Kong proved to be too much, too fast. It seemed like |
| Graveley eventually became the co-founder of the | | | | locals saw the new element as 'outsiders.' |
| Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, and he was one of the | | | | Then, Li Ka-shing of Hong Kong purchased former |
| original Vancouver voters who gathered at the old | | | | Expo 86 lands on the north shore of False Creek. The |
| Fairmont Hotel Vancouver in 1936 to celebrate the | | | | purchase and development of the 86 Expo land was |
| city's 50th anniversary. Even when he bought land in | | | | a major catalyst of 'Vancouverism': the development |
| 1886, Vancouver was an ethnically diverse area. By | | | | of high-rise buildings that would complement natural |
| the 1891 census, there were over twenty different | | | | landscapes, parks, and public spaces. Because of the |
| ethnic and national attachments. | | | | large parcel, owned by one major developer, there |
| Strathcona emerged as a place for working, | | | | were multiple parks and public recreation space set |
| middle-class immigrants from Japan, China, and Italy. By | | | | aside in Downtown South. Also, the concept of |
| the end of WWI, there was a solid skyline of buildings | | | | pre-sale condos was developed in Vancouver during |
| west of Strathcona. At the beginning of the Great | | | | the development boom. |
| Depression, the municipalities of South Vancouver, | | | | The historical push to buy up real estate in the city has |
| Vancouver, and Point Grey all amalgamated. Demand | | | | never been limited to just residents nor the Hong Kong |
| for housing continued through the depression, | | | | market, and the area has also been subject to major |
| apartment buildings were erected along Oak and | | | | selling pressures during the late seventies and early |
| Granville Streets and in Kitsilano. | | | | eighties. The 1982 North American recession severely |
| As the decades went by, renting became the norm | | | | hindered development in commercial real estate. |
| for residents, as ownership prices soared beyond | | | | Because of the wacky, yet uniquely sophisticated |
| reach of most residents. Through those decades, | | | | history of Vancouver real estate, it is hard to say how |
| unrest in Europe and Africa caused a swell of | | | | the 2010 Winter Olympics will affect the market. |
