The City of Burnaby is presently analyzing public input on the future of the Royal Oak Urban Village Community Plan, setting the stage for upcoming developments.
The City of Burnaby is now analyzing public input on the Royal Oak Urban Village Community Plan, which is setting the stage for the future of the area.
Metrotown, Brentwood, Lougheed, and Bainbridge have already undergone transformations. Now, it’s Royal Oak’s turn.
Watch the video below for a quick overview of the community plan process.
The City of Burnaby is currently in the process of creating a new community plan for Royal Oak, known as the Royal Oak Urban Village Community Plan.
This plan will shape the future of the neighborhood, and there are strong indicators that redevelopment is on the horizon.
The Royal Oak Urban Village Community Plan area. (City of Burnaby)
Covering approximately 554 acres, Royal Oak houses around 6% of Burnaby’s population (as of 2021), according to the City. While single-detached homes make up the majority (43%) of the neighborhood, the rest is divided among industrial lands (19%), mixed-use and multi-residential areas (16%), schools and parks (12%), and commercial spaces (9%).
Royal Oak enjoys a central location within Burnaby, leading into the Metrotown neighborhood, the City’s designated downtown core. Furthermore, Burnaby is positioned at the heart of Metro Vancouver, ensuring easy accessibility from neighboring municipalities via various transportation modes.
Burnaby’s history is deeply rooted in its ancestral and unceded Indigenous homelands. Kingsway, originally constructed in 1860 along an Indigenous trail, now serves as a significant arterial road connecting New Westminster, Burnaby, and Vancouver.
Several neighborhoods along Kingsway in Burnaby have already experienced substantial development.
For instance, Edmonds is undergoing a new community plan, including a five-tower master plan community at Kingsway and Edmonds Street, a collaboration between the City and BC Housing. In Metrotown, Concord Pacific’s Concord Metrotown project and Anthem Properties’ Citizen skyscraper are in progress, alongside the completed Station Square project by Anthem and Beedie.
The Royal Oak area along Kingsway has largely remained untouched by redevelopment, making it a potential candidate for transformation.
While the community plan’s establishment is in its early stages, the City aims to establish vibrant commercial corridors along Kingsway, Royal Oak Avenue, and Imperial Street. Higher-density residential development is anticipated around Royal Oak Station.
The existing neighborhood composition, with car dealerships, gas stations, and aging commercial buildings, makes Royal Oak a prime candidate for redevelopment. Several rezoning applications are already underway.
The preliminary land use framework for Royal Oak. (City of Burnaby)
As the community plan progresses, the City seeks to expand housing, commercial options, and creative employment opportunities in the Royal Oak area. Transit-oriented development around Royal Oak Station is also a focus.
The Royal Oak Urban Village Community Plan Project phases. Source: City of Burnaby
The City is currently analyzing the feedback they received to inform the draft plan directions for phase 2. This feedback will guide the plan’s direction, with the full plan expected next summer and Council approval by fall 2024.
Interest in the development industry is growing, with the Urban Development Institute set to participate in consultations for the Royal Oak community plan, as stated in their annual report.
The Royal Oak Urban Village Community Plan is poised to shape the future of this area, bringing new opportunities and revitalization to Burnaby’s landscape.
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Home prices across all home types in Metro Vancouver1 rose again in July, as strong sales figures continue to push up against low levels of housing inventory in the region.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales2 in the region totalled 2,455 in July 2023, a 28.9 per cent increase from the 1,904 sales recorded in July 2022. This was 15.6 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average (2,909).
“While sales remain about 15 per cent below the ten-year average, they are also up about 30 per cent year-over-year, which is not insignificant. Looking under the hood of these figures, it’s easy to see why sales are posting such a large year-over-year percentage increase. Last July marked the point when the Bank of Canada announced their ‘super-sized’ increase to the policy rate of one full per cent, catching buyers and sellers off guard, and putting a chill on market activity at that time.”
Andrew Lis, REBGV director of economics and data analytics
There were 4,649 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in July 2023. This represents a 17 per cent increase compared to the 3,975 homes listed in July 2022. This was 5.2 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average (4,902).
The total number of homes currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 10,301, a four per cent decrease compared to July 2022 (10,734). This was 14.4 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average (12,039).
Across all detached, attached and apartment property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for July 2023 is 24.9 per cent. By property type, the ratio is 16.5 per cent for detached homes, 32 per cent for townhomes, and 30.6 per cent for apartments.
Analysis of the historical data suggests downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months.
Picture source: REBGV
“What’s interesting to see in the current market environment is that, while the Bank of Canada rate hike this July was only a quarter of a per cent, mortgage rates are now at the highest levels we’ve seen in Canada in over ten years,” Lis said. “Yet despite borrowing costs being even higher than last July, sales activity surpassed the levels we saw last year, which I think says a lot about the strength of demand in our market and buyers’ ability to adapt to and qualify for higher borrowing costs.”
The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $1,210,700. This represents a 0.5 per cent increase over July 2022 and a 0.6 per cent increase compared to June 2023.
Sales of detached homes in July 2023 reached 681, a 28.7 per cent increase from the 529 detached sales in July 2022. The benchmark price for a detached home is $2,012,900. This represents a 0.6 per cent increase from July 2022 and a 1.1 per cent increase compared to June 2023.
Sales of apartment homes reached 1,281 in July 2023, a 20.7 per cent increase compared to the 1,061 sales in July 2022. The benchmark price of an apartment home is $771,600. This represents a 2.6 per cent increase from July 2022 and a 0.6 per cent increase compared to June 2023.
Attached home sales in July 2023 totalled 466, a 53.3 per cent increase compared to the 304 sales in July 2022. The benchmark price of an attached home is $1,104,600. This represents a 1.2 per cent increase from July 2022 and a 0.5 per cent increase compared to June 2023.
1 Areas covered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver include: Bowen Island, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, South Delta, Squamish, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Whistler.
2 REBGV is now including multifamily and land sales and listings in this monthly report. Previously, we only included detached, attached, and apartment sales, and these additional categories, which typically account for roughly one to two per cent of total MLS® activity per month, are being included for completeness in our reporting.
Tags: real estate Vancouver, Vancouver real estate, Vancouver realestate, home sales, Vancouver homes sale, house prices, housing prices, house buying, real estate vancouver market, Vancouver market, real estate agent Vancouver, Burnaby realtor, Geoff Jarman, Geoff Jarman top Burnaby realtor, 2023 market news, Vancouver Multifamily Market, July 2023 market news, housing market
