Invest in Surrey real estate and you won’t go wrong, according to Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) president Don Campbell
“Outside Vancouver, the economies are pretty darn strong,” says Mr. Campbell, the outspoken president of REIN and author of Real Estate Investing in Canada.
REIN recently released its list of the top investment towns in B.C., based on its constant region-by-region study of the market. For the third year in a row, Surrey tops the list of best investment towns in B.C. Surrey is followed by Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows
Overall, the report is a positive outlook for British Columbians. Contrary to naysayer reports, he says the economy in B.C. is strong, and the future looks brighter than media reports would have residents believe.
“From a job perspective, we have more people working now than before the recession. Jobs have shifted geographically – they have really shifted out west ... so it’s pretty good, yeah.”
Surrey’s top dog place on the list – and No. 4 on REIN’s best investment towns in Canada list – is testament to its public image makeover.
It used to be that Surrey had a tarnished image, mostly because of its high crime rate.
“I grew up in Whalley
REIN operates out of Abbotsford, with a membership of more than 3,000 investors across Canada who own nearly 30,000 properties across Canada. They travel to various towns each year to determine which regions are most investment-worthy. Let’s just say that their cavalcade of tour buses is usually the talk of the town.
Once a year, members converge on a town, stay at a hotel and travel by buses to look at infrastructure, schools, libraries, arts and culture venues, trail systems, housing, industrial parks – whatever features help them decide where to put their money. They also meet with mayors and economic development officers to determine if the local government is going to ensure better highways, bridges, rapid transit and downtown development. The criteria to be investment-worthy include the potential for jobs, gross domestic product growth, income growth and population growth. They are not looking for housing booms. In fact, if a region is enjoying a housing boom but without GDP job growth, then that boom is most likely a bubble that is bound to burst.
“If you don’t have GDP and job growth on a consistent basis, and the real estate market continues to move up, you are going to see an inevitable correction,” says Mr. Campbell.
What you want is a real estate market, not a speculative bubble. A real estate market involves new population growth and people who typically rent for three to five years before buying. REIN investors are looking for regions where that growth is about to happen, and they purchase properties on the upswing of that growth, which is about a five-year plan. For example, it takes time for vacancy rates to drop, after more people have moved in. Then renters will typically become homeowners.
“I’m trying to identify long-term markets,” says Mr. Campbell. “It’s not like stock investing, where you can get in and out. You want your money to go where the people are going to go.
