New Westminster

Lending in New Westminster

New Westminster isn’t just another Metro Vancouver suburb. It has its own history as the original capital, the “Royal City”, and you can feel it in the Victorian architecture and the old port-city layout. It has a distinct identity, but let’s be clear: for lending purposes, it’s fully integrated into the Greater Vancouver economy and its high-pressure real estate market.

When you’re looking at deals here, the first thing to grasp is the density. You’ve got nearly 79,000 people packed into just 15.6 square kilometers. It’s growing, too, with an 11% population jump since 2016. This isn’t a market for single-family homes; they make up less than 14% of the stock. The real action is in low-rise apartments, which account for about 35% of all dwellings. This housing mix is a world away from what we typically finance in the Okanagan, the Kootenays, or on the Island. The local economy is stable, with healthcare, professional services, and retail as the top three sectors, so it isn’t reliant on a single industry. The workforce is highly educated—over 42% have a bachelor’s degree or higher—and the population is young, with over 71% of residents being of working age. It’s a desirable spot, no question. The one flag for us is the unemployment rate, which sits at 8.3%.

Despite its strengths, New Westminster falls outside our lending area. Our entire model is built for the rest of British Columbia—the towns where market dynamics are completely different from the high-velocity, high-density core of the Lower Mainland. We’re the lender for places like Grand Forks or Vernon, not a city with the urban pressures of New West. Our first priority is protecting our investors’ principal, and our underwriting is fine-tuned for the specific risk profiles, sales cycles, and recovery timelines we see in markets outside the Fraser Valley. The rules of the game are just different here.

We know the city and respect its market. But our expertise is built for communities outside this unique system. That’s why our maximum loan-to-value in New Westminster is 0.0%. This is a business focus decision that defines our operational footprint. It’s about sticking to what we know best. If you have a deal in Kelowna, on the Island, or anywhere in between, we’re your first call. For opportunities in New Westminster, you’ll need a lender that specializes in the Greater Vancouver market.