Metro Vancouver residents are accustomed to seeing sky-high real estate prices, with most single-family homes costing over $1 million.
But a listing for a Coquitlam property on Craigslist’s Hong Kong real estate page shows that some homes can still be attained for thousands — thousands of Bitcoins, that is.
A 5,000-sq. ft., five-bedroom, five-bathroom “executive-style” home on Firdale Street near Mundy Park was being offered on the classified advertising website for 2,099 Bitcoins.
Bitcoin is a type of digital currency that has increased in popularity in the last few years. The digital currency is generally used for purchases online and operates independently of any country or central bank.
As of Thursday morning, the value of the crypto currency was at $2,450.10 Canadian, meaning the 2,099 would put price tag of the home at Cdn. $5.3 million — much higher than the $2.6 million at which the same property is listed on the Sutton Centre Realty page.
But Mario Figliola, the realtor who has the property listing, said the Hong Kong Craigslist posting, which has been up for two months, is a joke.
“I didn’t post that ad,” he said. “I have found out who the ad was posted by.”
Figliola said he told a friend, who he would not name, that he had been having difficulty selling the house, particularly since the introduction of the foreign-buyer tax last summer.
“He said, ‘I will find you a buyer’ and he posted an ad,” Figliola told The Tri-City News. “It’s not the best thing to do. He is a comical kind of person. He was trying to make a joke.”
As of Thursday, the Craigslist advertisement had been taken down but the home is still up for sale and on the Multiple Listing Service.
Figliola said he is the only one permitted to sell the home and regulations stipulate that the deal must be conducted in Canadian dollars. He added that he would never carry out such a large transaction with Bitcoins.
“It’s funny money,” he said. “It is not real.”
@gmckennaTC
