Comments on: The end of a sellers market.

By: solipsist

solipsist — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 18:33:00 +0000

The cost per foot squared in Van. East is about $189/sq. ft. as I remember from a few days ago.

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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 12:25:00 +0000

The cost of building a new 12 to 20 story condo is 200/sqft. How does that come close to the price of condo in GVRD? There are older condos that cost less, but NEW condos definitely cost a lot more than $200/sqft.I agree, cost of construction had been overinflated, just like cost of fibre optics and IT worker in the dot-com era.

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By: ken

ken — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 11:53:00 +0000

the price of most existing real estate does not come close to the cost of building in VancouverYes, but the cost of building is also affected by supply and demand. If there werent as many tax-funded construction projects for the olympics would the cost of building be as high as it currently is? The cost of construction can drop depending on the price of materials, availability of labour as well as technological advances in building technology...and are you saying that it cost's more than half a million dollars to build the average bungalow? thats just not true.

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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 11:24:00 +0000

Yes, buyers (demand)and sellers (supply) dictate pricing. Economics 101-Chapter 1 will tell you this. So if it is not a "Seller's Market" and it is becoming more a "Buyer's Market", then you will have downward pressure on pricing...However, you have to look at the real cost of building real estate (condos or single family) and you will find that the price of most existing real estate does not come close to the cost of building in Vancouver.

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By: bc_cele

bc_cele — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 10:40:00 +0000

Chase,'balanced' is as fictional in Vancouver as a soft landing. The term 'balance' suggests that this is the market's normal state, and it will remain there the majority of the time. This may be true in other markets, but Vancouver has either been hot or crashing for decades.

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By: chase

chase — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 15:38:00 +0000

Here's what I want to know: what is a 'balanced' price for real-estate in vancouver? How much per sq. foot is reasonable to pay in central vancouver?Prices have been all over the place, up and down in the past, so how do we determine what 'balance' means in terms of prices?

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By: d_oush

d_oush — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 15:35:00 +0000

calling this the third best year is pollyanna-ish cheerleading? From the head real estate salesman in the province?ok, but what would you expect the head real-estate salesman to say if things slow down a bit? Its not like this tells the future. October could be the hottest market ever in the lower mainland, and we don't know until it happens.

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By: dingus

dingus — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 15:25:00 +0000

ahm, d-oush, I think the point was that going from first to third best means things are SLOWER than last year? That this is a trend? And the trend is down? And calling this the third best year is pollyanna-ish cheerleading? From the head real estate salesman in the province?

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By: d_oush

d_oush — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 13:41:00 +0000

Come on prognonymous- There's a big difference between the third best year and the 27th. You seem like someone who sees the negative in everything.as raconteur49 says, real estate is still selling strong and high-priced here, even if it takes a little longer to sell.

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By: raconteur49

raconteur49 — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 13:35:00 +0000

Definitely greed has toned down.My neighbors condo was listed at $375k in February, reduced to $350k in summer and again to $340K in September. Just sold for $335K, and that is still a whopping 22% above the current assessed value of $270K.

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