Here’s the open topic for June 29th
-CB Developments lose their license.
-Torn up contracts head to court.
-Mohican has a brand new look.
-Hong Kong changed us.
-Too soon to call bottom in the US.
What are you seeing out there? Post your news, links and rants regarding the Vancouver housing market here!
Well, I don’t know that they’re actually ‘hidden’, but thats the title of this article on MSN Sympatico finance about the extra expenses that people don’t always take into consideration when buying a home.
Purchasing a home is a stressful experience for anyone, but especially for first-time buyers who may not be aware that there are a host of costs other than the actual purchase price and real estate commissions.It helps to know what those costs are in advance rather than get an unexpected surprise and add to an already stressful experience.
Apparently people in western Canada have problems taking a vacation. The ‘wealthy’ western provinces of Alberta and BC have the highest percentage of workers who don’t take all available vacation days. “This, Ipsos-Reid says, means that about $5.4-million in wages is being handed back to employers.”
Albertans may be hardworking, with 24 percent of employees not taking their vacation days, but We’ve got them beat in BC:
More than 65 per cent of employed Canadians feel more, or just as, vacation-deprived as they did five years ago, according to the survey. British Columbians (25 per cent) and Albertans (24 per cent) are the most vacation-deprived, with one-quarter giving days back to employers in 2007. Quebeckers are less work-obsessed, with just 15 per cent of those surveyed saying they leave vacation days untaken.
Canadians aged 18 to 34 are the most vacation-deprived, and, on the whole, 34 per cent of employed Canadians still work more than 40 hours a week. Canadians take an average 18 days of vacation compared with 36 taken by the French, 30 by the Spanish and 26 by the Germans, according to the survey.
Well, how else are we supposed to afford these condos that will make us rich?
Here’s your open-topic post for Friday June 22nd:
-Genworth predicts ‘relief’ for buyers, offers mortgages.
-A rant against ‘eco-density’ in the Province.
-Is Edmonton’s red-hot market melting?
-Sub-prime collapse may kill a bear.
What are you seeing out there? Post your news, links and anecdotes here.
UPDATE: I thought this link from Reductimat was worth highlighting:
-God is punishing Florida Realtors.
BCbuds sent in this commentary from the Wall Street Journal about the risk present in loose credit markets:
In 2006, a record 20.9% of new high-yield lending was to particularly credit-challenged borrowers, those with at least one rating starting with a “C.” So far this year, that figure is at 33%. No exaggeration is required to pronounce unequivocally that money is available today in quantities, at prices and on terms never before seen in the 100-plus years since U.S. financial markets reached full flower.
Led by private equity, borrowers have rushed to avail themselves of seemingly unlimited cheap credit. From a then-record $300 billion in 2005, new leveraged loans reached $500 billion last year and are pacing toward another quantum leap in 2007.
Even leading buyers of loans, such as Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, say “we’re seeing the same thing in the credit markets” that set the stage for the fall of the subprime loan market.
That article will only be available to non-subscribers for a few days, but there are articles popping up all over on the same issue. Here’s one in the Globe and Mail:
“One of the biggest risks is the potential for a shift in liquidity,” Royal Bank of Canada president and chief executive officer Gordon Nixon said at the conference’s plenary session.
The furious pace in the growth of financial assets around the world - owing in no small part to the explosion of hedge funds and private equity - raises the risk that, for example, a sudden rise in interest rates could lead to the reduction or even the drying up of that liquidity, he said.
A tightening of credit and a drying up of liquidity would have an impact on all markets, from stocks to real estate. Is this really something to worry about, or are these voices just crying ‘wolf’?
Affordability is a problem all over BC according to this story on news1130:
The average home in BC now goes for $455,000, so affording one means a family has to pull in well over $100,000 a year. That’s a stretch considering Statistics Canada figures from 2005, when the average family took home about $65,000 a year.
I always find it interesting that these stories seldom mention prices dropping - they talk about how prices have gotten out of reach for many buyers, but never seem to connect the dots. I guess its up to outside buyers to keep our prices lofty?
Or perhaps overextended locals will stretch further to buy ‘investment’ property here. Haven’t you heard? BC is running out of land!
There’s an article on MSNBC today about the ongoing US housing market woes:
Housing developers are being squeezed by tighter lending standards for borrowers trying to get mortgage loans. In response to weak demand, developers are cutting prices and offering buyer incentives to cope with a mounting supply of unsold homes, the National Association of Home Builders said Monday.The trade group’s housing market index, which tracks builders’ perceptions of current market conditions and expectations for home sales over the next six months, fell to 28, the lowest reading since February 1991, the NAHB said.
So much for David Lereahs thought from May 2006 that ‘this may be the bottom’ of the US housing slump. I have a feeling if economic reality hits the Vancouver real estate market you’ll be hearing a lot of that from local ‘experts’, and just like bears that say ‘a correction is coming’ one day they will likely be correct.
Here’s your open discussion topic for Friday, June 15th.
- Housing affordability has ‘started to deteriorate‘?
- Fraser sez: wrong way to make a region livable.
- It’s still condomania in Canada.
- Foreclosures rise to record level in USA.
What are you seeing out there? Post your news, links, rants & anecdotes here!
The steady increases in mortgage rates got another bump this morning with predictions of more to come. We’re now at a five year record high for rates:
A flurry of increases in the past month has sent Canadian mortgage rates to their highest level in more than five years, and consumers shouldn’t expect a return to the low interest rates they enjoyed in the first half of the decade.
Interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada to curb inflation, coupled with a slowdown in China’s economy, are likely to snap the country out of the falling interest rate environment it has been in since 2001, said Benjamin Tal, senior economist at CIBC World Markets.
Canada’s chartered banks are already pricing in rate hikes the Bank of Canada is expected to make later this year. Royal Bank of Canada has raised the posted rate for a five-year, fixed mortgage to 7.44 per cent, the highest since April, 2002.
Looking for a condo? Looking for a condo previously owned by Axl Rose? This could be the one for you!
Vancouverites may be getting used to house prices that break the $1-million mark, but a new condo listed this week proves that the sky’s the limit when it comes to luxury living. The penthouse apartment at 1000 Beach Ave. is on the market for a cool $18.2-million.
Situated downtown at the northeast corner of the Burrard Bridge, right on the Seawall, the property has never been lived in - former owners reportedly include Axl Rose, front man for rock group Guns N’ Roses, and the Russian Rocket himself, Canucks star Pavel Bure. Until the current owner, a low-profile, White Rock-based businessman, took possession in 2004 (for an estimated $7-million), it was an empty concrete shell. Nevertheless, it’s proved a remarkable investment.