Vancouver Condo Info

How much will a house or condo in Vancouver cost after the winter Olympics? Will prices crash or increase forever? Who knows. I’m not going to predict where Vancouver real estate prices will go in the next few years, but I did find some interesting info about one prior host city.

Apparently Salt Lake City Utah is a tremendous ground floor investment opportunity, currently undervalued compared to other US real estate. You may want to cash in on the ‘Olympic effect’ and the great exchange rate by buying property there now. According to this article in the Salt Lake Tribune (pdf) their housing market had a post games slump, but in 2006 they started to see price appreciation again.

Four years after the slopes around Park City attracted international attention for hosting many of Salt Lake City’s Olympic events, the area has shaken off the financial curse that has often hit host cities following the Games and is undergoing a real-estate boom.

So why won’t I predict where Vancouver prices are going and when? Because its too tough to get the timing right, and sometimes you get the timing dead wrong. Then you get quotes like this one from Bruce Benham, Chief Operating Officer of RE/MAX international posted on realestatevancouver2010.com:

We’re all aware of the dramatic headlines proclaiming the inevitable “housing bubble” that will reportedly cripple the real estate industry, and the entire U.S. economy, when it eventually bursts. But you know better. And I hope your clients do too.

That article was from july 29th, 2005. Anyone know how their market has done since then? hint: not great.

This is the backside of a development on west 7th ave, the ‘Casarosa’. Once the scaffolding and green netting is removed this is the side that will have the good view of downtown (unless that mushroom studios building in front is developed into something taller).

Photo credit to ‘kingleaky’. Send your tarp and scaffolding covered condo repair photos in to vancouvercondo.info@gmail.com for inclusion in the photo gallery.

Trading in CIBC stock was temporarily halted as they announced plans to sell large chunks of stock at a 9.5% discount.  CIBC is making this move to raise $2.75 billion to rebuild their balance sheet and ‘clean up the wreckage’ from credit write downs related to the US housing  and mortgage industries.

Mean while in the USA Citigroup is taking an $18.1 billion markdown, announcing more layoffs and cutting their quarterly dividend by 41%.

On a side note the Scotiabank economic department expects lower canadian growth in the coming year citing more fallout from the subprime issue:

Home prices in the United States, Britain, France and Spain are in retreat after long booms, and “even with solid market fundamentals, the Canadian housing market is likely to show less inflationary impetus over the next two years.”

Here’s one option for getting rich off your Vancouver condo investment: Turn your condo unit into a hotel room and provide temporary shelter for tourists. Why get only $1300 or so a month when you can get $2790*? Here’s an example located downtown at spectrum.

By going into the hotel room business you can earn enough to pay the mortgage on your investment, and as long as your strata agreement allows it you can compete with traditional hotels by allowing pets.

You can become an ambassador for the city AND make out like a bandit. Whats not to like?

*based on full occupancy at daily $90 per day rate for 31 day month

Its Friday and that means open topic time:

-US subprime hits BC public institutions $29.3 million
-Non plane-crash related leaks?
-TD: Vancouver bubble warning at 2005 prices
-A decline in Canadian building permits
-Fed ready to cut interest rates again
-Canadians love American real estate
-A depressing real estate debate in the US.
-UK shops feel the credit pinch
-Not keen on realtors?

What are you seeing out there? Post your news, links and anecdotes here!

NOTE: if you’re not logged in and you put more than 1 link in a post it will be held in moderation until I can get to approve it. This is to protect us from spam.

Ah, the Granville Island Village. This condo development is looking a little shy, hiding from the rain this winter under a clean white sheet of plastic sheeting. This development is across the street from the previous post and was also submitted by ‘king leaky’.

Got a shot of a condo undergoing repairs? Send it in for the condo repair gallery to vancouvercondo.info@gmail.com

Wendy wrote in to let everyone know that there will be a feature on the crazy condo market playing on CBC television tonight at 7:30 pm.

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From the show blurb:

Wendy Mesley takes viewers inside the booming billion dollar condo market, and discovers that buying a new condominium can put consumers in a crunch with constricting contracts and murky marketing. With a helicopter hovering over construction cranes, to behind-the-scenes access at hyped sales events, Wendy takes potential buyers on an inside tour of potential condo pitfalls. “The Condo Crunch” airs Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. (8 p.m. NT) on CBC Television.

update: The show can be viewed online here.

‘king leaky’ sent in a batch of condo repair pictures from Fairview, a neighborhood particularly hard hit by the leaky condo debacle.  I’ll be posting the others over the next couple of weeks, This first one is located at 1350 west sixth avenue and looks sort of majestic with its soaring scaffolding.

I’m submitting the title of this post for the understatement of the year award. The United States of America is the worlds largest economy and Canada’s largest trading partner. With recent US job data not looking so hot, problems in the credit market and a housing slump that has left vacant eyesore properties in the hands of banks, 2008 is not looking like a really great year for the US economy.

Bank of Canada governer David Dodge commented earlier today on the potential fallout for the Canadian economy:

“The downside risks to Canada from slower U.S. growth in the first half of 2008 are probably greater than we estimated in October,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.

The big question is how bad those downside risks turn out to be. If the US enters a recession (or is already in one) will Canada be able to avoid the same fate? What sectors of the economy are likely to thrive, where will we hurt and what happens to our super-hot housing market? It’s shaping up to be an interesting year.

Its friday and that means open-topic time for a brand new year. Here are a few stories I’ve noticed this week:

-We’re the 11th happiest town in Canada
-A Million dollars aint what it used to be
-Maybe don’t buy the 2nd home just now
-Macleans: Is it a bubble?
-CBC Video: 515 sq foot family

What are you seeing out there? What are your predictions for the new year? Post your news, links and anecdotes here!