The world is rediculious and the world needs an overhaul.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Good info. However, Vancouver in real terms is rated much higher in the scale. What really matters is after tax income to housing prices.

We have two consumption tax. We have a much higher tax rate. And our mortgage interest is NOT tax deductible. Taking that into consideration, Vancouver should be much higher. I would say top 5 in unaffordability in the world. Most of the cities listed above Vancouver have lower tax rates.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

http://tinyurl.com/yw9n5t

“The sharp decline in December housing starts suggests that a more significant downturn in housing activity may be in the cards for 2008,” said Ted Carmichael, chief economist at J.P. Morgan Securities Canada.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

He also said the risks to Canada from slower U.S. growth in the first six months of this year “are probably greater than we had estimated.”

Greater then we had estimated, slightly greater then we had estimated, oh well the usual see Benny Lava note, we are already doing the same thing! Thanks krrish1 as you pointed out you really can’t trust what they say, crap October was TWO months ago! Just goes to show the comments from experts are self serving and meaningless!
On the other hand I have to commend you for changing from what many believed you to be; (in ignorant denial), I can now see you also recognize the total hypocrisy in these statements! Your comprehension of english is improving!

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

‘recessions’ — to say that the backdrop is ‘recession-like’ is akin to an obstetrician telling a woman that she is ’sort of pregnant,’”
“You either are or you are not.”
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/.....ssion.html

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

3 since WWII I think:

late 70’s - real but not nominal due to high inflation.
early 80’s - the Big One.
late 90’s - about 20% nominal, 30% real.

After a big rise post-WWII (which happened all over N. America for obvious reasons) I think price growth was pretty steady until the inflationary era threw things out of whack in the 70’s.

Pre-WWII there was the Great Depression of course (in which the city picked up Champlain Hights due to tax defaults) and I think there were some bubble/busts pre-WWI too.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

25 Most Unaffordable Housing Markets

Important Note: This list uses a median income multiplier to determine relative affordability. Please read accompanying article below for explanation.

Nation Market Median Multiple
US LA-Orange Co, CA 11.4
US San Diego, CA 10.5
US Honolulu, HI 10.3
US S Francisco, CA 10.1
US Ventura Co, CA 9.4
US Stockton, CA 8.6
Australia Sydney 8.5
US San Jose, CA 8.4
UK London (GLA) 8.3
UK Bournemouth-Dorset 8.2
Australia Perth 8.0
US Riverside-S Bernardino, CA 7.9
Canada Vancouver 7.7
US Miami-W Palm Beach, FL 7.6
US Modesto, CA 7.6
UK Cardiff 7.5
UK Bristol 7.3
US Fresno, CA 7.2
US New York, NY 7.2
Australia Hobart 7.0
New Zealand Auckland 6.9
UK London Exurbs 6.9
Australia Melbourne 6.6
US Sacramento, CA 6.6
US Sarasota, FL 6.6

Source: Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey

How Markets Were Ranked

The 3rd annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey employed what is known as the ‘Median House Price to Median Household Income Multiple’ to rank 159 major markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.

The housing affordability rankings are as follows:

Rating Median Multiple
Severely Unaffordable 5.1 and over
Seriously Unaffordable 4.1 to 5.0
Moderately Unaffordable 3.1 to 4.0
Affordable 3.0 or less

Every market out of the top 25 markets shown above was deemed ’severely unaffordable’. Of the 25, 14 of them are located right here in the U.S.–10 of them are in California.

Only 42 of the 159 markets surveyed were considered affordable based on median home prices and median incomes. Seven of the markets were in Canada, and 35 of them were in the United States. Regina, Fort Wayne, and Youngstown were deemed the most affordable.

The Housing Affordability Crisis

According to the survey, the problems with housing affordability originated within the past ten years. Prior to the 1990’s median multiples above 4.0 (in the ’seriously unaffordable’ range) were extremely rare.

What does this prove?

Basically, what we already know. There is a dangerous disconnect between home prices and median incomes. When the artificial bubble pops, prices will drop, and then the real crisis will begin:

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

]]> http://vancouvercondo.info/2008/01/us-recession-may-affect-canada.html#comment-8517 Strataman Wed, 09 Jan 2008 04:38:04 +0000 http://vancouvercondo.info/2008/01/us-recession-may-affect-canada.html#comment-8517 whom would you call a real estate economist? Like would you please name ONE that is not paid by the industry either directly or indirectly,(which eliminates any MSM economist writing for a media paper that has real estae adverts and any bank economist who would loose their carreer pretty damn quick if they told what they really thought). So name one? Say an academic economist that is funded by impartial university research? Name the man! (woman)! Think my criteria is too stiff? Then name a US bank economist that called the US housing collapse BEFORE it happened? Name ONE? :-)<p class="top-comments">Current score: <span class="top-comments-karma" id="karma-8517">0</span> <small>(to vote for this comment, please visit the site)</small></p> whom would you call a real estate economist? Like would you please name ONE that is not paid by the industry either directly or indirectly,(which eliminates any MSM economist writing for a media paper that has real estae adverts and any bank economist who would loose their carreer pretty damn quick if they told what they really thought). So name one? Say an academic economist that is funded by impartial university research? Name the man! (woman)! Think my criteria is too stiff? Then name a US bank economist that called the US housing collapse BEFORE it happened? Name ONE?

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., the company behind the iconic Canadarm, is selling its space and satellite business to a U.S. buyer, betting its future on the far more terrestrial but profitable world of real estate data.

Actually the lead-in is not quite correct, that Canadarm was developed by Spar Aerospace and later sold to MDA.

One more step toward the real estate economy.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

I was trying to think of the best comeback for this remark from a large number of choices, but I think I’ll just let it speak for itself.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

….Oh, that’s it!….I thought: “buy low, sell high” was a lttle tired….Do you give investment seminars?

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Time to start collecting Canadian quotes now, I suspect.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

From the Big Picture:

August 2005:

“All of the doom and gloom forecasts of a housing debacle are not only irresponsible, but also downright wrong.” –David Lereah, National Association of Realtors

April 3, 2006:

NAR: “We can expect a historically strong housing market moving forward, earmarked by generally balanced conditions across the country and fairly stable levels of home sales with some month-to-month fluctuations.”

June 27, 2006:

NAR: “Right now we are on course for a soft-landing in housing.”

October 25, 2006:

NAR: “The worst is behind us, as far as a market correction – this is likely the trough for sales. When consumers recognize that home sales are stabilizing, we’ll see the buyers who’ve been on the sidelines get back into the market.”

December 4, 2006:

NAR: “It’s important to focus on where the housing market is now – it appears to be stabilizing, and comparisons with an unsustainable boom mask the fact that home sales remain historically high – they’ll stay that way through 2007.”

February 15, 2007:

NAR: “At least the bottom a ppears to have already occurred. It looks like figures will be improving.”

June 6, 2007:

NAR: “Home sales will probably fluctuate in a narrow range in the short run, but gradually trend upward with improving activity by the end of the year.”

August 8, 2007:

“Existing-home sales should be relatively stable over the next few months, holding in a modest range, with some pent-up demand growing from buyers who’ve been on the sidelines.”

October 10, 2007:

NAR: “The speculative excesses have been removed from the market and home sales are returning to fundamentally healthy levels…”

November 15, 2007:

NAR: “It is possible for even higher home sales activity than we’re forecasting if buyers regain their confidence.”

December 10, 2007:

“Although there could be some minor slippage in the first quarter, existing-home sales should hold in a narrow range before trending up,”

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

According to the realtors, modest growth is expected.
In related news, an unbiased professional representative of the Franklin Mint projects excellent returns on Star Wars Collector’s Plates next year. “Now is a great time to buy!”, he weighed in gravely.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Gosh I wish I’d thought of that! Dosh man, what can I say. The world’s collapsing into a recession, prices are plummeting everywhere else, the non construction industry in BC is in the crapper…. but it’s never been a better time to buy?

Dude it scares me to think about your client list.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

“prices have NEVER been higher than they are now.”

So essentially your wealth building method can be paraphrased as “Buy at a record high, hope prices go up!”

Call me strange but that doesn’t seem like a very good plan.

We all know you’re an agent Dosh, I really don’t think you’ll find any greatest fools here aside from those who just come here to deride our opinions (and they’re already leveraged to the hilt). Don’t waste your time.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

despite a downturn in the US market Vancouver is as robust a market as ever, in fact prices have NEVER been higher than they are now. Complaining about that is like wishing you could still use a payphone for dime. Its simple. Stop throwing your money away, get into anything you can afford NOW and watch your asset grow.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)