Friday Free for All!
Its open topic time here. A few interesting stories I’ve noticed this week:
-Canadians juggling record debt loads
-Whisper sweet mortgages in her ear
-Riverview could house 30,000
-IMF: Canadas banks face more trouble
-Bernanke: Economic outlook has worsened
-Homes in bubble regions still wildly over-valued
-30% of recent us buyers have negative equity
-Florida bank blacklists 191 condo developments
What are you seeing out there? Post your news, links and anecdotes here!
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February 14th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/briti.....otels.html
February 14th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Still got one and half hours left so
http://www.123greetings.com/ev.....oses2.html
this is related to housing sector because every single house require a pair of la belle et garcons,Happy Valentines day.
February 15th, 2008 at 7:34 am
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 845.3
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 777.3
Anaheim-Santa Ana, CA (Orange Co.) 657.4
Honolulu, HI 625.3
New York-Wayne-White Plains, NY-NJ 523.3
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 522.9
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 509.7
NY: Nassau-Suffolk, NY 461.7
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 460.2
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 457.4
February 15th, 2008 at 7:49 am
http://tinyurl.com/25596w
The housing market here is still strong,
the financial turmoil has been muted,
and high energy prices benefit the Canadian economy because we are a net energy exporter.
see! it is different here!
February 15th, 2008 at 8:10 am
This probably won’t stop lots of economists in the U.S. from continuing to forecast a recession. But what must be remembered is that many of those economists work in the financial sector, which has been one of the hardest hit by the housing credit crisis. Their outlook is understandably gloomy, but does it hold true for the whole country?
I think the author is due for some introspection. Why is this person trying so hard to paint a rosy picture on a bleak backdrop?
February 15th, 2008 at 8:21 am
i would guess so as not to panic the sheeple….
February 15th, 2008 at 8:28 am
http://tinyurl.com/225ok6
Meanwhile, sell your real estate now. Sell it now. Now. Get rid of it. All of it. Even if you can’t get 2005 prices (and you won’t). Get what you can now, set the money safely aside
February 15th, 2008 at 9:20 am
http://www.thesecret.tv/
February 15th, 2008 at 10:07 am
February 15th, 2008 at 11:22 am
February 15th, 2008 at 11:44 am
February 15th, 2008 at 11:45 am
are people really going to want to buy high-end market housing that is next to an institution treating drug and alcohol addicts and the mentally ill?
February 15th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
OT, I was in line at Future Shop to buy a WII this morning (WIIIIIIII!!!!!!!) Behind me was a grandmother from Wales, and behind her was a guy who had moved her from Belgrade. As I mentioned my bf is from NYC. We were talking about Vancouver, and the Welsh woman said “Vancouver is lovely but it isn’t what it pretends to be”.
We all had a good laugh over that, comparing Vancouver to Manhattan, London and Toronto. We agreed that Toronto really isn’t a world class city though admittedly it’s large and growing. We agreed tha culturally Montreal has a lot going for it, but Van…. well as she said it’s lovely but it’s not what it pretends to be.
I think that’s the problem. Locals really and truly believe everyone on Earth wants to move here. It’s a little mystifying.
Oh, well…. I’m gonna go home tonight, pop in that Godzilla game and stomp the crap outta Tokyo
February 15th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I have mixed opinions, but did you ask those people why they were here? There’s a lot of “best place on earth” yapping going on, but there’s also a lot of “grass is greener” yapping. The bottom line is that you can pick apart anything. Vancouver’s biggest boosters and critics are its own people.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
In a way that’s kind of what makes it desirable. But to claim Van is a cultural capital, as Dosh did a few days ago, is laughable. There are no great museums or galleries here. There are no famous buildings (that I know of). No great artistic movements or trends started here.
It is what it is, a beautiful, modern city with incredible natural surroundings and a fairly moderate, if wet, climate.
Make no mistake though, there are many cities like that, and as the cost of living rises to stupid levels here, it makes other cities, for example Seattle, more attractive in comparison.
I love living here, personally. But I’ve lived in many cities and this one isn’attractive enough to justify the retarded priced people expect to pay for a home. It’s EVERYONE here… the RE agents expect you to kiss THEIR ass, not vice versa.
It’s a really nice city, but it’s NOT “the best place on earth” and the sooner people figure that out, the better.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Well I first had to correct him that I haven’t made shit all cause it’s all a paper game. You’ve not made piss all unless you SELL AND move away to buy another place. or invest it all. But the most important factor why I was dissing it is because it has become an overhyped, pretentious wanna be city filled with posers and pumpers. Most of which aren’t even from here.
I also said that I expect the price on my place will be less than what I paid for it once the dust settles. He laughed and said RE never goes down. I told him he should be offloading at leat one but I got he “sell before the Olympics? You’re a moron”
Vancouver’s charm WAS it’s backwater style and relaxed west coast feel. Those were Vancouver’s best assets outside of natural beauty, now that’s gone and only the beauty remains. All the nice little cool spots are overrun with idiots and developments.
Might be time to move… The RE will crash but i think the idiots may remain.
Ok rant over
February 15th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I disagree - I think there is a blind faith that real estate always rises, but In my experience the people that believe that ARE from here, or at least have lived here for more than 10 years. I know several people that are from here who’ve heloc’ed their first property to buy a second ‘investment’ property. They don’t really see whats happening in US bubble markets as analogous at all. They do believe in the miracle of the wintergames and don’t understand the concept of future gains expectations being already priced into the market.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
my 2cents
February 15th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
However I’ve traveled to Sydney and Perth in Australia ,and spent a few months total there over a few years, I found no one knew much about Vancouver other than it was cold (”I’d never go there, it’s just not tropical”.
I did have one friend come to visit from Sydney for two weeks in the summer of 2005 and he ended up leaving early because he was bored.
In Hong Kong I met people who knew Vancouver and Richmond, obviously.
In Penang, Malaysia nobody knew where Vancouver was, just that it was cold in Canada.
I’m getting off track here, in Seattle and Portland people don’t know much about Vancouver, ditto for San Diego and the Baja of Mexico.
All anyone seems to know about Vancouver is the weather sucks and no one I’ve met planned to move here.
World Class my ass, this is a no fun city with a few tourists attractions, no corporate head offices, no financial hubs, no world famous architecture, and a bunch of drug runners driving fancy cars.
When was the last time you heard someone compare Vancouvers theatre with New Yorks? New York’s Broadway is a bit bigger and world class than Vancouvers Broadway.
What is it about Vancouver that compares with New York?
One is a big city in the world trade headquarters of the world and one is a small cold Canadian town that no one has heard of let alone considers world class outside of Vancouver.
I bet people in Rochester think they live in the best place on earth too.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
You might think its bullshit, but it sounds like the people that matter to the market don’t. If people are moving here because its the nicest city in the world doesn’t that disprove the logic that most of you use to argue that a crash is coming?
February 15th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Relax PC police ( how did I know this would happen)
I was simply refering to people “raised” here with people who have moved here! I forgot “from here” is a dirty word now.
Most of the people I refered to as “not from here” I meant from the rest of Canada. Probably why they think it’s the greatest place on earth. Compared to -50 in the prairies I guess it does look pretty good. Just not on a world stage.
I love this city, but I have also travelled more than enough to know that it’s just a city.
It’s neither here nor there. Everyone in this town is off their rocker for RE.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I don’t know many people from London, Honk Kong, Tokyo, Berlin, New York that claim it’s the best place in the world. Coming from some poorer places in Africa, India, Eastern Europe and less privilaged areas, than yah it’s the best place on Earth.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Picked up yesterday.
February 15th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
We have the highest starting point for inventory of the past few years so it will be really interesting to see how far and fast things go. I really think the price declines will come slow at first and then pick up speed through the end of the year.
February 15th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
And having known the city in the 60’s and 70’s, I wouldn’t call it nice any more. It’s really gotten nasty.
February 15th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Except for Whistler.
http://fishre.blogspot.com/200.....-2007.html
February 15th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I would second that it is not even comparable now, was a much friendlier community minded place and generally cleaner. Traffic was acceptable, and family businesses were the norm. Restaurants were much better. (That will get a reaction I am sure!). Its growth typical of all cities (it’s not differant) has spoiled the former character of the city. It’s just a city now!
February 15th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
More here- http://paul-northvancouverhomes.blogspot.com/
February 15th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Nobody comes out and rings a bell.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Take that, Big Apple! New York is big but we are bubblier!
February 15th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Does vancouver have a nickname?
February 15th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
And yes some people did hear it stateside in 2005 and some people are hearing it here now.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I am agree with you about Vancouver while critics failed to explain why some other bedbugs and polluted cities are better.
Zima,(about nick name)
Full Name:Captain George Vancouver
Occupation:Royal Navy
Nick name: Not Known
There are too many George and too many Captains in the world so Vancouver is least possible name there is one in seattle but no where else in the world so just keep it.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
The great boom is winding down
“Saskatchewan was also strong, with sales in Regina rising by 43.7 per cent while the average price rose 69.1 per cent, and in Saskatoon by 37 per cent with the average price up 36.5 per cent.”
Saskatoon
Saskton
Sockton
Stockton!
February 16th, 2008 at 12:16 am
I know a lot of people in West Van and have been in many homes there as my partner is a decorative finisher. I can tell you that the only thing that is different is where they buy thier drugs from and that they can afford to pay for psychiatric help that is not extended to the poor. Also Beverly Hills, where I’m from, has more people seeing shrinks per capita than anywhere in America. So people can pick the kind of drug addict they want as neighbors, it’s a free country.
February 16th, 2008 at 2:53 am
February 16th, 2008 at 10:06 am
February 16th, 2008 at 10:27 am
“If vancouver wants to be a world class city it needs a nickname”
Well there’s always Coupland’s “City of Glass”.
Also we’re sometimes called “Hollywood North”.
Most cities have nicknames… The problem is not in HAVING a name but having an internationally known nickname (not that Paris or London or Moscow or Hong Kong or LA or San Fran or Beijing need nicknames apparently).
February 16th, 2008 at 10:40 am
you guys are failed to prove why some other but not Vancouver but I can show you why it’s Vancouver but not other except some Austrailian cities.
Here are the distinction to call some place a best place on earth and Vancouver got them as following…..
Quality of Living rating: 1.1
Quality of life index: 1%
Stability EIU Rating (out of 5)
Prevalence of petty Crime: 2
Prevalence of violent Crime: 1
Threat of military conflict: 1
Threat of civil unrest/conflict: 1
Threat of terrorism: 1
Stability rating: 1.2
Stability index: 5 per cent
Healthcare
Availability of private healthcare: 1
Quality of private healthcare provision : 1
Availability of public healthcare: 1
Quality of public healthcare provision: 1
Availability of over the counter drugs: 1
General healthcare indicators: 1
Healthcare rating: 1.0
Healthcare index: 0 per cent
Culture & Environment
Climate: Humidity/Temperature rating: 1
Climate: Discomfort to travellers: 1
Cultural hardship: Corruption: 1
Cultural hardship: Social/Religious restrictions: 1
Cultural hardship: Level of censorship Recreation: Sports: 1
Recreation: Culture: 1
Recreation: Food and drink : 1
Availability of consumer goods and services: 1
Culture & Environment rating: 1.0
Culture & Environment index: 0 per cent
Education
Availability of private education: 1
Quality of private education provision: 1
General public education indicators: 1
Education rating: 1.0
Education index: 0%
Infrastructure
Transport: Quality of road network: 1
Transport: Quality of public transport: 1
Transport: Quality of regional or international links: 1
Availability of good quality housing: 1
Utilities: Quality of energy provision: 1
Utilities: Quality of water provision: 1
Utilities: Quality of telecommunications infrastructure: 1
Infrastructure rating: 1.0
Infrastructure index: 0 per cent
where 0 per cent means the city is exceptional and 100 per cent means it is intolerable.
Vancouver attained an overall score of 1.3 per cent thats what makes our city the best place on earth.
February 16th, 2008 at 11:09 am
February 16th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Heard of “Hongcouver”?
February 16th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
They even made him take a French exam (which wasn’t a problem because he had lived in France for a few years). He thought that everyone in Canada must be bi-lingual since he had to take a French exam. He was very shocked when I told him that many immigrants that come to Canada don’t even know how to speak English, let alone French. Is it me, or does this not make any sense? Why such scrutiny for a “highly desireable” and employable person, when others who are just going to be a drag on the system seem to get in very easy?
The reason we were talking about this was that he was a little upset because he sold his place in England, expecting to be able to move to B.C., not realizing it was going to take three years to get permission. In the meantime, he missed alot of the upside in the U.K. market, only to move to our province at the apparent peak of ours. He came here on vacation with his wife, and fell in love with our scenery, and decided to move here. Incidentally, he ended up moving back to England after about a year. It seems that he could make alot more money working there (2 - 3 times as much), while it would be very difficult to buy anything worthwhile here on the wages being paid in this province.
February 16th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Thanks
February 16th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
February 16th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
February 16th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
February 16th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
February 16th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I think someone was on the right track of vancouver being called “hongcouver”. I don’t really care if people take it as being racist. Growing up in richmond and watching the cliques not try to assimilate into canadian culture and essentially take advantage of canada’s healthcare, welfare and social services. I have had friends who work for the government through the CRA and was really suprised to hear how many immigrants come here apply for welfare and every grant they can get, and their children will go to school here while driving a bmw. But what can we do? The birthrate is declining and they have to be lax to immigrants to bring their family here to bring the population up.
As for Vancouver? Like I’ve said in earlier threads. I love this city. I grew up in the east side and even though it was not the best area, It holds a special area in my heart. It’s sad that once I finish college and become an RN I may look for a different area to live in if things keep up.