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Friday Free for All!

March 28, 2008 admin

It’s Friday and that means open-topic time at VancouverCondo.info – here’s a few stories I’ve noticed this week:

– Local RE blogs in Vancouver Magazine
– Credit still easy to get in BC
– Vancouver most expensive for business
– Local business optimism high but dropping
– Little relief in sight for condo buyers
– Craigslist rental price drops
– BC retail sales rank last in Canada
– Rising Loonie hurting our competitive edge
– Foreclosure bus moves across the USA
– The 25% dissolution

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

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scullboy

12 years ago

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Blueskies, that's the funniest thing. The Comfort Zone (the club that guys was in) is infamous. It's where you go after you've been tripping your brains out all night somewhere else. It's open all day Sunday. IF that guy was in that club, he'd been snorting coke all night long and was deeply sketched out.

Strataman

12 years ago

"I did a search on MUST SELL and the first three…. count ‘em THREE postings were from Jeff, who I believe often posts on various RE blogs" Don'tunderestimate Jeffor for that matter anybody who is advertising "must sell" If I had an $800K place and wanted the last of the fools to bite I would list it for $950 K and act desperate and then when I was loballed at 825 K I would accept with gratitude knowing I had made an extra 25 grand over what it was actually worth. Buyers check out the sellers credit rating, should be very LOW if they "Must sell". If (the sellers credit rating) is highly rated walk away with "nice try"!

blueskies

12 years ago

you were asking?

http://tinyurl.com/2e54x6

i'm willing to bet this guy has Vancouver RE in his portfolio.

probably buying it nose over mirror

Asun

12 years ago

The MUST SELL is supposed to be a link, but it's not apparent enough. Check out this link:
http://tinyurl.com/yvgqz3

How many will be sold by the end of the day?

scullboy

12 years ago

Weird!

I did a search on MUST SELL and the first three…. count 'em THREE postings were from Jeff, who I believe often posts on various RE blogs….

crabman

12 years ago

Thanks, Pope. Didn't know about the SPAM filter.

As I have mentioned before, demographia botches the Vancouver numbers, the ratio is more like 13 x median income.

13x income would be for the REBGV's benchmark detached number. Demographia is the only place where I have found an apples to apples comparison for Vancouver and US cities. REBGV and RBC use benchmark and average, but the NAR in the US uses median. Benchmark prices are good to see how a given property appreciates over time, but for affordability, I like to use median.

Demographia (Median SFH) – $503k – 8.4x income

RBC (Average bungalow) – $604k – 10.2x

REBGV (Benchmark detached) – $761k – 12.8x

Is there anywhere else that keeps median prices for Vancouver?

Lager not Logger

12 years ago

Asun, it's the end of the month and bills are due, maybe some speculators are losing their fascinations with 'negative cashflow'.

Asun

12 years ago

Check out those <A>MUST SELL on craigslist. Is today a deadline for something?

Warren

12 years ago

"demographia" may also refer to Portland and Seattle numbers. crabman is comparing apples to apples.

Anonymous

12 years ago

Vancouver – $503,400 – 8.4x median income

As I have mentioned before, demographia botches the Vancouver numbers, the ratio is more like 13 x median income.

Author

The Pope

12 years ago

Sorry Crabman, your posts kept getting held up in the spam filter, I think its an issue with comments that have more than a couple of links in them. We're getting barraged with spam so its a good thing the filter is there even if it results in a delay until I can do the manual approval. If you run into the same issue in the future a work-around is to post fewer external links, or break them up into multiple comments.

crabman

12 years ago

3rd (and final) attempt at this post… sorry if there are duplicates. Crabman sold his unit for 750k in 2006 in dec 2007 that was listed for 1499k now Crabman has decided to pack his suit case to say good bye….if anybody cheat with next buyer hahahaha becomes Crabman”-a lesson to learn. Can't believe I'm responding to the troll…. Krrish, you have the right building, but wrong unit. I had one of the 2 bedrooms, not this one. Which now is lowered to 1,399k and at $816/ft (compared to low $600's/ft in other units in this building) will not sell. Let's compare median house prices to comparable US cities: link Vancouver – $503,400 – 8.4x median income Seattle – $377,500 – 5.7x Portland – $290, 500 – 5.0x Also, the prediction for Seattle and Portland are -16% and -15% for… Read more »

crabman

12 years ago

Site having problems today, or just me?

Here's a graph of Shanghai stock market. Ouch! This is what Van RE price chart will look like in 3-5 years:

Bizznitch

12 years ago

There's a lot of people in Victoria who are living in a goldfish bowl, and have no clue of reality, esp. when it comes to RE. Had someone ask me if the roads up north were paved. That kind of sums it up.

Anon

12 years ago

pricedoutfornow,

you are wrong. Everyone wants to live in Victoria not Kelowna. Victoria baby!

ex-vancouverite

12 years ago

Did anyone happen to listen to Coast2Coast last night? Mish Shedlock was on and he gave Vancouver 'honorable' mention. He was talking about crashing RE markets.

He also talked about the new banking regulations in the US that will have the Fed over-seeing 'market stabilization'. He was saying that since the Fed is responsible for creating the mess in the first place, this is like; he called it, 'Putting the Fed in charge of the hen-house'. He said this news should scare the bejeebus out of anyone.

Interesting interview. Sadly, he was on for just the first hour, he was just getting rolling.

oh please

12 years ago

franko,

As near as I can tell from the squiggly lines on charts, the FV was a couple of months ahead of Vancouver in '81.

Krrish2

12 years ago

Damn,Oye one way exit means people who are sitting out after sold will never get back on low,I know some of those who sold their properties three year,two year,one year back has re enter into the market by paying 150k-500k more to save their mustache's. Crabman sold his unit for 750k in 2006 in dec 2007 that was listed for 1499k now Crabman has decided to pack his suit case to say good bye. "You just said it yourself" “Vancouver Real Estate,There is just one way EXIT.”-up,up,and up,if anybody cheat with next buyer hahahaha becomes Crabman"-a lesson to learn. Flippers are UP,Investors are UP,Owners are UP,and Buyers are UP because they hate to pay next bounce so they are trying to get into it on right time but I can see some "wisemens are blowing their whistles" but oh no… Read more »

jesse

12 years ago

Mish has an exposee on Canaccord Capital and Coastal Credit Savings Union refusing to underwrite ABCP gone bad. Wouldn't it be fun to see an investment bank run in Canada?

disbelief

12 years ago

The heating up starts in the city and moves out to the valley and in the exact opposite as it cools. So that is where you should look to see the cooling… It's already happening…. This is getting exciting

franko

12 years ago

Does anyone know if there is a blog or site that tracks daily sales/listings for the Fraser Valley?

I'm not all that familiar with the area, but just drove through parts of Abbotsford and Langley, and was astounded by the number of "for sale" signs….actually saw several being pounded into the ground in passing.

I'm surprised that the epidemic is starting before April & May. Is this a normal post-Easter thing?

Also wondering if previous crashes in Vancouver started in the valley.

BDK

12 years ago

Krissh, if you're so sure that the market hasn't tanked, why don't you list your assignment at TV Towers?

If you list it now you may be able to sell it for what you paid, but that's much better than lining up with the other 250 flippers who'll be trying to sell in the next few months. The buyers will have two options

1.Sell for a loss or walk away from deposit.

2.Try to rent it and lose $2k per month, like the neighbouring Spectrum buildings (still has vacancies after six months!).

You just said it yourself

"Vancouver Real Estate,There is just one way EXIT."

EXACTLY, for once the idiot got something right!

Anonymous

12 years ago

The reason why the housing starts have spike recently is because the developers wants to unload their project. They know the market is crashing and crashing hard. This is evidence by low or no increase in their asking price for their pre-sales. And secondly, their rush to finish their development. If the market turns before they finish, buyers may decide to forfeit their deposit.

Hang on, the market is crashing. The market will be flooded with more units.

Contempt for fakes

12 years ago

In B.C. we have a strong local economy and good job growth, coupled with strong market fundamentals and sustainability, which result in no real estate bubble. Wow, krissh #44 or whatever, your writing style is certainly more fluid than usual. Did you get lazy about ethnicizing it? Maybe it's time to get some professional ethnicizing software. Now have you not considered that one of Vancouver's hottest industries is real estate itself? When I was a kid (forty years ago +) I worked for a large and well known jeweller in their Montreal head office. The office manager was a clear-thinking guy who explained to me one day that if all of the company's sales ground to a halt and they closed all of the stores across Canada, that the 100 or so employees in head office could keep going for… Read more »

Vansanity

12 years ago

"But since nothing in Vancouver seems to make any sense based on objective criteria, all people can do is argue about subjective criteria."

Hahaha touché!! It's funny because it's true.

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