Most of the people at the table weren’t from Vancouver and everyone had a thoughtful opinion about what was going to happen to the market.

Interestingly, NOBODY claimed “everyone wants to move here” or “it’s the best place on earth” or anything like that. Everyone had opinions founded on data perceived to be relevant.

The people at the table either had bought years ago or hadn’t bought at all, there weren’t any “new owners” so… the conversation was pretty interesting.

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Ha! What was the context and did you bring up the topic? I pretty much keep my strong bearish opinions on the market to myself. I have many friends that bought in the last year or two and I don’t want to offend them.

This blog is my dirty little secret, I never mention it to anyone.

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more like a rectal itch!!

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You guys would have died had you read the essay I once wrote comparing Hamlet to Great Expectations. I was a big Twin Peaks fan at the time so I used a chess analogy to tie them together. The prof gave me a 97 on the exam and said it was the best essay she’d ever read. My hand was bruised from writing when the essay had finished.

Believe it or not I was at a work function last night and the subject of this blog came up. Krrish, your ears should be burning.

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EAP! it has been 5 decades since i’ve read that story…

thnx for the nostalgia trip!

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Ingenious metaphor! I’m astounded.

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Chasers War on Everything…Must watch, then ask why can’t we get these geniuses to come over here and give our pollys a workout.

Stairway to Kevin

Lastly would Harper please look at this and ask himself who cares if he can speak french, this is a Chinese country now

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That being said sometimes it seems like everything that needs to be said has been said a million times before so why not post something silly…

Meanwhile things get even crazier here while everywhere else is collapsing.

I can’t figure out if Vancouver is fiddling while Rome burns or I’ve walked into the Masque of the Red Death.

Hell, even in that story eventally reality came crashing in…

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No, scullboy, I can’t claim authorship for that. I have respect for all posters. I visit this Blog to seek information about the property market, not to play games. The bears are very sincere in their outlook and advice and I guess I trust my money more with them. Some bulls are irrationally exuberant and I don’t want to be landed with the baby (a beautiful but worthless house). The evidence is not yet compelling for a big crash…but I can wait.

I would prefer to buy in the US which is now fairly priced, but my family loves it here. You should move around more when you’re still young…go to Miami.

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Will somebody tell me why this is significant? Where were those studies when I rented my first apartment which cost over 50% of my gross? Or the basement suite I rented as a student at 70% of gross?

Why don’t they put the money into co-ops? Oh, let me guess, it’s because the developers, big banks and realtors want a piece of the pie and to do that you have to sell houses to people who can’t afford them.

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Why would a drunken 40 year old hooker play with a 23 year old? That doesn’t make a lot of sense. I mean, hookers get paid right?

I could see a drunken 40 year old try to pick up a 23 year old hooker. I could see a drunken 23 year old try to pick up a 40 year older hooker.

But why would a 23 year old pay for a drunken 40 year old hooker?

I’d think if someone is going to write an insulting post they’d at least try to make it coherent.

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scullboy,
you are such a dweeb!you remind me of a drunken hooker at fourty playing with 23 year old toy. you are not even from vancouver you are from toronto and that idiot above,I mean that mohican’s whore is also from prairies,both of you idiots don’t know anything about my city,you don’t know, I will throw all of your vibrators with remote control in the gutter you fucking fringing idiot. I won’t utter a bad word for vancouver and won’t let the hookers spit their filth on my city.

I wasn’t addressing you directly. Your posts are usually pretty lucid, and this looks more like Krrish’s to me. I’ve never seen you post something like that but I could be mistaken.

Vancouver really is unique in some ways. You say the real estate market’s out of whack and people seem to think you hate their city. The fastest way to rile people in this town up is to suggest that while it’s a great place to be, it’s not the best place on the planet and it has its own problems. Weird.

Then again, it certainly goes a very long way toward explaining why people pay 500K for a leaky Yaletown shoebox, doesn’t it?

I’ve never lived in a city as emotionally isolated from the rest of the country and indeed the rest of the planet as Vancouver. Even Montreal in 1993 was at least actively engaged in the nation, if only because they were deciding if they were going to leave. They at least seemed aware there *is* a “rest of the country”.

I dunno… I used to think the people here were cooler than the people in Toronto but at least Torontonians can handle criticism of their city.

Miami’s starting to look pretty tempting.

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True. Problem is he’s got the dough.

Drachen, appreciate your post.

I feel positively stalked, since apparently you’ve been reading my posts for a while.

Don’t flatter yourself. I read everyone’s posts and enjoy best Freako’s, -A-’s and the Pope’s. And no need to try on me those cute bits of psychoanalysis you picked up hitchhiking from Toronto to Vancouver.

I’ll use your advice on overindulgence if I buy one day.

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The rental market is already flooded and it’s going to get much worse. This means that rents cannot go up anymore.
The class of renters has declined in the last twelve months.
A year ago there were young trial lawyers and CGA’s applying for the Lions building (Alberni and Bute, 8 year old building) and now it’s international students and waiters with pets.
This proves rents cannot increase and if anything they will decrease as the vacuum is created by the next 9,000 new units.
Spectrum has crashed the market and that’s only 10% of what’s coming!

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Well, if you can’t afford to pay for your OS you probably can’t pay for a condo

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as our resident guru “freako” points out it is a zero sum game … eg. for every person taking possession of their new live-in unit at the Elan there will be a corresponding vacant unit elsewhere, including the apartments you have noticed that are now for rent.

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I’m not going to say the rents are sane, but at least they’re affordable. You can get a nice 1 bdrm with a fair amount of space 1 block from the ocean for about 1300 bucks.

What do you guys think? Unrelated data point?

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You’re definately Krrsh’s evil twin brother. I feel positively stalked, since apparently you’ve been reading my posts for a while.

Given your dubious skills in English, I’d have to say you are pretty new to the country. If I were a jerk, I’d say “you’re new to the country. It’s full. Please leave”. By your logic the fact that I’ve been in the country longer means Canada is “mine” not “yours”.

I’d also argue I know Canada whole lot better, since I grew up in Halifax (not Toronto). I’ve lived in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal as well.

It’s pretty obvious you’ve never lived anywhere else. You don’t really understand any city other than Vancouver, and you don’t really understand Vancouver well either.

Sorry honey, it’s a nice little town but the locals condo / home owners have lost their minds. Their homes aren’t worth what they think. Homes are worth what you get the day you sell them. The party’s ended…. those who overindulged are going to have a hell of a hangover.

You might want to teach your kid to deliver papers or stitch clothes in a sweatshop or pick-pocket or something. YOu’re probably going to need the money to pay for your “best place on earth” home.

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That was a nice rant. But you didn’t tie any of your gibberish to Vancouver real estate. All you did was blather on about rich people. I can see that you’re TRYING to make a rational argument but you simply have nothing.

You’re also mistaken on quite a few points. Not all developed countries have a widening wealth gap although most do. This condition is also not a long term trend, last century up until the ’70s the reverse was true.

Middle income earners are THE most relevant group when discussing overall RE prices, because if they can’t afford to buy then it is inevitable that prices will fall. (simple supply and demand, look it up)

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this is exactly why the Americans are in Iraq and eye balling Iran….

“them” gots the goodies
and we wants it

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Are you serious? The Sultan of Brunei is a parasitic absolute monarch who skims off the oil wealth of the country for himself. He does nothing productive, just like his counterparts in the Gulf.

Get rid of them and the oil will still be there.

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