Friday Free-for-All!

It’s open topic time here at VancouverCondo.info, here’s a few stories I’ve noticed this week:

- Homeowners face increasing financially strain
- Harper: Canadian economy in good shape
- Price Hikes starting to hurt
- Foreclosures can be jackpots
- Congresswoman walks away from mortgage
- Oops. I meant ‘forward’ not ‘reply all’!
- Largest ever US house price decline
- Flip this house. Please!
- Florida for sale.

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

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69 Responses to “Friday Free-for-All!”

  1. 1
  2. patriotz Says:

    The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said Thursday that home prices fell 3.1 percent in the first quarter compared with last year.

    Er, what is that supposed to mean?

    Did housing prices actually fall 3.1% in the first quarter, i.e. since Dec 31, 2007? If so no need to say “compared to with last year”.

    Or did housing prices fall 3.1% since March 31, 2007, i.e. YOY? If so, should have said “as of the end of the first quarter”.

    Or did housing prices fall 3.1% more in 1Q2008 than in 1Q2007 ?

    Clear English please.

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  3. 2
  4. Vansanity Says:

    Happy Friday!

    All that we’re really missing is an increase in interest rates to really get things going. Maybe by this time next year we’ll see just that.

    Inflation is increasing, mainly due to fuel costs right now. Inflation being a lagging indicator, it will likely take some time for the rates to reverse direction. Statistics Canada said that we were being sheltered from inflation due to the high Canadian Dollar. If that changes (ie. American Dollar goes up, maybe after Obama gets in power) than we’ll likely have the perfect storm.

    I hate being patient, I really do.

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  5. 3
  6. ReductiMat Says:

    Here’s a nice chart showing the Housing-to-Rent ratio over time.

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  7. 4
  8. DEFAULT NAMEe Says:

    I just can’t believe that inflation is as low as stated. The average joe isn’t buying it anymore either. The wife works with people on the very edge of financial destruction on a daily basis and life isn’t good for the pleebs right now. My fear is there’s going to be a heck of a lot more pleebs out there soon.

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  9. 5
  10. blueskies Says:

    suggested that a “large percentage of new mortgages may be high-risk”.

    i’ve seen this movie!
    the gringo version…
    sad ending

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  11. 6
  12. Re-diculous Says:

    Big glossy “Homes&Land – Vancouver to Whistler” magazine in this morning’s Globe and Mail full of sexy looking realtors – do you get the girl when you buy the house? – anyway, appears like they’re trying to rev up the sales…a little desperate perhaps?

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  13. 7
  14. patriotz Says:

    Statistics Canada said that we were being sheltered from inflation due to the high Canadian Dollar. If that changes (ie. American Dollar goes up, maybe after Obama gets in power)

    USD doesn’t have to go up against CAD. We weren’t importing US inflation because the CAD was rising against the USD. If the two currencies just stay even, we will start importing any US inflation just as all the countries that have a USD peg have been doing.

    Note also that foreign central banks and sovereign funds don’t have an incentive to prop up the CAD (as they have been doing with the USD), because we are a commodity exporter and not an important importer of their products.

    Bottom line is the BoC has to take a hard line on inflation, if not we will see a rapid bear market in CAD bonds.

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  15. 8
  16. pricedoutfornow Says:

    The way inflation is calculated is very misleading. That makes me wonder if they’ve changed the calculation since the 70s/80s, when they had sky-high inflation and interest rates subsequently went up to stave it off. You’re right, no one believes that inflation is what they say it is. Hmmm…1.2% and yet gas prices have gone up 30%? Give me a break! But that’s the government for you!
    I was watching CNN recently, they had a segment on high gas prices, interviewing people in the US about it. They were all really upset at paying $3-$4/gallon. I wouldn’t be surprised if people started rioting in the streets soon enough.

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  17. 9
  18. Coco Says:

    Here is an article published in a French newspaper:

    Vancouver’s residential market stays hot
    http://www.iht.com/articles/20...../revan.php

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  19. 10
  20. ted Says:

    Inflation figures are a joke – There are big increases in the cost of fuel, food and housing, but computers and TV’s are cheaper! Yeah, well how many people buy electronics on a daily or weekly basis compared to fuel and food?

    They’re just playing games with the stats, I’d bet true inflation is at least double the ‘official’ numbers.

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  21. 11
  22. Coco Says:

    The Pope,

    Funny you would mention foreclosures. I recently published some threads on home inspections or the lack of thereof and had this article about a foreclosure linked on my thread. Seems even the rich are not immune from foreclosure problems.

    Not sure if you read it on my new blog, but here it is again if anyone missed it.

    http://www.nj.com/news/index.s.....o_pur.html

    btw the latest trend in the U.S is to trash the house if your home is being foreclosed upon.

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  23. 12
  24. DEFAULT NAME Says:

    Nice french article coco, you’ve got to hand it to realtors, they’re good at spreading the hype around. I liked this bit though:

    But in the resale market, some sellers have been forced to cut prices in recent months. “A lot of prices have been reduced to some degree,” Hasman said. “But the truth is, they were overly inflated to start with.”

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  25. 13
  26. Patiently Waiting Says:

    “Her report noted that the average monthly housing cost for owners in the Lower Mainland increased to $1,081 in 2006 compared to $1,057 in 2001. Average rents decreased to $812 from $814 between the two census periods.”

    All these figures seem low, but especially the 2006 cost for owners. It must be just the mortgage, not other costs. I guess the huge mortgages of new owners don’t affect the average that much.

    So much for rents going up, although I think they have gone up since 2006.

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  27. 14
  28. DEFAULT NAME Says:

    StatsCan weighting for fuel is about right for my family. We’re ~$250/month – $3k/year – in gasoline costs. That’s one good laptop and one iPod per year – so our gas bill is without question lower than our consumer electronics bill.

    Communications (land line, two mobiles, broadband) also totals a bit more than our monthly gas bill.

    Everybody’s household is different – for ours the current model is pretty close.

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  29. 15
  30. jesse Says:

    “I guess the huge mortgages of new owners don’t affect the average that much.”

    This is exactly what is going on. I don’t know if they include home equity loans in this calculation. Prices are set at the margins — now you know how most people can afford to own in Vancouver.

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  31. 16
  32. jesse Says:

    “But the truth is, they were overly inflated to start with.”

    Well thanks for being truthful about it. I, for one, would never dream you wouldn’t be “truthful” in the first place.

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  33. 17
  34. Patiently Waiting Says:

    jesse,

    Could this mean that prices could fall fairly easily? If an 80 year-old couple wants to get rid of their paid-for house they can easily go under the comps by a huge amount and live very well for their remaining years on the profits. As along as they are not blinded by greed.

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  35. 18
  36. jesse Says:

    Patiently, I think this is true to some degree, assuming they are truly exiting the market and not trading in for something else, larger or smaller. In the case of trading, which is still the case for almost all sellers, I think marginal price is a huge deal.

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  37. 19
  38. Drachen Says:

    Jesse and Patiently:

    You’re both seem to be only thinking about owner-occupied properties. I would be surprised if owner-occupied accounts for over 75%, if I’m right it would mean that once prices start to shift downwards there is a potential massive sell-off in the works.

    Listings are at 17,188 currently which is high.

    Total residential properties in GVRD is over a million.

    Current % of residential properties on the market is approximately 1.7%

    If even 1/5th of those speculators dump their properties on the market in a short period it will mean a 400% increase in listings which would be more than enough to topple the market.

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  39. 20
  40. The Pope Says:

    Nice links Coco, the foreclosure purchase story is particularly gruesome! I do visit your blog sometimes, but lately I haven’t been reading the local blogs due to a combination of work and topic fatigue.

    Thanks also to bcbuds and skullboy for emailing the last two links, have a great weekend everyone!

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  41. 21
  42. jesse Says:

    Drachen, yeah I posted and left my computer before thinking about it. You’re right that the investor market will have a larger effect. The conundrum for these investors is that, as we all know, “real estate only goes up” so having money on the sidelines is a “losing” proposition.

    I would bet that most residential real estate investors are of the sort that are looking to re-invest in real estate in reasonably short order, say in the next 6-12 months. From that point of view, along with the very nature of investing, means marginal pricing is still an issue.

    For someone not to care about marginal pricing means they are financially secure regardless of their house price. These people are not common but definitely exist. That’s the thought now; we’ll see what happens if prices start to fall.

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  43. 22
  44. jesse Says:

    Actually we know what will happen if prices start to fall. Go to some of the California bubble blog sites. In Cali one can search on outstanding liens against the property and price histories. Originally you could see the initial stages of the crash where list prices started off at 20%+ above the previous sale price, then reduced to just a few % above (break even), then quickly degraded to previous sale price minus the downpayment (-100% return), then to short sale/FC. The phases of denial open for everyone to see.

    If any investors are reading, don’t follow the market down. Skip one of these phases and save yourself some money.

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  45. 23
  46. scullboy Says:

    Hey Pope,

    I read your last post as “there are 2 B.C. Buds for Scullboy, for posting the last link.”

    Imagine my disappointment. :)

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  47. 24
  48. umdesch4 Says:

    I noticed one of the linked articles talking about the lack of home inspections being done by purchasers. My RE agent, however, tells us horror stories about how “anyone with a ladder and a flashlight” can become an inspector these days.

    So…maybe not the best place to ask for advice, but does anyone know of any quality house inspectors in the GVA, or anywhere online where this is being discussed?

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  49. 25
  50. jesse Says:

    umdesch4: check out this Real Estate Talks forum post. Also you can search the entire forum and see what comes up.

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  51. 26
  52. The Pope Says:

    umdesch4 check out Coco’s blog as well, there are several posts on the topic in general:

    http://thingsyoumaywanttoknow.wordpress.com/

    I also just saw the ubergeek post jesse wrote at Langley Financial planning on the correlation between inventory and price pressure, nice work!

    http://langley-financial-plann.....s-and.html

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  53. 27
  54. Sold2Soon Says:

    Not that there isn’t enough levity on this blog ;) but given its Friday Free-for-All!, here’s a little ditty the bulls (you know the usual suspects) may have sung for the bears a few months ago:

    You sold too soon
    You sold too soon
    You foolishly caved and sold too soon
    But now that prices have flown to the moon
    You’re not only a renter, but also a buffoon!

    Sniff sniff, it hurts even now :(

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  55. 28
  56. Bought2Late Says:

    But times they are a changin’ and the bulls might as well prepare themselves for a bearish response:

    You bought too late
    You bought too late
    You greedily rushed in and bought too late
    Now the crash has sealed your fate
    You’re gonna go bankrupt at this rate!

    Not wishing this on anyone, though…

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  57. 29
  58. Drachen Says:

    umdesch4

    “My RE agent, however, tells us horror stories about how “anyone with a ladder and a flashlight” can become an inspector these days.”

    There is a flip side to that equation. YOU can become an inspector. You don’t have to know a ton about housing to know some of the things to look for, ask for all the permits and inspection records for work done in the last 10 years or so (if these don’t exist it’s a big uh oh!) poke into the darker corners and look for problems (attic, crawl spaces, basement etc.), look at the roof, especially where two angles join look at the heating and hot water systems, both of them have pretty limited life spans and may need replacing. If you don’t have any skill as a handyman watch a few episodes of Holmes on Homes, he does an excellent job of pointing out the problems that often occur in houses.

    I’d still hire an expert but if you find your ‘expert’ is missing problems you caught you might want a second opinion.

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  59. 30
  60. umdesch4 Says:

    Drachen, thanks…some good points taken well under advisement.

    Also, thanks to jesse, and out glorious leader “his holiness” for replying. I’ll be sure to check those links out ASAP. You guys all rock, and I’ll say this:

    Buying a house is a HUGE ball of stress…and I can’t even begin to describe how much I’m starting to really hate fax machines. :P

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  61. 31
  62. blueskies Says:

    from a Bloomberg article:

    http://tinyurl.com/4qprlh

    Inventories will stay out of balance at least until the end of 2009 and prices will keep falling.

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  63. 32
  64. Van-zee Says:

    In this weeks West Ender freebee paper in Rob Joyces advertising of apts. for sale
    there is a price reduction of $120k on a 2 bedroom place west of Denman on Nelson.

    Chop, Chop, Chop.

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  65. 33
  66. Michael Randallbard Says:

    In the “This Weeks Vulture” dept, Gordon Campbell wins the prize for his TV commentary on the China Earthquake and how the devastation is yet another financial opportunity for the whores in our forest industry. Campbell is busy dismantling mills and rebuilding them in China to process the raw logs sent there from BC. You see the greed in his eyes? China to the rescue LOLOL

    In the “Too Good to be True” department, tourism from the USA is WAY down and the tourism industry is panicking now and ahead of the 2010 Olympics, but one wonders how many of the tens of thousands of employees in the industry here will even be in this doomed industry by the time 2010 comes around. Of course this is all FANTASTIC news for those of us who want more than anything to see this city knocked down off its underserved high perch and to see the corporate whores and real estate industry crash and burn.

    Recently moved here from somewhere else? Allow me to get you a map showing how to get out.

    MR

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  67. 34
  68. (-A-) +(-A-). (-A-)-(-A-) Says:

    Hello Krissh krassh you won’t believe this until you read it yourself.

    Rob has broken down and has conceded to WoW that a 50% to 70% price drop is very likely.

    http://robchipman.net/blog/?p=82#comments

    oh the agony of defeat.

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  69. 35
  70. Krrish2 Says:

    A,
    Wow is an ass clown taken out of Sonika’s word of mouth”wow just wow”Interesting satv actually knock wbwycr and wow in the first round but they are shameless sold out owners who thinks they can shake the market from it’s roots but i know they are wasting their time.

    Another surprise is jesse found to be kidding around blogs by comparing Vancouver with Phoenix,Bears and Sold out owners are nuts, personally entertaining them self and wasting their valuable time to pay down the mortgage.

    Soon you will get in soon you could be debt free.

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  71. 36
  72. Thats a big number Says:

    Drachen wrote “Listings are at 17,188 currently which is high. Total residential properties in GVRD is over a million. Current % of residential properties on the market is approximately 1.7%”

    Is my math right? If I assume (incorrectly but for the sake of argument) that all properties are owner-occupied, this would mean that 1 in 60 households has a property for sale. That’s a big number. Now if we factor in that they’re not all owner-occupied, that would be closer to (say) 1 in 50 (or fewer) households has at least one property for sale. That’s a big number too.

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  73. 37
  74. -A- Says:

    Is my math right?

    The number may be even bigger, the 17,000 + is what is on the MLS, it doesn’t include the 50,000 plus units under construction held by specuvestors, and it doesn’t include the for sales by owner, and the specuvestor that may have 3 to sell but has “officially” listed only 1 just to generate the sales leads.

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  75. 38
  76. DEFAULT NAME Says:

    Is my math right?
    Check your name you have minus before and after -A-

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  77. 39
  78. Tony Danza Says:

    Inventory continues its upwards march, “To the moon alice!”.

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  79. 40
  80. -A- Says:

    Krissh Krass Aaron Newsflash, Satv Rob:

    Just got off a conference call with Carney and Bernanke, they have been trying to reach you on the phone but apparently your phone is too busy for them to get through. (lots of sales, or listings?)

    They would like some advice from you professionals; Bernanke is concerned that damage caused by the housing bubble has yet to be tallied, but the remedy of easy money is causing some serious structural damage to the general economy, Carney is very concerned about the Stagflation Tsunami to hit Canada.

    What should they do? They finally realize the printing of cheap money is causing a commodity bubble, and want to end the vicious circle of mopping up one bubble after another

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  81. 41
  82. M- Says:

    Drachen, if I remember correctly, 56% of people in the lower mainland rent, which would imply only 44% owner occupancy, which would imply an even bigger uh-oh if any percentage try to sell…

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  83. 42
  84. stagnate Says:

    -A-:

    true enough, if the government decides deflation is in its best interests, all bets are off. for now expect continued inflation and the market to stagnate. you’re looking through the right window, don’t get caught up with trying to manipulate stats like others here in assclown town.

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  85. 43
  86. alexcanuck Says:

    Absolutely fabulous! Check this out.
    http://www.rgemonitor.com/fina....._economies
    The author, who will now post on fridays, is London Banker, an regular and well-respected poster on Roubini’s blog. Very interesting posts, he obviously is someone of some clout and power in London,political and/or financial, possibly retired (or not, he is cagey. Says he likes the candour anonymity permits.)

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  87. 44
  88. patriotz Says:

    true enough, if the government decides deflation is in its best interests, all bets are off. for now expect continued inflation and the market to stagnate.

    Continued inflation will mean a bond bear market like in the late 70′s and early 80′s. No there will not be deflation, but the BoC will have to hold CPI under 2% or the country will face some nasty consequences.

    I am talking consumer prices not asset prices like housing, which are independent of consumer prices.

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  89. 45
  90. DEFAULT NAME Says:

    This is clearly an excellent opportunity for those pre-sale buyers to just walk away without a penalty. That’s what I will do.

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  91. 46
  92. stagnate Says:

    indeed will be interesting to see to what degree we get stagflation, or to what degree the boc will respond to cpi pressure. carney may test the bond market further, he seems at this point to be a bit of a inflationist; or at least interested in testing the boundaries.
    pre-sales: indeed a lot of people should consider themselves luck to have the option of walking, their money may be more efficient with another option.

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  93. 47
  94. patriotz Says:

    Drachen, if I remember correctly, 56% of people in the lower mainland rent, which would imply only 44% owner occupancy, which would imply an even bigger uh-oh if any percentage try to sell…

    Yes but rental properties get put up for sale too. What you have to look at is the number of individually titled dwelling units (SFH or strata) versus the total number of dwellings.

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  95. 48
  96. DEFAULT NAME Says:

    70% people are home owners and 30% people are renting till 2007.There was 2% to 3% percent increse in home ownership btw 05-07.

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  97. 49
  98. Krrish2 Says:

    B.C.Assessments has issued a notice of assessment to more than 1.89 million people on jan,2008 based on the performance of market in 2007.

    Total population for Metro 2,289,900 (2007)after reduction of total percentage of tenents the left over percentage of populations are home owners and their family members.

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  99. 50
  100. -A- Says:

    “indeed will be interesting to see to what degree we get stagflation, or to what degree the boc will respond to cpi pressure. carney may test the bond market further, he seems at this point to be a bit of a inflationist; or at least interested in testing the boundaries.”

    Very true, but let’s keep in mind, that every regular Joe on the street knows, CPI is as fraudulent as a loaded dice.

    The difference is that unlike, a regular Joe, or a Reader’s Digest educated realtor/blogger/Re pimps, Carney and other central bankers are well aware that the cost of reckless monetary policy is not simply the choice of a “bit “of inflation as opposed to a recession.

    Economists are indoctrinated from first semester that inflation is public enemy number #1, and the regular kool aid mortgaged slave will eventually find out why as well.

    Yes it’s true the law of gravity can be defied – but only for a while.

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  101. 51
  102. jesse Says:

    “but let’s keep in mind, that every regular Joe on the street knows, CPI is as fraudulent as a loaded dice.”

    Wrong. We know exactly what it is. Maybe you think there’s a global conspiracy to misinterpret the CPI and hold bond rates down? That’s not fraud, that’s brilliant salesmanship and influence. If you think inflation is understated, you’re more than welcome to, along with the rest of the world’s investors, go and negotiate a higher interest rate on your treasury bonds.

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  103. 52
  104. -A- Says:

    “If you think inflation is understated, you’re more than welcome to, along with the rest of the world’s investors, go and negotiate a higher interest rate on your treasury bonds.”

    Jesse:

    Trying to negotiate a higher interest rate on treasury bills if futile, what investors are doing is shorting the US dollar, and holding hard goods.

    As soon as the Fed signals it will stop the deliberate devaluing of their currency, oil, rocks and gold, will reprice, to reflect the true value (whatever that may be given the global slowdown).

    You don’t want to own a spec condo in Alberta, and you get screwed if you have a 40yr mortgage in Vancouver.

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  105. 53
  106. Lager not Logger Says:

    Crazy amounts of open houses out there this weekend! Between Victoria and Alma it almost looked like two open houses per block!

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  107. 54
  108. Vansanity Says:

    Anyone know what the story is on those three homes along Gore on the corner of venables? They have been sitting there unfinished for… well…serioulsy, I don’t even remember! Months and months now. I remember there were fires there delaying things at one point, but that was long ago now. Why is there no further work going on there?

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  109. 55
  110. DEFAULT NAME Says:

    Speaking of open houses I saw an interesting twist today on the desperate bid to get attention – There where hand written yellow signs for about 10 blocks along 12th leading to a condo near Arbutus saying weird things like “Got Milk? Buy this home!” and “Massive Curb Appeal!”

    Looked like two bored realtors sitting outside the front door of the building when I drove by. Odd gimmick, I can’t imagine it would be very effective buy I guess with all the competition you’ve got try new things to stand out. Heaven know you wouldn’t want to simply price reasonably.

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  111. 56
  112. Rob A. Says:

    Wow, what a great weekend in fabulous downtown Vancouver. I am appreciating this city and it’s natural beauty more than ever. All my friends downtown think I am crazy for moving to Ontario, they tell me that if you like restaurants and cafes, downtown is the place to be. And I know that they are right :(

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  113. 57
  114. scullboy Says:

    Hey ROb:

    I was in downtown Toronto for almost 10 years. I moved about 2 years ago.

    Don’t worry…. they have lots of restaurants and cafes in Toronto.

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  115. 58
  116. blueskies Says:

    I guess with all the competition you’ve got try new things to stand out.

    lessee… sign twirlers

    this helped prevent the collapse of RE in California
    and drove employment levels way up enabling the sign twirlers to purchase their own RE…..

    lotsa balloons…. always an attraction

    this weekend there were 3 total townhouses for sale (OPEN House on all of them) in our YT building…. never seen that many before…alas no balloons :-(

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  117. 59
  118. GENERIC POSTER Says:

    MUG SHOT-WEEK ENDING SALES VS LISTING
    “we look like we’re about 30% down in listing volume, and we’re about 30% up in sales volume”-from the best real estate anywhere.

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  119. 60
  120. rentah Says:

    Anonymous said: 70% people are home owners and 30% people are renting till 2007.There was 2% to 3% percent increse in home ownership btw 05-07.

    Are those the Vancouver figures. They look more like the US figures to me. I think we have a lower percentage of owners here.

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  121. 61
  122. vanguy Says:

    Corner of venables and gore:

    Strange place for three houses, but I have seen them hold open houses, and I saw people coming and going.

    Not sure what prices they are asking but I’m sure it’s high.

    I also thought the razor wire on top of the fences would be a turn-off to potential buyers.

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  123. 62
  124. DEFAULT NAME Says:

    Rentha,
    Those figures are from b.c.

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  125. 63
  126. Vansanity Says:

    “I also thought the razor wire on top of the fences would be a turn-off to potential buyers.”

    No kidding! And, yes probably $1.4M per… sales slogan goes something like: “Steps away from historic Chinatown”…”equipped with its own secured razor wire fence” :D

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  127. 64
  128. me Says:

    re: Vancouver Rental Rates

    I remember specifically a few years ago stats being released that half of Vancouver rented and half owned

    Not bashing Anonymous – just wondering where you picked up your numbers?

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  129. 65
  130. Me2 Says:

    The ratio for the GVRD is 72% owner occupied, not sure what Vancouver proper is it’s not broken down, but would be very similiar.

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  132. Bubble Lad Says:

    I guess it’s all those wonderful cafes three feet away from main thoroughfares like Granville and Broadway where there are cement trucks whizzing by every five seconds and you get to pick the road grit out of your mixed greens that are so great (God knows they can’t put them where they belong…BEHIND their business, away from the street, due to the stench of garbage filled dumpsters discarded hypos, and binners rattling through them).

    Does anybody who makes those comments ever venture OUT of Vancouver? Or does the entire world consist of Vancouver’s West end).

    Aside from the scenery, Vancouver is a DUMP. And guess what, nobody who lives here had anything to do with creating the sea and mountains…SO STOP TAKING CREDIT FOR THEM! Vancouver has NO industry (try posting a resume…see how many responses you get from OUTSIDE BC), half an art gallery where the best thing is usually the TRAVELING exhibits, a stock market with training wheels, drivers who routinely run down pedestrians like dogs in the street, a real estate bubble who’s bust is going to provide entertainment for years to come, a crime and drug problem so severe that it floats through the papers with barely a mention (and where innocent gas meter readers can get gunned down and nobody bats an eyelid – oh yeah, I forgot, it was a TARGETED SHOOTING- which I guess means the family of innocent bystanders who are killed in a hail of gunfire should remember).

    I’ve been reading all these frigging post by Vancouver boosters, and they are either completely deluded, high, or on the take! Vancouver is a glorified lumber camp at the ass end of the universe! I don’t care how many times you and your idiot friends tell each other (insert parrot sound effect here) “It’s a world class city!!!!” IT’S NOT!! get over it!!

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  134. Rob A. Says:

    ^LMAO, dude, chill out :D Downtown Vancouver is great, it’s where the action is.

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  136. scullboy Says:

    Bubble Lad:

    Dude, while I’m with you, you gotta calm down… and I say this with real concern.

    One point you bring up that’s interesting… you seem to need “BC creds” to live in BC, in order to get a job or apartment…. which I found weird.

    Hey Rob A., if you really are moving to Toronto, make sure to tell everyone there that downtown Vancouver is where the action is. After they get through laughing… well they’ll laugh some more.

    Seriously dude… good luck. You gotta move fast just to keep your feet in TO, and competition for work is crazy fierce. To’s actually where all the immigrants who are smart, ambitious and well educated live, and you’ll have to compete with all of them.

    On the other hand there’s way more to do, though admittedly it isn’t nearly as pretty.

    Good luck buddy… I kind of hope they don’t chew you up and spit you out. Then again, I kind of do ;)

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  138. Bubble Lad Says:

    Sorry – four years worth of pent up frustration crammed into one post – my bad. Apologies.

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