Are you priced out of the Vancouver real estate market? According to the Province, you’re not the only one. The weekend the Province ran a series of articles on the costly local real estate market:
The answer is anyone with one or more of the following: wealthy boomer parents, equity from previous real estate or extremely high double-income earnings.
But even with those prerequisites, many are stretching their limits.
“Everybody maxes,” says Marty Pospischil, a realtor with Dexter Realty specializing in the west side.
The profile of a typical buyer of a $1.3-million, three-bed, two-bath west-side home is a couple between 35 and 45 years old with one or two young children. They are both professionals who have ascended the ranks — think stockbroker, lawyer, doctor.
They will usually have a down payment of $400,000 to $500,000 — derived from a combination of personal equity, inheritance or a substantial gift from a wealthy boomer parent, says Pospischil.
That means they’re still borrowing between $800,000-$900,000.
Expectations clash with reality:
With the income-to-house-price ratio the highest it’s ever been in B.C., the overwhelming perception — particularly in Vancouver — is that the market has changed the definition of “middle class” and displaced the working poor.
It is increasingly common to see children raised in condos, married couples living in their parents’ basements, young professionals taking on second jobs, workers commuting long hours, the growth of the 40-year mortgage (which 65 per cent of first-time buyers are now using, according to a RE/MAX report) and the realization for some that an inheritance is the only way to a single-family home.
Tsur Somerville: its not a bubble:
“If you say bubble, then at some point it’s going to pop. And if you look at our price increases, they’ve been double-digit, but for the most part they’ve been between 11 to 15 per cent for the past few years. That’s high, but in a bubble you start to see 20-per-cent growth, 30-per-cent growth. Just really rapid acceleration, and we haven’t seen that. That’s what happened in 1981 and 1982 . . . That’s what a bubble looks like.”
John: There’s no point complaining about prices. I think people should focus their energy on how they can find new ideas/businesses/solutions to generate more income. If you spend all your time complaining you won’t have enough time thinking about new businesses that can work and make more money!
