not just north america.
North America isn’t alone in struggling with the combined challenge of inflationary pressure and economic stagnation. The fed recently decided to keep interest rates steady, while in the UK they are edging up. At the same time the ‘credit crunch’ is being blamed for a downturn in Britain as retailers and house builders start to report problems:
The credit crunch hit the high street with a vengeance yesterday as shock figures from Marks & Spencer wiped £4 billion off the value of Britain’s leading retailers.
The grim news from Middle Britain’s favourite store marked a new phase in the economic downturn and threatens the high street with its worst slowdown in 20 years. Adding to the gloom, one of the country’s biggest housebuilders revealed that it was teetering on the brink of collapse. Taylor Wimpey’s value more than halved after it failed to secure rescue funding and said it would cut 900 jobs.
As the global economy is faced with more challenges can BC stay unaffected?
On a side note it’s interesting to see how competition from other locales is showing up in our housing market. I’ve noticed recently that the ‘for sale’ section of craigslist has been listing a number of properties in Arizona, Florida, California & Ontario.
-thanks to JB for the Times story link.
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July 3rd, 2008 at 8:24 am
Sorry to take this off topic.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:05 am
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:18 am
If anyone can afford to be speculating it should be a well paid media character like him.
He probably knows that warehouse workers with multiple personalities will be forced to rent it to him for a fraction of the carrying costs just so they don’t go bankrupt for decades to come.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:32 am
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:38 am
refuse to watch “talking head” TV
don’t listen to “talking head” radio
ditch the “J6P” mentality
and think for your self
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:39 am
we have mountains and ocean, uk has only hills and ocean.
this is why we are immune.
to quote one of my favorite philosophers:
“can’t touch this.”
- MC Hammer
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:53 am
By the way, now that I’m back in BC, why is Bill Good still on TV and radio? Geez, die already…..
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:56 am
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:26 am
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:36 am
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 am
After contracting through the first three months of the year, economic growth in Canada had a modest rebound in April, and is expected to end this year at 1.4%,
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=629717
Month over,year over,decade over,when ever what ever vancouver, b.c.
“THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH”
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup … id=4356193
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:03 am
Renting instead of buying because it is more convenient is an economic choice, and is one of the reasons why renting is (or is supposed to be) more expensive than buying.
They compare us to Seattle which is a “domestic city”.
Take that, Microsoft!
Who do you think you are, Boeing?
Who drinks Starbucks?
Who shops at Costco anyway?
You’re a nobody, amazon.com!
You’re just a bunch of homeboys! Lululemon rules!
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:08 am
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:17 am
I’m sure there are some, but I don’t think they impact RE on any significant scale.
Who knows, typical Bill Good BS. He mentioned his “friend” Bob Rennie told him lots of international people are buying up Vancouver RE. Didn’t Rennie already go on record saying less than 10% of pre-sale buyers were from out of BC?
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:18 am
The more things change the more they stay the same.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24882849/
Peter Oh, a Seattle real estate agent, is planning to open a showroom to market 21 condominium buildings in the Puget Sound region. But he’s not looking for a storefront location in downtown Seattle, nor is he planning to locate among the many new high-rises in nearby Bellevue across the lake.
Instead, he’s creating a marketing office 5,000 miles away — in South Korea.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:25 am
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:32 am
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/hou … bble_x.htm
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:41 am
When the local market runs out of greater fools, look for them abroad. Same old, same old. Like Phoenix marketing to Albertans, etc.
Won’t work for Vancouver though because we’re the last ship to go down.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:42 am
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columb … ml?ref=rss
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
” They compare us to Seattle which is a “domestic city”.
Take that, Microsoft! Who do you think you are, Boeing?
Who drinks Starbucks? Who shops at Costco anyway?
You’re a nobody, amazon.com!
You’re just a bunch of homeboys! Lululemon rules!”
This echos something that has been bothering me about the Canadian and Vancouver economy. The City may be “international” but our brands and businesses are quite domestic. Where are our great Canadian brands of international stature? We can’t just flip condos to each other, sell our resources and pimp out our education system and thrive. We need more innovative businesses that can compete globally or become increasingly redundant as a country.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:25 pm
“You’ll note over on the right we have a sieve and on the left a Vancouver condo. At first you may notice little difference, they’re both the same size, they both let water pass through as if that was their design and they both smell of Kraft Dinner. The real difference is that people pay $1.99 for the sieve and $599,000 for the condo.”
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
LOL. Harsh but true. Most journalists have an arts degree and/or 2-yr journalism diploma. They can’t do math and know nothing about economics. Bill Good is either pimping for sponsors or just too stupid to realize his own hypocrisy.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Greater Vancouver house prices drop slightly
Derrick Penner , Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, July 03, 2008
VANCOUVER — Lower Mainland house hunters are now in a buyers market with prices that have eased slightly off of earlier-year highs in many markets, according to the latest report from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
The region saw 2,425 sales registered through the Multiple Listing Service in June, the board reported, a 43-per-cent decline from the same month a year ago.
At the same time, owners listed 6,546 properties, an 18 per cent increase from the same month a year ago.
At June 30, Greater Vancouver’s inventory of unsold properties stood at 18,260, a 54-per-cent increase from a year ago.
And while so-called benchmark prices in June were still up over the same month a year ago, in many markets typical prices were down slightly from benchmark prices in May.
The Greater Vancouver benchmark price for a detached house was $765,654 in June, up 7.3 per cent from the same month a year ago, but down from the May benchmark of $771,250.
In the Fraser Valley, realtors recorded 1,418 MLS sales, a 31-per-cent decline from the same month a year ago. At the same time, 3,236 new listings hit the market, bringing the valley’s total inventory of unsold homes to 11,295, a 47-per-cent increase from the same month a year ago.
The Fraser Valley’s average detached house price hit $561,771 in June, a six per cent increase from the same month a year ago.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news … 5a692e3a5d
Odd that they reported on a MoM decline when YoY is still positive, doncha think? Very un-Sunlike.
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Wait? House priced dropped? In Vancouver?! In June?!?
Ok everybody, please proceed to the exits in an orderly fashion and repeat after me “there is no bubble.. everyone wants to buy here.. its different this time”
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Don’t when or if he sold, but many many years ago, he lived in a house in the Montroyal area, on or just off Cliffridge/Ranger I believe.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:31 pm
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:34 pm
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:48 pm
July 4th, 2008 at 6:53 am