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Do you really think that the W is part of Gastown and not the DTES? I suppose that explains a lot about you. If you thought there was a profit to be had in green skies you’d believe the sky was green too.

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“W” an intellectual RE roadkill property

“be bold or move to the suburbs”

a marketing campaign that’ll
come back to haunt you

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If you think Gastown has it then question is where do they come from?I think they were us before and now it’s them.

“and the most impoverished postal code in all of Canada.”
So what?Is there anybody in gastown ever wanted to move out from that place?Answer is NO!
Do we have more listing in gastown than downtown or coal harbour?
Answer is NO!

“The Woodwards project will be the epitome of everything that’s wrong with the bubble and will easily lose as much as the worst of the California, Las Vegas or Florida bubbles”

So your motive is bubble campaign why are you wasting time making stuff up?why are you hunting “W” for crack? while your previous worried were washed away without any lose?I mean to say all those spectrum,la hermitage,raffles,and alberni!hey!you never returned back to report any bleeding?at the end why don’t you simplly admit that you are an idiot!!!!!in fear and in your own dreams making stuff up to hide what have you done before?,please take exit no.11(legs).

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Comparing the most desirable area of Vancouver with the Slum of all of Canada is not compareable and the junkies won’t give a sh*t if two towers go up.

Yaletown was nothing like the downtown eastside either.
You must be joking around if you think $525 sq/ft is a good deal.

Qube was $500 sq/ft and will be again soon as a landmark building in a nice area should be.

The Woodwards project will be the epitome of everything that’s wrong with the bubble and will easily lose as much as the worst of the California, Las Vegas or Florida bubbles.
The residents will be reminded of this when they find dirty needles in their elevator and have people smoking crack outside the parkade gate.
No concierge will want to work there.

I hate to pick on you Woody but what you said is just so assinine it deserves ridicule.
Do you understand that the average incomes of Vancouver?
Is it going right over your head that only hte elite can afford to pay those prices and none of them would be stupid enough.

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“so it makes you wonder who’s briging down the number below zero?”

Another big one from what I understand is boomers withdrawing home equity to help finance their children’s homes.

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Do they require a personal guarantee on those obligations? Would they allow me to buy assignments using a special purpose vehicle? Are they sophisticated enough to know what that means (non recourse to the owner)?

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If the boom had continued for another 3-5 years, the DTES might have had a chance. I think the Woodward’s building is going to prove to be the high water mark for “development” down there.

The irony is that it stands a solid chance of going right back to where it started - a squat for everyone who lives in the area right now.

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25% will be just the beginning, and they won’t be laughing.

to assume the DTES will continue on asis [sic] indefinately is even more naive.

Agreed. The DTES will be worse later, when the long-term recession arrives, combined with higher energy costs, and both provincial and private coffers are depleted paying for past megaprojects and general over-capacity. No shades required.

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There is a possible component of offshore savings and investments not tracked through Statscan and black market proceeds. Your other points sum up the situation nicely.

Given the average mortgage debt has increased in the past decade in conjunction with a falling savings rate indicates that a significant portion of the shortfall comes from home equity withdrawals. As I mentioned earlier a recent property market entrant will likely not have a negative savings rate (save unsecured loans) so it makes you wonder who’s briging down the number below zero? The retired and semi-retired don’t make that much of the population yet.

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Boneta’s, right down the street from Woodwards is one of my favorite restaurants, but to get there you have to dodge spent hypos, human feces, and people openly shooting up or smoking crack, trying to sell you the coat off their back (I’m not making this up).

I can’t imagine dealing with that on a daily basis. It would become an exhausting ordeal. Either that or the people who bought have no intention of living there, or being involved in the local community in any way, shape, or form. Neither option seems particularly palatable.

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“I am trying to resolve if the -8% savings rate is a true measure of cash flow or not.”

I think it is. There are several factors which contribute.

Increasing number of retired or semi retired people. They are living largely off of savings.

Increase in home equity. If people get a HELOC or a second mortgage that drops their savings rate. For example. A house purchased in 1987 for $150k which is now evaluated at $700k only counts for $150k of savings (the amount paid against principle) and if the home owners take out $100,000 from their HELOC to get a pair of Mercedes they are considered to have dropped $100k of savings (even though some people would argue they have gained $450k in savings through the whole transaction).

Increase in housing costs and the illusion of endless wealth generation through housing. Many couples are piling on debt on credit cards, lines of credit etc. to make their mortgage payments each month because they believe this is financially prudent and as their earnings increase through their careers they can pay off the debts.

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http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/sto.....pagne.html

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Ummm, Woody this is the poorest postal code in Canada with the highest level of HIV in the developed world.
It’s not like any of the mental health and Addiction treatment centres will be packing up and leaving because of a two new towers.
These centres are unwelcome everywhere they go (google NOT IN ANYONES BACKYARD if this isn’t obvious to you.

Remember VHB pointing out only 49% of Pt Grey residents could afford to buy at the poorest postal code in Canada?

The Woodwards project will be such a disaster, it has all the ingredients, mentally troubled drug addicted residents, specuvestors who’d never dream of living there, Koreans who thought they were buying in Coal Harbour.
It’s going to be sad to see all these people who thought they were being smart lose all their money.

No one in their right mind will pay $250/sq ft to live there and the max anyone will ever get in rent is $1/sq ft and th turnover will be huge so expect to pay the property manager a lot of placement fees!

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Hi Drachen, OK I’ll take your word for it. I don’t disagree that paying off debt increases equity.

I still do not have closure, from a definition on Statscan’s site, on whether mortgage principal is included as savings or included in PCE, as it pertains to the -8% savings rate statistic. I am trying to resolve if the -8% savings rate is a true measure of cash flow or not.

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By the way there’s no need to get snippy with me. You’re reading it wrong, I’m not suggesting that they don’t use their own definition, merely that you’re misinterpreting the definition because you probably haven’t taken any bookkeeping classes. What they’re talking about (in your quoted passage) is minutiae of bookkeeping principles not something that has an effect on the end number generated.

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You’re messed up, I went and read it on the StatsCan page, in context your quote doesn’t mean what you think it means.

They categorise each type of savings and expenditure.

One category is “Housing”

Another category is “assets and debts”

In most surveys “Housing” includes (Mortgage payment - Payment against principle).

In 1982 “Housing” included total Mortgage payment and Payment against principle was included under “assets and debts”

The end number for personal savings rate is the same it’s just a matter of where the accountants recorded the numbers. Try re-reading your quoted passage with this in mind.

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Are you suggesting the -8% savings rate quoted by Statscan does not use their own definition of savings rate? Please. Use whatever definition you want but IF we’re talking about -8% savings rate as quoted by Statscan then we need to use their definition, which includes mortgage principal as part of PCE.

The Statscan measure is all about cash flow which is why debt repayments are not considered savings. But by all means, do your own calculations.

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Oh and by the way, the only place where you can find reference to principle payments they are considered savings. From this you conclude that principle payments are not considered savings? You’re beginning to sound a bit Krrishy.

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