Comments on: Downtown westend condo market tracking

By: RJB

RJB — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:33:32 +0000

Thanks for reposting the spreadsheet Pope. Monterey, thanks for sharing this info with us. I live in the West End and have been keeping my eye on prices. The Barclay is a hideous brown turd that stinks up the West End.

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By: Drachen

Drachen — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:24:10 +0000

Sidelines We have the fourth largest exports period so it's hardly surprising that we have the fourth largest exports to the US. I think it's more relevant what percentage of our total export is to the US. Which is about 60% which is actually quite low as far as Canada goes but not really low enough for anyone to realistically say we're entirely "de-coupled" from the US economy.

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By: Sidelines

Sidelines — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:05:40 +0000

Hey “Dosh thinks Vancouver is New York!”:

Most of our exports go to the US. On top of that, it looks like BC is the fourth largest exporter to the US in the country. http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/pubs/exp/exp_prov.pdf

Does that qualify as a magic-deflector shield, in your mind?

As for “cultural center”… ahem, cough, gag… John, is that you?

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By: exx

exx — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:44:48 +0000

Home prices in most Lower Mainland markets slip below 2007 levels

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By: Dosh thinks Vancouver is New York!

Dosh thinks Vancouver is New York! — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:32:57 +0000

20 Dosh Says: February 11th, 2008 at 10:36 am wonder what happens if the U.S. drags Canada into a recession. Not going to happen. IF the US goes into recession it might have an effect back east, but Vancouver is different, our customers are all over the world and we’re not manufacturing widgets. We are a cultural center like New York or London as much as some of the bears here hate to hear that.

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By: Vansanity

Vansanity — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:30:50 +0000

Wow, TSX is getting killed on some downgrades by Merril today... currently down 697pts. We'll see where it ends the day. I don't remember a time of such prolonged volatility before. What will tomorrow bring?

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By: Deja Dosh

Deja Dosh — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:30:16 +0000

11 dosh Says: August 2nd, 2007 at 2:07 pm whats with the obsession with the US market? last i checked we were in a different country. i know we do some trading with them, but geez, lets get real! Current score: 0

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By: dbcooper

dbcooper — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:16:48 +0000

All my investments grow in value. OK you don't sound like some fly-by-night operator so I'll ask you for some advice. I have a significant amount of frequent flyer points accumulated. Should I be cashing these in or holding for the longer term. I ask because I really don't want to bail on the original investment. TIA

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By: Mold City

Mold City — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:10:07 +0000

costs also go beyond just the price of land and construction Right, there's marketing to be considered as well. Because who in their right mind would pay $600 a square foot for a tiny concrete box without slick ads filled with glowing copy about 'lifestyle' and glossy photos of coffee?

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By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:58:02 +0000

Iorem, I didn't say that, Alan did. I am the one who pointed out that his number was out to lunch. Development costs also go beyond just the price of land and construction cost.

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By: lorem ipsum

lorem ipsum — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:30:25 +0000

Downtown highrise condo construction costs are about double Dave’s guess of $150, at about $310/ft2:

http://www.bty.com/q407final_bty.pdf

The problem with pulling numbers out of your ass is they tend to smell like bullshit.

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By: john

john — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:21:38 +0000

I don't buy depreciating assets. All my investments grow in value. I strategically buy vehicles and condos which I know are in demand or will be in the future. It's worked very well. I have tons of HELOCS and the credit card offers continue to arrive in the mail daily.

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By: Drachen

Drachen — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:17:59 +0000

dbcooper (nice handle by the way) John is a joker, he's just being intentionally ironic. Just ignore him.

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By: patriotz

patriotz — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:55:10 +0000

Businesses buy depreciating assets with borrowed money all the time. Including real estate of course. In fact, all physical assets (except land) depreciate. The issue is not whether the asset depreciates, but whether the yield net of depreciation exceeds financing costs.

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By: dbcooper

dbcooper — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:34:40 +0000

john: you are buying depreciating assets with borrowed money? could you explain your mindset please?

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By: The Pope

The Pope — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:01:17 +0000

RJB, the link to the xls doc is back up at the top of the post, or you can click here to download it. I temporarily removed it for cleaning - thats why you couldn't see it.

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By: pinocchio123

pinocchio123 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:48:53 +0000

Hey John, did you get your Ferrari yet? I think I saw you driving a silver one on Royal Oak in Burnaby last night. Man, you should definitely put a pillow under your butt - you seemed like you can't see crap over the dashboard...

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By: bdk

bdk — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:45:41 +0000

Did anyone else go to the PHN private client conference at the westin last night? During their presentation they showed a 1.18 million unrenovated tear down in Vancouver and compared it to a renovated castle in Normandy France that was $7,000 less. It amused the crowd which John will be pleased to know included many rich asians!

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By: john

john — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:16:34 +0000

This is why I focus on downtown condos only. Surrey has an arson problem. Rich asians know this and stay away as well. I've got a line on a ferrari so I might be getting one of those with one of my HELOCS. Got a new credit card today too.

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By: dave satv rob, it think so same

dave satv rob, it think so same — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:49:27 +0000

I know some of you were looking forward to the debates, but sadly I must inform you, the major networks have all preempted the broadcasts for a special round table discussion of two world leading authorities on housing. Aaron Best and Rob Chipman will be debating several Yale and Princeton, professors on the mythological housing bubble. This is a government sponsored effort to offset the recent cant touted by Robert Shiller through the Canadian media in his recent visit to Canada.

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By: Strataman

Strataman — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:22:13 +0000

Monterey "Aren’t fire-walls usually made of concrete? In a 100% wood structure, wouldn’t you have fire-walls basically the first thing you put up after the foundation" In wood frame construction firewalls are made of double ply fireguard drywall each side of wood studs, so they are not really finished (fire proof) until the units are ready for interior painting. At that time any penetrations of the firewall (pipes etc) would finally be sealed.

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By: Vansanity

Vansanity — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:16:41 +0000

Quattro development up in smoke this morning. I think it was the last phase of it, trying to find some details. Also - TSX down 451 pts early.

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By: Montery

Montery — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:11:33 +0000

What's a little freaky to me is that I am here predicting the Barclay will suffer the same fate as Quattro. I certainly hope nobody gets hurt or suffers hardship in Barclay... afterall that reno is partially occupied. I really wonder if perhaps it's the builder setting the place ablaze. I mean, he's nearing construction complete status, realizes the bottom has dropped out of the market and is perhaps worried that the assignments might get dropped. Does he take the insurance money, and hope he can rebuild for even LESS in this market environment so that he can profit on the re-build too? Probably, not, but lets ask another question. Aren't fire-walls usually made of concrete? In a 100% wood structure, wouldn't you have fire-walls basically the first thing you put up after the foundation? I'm (obviously) not a construction type, but it seems logical to me, so I wonder if this building even HAD firewalls. Yikes. All I can say is Yikes.

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By: Patiently Waiting

Patiently Waiting — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:40:37 +0000

This is such a disgusting act. What if firefighters or construction workers had died? Whoever did this deserves to be publicly humiliated and jailed for years on end. Here's to their capture.

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By: Gadwin

Gadwin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:29:23 +0000

I can understsand 1 apartment burning down, but how does the 2nd one “conveniently” catch fire?

Besides that, somebody tried to set another fire to the same building earlier on Monday:

“This is the second blaze at this location in the past two days.

On Monday afternoon, a smaller fire, which officials called “suspicious,” was set on the first level of what appears to be the same four-storey Quattro building at 13789 107A Ave.”

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/30056284.html

It’s obviously a deliberate arson.

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