Vancouver House Prices down 9.8% from peak
2008 - Vancouver House Prices Down almost 10% from the peak.
According to statistics released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the benchmark price for a single family home in Metro Vancouver is down 9.8% from the May 2008 price peak and down 4.7% from the October 2007 price so far. From an article in the Vancouver Sun.
RSS 2.0 comments feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.Greater Vancouver saw MLS sales of 1,364 units in October compared with 3,028 in the same month a year ago.
Single-family home sales across the region dropped to 493 units in October from 1,368 in October, 2007. Condominium sales were also down substantially to 493 units from 1,133 in the same month a year ago.
Dave Watt, the Greater Vancouver board’s president, said sales are not keeping pace with B.C.’s current economic conditions with low unemployment and stable interest rates.
“That’s a direct result of a loss of consumer confidence in the overall market,” Watt said.
In the Fraser Valley, the detached house price hit $513,892 in October, down 6.5 per cent from May and 0.6 per cent below the average price of October, 2007.
MLS sales of 768 in the valley were 48 per cent below sales levels of the same month a year ago.
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MickeyFinn Says:
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Somewhere in Vancouver tonight a room full of real estate pundits are desperately trying to figure-out how to put a positive spin on undeniably ugly October sales and listing data.
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sluggo Says:
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
The really amazing thing is that all the recession/depression doom and gloom did’nt make the headlines until almost half way through the month, and considering that it takes even longer to be absorbed by the great unwashed, I would say that the real panic has’nt even started yet. November price drops will make the Oct drop of 4.2% look like kids stuff.
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Don Lapre Says:
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
I would still have to say that the majority of people I encounter honestly believe that this is simply a minor blip and the house price rocketship will re-launch just around the bend. I can debate until I’m blue in the face about fundamentals, myths, etc, but questioning the real estate game in Vancouver is still tantamount to blasphemy.
The majority of people will be blindsided by this and are still intoxicated by the past few years of appreciation.
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freako Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:01 am
1. 4.2% monthly decline. That is HUGE. This is now a freefall.
2. The liquidity crisis is not yet reflected in these numbers, as sales are only booked once subjects come off. November will be VERY interesting.
3. We have 14+ months of inventory.
I expect listings to fall quite a bit, but the way sales are slumping, MOI may get even worse. By spring it may climb higher again.
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Vancouver Real Estate Never Go Down Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:36 am
MickeyFinn,
I can put that spin in few second here is how it works!
Do you know? when prices were going up in 2007 more than 50,000 buyers jumped into market to buy (spin),When prices start falling after may 2008(peak)Only some of 4,500 people took advantage of falling prices,What does that mean?
It’s mean nobody like to catch the falling knife!but what will happen if you go to catch the falling knife? prices will go UP then what?it will go more UP even if the prices are 25% UP.
Well slow sales and few ’smart buyers’ that was the story, now lots of sellers found it funny that no buyers seems to taking advantage of falling price so they(sellers) have decided to pull off their listing from the market due to low Interest Rates,Increased Rents,and Canada,Usa exchange rates in results:listings are down to 17,000 from it’s peak 21,000 historical resale Inventory.
In few weeks market could fell into sellers hand then what? every body love to buy because some buyers other than “smart buyer” love to buy on high why is that?because they know it very well that “Vancouver Real Estate Never Go Down”.-We will never buy on low.
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holgs Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Now we need an update of VHB’s famous trademark graph, with this “peak” at the very top of it…
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VHB Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:48 am
you mean this, holgs?
It’s done with Royal-lepage quarterly data, so you’ll have to wait until January to see the Q3 and Q4 update. And it will be sweet!
Of course, as far as I can tell, they haven’t updated for Q3 yet, which is a bit odd . . .
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Just saying Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:59 am
How about the arrow with the month and year?
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Anonymous Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 1:23 am
“Dave Watt, the Greater Vancouver board’s president, said sales are not keeping pace with B.C.’s current economic conditions with low unemployment and stable interest rates.”
Gee, I wonder why that is…..
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Gadwin Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 1:24 am
May detached benchmark: $771,250
June detached benchmark: $765,654
July detached benchmark: $753,165
August detached benchmark: $737,985
September detached benchmark: $726,331
October detached benchmark: $695,962
What goes up, must come down!
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patriotz Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Check out the same old, same old, in the comments section of the Sun story.
Have to laugh at some of you cheering for a crash. A huge part of the money flowing in Vancouver is the real estate/construction business, so guess what, it goes down so does your lot in life. People with real estate, even if it does drop, will be relative to you loosing your job or if you do keep it at a much lower wage
Apparently this poster thinks that owning a house makes you immune to losing your job.
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macchiato Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 2:31 am
“Somewhere in Vancouver tonight a room full of real estate pundits are desperately trying to figure-out how to put a positive spin on undeniably ugly October sales and listing data. ”
I bet they are are feeling some reprieve the US presidential election will probably out-MSM them. Maybe they’ll release their report the moment the election results come in.
The drop this month is starting to prove Wolf at ML was wrong about tracking the US, we aren’t, Vancouver is looking much worse so far.
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patriotz Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 3:06 am
I bet they are are feeling some reprieve the US presidential election will probably out-MSM them.
Well they’d better be hoping for something to top that a month from now, because the November numbers are going to be even uglier.
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blueskies Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Maybe they’ll release their report the moment the election results come in.
…and tomorrow after the election
they will wake up and see that everything is still ugly, there is no escape… only one direction…DOWN!
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Re-diculous Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Don Lapre #3
…. its called “denial”
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dingus Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 9:09 am
4% in one month. Phew! 10% in 5 months. Phew! As freako said, this is freefall.
At some point, a comparison should be made to San Diego, Inland Empire, Miami, Phoenix etc. in terms of the rate of decrease. I believe Mohican added Vancouver to a Case Shiller chart of monthly declines of US bubble markets and Vancouver’s rate of decline exceeded those bubble markets.
We’ll be seeing 40% drops by the end of 2010.
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Chooch Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Once the election is over and the focus returns to the global recession, the price declines will likely gain momentum. Lowering interest rates, which are already very low, will not stimulate purchasing just as it didn’t in Japan in the early 90s. We are in for a severe recession and very likely a period of price declines in all asset classes. The severe recession in construction and real estate, huge segements of our economy, is just beginning. The same is true of the correction in our natural resource sector. Mr. Watt does not seem to have a grasp our current economic conditions. The market is foward looking and can see what is coming. It’s not going to be pretty for the economy generally and especially for those who purchased at inflated prices over the last 3 to 5 years.
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john Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Just the bear facts:
1) Any bear who didn’t buy real estate and has been living in a moldy basement for 5 years buying stocks is now underwater
2) Vancouver real estate investors like me have made a killing and love SUVs and fine women and good beer and premium brand smokes
3) Rich asians flock to Vancouver due to the beautiful weather and beautiful real estate
4) SUVs, RVs, Boats are the next big boom. Everyone is going to want to buy these things and more condos in Vancouver
5) Living in a condo downtown Vancouver is the dream of every person in Vancouver
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Anonymous Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 9:43 am
John, the detached benchmark dropped 4.2% from last month. It dropped 30K!
CRAAAAASSHHHHHHH!
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VanTOVan Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:06 am
When the spousal unit and I moved back here after a two year exile in the Big Smoke in April, her extended family were all over us. I swear to god they had Ozzie Jurrock coasters and “I like Tsur” hats.
Strangely, the conversation has turned to Obama, the Canucks, and the shape of that cloud that just drifted by…
and I’m thinking of that 50K I’d be out if it weren’t for the concrete arguments of many of the posters here that kept me secure in my resolve.
virtual beers on me.
http://www.beermonthclub.com/sendavirtualbeer.asp
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Crash Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:10 am
“Just the bear facts:
1) Any bear who didn’t buy real estate and has been living in a moldy basement for 5 years buying stocks is now underwater”
Well hopefully the rest of the bears having been shorting bank stocks and buying bear ETFs. Too bad you can’t short RE.
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Crash Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I see one of the lastest spins that Tsur Somerville is peddling is that buyers are “waiting out the price declines”. My question is: how many blog viewers know anybody in the general population who are waiting for prices to drop before buying R/E? In my fairly wide aquaintance circle I know of only one other couple besides myself and my wife who are waiting for a substantial price decline.
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blueskies Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:39 am
I know of only one other couple besides myself and my wife who are waiting for a substantial price decline.
most of the anecdotal info i get is:
there are very few buyers
most not even bothering to look at RE…..
open houses? that is so last year!
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oh please Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:51 am
C’mon, Vancouver is a Global City. How can this be happening?
Oh, wait. We never made the top 60. Not like TO at #10.
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Well, let’s see what happens re: the US elections after tonite and how the results will transcend borders .
This Obama wave is getting a bit silly. ( I will go on the assumption that Obama will win, ….but ya never know ).
I think the Americans and Obama are creating another ” bubble ” , one of unrealistic hopes and expectations.
Given the housing bubble was ultimately used and abused to create and promote a false economy, what fix has Obama actually got ?
I read that McCain’s accusations of Obama’s wealth distribution have fallen flat, that Americans actually do want wealth distribution. How do you distribute wealth? Quickest way is via re-visiitng taxation and create subsidies. They say Obama will be under a lot of pressure to move quickly with his promises and/or live up to people’s expectations. However “Haste- makes -Waste” comes to mind.
In the end,….I think Obama will be forced into a lot of quickie fixes and protectionism -based policies, given the housing -bubble economic engine burst, and other economic engines are tanking(ie Auto industry). Hence it appears the US will end up a quasi- socialist state, at least in the short term. This will ripple globally, and affect us here in our own lotus – land. Does this create (i) stability or (ii) chaos in either the short term of long term ? Personally I don’t have a comfortable feeling re Obama, a nice guy per se, but I think he is in waaaay over his head .
PS: Why do I think of “Pierre Trudeau meets Glen Clark “when I think “Obama” ?
God HELP America !!!
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MickeyFinn Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:20 am
I did not write post #5 above… someone else is using my pen name.
Not only do I disagree with the bogus author’s comments, I am embarassed to have the poor grammar attributed to me.
Hey Pope, is there a way of stopping someone from fraudulently posting under another person’s handle?
MickeyFinn
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Crash Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I didn’t write post #21 but I did write post #22
there may be a bug in the system…
“Crash”
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betamax Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:35 am
My prediction, based on observations of previous changes in government and the fact that Paul Volker is one of Obama’s economic advisors:
Obama will get into office, then declare that the Bush admin cooked the books and the economy is in far worse shape than reported. Then he’ll tighten things up rather than loosing the purse strings, and the Fed & Treasury will be told to stop propping up this bubble and let the market take care of itself. That way, the new admin can have a quick, deep recession that will hopefully be well over by the end of their 4-yr term, when Obama will claim victory over the recession and campaign for re-election on that basis.
New admins like to have their pain up front, so everything’s all gravy for the next election.
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Nobody!!!!! Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
“Not only do I disagree with the bogus author’s comments,”
Author’s name is available it says “Vancouver Real Estate Never Go Down” use your eyes buddy.
“I am embarassed to have the poor grammar attributed to me.”
Anyway,now you know what’s going on lets move forward…..
“Vancouverites need only look to the fundamentals for guidance: a rental crisis, a shortage of housing supply on the market, and the 2010 Olympics just around the corner.We are a real estate town — real estate is a sport,You go to Calgary and it’s oil and gas. You go to Toronto, it’s business. In Seattle, it’s technology. We’re real estate … And the world likes us. The world likes to live in Vancouver.Nobody knows better than rennie,Nobody!!!!!.
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I was listening to Sports radio yesterday and they were talking about ” Obama as President ” , U.S. Pro Sports, and wealth distribution.
One NFL owner has apparently already divested themselves of their ownership in their NFL team due to fears of an Obama victory . Other pro sports teams are concerned re: the luxury boxes and if their clientele will get hit.
The NFL apparently secured a $2 Billion Loan recently to assist weaker NFL markets. Previously Pro -Obama professional athletes are also having 2nd thoughts.
All pro-active moves by the Big Boys based on current predictions.
As the world turns…
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jackpal Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I personally believe the prices in vancouver were all a hype, how many houses actually sold at the peak for 760K lets have some real numbers. All this house price hype in vancouver is paper money
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john Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Building an entire economy on real estate is the definition of wise fiscal prudence. Financial systems collapse but homes and towers rarely if ever do so. That’s proof right there that real estate quite literally never goes down.
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crabman Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Dave Watt, the Greater Vancouver board’s president, said sales are not keeping pace with B.C.’s current economic conditions with low unemployment and stable interest rates.
Dave Watt is another guy who hasn’t been paying attention. When you have an economy built on a housing bubble, housing tanks first – then the overall economy follows.
P.S. John, that joke is getting old.
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Vansanity Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Good reading there Pope. Don Lapre – I couldn’t agree with you more.
I had the opportunity to discuss the market with a realtor who was advising a mutual friend on how the market will stabilize over the next couple while and then reignite sometime after. I couldn’t bite my tongue any longer. I argued the points giving hard facts, numbers, discussing affordability, loose lending, credit crunch, economic recession, glut, removal of products etc… What blew me away was the fact that I knew a hell of a lot more than he did about HIS OWN PROFESSION! Imagine knowing more than the surgeon who is about to operate on you! It’s mind boggling how little some of these realtors know! CarlK and Paul B, you guys are exceptions, not talking about you. Even Chipman, who I disagree with for the most part, at least knows something about how the market operates.
I keep hearing people say “it’s a cycle” but they don’t understand the fundamentals that are involved in creating the cycle.
There were more “points” he raised, that you have all heard a million times before. Mostly rah, rah pumper BS. Sounded more like someone in denial. I just think that people should know SOMETHING about their chosen profession! We need more Paul B’s in this world.
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MickeyFinn Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Nobody!!!!! Says,
Yes, you’re right I clearly wasn’t paying attention… my bad!
Resume normal programming.
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Gadwin Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Nobody! is just satv talking his usual gibberish that only he can understand.
why don’t you post in your own language and someone can translate it? What’s that there is no language called idiot?
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bdk Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
“Vancouver Real Estate Never Go Down”.-We will never buy on low.”
Umm, you can buy high as much as you want krrish.
The smart people, who you’ve been taunting, will wait and buy at 50% off.
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Gadwin Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Ughh, who used my name in #36? FYI, I didn’t make that post about satv in #36 (even though I think satv is an idiot).
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Re Realtors:
(and yes,…with apologies to those Realtors that do act like true ethical professionals)
You take the course, you buy the suit, you lease the fancy car, hang the shingle, look for victims err…”clients” (ie Purchasers or Vendors ).
In someway, are they not much different than side show promoters at the Circus…” step right up, pay your money take your chances ” .
The spin has to be positive and upbeat…or else they legally obligate themselves to far more disclosure. Read the ads and the creativity they require to make a potential drug den look like the Taj Mahal .
They have access to the MLS, the rest of us don’t.
They also have professional “insurance” , errors and ommissions, if things go bad….as opposed to the more risky “For Sale By Owners” .
I agree, many parties probably know more than the realtor… but the vast majority of others obviously doesn’t and are often less sophisticated than the realtor and thus feel beholden to the realtor.
I think a realtor’s role and services is different to each of us , but the realtor’s services can be played to your advantage if you approach the given deal (and them) properly.
A smart RE investor will simply do their own homework, not rely on what the Realtor may “promote”, and only use the Realtor for what the smart investor cannot do themselves. A Realtor has a role in the RE scheme of things, but never defer to them or put them up on pedestal.
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womp Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Holy crap. The next person I hear say “we won’t have a US style meltdown in Canada” gets this little statistic in their face:
I just went through the Case-Shiller data. There are only TWO occurrences of a -4.8% (or greater) drop in the US in the last 20 years. February 2008 in San Francisco had a -5.04% drop, and Las Vegas in January 2008 had a -5.1% drop.
Vancouver’s in the big time now!
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Thumbs up2 Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I just went through the Case-Shiller data. There are only TWO occurrences of a -4.8% (or greater) drop in the US in the last 20 years. February 2008 in San Francisco had a -5.04% drop, and Las Vegas in January 2008 had a -5.1% drop.
Vancouver’s in the big time now!
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MickeyFinn Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
The cover story of the Business section in today’s Vancouver Sun has a full colour graphic of the decline in real estate prices by area for the entire Lower Mainland.
A couple particularly dramatic declines are as follows (these are all percentages for SFH’s):
West Vancouver -21.6% (can you say “precipitous?”)
Port Moody -23.8% (that’s would have consumed just about any size of down-payment)
and those make Vancouver West’s -9.6% look like a mild dip.
Suddenly the real estate market in Vancouver is resembling a Wall Street Investment Bank at least in so far as investment stability is concerned.
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Pandora Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Seems like there are about a dozen of you all talking to yourselves so hope there is room for one more.
You ladies and gentlemen really get off on all this don’t you?
House prices are decling after having increased. You claim to have correctly predicted the inevitable correction.
Not sure why you need to keep patting yourselves on the back for it but you might think about getting over yourselves.
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blueskies Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
decling
get off!
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arit Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Pandora,
Hello,
I would like to give you a detailed answer to your question, but proper disclosure should be handled first. Please tell us, for the sake of understanding where you are coming from, how many houses do you own.
Best regards,
arit
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Pandora ” Chandler” maybe?
C’mon Pandora, “open” up, ( though Pandora historically is an ominous foreshadowing )
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Pandora Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Hi Arit,
Does everyone have to do this to participate?
Anyway, in Vancouver, just the one. Point Grey 2005 – probably paid over the odds as it went to sealed bids but a unique position with great views and we will keep in the family as long as we can.
So if the value drops below what we bought it for, but we are happy in the house and have no intention of moving, are we also muppets for drinking the juice?
Best,
P
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rx Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Hey Pandora, sounds like a nice place you’ve got there. If you like it and can pay the bills why do you care what other people think? I think most of the complaints on this site are about people believing that there’s something magically different about Vancouver and you should buy property because it only goes up.
As you say, after that run-up a correction was inevitable, and there’s a lot of frustration here about marketers trying first trying to hype it as ‘impossible’ and now that its crashing trying to sell it as a buying oppourtunity.
Personally I believe the CUCBC report – we’re going to see at least two more years of price declines, but that won’t stop the sales people from calling bottom all the way down.
Enjoy your house, if you didn’t buy based on the belief that it would only increase in value, you’re comfortable there and you can afford the bills than congratulations!
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betamax Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
What blew me away was the fact that I knew a hell of a lot more than he did about HIS OWN PROFESSION!
All too common. They know more about who’s winning on Dancing With the Stars than the state of the market.
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bdk Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
As if a Pt Grey SFH homeowner would be trolling a “Vancouver Condo” blog at the onset of what will be the largest meltdown yet (with condos being the hardest hit, worse than Vegas).
What is bothering you “Pandora” is it the $150,000 that you are already down on paper or the fact you won’t be able to sell your house for more than you paid in 2005?
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betamax Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Not sure why you need to keep patting yourselves on the back for it
Your lack of comprehension isn’t our problem
you might think about getting over yourselves
We thought about it, then decided against it.
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Pandora Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
“bdk” – neither actually.
And apologies for intruding in your little club.
Just not sure what we (although suppose I should say you as SFHs not allowed apparently) are trying to achieve here. Is it to gloat as the prices decline because you either had the foresight/lacked the cohones and resources to buy somewhere or is there a genuine desire to see prices reach an affordable level so more people can become home owners?
The flavour of recent posts suggests gloating is in the ascendant. Anyway, it is fun to read and for what it is worth I think the correction has some way to go.
Betamax – touche.
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dingus Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Pandora:
Don’t take it personally, eh.
The benefit I get out of this blog is to help make rational purchase decisions. Many of us have chewed over the fundamentals, and made decisions based on analyses appearing here and on other blogs, weighing our own risk tolerance, financial situation etc.
The exuberance you are hearing here is that of people who have made difficult choices and sacrifices based on their own judgement, and who are now seeing that bear fruit. Takes way more cojones than buying when fools are rushing in, let me tell you.
A house down the street from me is now listed 100k cheaper than when it was listed in the spring. Saving triple digits (plus interest) on a major purchase is a big life altering deal, in my books. Makes me happy. Forgive me if my happiness at the prospect of some betterment of my personal circumstances offends you in some way.
I think most of us wouldn’t deign to sneer at others, like yourself, who made different decisions that were right for them. As rx said, if you like your place, can make the payments, and aren’t going to need to sell, who cares what anyone here says?
But I don’t get what the sensitivity is about, or why you seem so snide.
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Don Lapre Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Pandora,
I think the desire is for the get-rich-quick real estate pyramid scheme of the last few years to come to an end. It’s existence has been clear for some time and those with the cohones to point out that the emperor has no clothes were met with all the ridiculous R/E cliches that are still permeating the press releases of the REBGV/CHMC and espoused at cocktail parties.
Most people are extremely unsophisticated financially and a massive number of people have been coerced not only by their own greed, but by trade groups, developers and marketers into a life of debt servitude for an asset that’s fundamental value is significantly less than they were led to, or wanted to believe.
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arit Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Pandora,
Thanks for your prompt reply.
Regarding: “So if the value drops below what we bought it for, but we are happy in the house and have no intention of moving, are we also muppets for drinking the juice?”
Good question. It all comes down to what makes you happy (as long as you are not hurting someone else, of course). If you are happy with your decision, who am I to say otherwise? I wish you and your family only the best!
From our point of view, I thing the answers given to you by rx,Dingus and Don Lapre explain it better than I could with my poor immigrant English. These guys are excellent ‘expressioners’ (is that a word?) uhmmm… delegates? of our collective opinion on RE.
And arit?
arit has been living in his one bathroom Richmond townhouse with his four women(!) for the past five years, since the Excel sheet said “No buy”, before we knew of the term “Housing Bubble”. At 1000 dollars/month rent, the plan was to buy the house cash in 2016.
The plan didn’t know the decline will happen so fast. The bottom is going to happen before our calculations of 2012-2013.
Best regards
arit
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Well Said, Don Lapre:
In hindsight, the RE bubble has, in fact, been a Ponzi- scheme where the winners are those who timed it well, but like any casino will tell you the number of losers vastly outnumber the winners.
Our Local Gov’ts have answered the siren call of the pimping developers, realtors and similar vested interests who simply wanted to a “key” to access a cash – cow bubble before it inevitably burst.
When your own citizens , their children and their children’s children etc. are at the point that home ownership becomes a distant dream, and a nightmare to achieve , as opposed to a goal many previous generations felt was a given, something is seriously wrong.
I am far removed from a Left Winger, quite the contrary. However, what I have seem is a thinly -veiled dictatorship at the upper echelons of decision – making , totally detached from reality and democracy , and accessible to and by a chosen few.
This bubble – burst was inevitable , but hopefully a lot of lessons will be learned, time will tell.
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Keeping an Eye on The Pimps Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
NO –LYMPICS
The NDP and the Liberals both live off the avails of RE whores and pimps.
Have you never seen how the die hard leftie shop stewards gloat over how much their house has gone up in value?
And all those NDP construction foremen who drive the fancy trucks with “I’m Backing the Bid” stickers, are they really concerned about the victims of the Olympics?
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Keeping an eye on the pimps:
I am only getting warmed up…It’s a L-O-N-G list.
“Filthy lucre” has been accessed by many hands up and down the so – called trickle down totem pole .
The NDP tend to pimp for “members only” .
What often happens is these lower rank pimps feel the “rain of fiscal manna” will never end… and adjust their lifestyles accordingly . ie they are often the last to see, let alone foresee, the bubble burst.
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Alexcanuck Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Pandora: I see it as buy a place you love at the peak of a bubble…. or rent a place you love (that’s both possible and desirable) for a few years, then buy a place you love and retire 5 years earlier. Don’t live in a place you don’t love, that’s really stupid.
Anyone who bought before the frothy heights of the bubble AND didn’t HELOC out to buy toys, vacations or groceries will be fine. Anyone who did buy at the peak and can afford it will be fine. Anyone who did and can’t afford a housing bust, I have no sympathy for, and look forward to the foreclosure sales. Idiots.
There ain’t no free lunch.
If it seems too good to be true… it probably is.
Borrowing for consumption is never a good idea.
And so on.
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Anonymous Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
CNN is saying Obama will be the next US President.
What does that mean for their housing market, and for vancouver’s?
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Anonymous Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Crabman Says:
“Dave Watt, the Greater Vancouver board’s president, said sales are not keeping pace with B.C.’s current economic conditions with low unemployment and stable interest rates.”
Crabman,
Dave Watt is talking about realtors jobs but his points are very very favourable for sellers to pull back their listing, see how much difference it makes when we bring things out of their board criteria.
Hmm Say thanks to the pope
because hey Nobody!!!!!.
Bdk,
Remember?Do we have Bush?,Bears would be nail bitting etc. or you want me to drag easily readable through accessable archives?Nobody can buy at 50% off Starting March 2009 Nobody!!!!!.
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blueskies Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
What does that mean for their housing market, and for vancouver’s?
absolutely nothing!
he lives in Chicago and would
not be interested in buying a condo in
TV Towers or W
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Anonymous Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
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cold Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
its over boys in two years we will buy at min 40% discount. The real loosers in this game well you know who you are.
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buff_butler Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
What does that mean for their housing market, and for vancouver’s?
Though i think Obama is a better leader he does have more protectionist policies wich will impact Canada negativly. For an exact answer to your question tommorow the TSX will respond to the election results and you will get your answer.
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Patiently Waiting Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
“Anyone who did and can’t afford a housing bust, I have no sympathy for, and look forward to the foreclosure sales. Idiots.”
HA HA Yeah, if somehow the rules of the market ceased to exist and they actually became permanently rich, they would have been rubbing our faces in it until eternity. F*ck em.
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Patiently Waiting Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
I talked to a lot of people today about Obama. Everyone here loves him like Kennedy. Perhaps they are little too optimistic.
The right-wingers tell me he restores their faith in America. The lefties see him as the second coming.
Talk about pressure.
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Garth Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
My prediction: Obama will be a 1 term president. No matter how hard he tries he won’t be able to live up to expectations. The housing bust will drag on, people will lose jobs, and life won’t suddenly be full of candy-canes and ponies, as many of his supporters seem to think.
There will be a violent backlash, and the Republicans will swoop in with a safe ticket (no women or black guys) and take the day.
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browntown Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
yeah pandora! tighten up your strap-on for launch of “the next leg up! whooo yeah! its not you its’ me yeah!
“the next leg up” yes we can
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betamax Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
For an exact answer to your question tommorow the TSX will respond to the election results and you will get your answer.
What will a bunch of cheese-eating buy monkeys tell you?
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buff_butler Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
i actually think he’ll be a great leader and is a very inspiring person. I dont think he’ll save the downturn but he’ll recover tollerance/faith in the US government locally and abrod.
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buff_butler Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
“What will a bunch of cheese-eating buy monkeys tell you?”
lol… nicely worded
market confidence… bout it… unfortunatly it will only be a short term indicator.
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Anonymous Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
“CNN is saying Obama will be the next US President.
What does that mean for their housing market, and for vancouver’s?”
Democrats were selling and flipping their units to make worse case Scenario now Republicans will foreclose their units to show Obama another halloween.
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patriotz Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
What does that mean for their housing market, and for vancouver’s?
Next to nothing. They may well be able to reduce the undershoot in prices by foreclosure abatement and similar policies. But nothing can prevent prices from returning to levels justified by rents and incomes. Neither in the US nor here.
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scullboy Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Pandora:
I don’t know about these others, but I put up with two years of RE zombies looking at me with a mixture of pity and contempt when I politely tried to explain why purchasing a condo in Van wasn’t such a smart idea, particularly if the purchaser considered it an “investment”. My attempts to explain how “investments” are supposed to provide a cashflow, rather then act like a black hole for money met with… shall we say…. distain.
So, for the last couple of years I’ve been coming here to keep myself sane, and to constantly remind myself that I made the right decision.
I’ve been waiting two long years for the screaming to commence and the ride’s just getting started.
So honey, strap yourself in an enjoy the ride, it’s about to pick up speed. If you bought in 2005 you are going to lose some money, though perhaps not as much as some others. It’s also entirely possible you or your husband are going to lose your job in the next little while. Quite frankly if you’re married it’s extremely likely you’re going to get divorced; my parents did after 36 years of marriage. It’ll be a lot more difficult to hang on to your place then.
You may think you’ll be keeping that property in the family, and maybe you will. But soon enough you’ll be losing that snide tone of yours, I and I sincerely hope you’ll stick around so the rest of us can enjoy it. Quite frankly the only thing that would make the experience even better for me is if you tell me you’re a Boomer.
Yeah, I’m a jerk. I’m a sucker for other people’s pain as they say on my favorite podcast. I’m enjoying each whiny anecdote I hear from home owners these days. Call it the flipside of a boom market. I saw what was coming and refused to get into a rigged game. I’d say “forgive me for enjoying the fruits of my careful plans” but….. you know…. I don’t really care what you think. I just wanna hear the piggies squeal.
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Anonymous Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 2:04 am
Boomers are in a mad rush to exit. They need to exit the real estate market quick and fast or else they have nothing to retire. Real estate market is going to stay low for a long long time. I wouldn’t buy real estate for the next 5 years
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One of many Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 2:14 am
Pandora,
I was starting to think about buying a house and settling down with my significant other a few years ago. Just a small house in the tri-cities so I could ride my bike to work and save on gas and basically live a peaceful existence there. I’d been saving for a while which took a lot of discipline for me and I was almost ready when the run up in prices started. And then the bidding wars. Suddenly my down payment was shrinking. Then it was a joke. It wasn’t long before realtors were telling me maybe I should settle for a condo! As someone who’d lived in apartments all his life that was just not an option. I wanted my own land where my future kids could play and where I didn’t have to ask permission to plant a shrub. Then the realtor was telling me maybe I should move to Surrey.
I can’t tell you how frustrating it’s been watching my humble little dream get farther and farther out of reach because of people’s speculation and greed. Easy credit, real estate pumpers, and dollar signs in people’s eyes. And then having to listen to people I work with telling me how bloody smart they were because they bought their house twenty years ago and now they’re friggin’ house-rich!
We’ve stayed out of the madness. We’ve continued to save. We’re not greedy people. One day we will get our little slice of heaven, humble though it may be. Especially if prices keep declining (and I hope they fall fast and far).
If some of the posters here take a little glee in seeing the tables turned on the speculators, let them. I, for one, enjoy it. And it’s about time. I’m sure I’m not alone in this.
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 8:08 am
TO: One of many:
Your story is one I am sure reflects the experiences and sentiments of many. However, what goes around comes around, and perhaps you may luck out and be in a better position now than when you first pursued your dream of a home purchase. By that I mean the downturn may result in a buying opportunity on par with , or perhaps better than, the time you were first house hunting.
I agree, most people if given a choice would want to avoid strata living aka ” quasi-socialist living at it’s best” (???). If that window of opportunity to buy a detached SF home presents itself, be ready to go for it . While you may have been delayed by the wave of “Kool-Aid” drinking lemming purchasers, my guess is you have used the time to become an even better educated and more informed potential purchaser.
Knowledge IS Power !
Finally I am one who truly believes that everything that happens is for a purpose and provides a lesson. You may look back and see that as things unfold .
Best of Luck !
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Are you working? Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 10:52 am
“We thought about it, then decided against it.”
That’s why your sister and her team lost their entire real estate bussiness income,if there was 30k disscount on SFH you did not buy but your sister and her team income loss is =$250.000 wha wha she had never seen brother like betamax.
Suggestion:If you hide your money you will lose your job.
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Tony Danza Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Re: Pandora et al.
Every time I see a post like Pandora’s I think “there’s another realtor out of work”. How many more realtors/mortgage brokers/developers will pull their heads from their asses and troll the blogs castigating the “bears” for their superior understanding of RE fundamentals? I think the comments will become more shrill and caustic as this train wreck unfolds just like the US bubble blogs two years ago.
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jackpal Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:13 am
just waiting to see the small dot on the November plot on the above graph, betting 100:1 that it will be below the october dot
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cochiguaz Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:21 am
pope. i enjoy your informative website. but the bitterness and hatred is getting too much with your posters. taking pleasure in other people’s pain makes one a loser. bear or bull. have some class. don’t be a skull. be a heart.
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Readon Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:28 am
“Be a skull?” Are we all 13 now?
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rx Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Regarding November, I suspect it’s going to be pretty bad for house prices. As sluggo pointed out, most of October happened before the Canadian recession doom and gloom news hit and there’s a delay effect for sales to show up in the stats. Is there anyone out there buying right now?
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bdk Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I’ll be a skull if I want to.
I have co workers who look down at me for living a block from home while they pay twice as much and commute 1.5 hours to Cloverdale.
Now they pay twice as much and lose another couple thousand in equity.
This was foreseable by anyone who had a brain and yet when I tried to discuss it they rolled their eyes and shook their heads. It’s not my fault they are sad now. They made their bed and they can live with it. I would not dare bring up real estate in public which is why anonymous blogs are good (especially if you happen to work in the real estate industry).
If the recent trollers are really sincere then go to one of the pumper real estate sites, stop reading the news or listening to the radio and hide under your bed while repeating “real estate always goes up I am a mini Donald Trump, rich asians, the olympics!”
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Vansanity Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I second what many regulars on here are saying in response to Pandora. If it weren’t for this blog and a few other sites, I would have felt completely alone in my thinking that this “inevitable crash” was coming.
What Pandora might be missing is the amount of pressure that was put on people like me, to go out and buy. The last few years were filled with pressure and rhetoric. I remember someone here, who late last year I believe, posted about how he was giving up. He said that he had waited long enough, can’t see prices go down, and he was biting the bullet and buying. The pressure had finally gotten the better of him. It hasn’t been easy to stick to our guns when the numbers were so out of touch with fundamentals. This group of people on here, helped me keep perspective amidst all the BS that was out there.
So, regardless of what Pandora thinks, thank you to all who posted their thoughts on here. Keep it up! Even the one’s who have differing opinions than the majority. For me, it’s always good to hear opposing views to help keep a proper perspective.
I wonder how that guy who gave up and bought is doing now.
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bdk Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
“living a block from home ”
I meant a block from work.
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shikko Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
And here I was, ready to be all superior with bdk: “That’s nothin’! I live ZERO blocks from home, so NYAH!” Ah well…
So it looks like the townhouse market in West Van got REALLY bad in October…they sold -1 houses. Does that mean someone returned one or something? “Sorry, I’m returning this house; it makes my butt look big.”
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blueskies Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
“living a block from home ”
I meant a block from work.
we knew what you meant….
you were just having a krisssh2 moment
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beta Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
That’s why your sister and her team lost their entire real estate bussiness [sic] income
Hey Jimtan, why don’t you use your proper nickname instead of hiding behind a pseudonym. And if you’re so worried about her, you help her out. Go buy some houses.
As for myself, I believe that paying more money than something is worth to support someone else is a particularly idiotic form of self-taxation.
And my job is safe in any economy, so go peddle crazy somewhere else. I’m done talking to you.
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Bowntown's Helper Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
“Even the one’s who have differing opinions than the majority. For me, it’s always good to hear opposing views to help keep a proper perspective.”
Yeah we are glad to be part of it and love to see arrow down regardless even if by mistake majority of poster thumbs down on their future!
“I wonder how that guy who gave up and bought is doing now”
The most shouted example of cbc couple on this blogs are still doing fine they had pay off by one year plus size of their down payment and $100,000 gain would be enough to save them.
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MickeyFinn Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
BNN, the Business News Network, just did a piece on the “trouble” with real estate in Canada. It was somewhat Toronto-centric but they did talk about Vancouver and they certainly had the details right.
They noted all of the following factors as having negative implications for prices and they noted that there is no sign of these factors going away:
1) a lack of consumer confidence
2) a multi-year run-up in prices
3) a lack of affordability
4) a tidal wave of inventory on the way (their words)
5) and falling prices
The last point, falling prices, was an interesting factor to cite but essentially what the speaker pointed out was that falling prices beget falling prices because of the negative impact on consumer confidence etc.
When the guy discussed high-priced markets (read: Vancouver) he mentioned the possibility of prices “gapping down.”
Gapping down: I like the sounds of that.
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Bowntown's Helper Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
“As for myself, I believe that paying more money than something is worth to support someone else is a particularly idiotic form of self-taxation.”
In 1981,1991 Someone like you must have thought the way you are thinking right now,I wish you are right on your decision while those who never been right since than are gone.
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Thumbs up2 Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
1) a lack of consumer confidence
2) a multi-year run-up in prices
3) a lack of affordability
4) a tidal wave of inventory on the way (their words)
5) and falling prices
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holgs Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
pope. i enjoy your informative website. but the bitterness and hatred is getting too much with your posters. taking pleasure in other people’s pain makes one a loser. bear or bull. have some class. don’t be a skull. be a heart.
Dude… DUDE!!!
I’m going to explain to you why you are getting a very negative vote count on your post.
You’re probably one of the idiots who have been bragging to all of us “basement dwelling jealous bitter renters” over the last few years about how much money you were making on your “investment” and how if we were too stupid to buy a house then we should never be able to own one.
If you weren’t that guy, then I apologize, but everyone who ranks your post down is projecting on you the anger towards all the people in our lives who have called us idiots and jealous bitter renters just because we felt (rightfully) that unaffordable housing was bad for society, and decided to live frugal lives with savings in the bank, waiting for the return of 20% down payments (now 50%, in some areas of the US, BTW.)
Speculators DESERVE to lose everything, just as they did in the dotcom bubble, the commodities bubble, the tulip bubble, the world poker championship, and countless other gambling opportunities in this wold.
Naive couples with kids in many cases were the victims of evil REALTORS(c) but for the most part were also victims of their own GREED, and it is impossible to feel sorry for someone who bought a house just because they thought its price would go up forever (the definition of speculation.)
An INVESTMENT house should return positive cash flow every month, regardless of its price. If it doesn’t do that, then it’s not an investment.
A house is a place to live, NOT an investment. Done. Rant off.
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arit Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
MickeyFinn, All
You guys need to remember something important regarding the media.
We were mad at the MSM for not reporting the bubble while inflating, and we were right (they needed the revenue from the RE sector).
But, as we saw in the US for the past two years, the MSM DOES begin reporting, with all force, at the peak. We got so used to ‘bubble ignored by media’, that now, when the paradigm shifts, we find it strange that the MSM is reporting it.
So, to summarize: The media, who was AGAINST us for the past 5 years, is on OUR side from now on. C’mon, it makes sense, nothing sells better than bad news and sex.
Best regards,
arit
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Bowntown's Helper Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
1) a lack of consumer confidence:
Stand for nothing because responsible agencies are greedy,There is lack of comunication and difference of opinion between media,board,and economists that’s why consumers are confused.home prices does not need support to stand at peak but board need sales volume to keep their jobs safe so some people intentionally like to kill the confidence like sold out forces,bears blogers opposition parties etc.
2) a multi-year run-up in prices:
If the notion was supported once there is no need to worry because when bag of greed goes down greedy people return back to eat the left over fishes.
3) a lack of affordability:
while lack of consumer confidence is firm at number 1. there is no need for number 3.which is lack of affordability because market has been tested before and passed on that issue.still affordability has improved with discounts,low gas prices,and lower interest rates.
4) a tidal wave of inventory on the way (their words):
Then further level shouldn’t back up like the way it fall from 21,500 something.
number of new homes has increased that’s why around 20k inventory is new normal numbers only sales are trailing, inventory is being pulled back without any fear that’s why it’s going back and forth but with new listing it comes back near the same spot.
5) and falling prices:
Prices are not falling only buyers are on strike,Imagine anywork place productivity level before and after strike and between strike.so when ever buyers will return back on full stream prices will go more than previous height.
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Anonymous Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
browntown what do you do for a living?
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john Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Here’s some more bear facts to wake you up :
1) Obama’s hope and change will lead to a wave of increased economic activity around the world. Already beer sales in NYC overnight were off the charts. The party in San Fransisco still continues. There will surely be hundreds of thousands of new children born out of wedlock 9 months from now.
2) Back in Indonesia, Obama supporters are going to just get richer and want to come to Vancouver to be closer to “the one”
3) Kenyans will surely want to immitate Vancouver real estate and with all the wealth being spread around by the one they will move out of the huts and into Vancouver condos.
4) I almost cried last night watching the speech in my SUV while driving to the McDonalds drive through. The staff at the McDonalds were all cheering for the coming hope and change.
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holgs Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Bowntown’s Helper Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
…
In 1981,1991 Someone like you must have thought the way you are thinking right now,I wish you are right on your decision while those who never been right since than are gone.
Dude… Now I’m going to explain to you why you get negative votes… You only wrote one sentence (should have been two, I think) and it is completely incomprehensible!
in⋅com⋅pre⋅hen⋅si⋅ble
[in-kom-pri-hen-suh-buhl, in-kom-]
–adjective
1. impossible to understand or comprehend; unintelligible.
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blueskies Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Prices are not falling denial only buyers are on strike,Imagine anywork place productivity level before and after strike and between strike.so when ever buyers will return back on full stream prices will go more than previous height(yes…. in 2025.
…the mind boggles!
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Re: Post # 82 “skull” versus “heart”.
I watched the news on Global TV (Canwest owned) this morning, and it had a condo add by “Boffo” and mentioned the (2) CanWest owned Vancouver dailies ie SUN and PROVINCE.
Same old RE B.S., but it smacked of desperation to bundle the “Boffo” ad with an internal ad re: CanWest owning 3 local media. CanWest stock price was tanking, maybe connected to collapse in the RE market and drop in RE ad revenue.
Sorry, but traditional media is far too concentrated and censored .
In light of that,Blogs and Web Sites like Vancouver Condo Info are what we desperately need , an uncensored venue to exercise the Freedom of Speech, warts and all,( which may include “venting and ranting” , somewhat subjective terms anyway).
As the saying goes, no one is forcing you to read it, simply ignore it, but try to avoid the kool-aid line-up, which I think is the societal goal and contribution of most VCI posters , however they try accomplish it, warts and all.
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browntown Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
what do I do someone tell me what do for a living i do
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buff_butler Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
RE #97 Browntowns Helper
Rebuttal
1)
Yes but if there were to be a “measure” of consumer confidence it would show to have gone down – there’s no way to dispute this. This decreased confidence means less buyers or less purchasing cash which can then be applied to the rules of supply and demand.
2)
The idea here was that decreased confidence in prices breeds more decreased confidence in prices and this will be a cycle until an equilibrium point is met. A parallel situation would be a hockey team on a loosing streak; what is a likely ending for the next game – a loss. In my opinion this will last until it makes “business sense” to purchase properties and by then you will have REITs jumping in to pad the bottom of the fall.
3)
You have part of a point here however;
Mortgage rules have changed; specifically 0 down which previously detached a purchaser from there income. Additionally credit has tightened meaning although some people can buy there will be less buyers then before. This would drop the equilibrium price for housing.
4)
Some forces of inventory are seasonal. From a post elsewhere an incomplete list:
-weather in both the leaving and settling location
-a lot of owners have kids that would affect moving on a seasonal basis. ie no moving during school
-market confidence has been destroyed for sellers
-law of diminishing returns; not everyone can be moving at once
-hiring cycles depending on your industry
5)
Are you serious???
One thing that will make you a better investor is to at least consider another point of view without BIAS. In finance and investing one of the most dangerous sentences is “its different this time”
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enought◄ Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
you idiots!!
This is the best time to buy.
Don’t complain again if you are out of the market.
grrrrr
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blueskies Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
what do I do someone tell me what do for a living i do
well apparently you are quite good at mangling the Queen’s English
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Realtors from Hell (redundant) say:
” E-V-E-R-Y-T-I-M-E IS A GOOD TIME TO BUY ”
( cue the evil laugh )
Bwaahahahahahahahahahahhahahhahahahahahahaha
aaaahhhhahahahahahahahahahahahaha
sign here
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bdk Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Seriously thums/brown/Krissh and whatever other names you call yourself.
What do you do for a living and what medication are you on?
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Thumbs up2 Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Here is my job:
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....18839.html
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Bowntown's Helper Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Most Recent Survey,Spins,and Confused Consumers.
Buff Buttler,Good post as always.Holgs,i wish i were holgs then what about me being bulls?I accept in⋅com⋅pre⋅hen⋅si⋅ble
,gramatic mistakes,and i love thumbs down arrow.
Survey
“Overall intentions to purchase a home in the next two years remain steady at 22 per cent and have not changed since January 2008,Meanwhile, a related annual survey prior to the eruption of the current financial crisis, found that 70 per cent of homeowners planned to renovate or make home improvements in the next two years, up slightly from 66 per cent last year.”-a survey conducted by polling firm Ipsos Reid.
What’s your net worth?
Waaay Negative
Negative
Flat
$0-$50,000
$50,001-$100,000
$100,001-$250,000
$250,001-$500,000
$500,001-$750,000
$750,001-$1m
$1m plus
Results
http://poll.pollhost.com/cm9iY.....Nzb3J0ZWQ/
“Home sales are not keeping pace with the positive economic conditions That’s a direct result of a loss of consumer confidence in the overall market.”-Dave Watt.
“Canadian consumers should not expect to see a major price correction as in the U.S., suggesting that Canadians are not under particular duress to sell their homes.”Lower interest rates and a Canada-U.S. currency exchange rate will help support Canadian economic growth”-Gregory Klump.
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Anonymous Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
What do you do browntowns helper? What is your job? do you have a job?
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YLTNBoomerang Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Wow, check out v733279:
Listed back in June at 849,000 and now after many price drops, down to 549,000! This is a 35% price drop to 22% below assessed value at $451/sqft. Back in 2003 I sold my first townhouse for $474/sqft, this person must be desperate… either that or this crash is going to be bigger and faster than I dreamed!
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Bowntown's Helper Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Anon,
I work for canada’s largest ###### #####,I don’t have any job security but our bussiness is secure from any downturn,
I have secured few places for my self despite the current situation i feel like i did right thing by jumping in on right time in a current situation or further it was very difficult to reach where i am right now.
see even peak time is a good time to buy any other time does not match with your current situation-always.
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Tony Danza Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I guess ###### ##### = Wal Mart?
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Anonymous Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Tony,pound signs are =letters wal mart fall shorts on pounds.
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Tony Danza Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Wow, check out v733279
~1100 sqft on three levels sounds like a terrible layout, add in the noise from traffic and non-existent privacy… it’s a decent buy at ~$330/sqft tops.
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Tony Danza Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Tony,pound signs are =letters wal mart fall shorts on pounds.
I realize that, I just thought Wal-Mart sounded more humiliating than Super Store, not that there’s anything wrong with working at Wal-Mart or Super Store, for non RE moguls.
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bdk Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Hey YLTNBoomerang, how much would that Pomaria TH have been new?
It’s $200k less than the next comparable and the next one after that is in the low $800’s
I know of one rented TH in Pomaria for $2700 (the owner wanted $3300) so at $549k it almost breaks even which is quite significant since most of the specuvestments barely return 50% of the carrying costs (best case)!
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bdk Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Krrriissh said he worked for Galen Weston before (superstore) and he works in the warehouse.
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bcubbins Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
this person must be desperate
Or realistic. The slightly larger unit next door went for $580,000 back in January.
It’s mostly right under the tower so no roof deck. The ground floor only has windows on the street side. The back does peek out beside the tower on the 2nd and 3rd floors but no private balcony or patio there, just a common property walkway providing access to seven other townhouses. The lots across the street are ripe for redevelopment…a mess of parking lots, decrepit garages and dilapidated warehouses.
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holdem Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
“Wow, check out v733279″
I’m friends with a couple that moved into a simliar style place and I remember them saying it would be great once they have kids…it’s not! She’s walking up and down stairs all day with laundry and kids clothing and toys and strollers and it is driving them nuts. With prices coming down like this, I’m guessing they are underwater and wouldn’t be able to move even if they could find a buyer.
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jerk Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
@YLTNBoomerang
That TH looks like the first crash in a multi-car pileup. Like so many others, I’m hurlting towards the same wreckage in my own vehicle, with no exit in sight. I expect some serious bruising. How many lives will be devasted, how many will expect assistance and how many will just walk away?
Got popcorn?
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blueskies Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
re: V733279
from the picture it looks like the unit faces north onto Pacific Blvd…..
traffic, lack of privacy and lesser security…..
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John Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
The Obama victory will be great for Vancouver real estate because all the people who can’t pay their mortgage or gas in the US are about to get help from the one. That will lead to more Vancouver condo buying by rich Americans.
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rubberduckie Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
re: V733279. The only thing worse than a townhouse with 3 floors is one with 4 floors.
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Dave Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
The only thing worse than a townhouse with 4 floors is renting.
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blueskies Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
he only thing worse than a townhouse with 4 floors is renting.
if you are upside down in a 4 story townhouse renting is nirvana
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crabman Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Dave’s right, renting for half price while watching the crash sure sucks!
P.S. Post #5 is at -72. Is that a record? If anyone could do it, it’s browntown/krissh/satv/thumsup/VRNGD!
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buff_butler Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
4 floors is guarenteed fitness
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browntown Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
hey nutsnaps! excepts no immitation real browntown is here! obama needs to stop talking and get up in helocopter with ben b! money base expanding faster than can say
“yes we can” yeah
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Anonymous Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
There are 900 rental listings today on Craigslist. 900 in one day!
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ted Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
900 rental listings in one day, and if none of those suit your fancy, I’m sure some of the 10,000 or so new units to be completed in the downtown core will be available over the next few years.
http://vancouvercondo.info/wik.....ndo_supply
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bdk Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Hey browntown what do you do for a living?
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browntown Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
job? this is vancouver bdk! ha ha have to keep confidential but browntown have good employment!
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bdk Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
browntown do you work in a warehouse?
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Anonymous Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Toronto house prices down 13% from Oct 2007. They are even lower than 2006 prices! Check it out here…
http://www.financialpost.com/n.....?id=935307
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patriotz Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
From the above:
“The average price of a home sold in the city (of Toronto proper) was $376,896, down from $434,022 in 2007. But the figure was also down from the 2006 average October sale price of $386,807.”
Remember folks, Toronto has a higher median household income than Vancouver. The article is unclear whether “home” means SFH or all properties, but any way you slice it, Vancouver has a long way to fall before it hits that number.
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scullboy Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Patriotz:
Wow…. thanks for posting that. I never in a zillion years would have called myself “lucky”, but I sold my place in TO in 2006…… so…. I may well end up being very lucky indeed!
Browntown: f**k off. Hey Pandora if you wonder why so many of us are enjoying the collapse, look no further…. our resident f**ktards, Krrish/SatV/Brownstreak/time have been flinging their verbal poo for well over 2 years now. I don’t know if they have any skin in the game or not, but I sincerely want to see them and their retard families in the street, covered in their own excrememt and eating out of dumpsters.
Apparently that’s the only way they’ll figure out they aren’t Donald f**king Trump.
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patriotz Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 2:33 am
Here’s what they are asking 375K for today in Toronto – Rexdale is sort of like Burnaby:
http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDeta.....ID=7345224
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michael Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 8:36 am
City of Vancouver bails out Athletes Village…
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....+vancouver
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patriotz Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 8:42 am
The new financial obligations are on top of a $190-million loan guarantee the city had to give Fortress Investment Group, which has provided a $683-million loan to Millennium to build the 1,100-unit village.
This exposure to the project means, of course, that the city never really sold the land in the first place.
This site may end up costing the taxpayers money instead.
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Nobody!!!!! Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 10:28 am
““lucky”, but I sold my place in TO in 2006……”
I think that was 2001 did you slip in greed aren’t you suppose to throw coin on krrish2?well some stuff out of your lie as long you were home owner you had a job now current market situation is different so does your employement status.
Bear case did not buy anything in past because prices were too high now they will never buy in fear of downturn,recession etc.
Skin in the game:It may look weird that they are working for the company,does not own a bussiness like Trump but they will never lose anything,never lose any single penny from their Quadratic equations.
I was just wondering what might have been burn your asshole so with in second i found this CBC COUPLE STORY might have offended you because you were the only drunken head idiot to shout on their purchase.
Anyway with our countinue purchase JHON and I did not participate to stop the money flow to nail down some ones job then who is doing it?
Bears on the blogs are so un productive for the society they are using their official time to make our society un productive and lazy when their bosses monitor them for their performance they are being cought logged and losing their jobs for same reasons.
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Motion Grrove Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 10:32 am
I am so glad prices are finally dropping. I have been waiting a long time to jump into the market to start investing again.
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NO -LYMPICS Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Here’s another good one involving (drum roll) ” MILLENIUM” group
http://www.canada.com/nanaimod.....cdc5ccb283
This story is re: the Nanaimo convention center, whereby the City of Nanaimo apparently sold $1.5 Million worth of City land to Millenium for $10 (TEN DOLLARS).
Millenium was to build a hotel on the site..but has missed several deadlines. The City had a referendum to borrow $30 million to build the Vancouver Island Conference Center, and the hotel component was deemed crucial to it’s viability. The story also notes that U.S. media reports predict Millenium will run out of cash by early 2009.
Seems like Millenium has quite a history of jumping into bed with Local Gov’ts , or vise versa. Warrants investigation??? are we talking perhaps bribes and kickbacks ?
One could almost see this coming given City of Vancouver’s murky dealings on the Olympic village , one could almost smell all the weaseling going on behind the scenes. This one looks like it is now getting very ugly for Vancouver citizens .
This is the danger re: Local Gov’ts involved in such schemes. Campbell better re-write the Community Charter and prevent any Local Gov’t from engaging in such Public Private so called ” business ” ventures. Failed public -private ventures = massive tax hikes.
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bdk Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Seriously browntown where do you work?
You are clearly stupid and semi literate at best and appear to have multiple personalities.
Are you in one of those special programs where the grocery stores hire the adults with special needs?
NOBODY would hire you!
NOBODY!
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scullboy Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 11:18 am
I think someone needs to give kiirsh/browntown/Nobody another bot to the head, he seems to be particularly incomprehensible today.
Hm, if we all stand in line to give him a kick, does that mean he’s rebooted?
Ok digging through your mangled English, I purchased a home in Toronto back in 2004. When I decided to leave for Vancouver, I sold it.
The company I used to work for is quietly laying off as many people s they can, while not calling it “layoffs”.
Brownstain, could you please just do us a favour, and f**k off? Your English is unreadable. your logic is incomprehensible.
On the upside, if you really did purchase in Tranny Towers, we bears can at least take comfort in the face that you’re losing money….. lots and lots of money. Enjoy your warehouse job buddy, you are paying off interest on a loan for a property that’s losing value. It’ll be years and years and YEARS before you break even… if ever.
Ouch, that’s gotta hurt!
Meanwhile I’m sitting all comfy on my couch, writing up a business plan, working on financing and eagerly looking forward to the culinary arts diploma I’ll be getting and which I pay for by saving money, and by NOT JUMPING INTO AN IRRATIONAL MARKET!
Just think SKidmark, if you’d been smart you could have rented and carefully saved real money, then you could have gotten some sort of education which might have helped you get out of your stupid warehouse job. Instead you’ll be trapped there forever, and your family will curse you and your stupidity as they struggle to make ends meet because YOU WEREN’T SMART ENOUGH TO MAKE A RATIONAL DECISION.
SPin all you like on this blog, jerk. YOu know it’s true.
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arit Says:
November 6th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Scullboy,
Take it easy my friend. You thought IT is stressfull, and soon you will be in “hell’s” kitchen all the time.
Relax, it’s better.
Krish’s comments are nothing more than colourfully lit pixels in your monitor.
Best regards
arit
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Stand-by and watch Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
“Dave Watt, the Greater Vancouver board’s president, said sales are not keeping pace with B.C.’s current economic conditions with low unemployment and stable interest rates.”
I want to ask him, how good is BC’s economic conditinos? Have much have average family income grown during the past 5 year? I would say a little bit growth, but not as much as the housing price have grown–housing price doubled during the 5 years ! How long would you espect high sales to be sustained with such a high house price? Be realistic !
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Britishobserver Says:
November 15th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Anyone who thinks your property market is about to stop falling is bonkers. This has got to be one of the fastest falling markets anywhere in the developed world (OK maybe Florida is worse). People who see prices falling 4% a month, won’t buy in, so sales will drop further and so will prices. Here in the UK we’re having a terrible crash, but it’s not as fast as yours. My interest is that I’m moving to BC soon, so prices falling is great news for me…bring it on .
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john Says:
November 27th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I cannot believe that the property prices have ever reached the extortionate levels that they have over the past few years. Vancouver realtors and their customers have been nothing short of greedy, by increasing property values far too high for the geographical and economic area in which it stands. Just across the border in the USA you can buy property for a much more realistic price.
I don’t know what Vancouver thinks it is ?? Its certainly not a world player like London, Paris, LA, New York, Milan etc. Its not a major financial or business centre. Everyone keeps going on about it being the “Best place to live in the world” Yes the countryside is beautiful and the city has some breathtaking vistas, but its ugly side is the homeless and drug problem here. I think that the Canadian government should be disgusted with themselves. They want to stage the Winter Olympics, and open their doors to the world, but I feel that they need to look in their own backyard first.