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Feb 2009: Sales up 94%!

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From the REBGV press release:

VANCOUVER, B.C. – March 3, 2008 – Residential housing sales in Greater Vancouver rose 94 per cent in February compared to the month before, with 1,480 sales registered in February compared to 762 sales in January, which was the slowest month for housing sales in 25 years. Over the past 10 years, February sales have typically surpassed January by an average increase of 53 per cent.

At the same time, new MLS® listings for residential properties continued to decrease for the fourth month in a row. New listings decreased 25.6 per cent in February compared to the previous year; 20 per cent in January; 8.6 per cent in December; and 10 per cent in November.

“There are terrific opportunities out there right now, but with property listings continuing to decrease, those opportunities may be available only for a brief window of time,” said Dave Watt, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

REBGV reports that year-over-year property sales in Greater Vancouver declined 44.7 per cent in February 2009 from the 2,676 sales recorded in February 2008. Year-over-year, those are the lowest sales figures for February since the mid-1980s.

Read the whole press release and view the stats in the PDF.

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read on

"That is how Vancouver is being percieved right now by the International press."

I've been through 4 countries in the past 3 months, and have seen no coverage at all of the affair. The only stuff one hears about YVR (when one hears anything about it at all, that is", is Olympics, beautiful city, blah etc.

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factcracker

read on: #62 read on, believe I am as repulsed as you are by the Djiekanski affair and I wish it would go away as much as you do. But by sticking your head up your ass you completly miss the point. The point is If Vancouver is percieved as a dangerous city to live in or visit due to the presence of maniacal cops killing citizens with impunity then the value of everything including real estate is affected. This is also true with the recent gang warfare and the cops chicken shit reluctance to get involved. Whats the issue, 'if you can't taser a guy from 15 feet away then don't risk getting your pretty uniform dirty? The Vancouver justice system is percieved as disfunctional, it is turning people away from vancouver, that affects our stock in trade, get… Read more »

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read on

Can we have less of the Dziekanski crap. I'm sure you are very passionate about your cause, but this is a RE blog and you are completely off topic.

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factcracker

Goldman Sucks: Thanks for posting this information. I did yesterday and was censored almost immediately. I also posted a commentary written by Journalist Kelley McParland of the National Post Newspaper which spoke directly to the truth of the matter and that was also hastily censored. I also spent part of my day sending copies of the transcripts as well as Mr. McParlands commentary to every international newspaper listed in my extensive directory trying to push this issue back into the headlines of world concern. I think it is very important for everyone to understand how corrupt the Canadian national police have become in thier determination to subvert justice at any cost. For all of you are as shamed and disgusted by association to the horrific murder and subsequent coverup by the RCMP as exposed during the Braidwood Inquiry hearings please… Read more »

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Vansanity

Sheeple are going to get fleeced.

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patriotz

ted:

Give this man a cigar.

Either the economy will still be in the crapper 5 years from now, or interest rates will be much higher. One or the other.

Neither is positive for house prices going forward.

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ted

When house prices crashed in the eighties (the last time sales numbers where this low) inflation and interest rates where high. This meant that people paid more in interest at first, but as rates dropped their mortgage renewed at a lower rate.

Right now interest rates are rock-bottom, which would be great if you could sign up for a 25-30 year locked rate mortgage like you can in the States, unfortunately I've only seen a max of 10 years in Canada.

With governments eager to bail out failing businesses with future tax money isn't that going to drive up inflation? And when inflation goes up, so do interest rates.

What rate will people be renewing at in 5 years?

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Goldman Sucks

I have been sending this to all the Polish Newspapers I can find on this site: http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/poland.htm Hi I live in Vancouver BC where Robert Dziekanski was murdered by our national police. Here is the latest http://www.canada.com/Mountie+denies+cooking+stor… I wish to tell all Polish people that without a shadow of a doubt the RCMP are lying and while the officer who killed Robert was being cross examined by the lawyer from Poland, his answers were so outrageously ridiculous that the judge had to beg the people in the courtroom to stop laughing which they did constantly. The RCMP organization is so corrupt here that it is impossible to get some of the thugs in the police dept charged with anything because they are the ones investigating themselves. I wish that Poland would pull out of the 2010 Olympics until these criminals… Read more »

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truth hammer

I'll guess none of these people will be lining up for presales.

March 4 – Tyco Electronics announces 20,000 layoffs – 30,000 government jobs lost in PR – GM Opel may cut 3,500 jobs – Rheem closes the doors on 1200 – Sony Entertainment to cut 300 – Private sector cuts 697,000 jobs in February – 1,200 jobs cut at Windsor Chrysler plant – U.S. Steel to lay off 1,500 in Canada

Layoffs are increasing. I think the idea that BC is experiancing ' a death by a thousand cuts' isn't following the story close enough. Although the local media is silent on the issue it doesn't mean it's not happening.

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dboy

TLNBoomerang:

Whenever i look on MLS, its pretty much the same listings. I feel like i've been looking at them for as long as i can recall.

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blueskies

strataman:

saw the same 'copter i figured they were

after by electric bong……

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Strataman

Off topic but I have a live update from Yaletown. There is an army helicopter making many repetitive circuits over the West End, I'm watching them from my den! Can only assume the RCMP spotted someone with a stapler!

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Anonymous

The Path to New Rental Homes: One Broker's View http://thetyee.ca/Views/2009/03/04/RentalHomes/ QUOTE; During my 26 years in apartment sales, I've heard on at least 50 separate occasions developers commenting that "even if the land is thrown in for free, we cannot make the numbers work on a new rental building." As a result, the Vancouver vacancy rates stands at 0.5 per cent, the age of the average purpose-build rental is 50 years plus, and local developers attempting to produce new rental housing are likely to lose money. Crisis driven by condos, land values . Some historical background, if you'll indulge me. Things changed considerably in the early 1970s when the strata condominium was introduced to the market. This new concept provided buyers, including tenants, the opportunity to purchase and own their own suite rather than pay rent. Prices paid for condominiums… Read more »

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Denialisrampant

The Greatest Depression Under Way Gerald Celente 3-3-9 KINGSTON, NY, 2, March 2009 – "The Greatest Depression" that The Trends Research Institute forecast, well before Wall Street or Washington would acknowledge recession, is upon us. The global financial markets are collapsing. All the pundit's cautious predictions and business media's hopeful expectations at the New Year for an economic turn around and imminent market bottom were dead wrong. There will be no turn around in the second quarter of 2009 or 2010 or 2011 America and much of the world has entered "The Greatest Depression." The global financial system, built on endless supplies of cheap money, rampant speculation, fraud, greed, and delusion is terminally ill and will not be coaxed into remission by stimulus packages nor restored to health by government buyouts and bailouts. Today, the MSCI World Index of stocks… Read more »

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Anonymous

i'm trying to keep perspective in this market, but i have to share some thoughts. i have some family in las vegas and they were doing fairly well, but now they have been advising that we havent seen nothing yet. they say the economic situation is really bad in las vegas and its just a matter of time the same happens in vancouver. at first i thought that it couldnt get that bad here, but now im not so sure.

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NO -LYMPICS

Noname:

Re David Ingram…that story is several years old.

However, Ingram has been in the tax biz for years and tends to be a straight shooter. His web-site has very good advice with examples.

CRA probably has it in for him…he certainly appears to know the tax laws quite well and embarasses them.

From his web-site the taxman is often bluff and bluster which intimidates many, but they do lose when challenged.

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Anonymous

Supraboy: Richmond SFH $679,344 UP 2.6% West Vancouver Apartment $571,909 UP 13.3%.

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TUT

deathspiral:

Adam Smith pointed this out to us in the 1720’s in his book “The Wealth of Nations”.

Correction: Published in 1776. It's old enough for me! 🙂

Cheers.

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NO -LYMPICS

Supraboy: Your Dim Sum daily economic reports can be funny "sometimes", but I wish to hell there was some actual good news. There comes a point we are all tired of the F*CKING lies….its usually from the same BS artists that sucked a lot into the black hole, and are still willing to risk whatever credibilty they have left and sell their mother as well for the last bit of coin they could milk from greater fools. In more civilized countries they would have the family pay for the bullet..not the bull shit. Just got a call from a family member re: layoffs of co-workers where they work…place is very sombre right now. Those people ain't buying condos…they likely have mortgages. We discussed this before ..in BC..job losses will be the death of a thousand cuts….its very silent yet still… Read more »

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buff_butler

"You know what I’ve noticed on these discussions"

So you'll notice a small blog being one sided but you won't notice Harper being one sided? Good thing in October harper said Canada will not go into recession. 😛 Doesn't that signify that your also biased?

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Supraboy

You know what I've noticed on these discussions, all the bears would hit the red down arrow to anyone who brings good news here that's supporting the housing prices. The bears would only like to listen to themselves hoping for a crash that will never happen. This site is completely one-sided.

Western Canada is rock solid, if you listened to Harper yesterday, he looked really reassuring. I think Western Canada will be just fine, and when the US economy turns back up, those out of housing will cry and leave this city.

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TLNBoomerang

Flippers under water…

Is anybody keeping track of units listed for less than last selling price? I have minimal data in the downtown townhouses I watch but have identified these that are all listed for less than their last selling price indicating desperation to sell:

v744822 on market for 100 days

v748754 on market for 167 days

v748056 on market for 201 days

v747414 on market for 378 days

v753855 on market for 397 days

The last one is the best, listed at 669,900, sold for 830,000 back on june 23 '08 (pretty much the peak). Tried to flip for 999,000 and slowly ticking down. This guys already underwater at least $160,100 or 20% of original investment; if he was a 5% down character, that is a loss of 386% !!! Ahh leveraged flipping.

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Noname

http://www.realestatetalks.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&…
Please click the link above to read. A little off topic but very interesting. Thompson (the realtor) and BCaccountant (The accountant) have good fight there. Thompson mentioned a so called tax expert DAVID INGRAM. In Thompson's eyes, the guy is an super expert. I just googled the name and couldn't confirm whether he is a CA, CGA. I doubt he has any. I also found that David himselt in big trouble. CRA just sent him a taxbill of 5 million dollars. I am not registered so if anyone registered on that platform, please post the link there. Anyway, we can see what kind of advices are coming out of a realtor.

http://www.centa.com/tax_trouble_and_TV_cancelled…

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deathspiral

THE MEDIA WAR FOR THE HEARTS, MINDS AND WALLETS GROWS NASTY. Ex 1 Economic gloom deepening: Fed WASHINGTON — The United States spiralled deeper into recession at the start of 2009, forcing widespread cutbacks and layoffs among everyone from blue-collar workers that once churned out construction equipment to white-collar professionals like business consultants and accountants. The Federal Reserve Board's new snapshot of business activity nationwide, released Wednesday, showed the economic picture darkening over the last two months and revealed little hope for a quick turnaround. “National economic conditions deteriorated further,” the Fed's survey known as the Beige Book concluded. “The deterioration was broad-based, with only a few sectors such as basic food production and pharmaceuticals appearing to be exceptions.” Looking ahead, business people rated the prospects “for near-term improvement in economic conditions as poor, with a significant pickup not expected… Read more »

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circlingthebowl

Here is a good example of hype versus reality. Obvious even with well crafted BS you can't fool everyone all the time.

This is an article of the worst kind, blowing the benefits of acting now way over the top.

More to the point you can scroll down to the 'comments' section to see what people really think. Not every one is buying into this paid for hyper BS.

http://www.househunting.ca/buying-homes/story.htm…

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