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Friday Free-for-all!

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It’s the end of the week! Lets do our news round-up and open topic discussion thread for the weekend.  Here are a few stories I’ve noticed lately:

–RBC: BC economy to decline 1.5% in 2009
–Toxic wallboard blamed for health problems in US and Canada
–Vancouver housing starts drop 70%
–Vancouver 2009: First time buyers are driving the market
–Sacramento 2006: First time buyers are driving the market
–A graph of Sacramento house prices for the last three years
–Two BC companies admit to ponzi schemes
–Canadian consumers back in the doldrums
–Stock markets: cheap or still overpriced?
–Canadian unemployment to peak in 2010?
–Enough negativity: Share your good news stories.

So what are you seeing out there?  Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend filled with sunshine, magic ponies and free beer!

note: any conversation on Vancouver, real estate or economics is allowed, please keep it civilized. When posting articles please only quote pertinent points and link to the original instead of pasting the entire article here. Pasting a link into your comment will automatically create a clickable hot-link. Linking to more than one external link within a single comment may cause your submission to get held up in the spam filter.

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James Beare

Real Estate Agents Are Evil

Tell me about a problem you had with a real estate agent that decreased your satisfaction with his or her service.

Can be the smallest issue to the largest problem.

Tell me.

Share your thoughts.

Join the conversation.

http://jamesbeare.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/real-e…

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toxic

Supraboy:

#109 Sorry Soupbone but your Dad and I aren't sharing newspaper subscriptions anymore. He says he needs all the newspaper he can get to line the basement in order to sop up the pissy mess you've been making on the floor. By the sound of your postings the only reading experiance you've had is reading the newspaper between your legs while you crap on the floor in your parents basement.

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Supraboy

#112

I totally agree with you. I go check out open houses every weekend for fun. I actually wished housing prices would drop so I can buy myself an investment home. The thing is, nothing has dropped. I thought I was seeing things after a few houses. The more houses I go to, the more million dollar homes I see. This is the first time in my life that i've seen so many millionaires. Well, aside from Tokyo and Hong Kong.

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Hovering

hey, it's quarter to nine.

Pope, it's daylight savings !

I know, I know, I hate it too but what are we, Saskatchewan (they don't have it there)?

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Hovering

did anyone comment on this?

Saturday Globe and Mail: Subprime mess way underestimated in Canada?

a good read..

a house of cards

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anonymous

They might try to block ip's. They might try to shrink posts. But the word will get out-buy soon or be priced out.

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Supraboy

Yup, time to block off some of the bears in denial here. Economy is turning around and getting better and the bears are trashing this place with their negative sentiment. Serves them right for living in the basement for the rest of their lives.

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Patiently Waiting

Maybe its time to block IPs. 🙁

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Supraboy

Hey Toxic.

WASHINGTON (AP) — America's recession "probably" will end this year if the government succeeds in bolstering the banking system, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday in a rare television interview.

HE SAID it on SUNDAY. Which part of that did you not understand? You should cut way back on playing video games and learn to read.

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toxic

Supraboy:

#107

That interview with Bernake which aired today was from 2007 you doofus. The doc was tracking the origins of the sub prime melt down. Cut way back on the MSG dude.

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Supraboy

Bernanke just said 'RECESSION TO END at the END of 09!" Guess what, you either buy a house now or you'll be priced out forever! I was checking out open houses today in the Mackenzie Heights area, all houses are listed for 2.5 million and higher. I'm considering listing my house for 2.7 million since I have a bigger lot in that area. I bought the house in 2003 for 900,000. Isn't it too bad you'll never be able to buy my house for under 1 million? For bears who are bagholding cash, I got one great tip for you, you can move out to Aldergrove.

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informer11

Stock is best buying opportunity for bull who is buy condo for three times value now stock goes up 10% in one week and everybody gets rich!

Investor psychology has been bruised so badly over the past few months that stocks may have to get fantastically cheap before investors wade back in. The market may be undervalued right now but could get even cheaper based on historical precedents.

Failing U. S. banks, rising unemployment, and falling corporate earnings and house prices have left investors burned and gun-shy. As a result, the price declines across broad equity indexes over the past two years have gone further than most prior bear markets.

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toxic

Good luck to anyone who thinks that the worst is nearly over. In the attached article is a chart showing that the bulk of the most toxic of all sub prime mortgages is yet to re-set. This wave of sup prime mortgages will barely peak in 2011 and will continue into 2012. These are the Alt-A and Option arm loans sold to the highest leveraged and subsequently highest at risk category due to the collapse in house prices. The bulk of these toxic loans were made at the absolute peak of the market when prices were so high that no one could afford a standard downpayment. These are the people who allowed themselves to stretch thier finances oout of proportion because they had slightly higher FICO scores than the average of sub-prime buyers. These are the loans which allowed the… Read more »

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Ms. Bear

In response to "Informer 10", you are absolutely clueless. I am humoured by how you, as well as other ignorant Vancouverites, think that sales in February 2009 have "picked up" and that this is a sign of a market turnaround. While sales did improve in comparison to January 2009, February 2009 sales are still at record lows in comparison to previous years. Surprisingly, or not surprisingly for that matter, there is no mention of this. The media has been working overtime lately in spinning the reality of the current real estate situation in Vancouver by leading people to believe the worst is over. I can only assume you are either a Real Estate Agent or an owner of one or more properties that you are desperately trying to sell to make a profit which keeps shrinking as each day passes.… Read more »

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realpaul

Keeping an Eye on The Pimps: #58 Keepinganeyeonthepimps The ploticians claiming ignorance of what central banksters were up to is a bit like catching your child with thier hands in the cookie jar and a face smeared with chocolate. Of course they say " It wasn't me', even when the facts indicate otherwise. The government has been printing money in Canada at the rate of M3 14% per annum since 2001. They did this to stave off the effects of the tech bubble burst. The problem is they never let up. It was obviously too seductive even against all better judgement to keep pouring gasoline on the fire. Tax revenues shot up and an orgy of spending and big raises were the order of the day. No drunk wants the party to end, but we know it always does, and… Read more »

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Vancouverboom2

100

*VANCOUVER REAL ESTATE NEVER GO DOWN.*

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JP

islander Did you actually see the John Stewart interview with Cramer? The WHOLE POINT was that he wasn't blaming Cramer for the collapse, he was saying that it's ridiculous for CNBC to claim expertise for financial reporting if all they're going to do is repeat the press releases of the businesses that got us into this mess and be SHOCKED when it turns out they lied.

They had inside access and yet didn't turn over any highly leveraged rocks, they just cheerled along until the whole thing collapse.

Do you really truly believe the 'salespeople' hold no blame for this mess?

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obamatron

Fishermen foreclosure in Qualicum never happen in Obama land thanks to taxpayer paying for mortgage for everyone. In Obama land happy time is here because you can take out big mortgage and never have to pay. Good time for everyone to buy! Vancouver and Obamaland best place on earth time!

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islander

holdem, you and your pal, Jon Stewart, make the same misguided proto-Marxist criticism of this economic collapse: you blame the salespeople.

Let's see Stewart question St. Obama on how much of his campaign was financed by Big Banks. And how he's polluted his cabinet with the same band of douchebags that got us into this mess in the first place.

Let's hear him question his boy, William Kristol, about how PNAC has nearly bankrupted America in the pursuit of Zionism.

Cramer is a court jester. To lay this at a carnival barker's doorstep is pathetic. Nobody past college age should fall for that.

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OWG

Yet another proof that we are living in the best city in the world – our prices never go down!

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Chief

Keep blowing the horn but the horsemen will never come.

Van RE owners has scored a jackpot enough for retirement while those stubborn bears scratching their head why their conviction has priced them out forever from even owning a chicken shack.

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Anonymous

JP:The End My Friends(Bears Collapsed) that's what was my point,Arguments that you had put into thread since four years those arguments were baseless and unnecessary time consuming so this is your turn,time to buy to show blogsmanship In otherwords losers need to buy not the winners as they already own a place to live.

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Patiently Waiting

According to this story, the Colwood "Reflections" auction is a carbon copy of what ONNI did. Not even close to a real auction.

http://tinyurl.com/bkzttv

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Patiently Waiting

Patriotz, there were reserves on the auction.

When we finally have "no reserves" auctions it will be a sign we are near the bottom.

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wolfey

Hi Guys, Let me clarify what anonymous is trying to say from post # 85 and 86. He is very upset…probably because he bought to soon …like last year and is venting or he bought two much year after year and can't sell. his version Why buy in raincouver,You are such a poor guy,Could you please tell me in which city all people can make same income and In which city of this world all people can buy a place to live? In which city have you earned that much money and education? You are such a DUMBEST person ever being read on the blogs. to clarify "Why would you buy in vancouver? Are you poor? Could you please tell me which city in the world has everyone making the same income( I tried my best here…huh) and everyone can… Read more »

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