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Is it time to buy?

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On the front page of Canada.com this morning is a big headline that says “Now is the time to buy: study“, though the actual linked content uses the less definitive “Time to buy?”.  The content of that article is about a recent study that shows a majority of people across the country think NOW is a good time to buy real estate.

As an interesting aside, a US Gallup poll in April 2007 showed that a majority of Americans felt THAT was a good time to buy there.  For those not following the news, it turns out that wasn’t such great timing.

So what do you think? Now that prices have dropped more than 10%, is buying a house, townhouse or condo in Vancouver a ‘good investment’ or ‘catching a falling knife’?

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RabidCow
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How anyone could actually believe virtually anything our MSM says at this point, is beyond me. The Canadian stats that came out this morning, indicating that prices have gone done .6% in February are completely absurd. My wife and I have been following the market carefully for about a year with the intention to purchase a home once the prices have moderated enough. We have seen home prices slide by up to 20% on MLS and nothing is selling, so where they get -.6% ,well, I'm guessing that figure was pulled out of Bob Rennie's *ss.

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10 years 11 days ago
CZ
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Time to buy? At least not in Vancouver, which still owes the big bubble deflation. But, but, it could be a good time to sell, as with the spring hype goes.

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10 years 11 days ago
patriotz
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RabidCow:

The Canadian stats that came out this morning, indicating that prices have gone done .6% in February are completely absurd.

That's the average sales price MOM of new houses, which does not have a lot to do with the whole market, which has even less to do with the BC market.

The bubble in BC is not in any way representative of the rest of the country, not even Alberta.

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10 years 11 days ago
blueskies
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now is a good time to try and sell…..

thinking of buying?…..just walk away!

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10 years 11 days ago
DaMann
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If anyone thinks it's a good time to buy now, then they deserve everything they get in the next few years.

Idiots…

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10 years 11 days ago
Informer10
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First Time Home Buyers Propelled Canadian Housing Market-CTV.

*Good time ahead-Agent Will.*

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10 years 11 days ago
Informer10
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Canada will be spared worst of economic downturn: IMF
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/Canada+wi…

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10 years 11 days ago
Crash
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My wife had a conversation with a friend of hers last night. This friend is in the banking industry in a financial analysis capacity. She was asking us if it's "a good time to buy R/E"? We of course said NO! But you have to wonder how somebody in that position working with their ear supposedly close to the ground would be so clueless, and the really ironic thing is that this persons particular financial institution had just laid off 100 staff. Talk about having their head in the sand!

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10 years 11 days ago
ihateengineeringgeek
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In order to support the current price level that Vanc RE is at, where is the money coming from? 1. China/Taiwan/asia? last time I checked they are suffering too. I dont care if you are a corrupted chinese official or the head of a gangster in Taiwan who make money from the hookers, EVERYONE in this world is suffering financially to a certain degree. Relying on the Chinese or offshore Asians to pay up for a million dollar 600 bucks per sq ft Yaletown condo is just not possible anymore. So much for this "BC is the heaven on earth, they will pay however much to come here" bullshit. 2. Local ppl? Well high pay jobs are disappearing fast in a recession. (Take that! you stupid geeky engineers who think that you are the greatest in this world and makes… Read more »
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10 years 11 days ago
patriotz
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Informer10:

Canada will be spared worst of economic downturn: IMF

Actually I agree for several reasons:

1. Lack of structural federal deficit.

2. Smallest housing bubble, in aggregate, of English-speaking countries.

3. Smaller impact on banking sector due to #2 and government mortgage insurance.

4. Relative lack of deindustrialization and reliance on financial "services" sector (aka casino economy).

5. Big drop of CAD against USD which aids exports.

6. Universal medicare which reduces financial impact of unemployment.

However as I have said, BC has been running on a whole different set of parameters from the rest of the country.

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10 years 11 days ago
arit
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To ihateengineeringgeek

I am "engineeringgeek", your neighbor. Good to see you posting here too.

regarding

(Take that! you stupid geeky engineers who think that you are the greatest in this world and makes lots of money! I can’t wait to see arrogant ppl like you suffer!)

"stupid geeky engineers" Oxymoron, but there are stupids in every profession. Don't they have them in your line of work?

"who think that you are the greatest in this world " – Not all engineers are the best, like me. Some are not so good.Google Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

"I can’t wait to see arrogant ppl like you suffer" – that is bad karma. All these years of envy over me had turned you into one bitter individual. Coe over for dinner tonight and we'll discuss it. Leave bitterness at home.

Regards

arit- your engineeringgeek.

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10 years 11 days ago
truthin'adverti
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Just when we thought that the realtard whores had gotten a little religion ReMax publishes a goofball prognostication that eats it's own ass. Look Remax, you can't state that there have been a fraction as many sales YOY to make it sound like you're being upfront and into the facts and then in the same boozy belch breath issue a "floaty fart golly gee wouldn't it be nice column of shit" that say's you hope that current lookey loos will be turning into solid buyers. Guys , it just makes you look like desperate lieing whores. I know you asswipes are getting really desperate with those inflated desk fee's and all but " get the fuck outta here" with this real turd nonsense. http://www.vancouversun.com/Business/First+time+b… In reality we're looking a things getting much worse and even our Prime Minister and his… Read more »
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10 years 11 days ago
Anonymous
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BC and Alberta are more like the US then like Canada sad to say. Las Vegas and Miami and parts of LA are closer to BC economic parallels, while Toronto bad as it is, is closer to Seattle as far as similarities. (Head offices). The rest of Canada is stable more or less so Canadian Housing Stats are irrelevant to Vancouver particularily.

Strataman

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10 years 11 days ago
shitsinthefan
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patriotz: #10 patriotz, it seems that not everyone agree's on the real state Canada's financial health. The historic manipulation by the BOC and GOC of our currency to keep it lower than warranted only worked when there were customers for CDN products. This kept the inept and inefficient eastern manufacturers in buisness as a 'wink wink' taxpayer subsidy. That old ploy isn't working. We have businesses which cannot improve thier technology and equipment becoming less competative as the recession widens due to a depressed dollar and inherant inflation on everything imported, like food for example. Thats stagflation. In fact our structural deficit equals that of the US on a per capita basis as was pointed out in Question Period in Parliament this morning. In fact the Finance critic John Mc Callum pointed out again that Canada's economy is deteriorating faster… Read more »
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10 years 11 days ago
shitsinthefan
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In January, the IMF forecast an economic contraction of 1.2 percent for Canada this year, in line with the Bank of Canada's estimate but more downbeat than the government's view of an 0.8 percent decline. For 2010, the IMF sees growth of 1.6 percent. That contrasts with the central bank's forecast of 3.8 percent growth and the government's 2.4 percent forecast. The IMF said it now plans to revise its estimates downward. The parliamentary budget office, which provides information to legislators and makes its own forecasts independent of the finance ministry, said measures other than real GDP paint a much bleaker picture of the economy's health. It emphasized the importance of real domestic income, which accounts for changes in domestic purchasing power, and nominal GDP, which serves as the broadest measure of the government's tax base. Both indicators showed much… Read more »
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10 years 11 days ago
pricedoutfornow
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Why anyone would buy right now is beyond me. We're just getting starting on this recession party, why not wait until everyone's REALLY hungover? I'm just starting to see a trickle of houses on MLS that advertise as foreclosures, think I'd rather wait until there are dozens, not just a few.

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10 years 11 days ago
/dev/null
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I think right now is the absolute perfect time to buy….. as long as you're planning on purchasing my in-law's house.

And when you do, please ask them why they didn't listen to me 18 months ago.

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10 years 11 days ago
hijacked
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Vanoc has just announced that they have been successful in getting High Schools partially closed during the Olympics. What are these children being used for? Schools are not adjacent to ant Olympic sites. They do have the excuse that they need to be closed for security reasons, so WHY? Are these kids going to be used as fodder to fill in the blank space behind the broadcasting booths? Why High School kids? They tried to get all schools closed including elementary and Universities… WHY? Are the projected attendance numbers down? Ticket resales by IOC Oligarchs down on EBAY? There has to be a point to this madness. Why are they using the children? The IOC and Vanoc is devising a total shutdown of the COV and most of the POBC, it's bizarre that our politicians have left our freedoms hanging… Read more »
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10 years 11 days ago
Falling
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The shoe boxes are coffins now

"VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – First it was pet food, then it was tainted toys, now consumers are being warned about toxic drywall imported from China, after several people in Metro Vancouver have become sick in the past couple of weeks."

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10 years 11 days ago
other ted
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ihateengineeringgeek Says I voted you down. There are arrogant people in all walks of life of course some more than others. But this is a real estate forum and you are here to bash engineers more than anyone else. Look you are part of the problem and here is why. Engineers are part of the goods producing economy not the parasitic economy like the financial sector or real estate. And guess what they make far below the average for professionals in BC. I know I was one of them once. Now I am in finance. Well I am a trader now and I can tell you I make much more money for much less work. I guess if you can't beat them join them I say. This boom was caused by a society that makes nothing and expects the world.… Read more »
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10 years 11 days ago
no-lympics
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Why would anyone buy now , unless they have to and can either pay cash or else have good financing in place.

The dollar you save is much easier than the dollar you have to earn.

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10 years 11 days ago
no-lympics
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Gregor Robertson's first 90 days in office

Demands of office are making a pragmatist of the politician

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/Gregor+Ro…

His $1-billion city budget is also caught in another vice grip — the Olympic Village could cost the city $200 to $300 million in losses, his advisers privately tell him. On top of that, the Olympic Village's social housing component is another $70 million overbudget, meaning he's got to break it to the diehards in his party's left wing that their utopian idea of waterfront social housing is a no go.

There ya go COV taxpayers.

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10 years 11 days ago
realpaul
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The fact that commodities are taking a hit should tell you something. No one is buying them right now. The normal cycle is for Canada to fail , then dump on it's currency and every other country benefit because all of our stuff goes on sale in CDN dollar terms. The clincher is seeing 'the country with the strongest and best fundamentals in the world according to the GOV' have it's currency trade at all time lows against other world currencies which are absolute basket cases at this time. If we can't have a strong currency when we're #1, then God save from ourselves when things here get officially really bad. But this is a differant recession from the localized versions we've seen in the past, this is global, and there no benefit to having a cheap CDN dollar to… Read more »
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10 years 11 days ago
Rado@freemarkets.ca
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Engineers actually use their brains to create something valuable.

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10 years 11 days ago
/dev/null
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realpaul: The idea that it’s a good time to buy real estate because it’s down 10% is just idiocy to the nth degree.

For some reason this reminds me of a Calculated Risk post from yesterday. His linked graph puts the 5% market rally into perspective. (Hint – you can barely see it.)

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/03/stock-m…

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10 years 11 days ago