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Is it time to buy?

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101 Comments

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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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.

I am a realtor looking for feedback so I can improve my level of 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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no-lympics

#100 !!!

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observer

As much as i want to believe the bears on this blog, there is no denying the fact that there seems to be more sold signs everywhere (even though the listings seem to be sitting on the market for much longer). I dont know if it is a spring bounce but some of the listings i was watching have sold (for prices i wouldnt pay). Realtors are reporting increased activity. i hope prices dont start to inch up. just a little confused as to why people are buying when the general consensus is that prices are still falling.

Maybe some of the sales are illusory, i.e. some people are just selling to themselves or each other to record some transaction activity.

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Hovering

patriotz: 1. Re "value judgements": I have been both an owner (3 times) and am curently a renter. I act on my best educated guess as to RE market conditions. I don't give a hoot what others do. So I disagree that I am judging others. I simply thought earlier comments ignored a factor in the rent vs own analysis. 2. Ten years ago I started with a small downpayment and now have a little more than 10x's that amount (pure luck I assure you). I beleive (rightly or wrongly) that this is due to the fact I: a) made damn sure I made my mortgage payments and mostly, b) my aforementioned pure luck. However, I am not confident I would have saved as much had I simply rented. I (like others I suspect) tend to spend what I have.… Read more »

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Anonymous

CZ: *You are right.*

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CZ

I've just found that blogs provide not only virtual societies, but also safe playgrounds for mental illness people.

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Vancouverboom2

Vansanity: And and you earn+80* like Mickey finney but no brain. grapplingwithdoom:And and Finally you have lost your underware of economy sense,Here is a lesson for you Always tell your friend to buy a home and you should do that too and and you forgot to check sandmans tail is turning around and and it is right here…. "It’s not all doom and gloom out there. Citigroup and Bank of America are saying Q1 business is up and are starting to talk profit again. Copper prices and the Baltic Dry Index are up which are leading indicators of industrial activity. Locally, I am hearing from some businesses that activity is up this month in comparison to a downturn felt over the Fall and Winter. And the US and Canada stimulus packages have yet to take effect. 2009 might not turn… Read more »

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grapplingwithdoom

Secret message to VB2 from people on earth

@$&(&^*^%$&*())$%^%$^&**@#$%^&*(())(*&^%$#@#$%^&*( R.

Translation …. You're insane.

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Vansanity

grapplingwithdoom:

Dude, you're grappling with futility trying to argue with Supraboy and/or VancouverBoom2. The koolaid runs in their veins. Don't waste your time with them, just skip their comments like the rest of us do. They have zero credibility.

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Vancouverboom2

grapplingwithdoom:Basic Economy is Food,Shelter,and Cloths do you have them you naked bear? How long have you been sitting on the fence you idiot?

Supraboy is right he is talking about timing while Grapplingwithdoom is talking about full fledge normal circumastance those fact he is unaware of the prices he is going to pay when economy is in full swing,what will happened?.

1.High Mortgage Interest rates.

2.High Home Prices.

3.Very near to retiring age.

4.Increased mortgage term(you will be begging for 55 yr term).

5.Without wife.

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grapplingwithdoom

Supraboy: #83 Soupy, you uneducated bonehead, don't you know better than to make stupid statements like that? The corelation of the S&P and the real estate market in Canada is tenuous at best. The stock market can correct based on technical models many times before a bear market trend is no longer in effect in a price channel which continues to indicate further weakness. After that the general markets segments can act as leading indicators far in advance of any uptick on Main Street, years in advance in fact. Theres an old adage in play here " A trend in motion will stay in motion until it actually reverses". Every trnd indicator suggests further weakness, Fighting the trend is just stupid. If your thesis was tenable then we wouldn't have the accelerating unemployment stats would we. If you were correct… Read more »

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Aleks

"All you bagholders out there holding cash, how does it feel to see the stock markets rocket 3 straight days."

Wow, three whole days? Good thing I invested for the long term (ie a week or more), if I'd panicked and sold after the second day I would be kicking myself.

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realpaul

no-lympics: #81 N-O It would appear that Extremist Luddite Whacko's have hijacked the transportation agenda for the Olympic games. You are being TOLD TO CHANGE, you are being forced onto transit for your own good and this si as they have stated " The lasting legacy of the Games will be to 'CONVERT' workers to use transit. Fortunatley they have aquiesed to allow " access to homes' thank God for that, they're going to allow people into thier homes!! If I had a unit to lease along any of the routes which are now blocked from any traffic 24 hrs, I would be pissed. It would be effectivley 'off the market', unleaseable at my my expense for the entire time between now and the end of this madness. After all who would lease a property now only to be denied… Read more »

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no-lympics

One local sees black but some locals see red Critics say municipal workers' new wage hikes too rich for poor times Kent Spencer, The Province Published: Thursday, March 12, http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.htm… Wage hikes for Mission municipal workers that compound to 21 per cent over five years are way too rich, says a disgruntled resident. "I feel bad for me as a taxpayer," Larry Nundal said yesterday. Nundal, 63, said the increase ignores world economic conditions. Larry Nundal outside Mission municipal hall. 'I feel bad for me as a taxpayer,' he says. "We're in a depression. Most places have a freeze on hiring and wages," he said. He complains the offer far exceeds B.C.'s current annual inflation rate of 1.4 per cent. The contract with CUPE Local 1267 calls for increases of 3.5, 4, 4, 4 and 4 per cent through 2013.… Read more »

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no-lympics

45 percent of world's wealth destroyed says Blackstone CEO http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/03/10/bu… Private equity company Blackstone Group LP CEO Stephen Schwarzman said on Tuesday that up to 45 percent of the world's wealth has been destroyed by the global credit crisis. "Between 40 and 45 percent of the world's wealth has been destroyed in little less than a year and a half," Schwarzman told an audience at the Japan Society. "This is absolutely unprecedented in our lifetime." ===== "In all likelihood, that will have the private sector buy troubled assets to clean the banks out in terms of providing leverage … so that we can get more money back into the banking system," Schwarzman said. He expects the private sector to end up making "some good money doing that," but added there were complex issues on how to price toxic assets. ======… Read more »

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no-lympics

Supraboy:

Didn't you here that those so-called "profits" (approx. $ 6 BILLION)that BIG " bailed out" US bank made were atributed to Interest made on the bail out funds they were given?

What a joke…who paid the interest… did they deposit it in their own bank,…but banks are very tight in lending now…so all it did was benefit the bank and provide another skewed and self -serving result. That may have got the markets excited…maybe this was all rigged for the benefit of short -sellers…suckers.

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markx

no-lympics: As far as I know, Americans have no way of telling if a car is made in Canada or US. The "domestic percentage" required for each vehicle include the entire NAFTA. Of course, americans can simply buy cars ASSEMBLED in US, which really don't mean much. Or they could try to buy BIG THREE only.

The bail-out is simply a by-product of a minority government. It buys support from the party closest to the Tories in ideal: the liberals. For Harper, it's a lesser evil than "separatists" and "socialists". One more reason BC should separate and join US.

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no-lympics

From Garth's blog New MONSTER "Deflation"…explained fairly well QUOTE: This week staffers at the Miami Herald were asked to take a pay cut. Chrysler Canada management have been asked to do the same. Salaries are also going down at Wal-Mart and the restaurant near my house. At the same time, the price of a car, flat screen TV and a laptop are decreasing. Houses are falling in value. So is clothing. Mortgage rates, too. This is deflation. Lower prices lead to lower corporate profits, then lower salaries and wages and lower consumer spending, which prompts drops in prices. It’s exacerbated when people start expecting lower costs, so they delay purchasing decisions. This is one factor helping to pound real estate prices down. === QUOTE: Perhaps this is why an investor from Europe flew over to Detroit last week and bought… Read more »

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Supraboy

All you bagholders out there holding cash, how does it feel to see the stock markets rocket 3 straight days. That's a telling sign. Give it another 6 more months, when the US economy is back on track with growth, it will lift real estate prices higher here. If it ain't tanking here now, it ain't tanking 6 months down the road.

As long as those with houses and investment properties aren't selling low, and if they can hang on to their houses, y'all doomers ain't gonna see cheap prices anytime soon.

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no-lympics

realpaul post # 72 Re US and Canadian economy: The Auto manufacturers bailout…. It was noted that regardless of the number of possible inducements to encourage Canandians to buy cars…the main consumer of Canadian cars is…. drum roll…Americans !!! . The US Gov't may avoid legislated protectionism, but the American consumer may simply wrap themselves around the flag and buy " MADE IN AMERICA" Hence, what does a bail – out achieve ? If the Americans can't or won't buy our cars or any cars…this bail- out idea is even more ridiculous. Its like the lumber industry…it tanked months ago, before the global recession. People can't seem to connect the dots which are pretty linear…the US housing market was tanking, demand for BC lumber for US housing had dried up… and , like BC lumber industry, in hindsight, acting as… Read more »

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no-lympics

realpaul From the article you linked in post # 70 QUOTE: If all of the above hasn’t given you enough reason to doubt the altruistic motives of the 2010 Games Committee, Vancouver residents have now learned the true size and scope of the traffic trauma they will face. In a sweeping “road plan” for Vancouver, the organizing committee is essentially closing downtown traffic to everyone who isn’t a “VIP” Olympic driver. They expect the skytrain and public transit will be able to handle the overflow, which should be crushing. The Sea-to-Sky corridor, the highway that was blasted into a double-lane expressway from North Vancouver to Whistler, will also be barred to any driver north of Squamish who doesn’t have a ticket to the Olympic venues, or “VIP” status. Vancouver promises to have increased transit capacity, and standby snow plows in… Read more »

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Anonymous

re post 67 thanks for the response no-lympics

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patriotz

Hovering: It seems to me that to analyze renting vs. owning you shouldn’t ignore the fact that owners pay monthly amounts that they may be able recoup or even profit from while renters “piss it away”. One, you are making a value judgment on what people do with their money. It's the consumer who determines utility. If someone wants to "piss away" an amount which may or may not approximate the principal part of a mortgage payment, that is that person's optimal use of their money, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Two, the concept of "forced savings" is in itself in conflict with the principle of rational consumer choice. If you have decided to save money, you save money. One could just as well have an automatic deduction into one's TFSP or whatever, as for a mortgage payment. Three,… Read more »

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EB

Canada’s economic headache is set to explode into an agonizing migraine with a much worse-than-expected recession, warned two independent agencies. The darkening conditions would likely cause the budget deficit to blow out as the government rushes out fiscal stimulus, which would at best soothe, but not alleviate the recession, economists say.

This has always been the logical outcome of the US recession/depression. They are by far our largest trading partner and we are of course going to suffer very badly due to their collapsing economy.

The 1.5-2 year lag was also totally predictable. Things are only going to go downhill from here.

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realpaul

The job loss numbers are supposed to be made public tomorrow, As usual the government is forecasting a loss of 40,000. The last time they forecast 40,000 losses was a few weeks ago when the real numbers turned out to be 129,000, WOOPS !! Thats a rate of 200% more jobs lost per capita than in the US !!!, for those that like to count things.

Every economics advisory in the world is telling Canadians that the number is much higher and that the pain will ACCELERATE, but the sheeple here don't like to listen to bad news. Thier loss.

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM….

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