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Developers feeling the pinch

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39 Comments

From todays Vancouver Sun:

VANCOUVER — The number of real estate sales may have bounced back in March compared to February, but they are still well below levels of a year ago, and so are prices. What is clearly up, however, is the number of condominium developers seeking creditor protection or going into receivership.

It started in June 2007, when the Riverbend condominium project in Coquitlam was the first to succumb and the Bowra Group was appointed receiver. Since then the Bowra Group has been involved in 11 more developments that are struggling and in creditor protection until they can restructure or have gone into receivership.

“I think it’s just a sign of the economy. The forest industry has been in trouble for some time and has its casualties, and the real estate industry has been challenged for a while now,” Bowra group president David Bowra said in an interview.

The article blames problems in credit markets and not high prices or overbuilding for the ‘pinch’ that developers are currently feeling.  In other news, markets dropped today on weak building permit numbers, which fell 16% nationally in February.  In BC we actually saw an 86.5% surge in February building permits offsetting the decline in other provinces.

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Vancouverite

Isn't all this bad news WONDERFUL!

Real Estate prices falling, Rents being reduced, Vancouver is geting more affordable week after week!

Me thinks to rent till 2011/2012!

Vancouver will get hit hard after the Olympics-major SHIT STORM!

No worries about your condo rental accom getting sold so you have to move once more, maybe bank forced sale.

Nice to see things moving back to a real sustainable lifestyle.

One will have to consider annual RE taxes in the future to pay for the last 7 years of GREED.

Looking forward to affordable RE in thr future!

NOT EVEN thinking about purchasing a $500K condo,Why?

Detached homes WILL be obtainable once again, and still enjoy a lifestyle of sorts.

Hopefully the interest rates will stay low.

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gasbag

gasbag:

#37, ad to this the fact that Vancouver Real Estate is 9.8 X's average local income and it's really a recipie for disaster here in this market. I think the election and olympic propaganda wars are keeping the bad news at bay for now and as a knock on effect supporting the adverts by the local real estate pimps, but this illusion can not last. All scams eventually break dow. Like any scam the math doesn't work perpetually because they always run out of enough suckers to keep the balls in the air. Be patient, Vancouver real estate WILL fall in SPECTACULAR fashion.

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gasbag

dboy: Actually theres a picture in this mornings Province of the reporter getting brutalized by an angry cop. Thats not eveidence collecting thats police state brutality. Meanwhile, heres an excellent observation by a British journalist as to why the real estate market is the process of executing a dead cat bounce and why this Real Estae bear Market is giving the unwary on more chance to lose money. "The truth is that all real bear markets tend to offer the unwary investor one last opportunity to lose money. The summer of 2009 is probably that opportunity this time round. There may well be a quite a big pick up in inquiries, transactions and even prices over the next few months. This will be partly down to the fact that, for those who have cash and want to buy at some… Read more »

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_crabman

This condo in downtown San Diego sold a few years ago for $465k. Today's asking price: $180k!!!

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-090020345

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Vansanity

Economy forces cancellation of Vancouver's 2009 Tour de Gastown

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Economy+forces+c…

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observer

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/balan…

Check out the link to Richard Koo's slides.

http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2009/04/richard…

Seems like there are some interesting ideas there, don't understand it but maybe it will be of interest to others.

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Anonymous

And on the subject of ass . . . we have the city’s decision to fine residents up to $10,000 who illegally rent their homes next February.

Shame, shame, shame on the money-grubbing bureaucratic lot of you.

What's wrong with that? Should be five times as much specially for homeowners who want to rent. They're not in the least bit interested in the community. In fact they should be billed for the entire cost of the olympics payable in 12 months!

Happy renter!

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sectorwatch

"The article blames problems in credit markets and not high prices or overbuilding for the ‘pinch’ that developers are currently feeling. In other news, markets dropped today on weak building permit numbers, which fell 16% nationally in February. " This is the same speech that was given by the CAW president when confronted with the news that car sales were down. It's gone back to the idea that consumers have a mental disorder brought on by a lack of confidence. Prices in both the Real Estate and the auto industries have roughly doubled since the intrest rate fiddle beginning in 2001, bottom line, they got greedy and they screwed the pooch. Even giving them credit for inflation adjustments the products they offer are beyond the average persons ability to pay. Until fundamental values come back into line, neither of these… Read more »

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dboy

superVancouverBearTurd:

Listen up you Vancouver LOSERS! Vancouver is a shit infested rat hole! If you live in Vancouver you are one of the following:

1) A wanna be gangster who sells dope to little kids for fun

2) A shit infested magot eating retard who hangs around Yaletown like it’s NYC

3) A pretentious goon who thinks Vancouver is the best place on earth

I’ve got news for you pathetic rejects : VANCOUVER IS A JOKE and what’s worse is SO IS YOUR LIFE. You know why? BECAUSE YOU ALL WISH YOU OWNED REAL ESTATE IN VANCOUVER. Think about it you shit lickers.

My god, what have people been taking on here? Seems that this site is much like reading the back of toilet doors – amusing but of no informative value.

How old are you 14??

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badnewsbear

Vancouver Real Estate Recovery – Market Bounce Back Already???

Should actually read:

Vancouver Real Estate Recovery – Dead Cat Bounce.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt_bFHajzU0

What's with people in this city?

Once the bottom falls out everyone will be saying they saw it coming and how smart they were. And they sold their shoebox in the sky before it all happened.

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dboy

gasbag:

People, people. Do you believe everything you read in the media – like real estate is a great buy at the minute? No. So why would you believe a one sided news cast? Neither you nor I know what the reasons were for taking the camera.

Perhaps the media camera was confiscated for evidence. Section 489 of the Criminal Code allows the police to seize anything in plain view that may support evidence. Further, the fella with the cell phone camera as been shown to be a liar.

Please exercise some independent thought.

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dboy

yaletowngirl:

Of course you can always head back to england….. Brum is a way bigger shit hole.

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superVancouverBearTu

Listen up you Vancouver LOSERS! Vancouver is a shit infested rat hole! If you live in Vancouver you are one of the following:

1) A wanna be gangster who sells dope to little kids for fun

2) A shit infested magot eating retard who hangs around Yaletown like it's NYC

3) A pretentious goon who thinks Vancouver is the best place on earth

I've got news for you pathetic rejects : VANCOUVER IS A JOKE and what's worse is SO IS YOUR LIFE. You know why? BECAUSE YOU ALL WISH YOU OWNED REAL ESTATE IN VANCOUVER. Think about it you shit lickers.

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Aleks

"So funny. I wonder if he managed to say that with a straight face. It’s like asking a used car salesman if the car he’s trying to sell me is fairly priced."

It's more like a used car salesman saying "Don't take my word for it, ask my manager."

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techdeath

The layoffs snowball just keeps rolling along

http://www.techcrunch.com/layoffs/#comment-253629…

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sallytwo

/dev/null:

#21 But 'who' is saying that the real estate market has bottomed? Lets see… is the real estate whores, the media whores, the vested intrests, the governmnet who wants you to be distracted away from reality?

Literally everyone I've met recently and spoken to about the general state of the RE market and economy generally is saying that things don't look too good at all. Everyone I talk to knows someone who has been laid or has witnessed layoffs taking place in thier own buisness.

The BS machine is blowing smoke. There is no real recovery in the RE market just a bunch of liars who are attempting to make it seem that way.

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jesse

“Some people think a receivership’s a gimmick, that it’s deliberate to let people think they’re getting a deal,” Bowra said.

“The one piece of advice I would suggest to a buyer is, if you’re not sure, talk to your realtor.”

So funny. I wonder if he managed to say that with a straight face. It's like asking a used car salesman if the car he's trying to sell me is fairly priced.

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BUYBUYBUY

OMG BUY BUY BUY before I miss the boat again!

– RE in VAN will never go down!!

– I need to have the bigger house at the next dinner party so I can brag about my new investment.

– RE in VAN will never go down!!

– 2010!

– Rich Asians!

– need to lease a bigger car!

sigh

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/dev/null

Hate to change the subject ("Vancouver sucks" is it?) and talk about RE, but Meredith Whitney was on CNBC saying US prices have another 30% to fall (-50% peak to trough). And yet people are trying to convince us that Vancouver's market has bottomed?

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jigisup

Only in Vancouver…..

A pervert in Vancouvers Yaletown district had a very specific part of his anatomy chewed off by a raccoon after attempting to become amorous with the animal during a drunken night out with friends.

Gordondong Sliverlips-Campbellowski told surgeons he leapt on the raccoon in an attempt to have a good time, but was surprised by the level of resistance the pest put up.

“When I saw the raccoon I thought I’d have some fun,” he told stunned casualty surgeons in Moscow.

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hijacked

There was discussion over the weekend as to whether there were secret potical entities manipulating the schools public information Looky looky, as proof comes out of Ontario as to the evil hand of the PC brigade stifled freedom of information. "Under pressure, Ontario pulls website that lets parents compare schools Posted: April 06, 2009, 5:50 PM by Rob Roberts Canada, Education By Dave Bowden, National Post Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne's short-lived attempt to provide parents the ability to compare schools' academic and socio-economic statistics has ended just days after its launch, as she bowed to the demand of political opponents and parent groups who called for the removal of a controversial new feature on the ministry's website. The new feature on the ministry's website, added over the weekend, allowed parents to view a profile of every publicly funded school… Read more »

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EB

I wish some lawyer would comment upon the legal issues involved in cops seizing your property and doing as they please with it. Surely it cannot be within the law for the police to just take your camera because they don’t like the photos you have taken?

Not that it is surprising – I’ve known enough cops over the years to expect no better from them.

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helltopay

Scombags at Vanoc an IOC aren't fooling everybody. We're getting slammed, they know it and they don't give a crap. "Hurdles crowd Olympic path The ProvinceApril 5, 2009 T his newspaper has published editorials in support of the 2010 Winter Olympics since the first whisper of the Vancouver-Whistler bid. We have also routinely acknowledged that the Olympics will require sacrifices from the people who live here. Let's recount some of those sacrifices: – Construction has been non-stop, roads have been closed or partially closed, noise has been relentless; – For security reasons, hundreds upon hundreds of residents have been told their place of employment will be closed during the Games, necessitating temporary layoffs; – The traffic plan for the Games will make life extremely difficult for anyone who has to get in and out of the downtown core; – And,… Read more »

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gasbag

“Cops shoot man in East Vancouver then confiscate Province camera Province photographer Jason Payne is man-handled as cops seize his work camera” Welcome to Nazicouver, this is the second time in as many weeks that the thug cops have confiscated citizens cameras for filming them murdering innocents. The thug cops have becomr distinctly paranoid after the RCMP was proven on film to be liars , scumbags and murderers at the Inquiry into the Muredr of Mr. Djikanski. VPD cops were caught on film murdering an innocent man last week and immediately seized the camera and erased the images. I hope the digital experts can get them back. The IOC has successfully manipulated the BC GOV into closing the schools during the OLYMPICS to fill in the blank spaces behind the IOC fiasco of selling off thier own tickets. If the… Read more »

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Falling

for those who didn't belive that the drywall form China was toxic…

"MIAMI — Attorneys with Higer Lichter Givner, The Blumstein Law Firm and Podhurst Orseck filed a federal class action March 31 on behalf of Florida homeowners Janet Morris-Chin and Dajan Green against the foreign manufacturer of defective Chinese drywall, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd., and the foreign company that distributed it in the United States, Rothchilt Int'l., LTD."

http://www.rdbmagazine.com/web/online/Industry-Ne…

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