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June 15th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Soaring household debt threatens recovery: BoC
http://www.bnn.ca/news/10115.html
“But the risk posed by household balance sheets has grown, the Bank of Canada. The level of debt to income reached a record in the fourth quarter as real net worth dropped 6.7 percent from the same period a year ago, the central bank said.
While stressing that the possibility of a mass bankruptcy is remote, the ability of Canadians to repay their bank loans has replaced frozen credit markets as the main fear factor among policy makers, the report said.
“There has been a further deterioration in the financial position of the Canadian household sector as a result of the continued turmoil in financial markets, the deepening global recession, and worsening labour market conditions,” the report said. “Nonetheless, in aggregate, the financial situation of Canadian households remains reasonably healthy.”
Canadians’ household debt is about 140 percent of disposable income, compared with about 150 percent in Britain and almost 170 percent in the United States. The level is about 90 percent among the countries that use the euro.”
Yet, the cost to borrow remains… cheap.
June 15th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
“ursus Says:
June 14th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I’m amazed that some poor FTBs just cannot see the big picture. How dumb does one have to be not to realise that those artificially low mort rates that interrupted our housing plunge are toast.”
I know several people like this who got sucked into the market in the last few months b/c of the low rates. Crazy.
June 15th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Big news today: word on the street is that at least a quarter of the buyers at Quattro Phase 1 in Surrey are trying to walk away from presales. They all had 10% deposits.
June 15th, 2009 at 11:04 am
patriotzed: You’re right; I was using the phrasing of the person to whom I was responding. Risk does mean uncertainty, and there’s an intuitively obvious relationship between risk and rate of return.
June 15th, 2009 at 8:41 am
oneangryslav:
the preponderance of evidence points to there being much more risk than reward purchasing Vancouver real estate now.
You are not using the term “risk” correctly. Risk means uncertainty of earnings. The earnings from Vancouver RE, i.e. its rental value, are no more uncertain than they ever were. RE is far less risky than stocks (because corporate earnings are far more volatile than rents) which is why RE has historically returned much less than stocks.
Or to put it another way, risk means uncertainty in evaluating the fundamental value of an asset, which is the present value of what an asset will return to you if you never sell it. Fundamental value for RE is not hard to evaluate. It’s just that the market price for Vancouver RE today is way above fundamental value, to which the market price must eventually revert.
Vancouver RE is not a risky investment right now. It’s just a very bad investment.
If you buy Vancouver RE right now, you are going to lose money, big time, absent a greater fool who is willing to lose even more money. That’s not a risk, that’s a certainty.
June 14th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Supraboy
Your mom’s basement is not South America.
June 14th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
You boys and girls are still crying over real estate prices?
It ain`t going any lower, that`s for sure. I`m in South America right now and when I come back in 2 months, let`s see if anything has changed.
June 14th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
squeak: “Yes, banks, but, but, but that is NOT your money!”
It’s somebody’s money. Have any deposits at the bank? Where do you think those deposits end up?
June 14th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
No longer looking good point about the sellers having to pay penalties. Does anyone know the penalty. I always believed it was 3 months interest. On garth turner’s page he said it was all outstanding interest(I believe) that seems harsh.
June 14th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Is the housing bust about to take Manhattan?
http://www.reuters.com/article.....ON20090614
And yet the magical land of Vancouver is never gonna drop, mind you it is the ‘best place on earth’.
drop baby drop
June 14th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Gawd, I wish I had some more properties to sell!
June 14th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I’m amazed that some poor FTBs just cannot see the big picture. How dumb does one have to be not to realise that those artificially low mort rates that interrupted our housing plunge are toast.
Not only have the fundamentals not changed, but those freaky low rates have sucked in a whole new batch of greater fools that wont be around to affect future demand.
To think that the most overpriced real estate on the continent together with the worst global financial crisis most of us will ever see can be solved with a mere 15% correction is ludicrous.
Sure, some prequalified borrowers could send the market into one final frenzy in an effort to beat the clock, but that would only make the perfect storm a little more perfect.
June 14th, 2009 at 11:38 am
I was just reminded of something last night. Sellers who sell during a time of low interest rates will probably face interest rate penalties. If your mortgage is at 6% and the going rate is 4%, the bank will demand the penalty to make up for the loss in profits. This would cost sellers many tens of thousands of dollars. Some sellers will be shocked when this happens to them. Bye bye bubble bux.
June 14th, 2009 at 11:28 am
“#79 strataman there is no 2-10-10 warranty anymore.” I don’t recall saying there was? I deal with warranties over the last 15 years, did you know there are/were strata’s with 5-10-20 year warranties? IE the 20 is still in force. Most of my work involves the expired two year warranty, that’s why I have a thriving business. Personally the set up for me is great. Sorry but I’m not so much Gloom and Doom as amazed how people think Granit Counter tops is important but never question why major developers got rid of the % year warranty in the last 10 years.Would you now pay twice as much for a new car with 1/2 as much warranty? I’m more into quality, you know if your buying a car you would base it on the seat covers and paint job whereas I would check to see if it had an engine and transmission with a LONG warranty!
June 14th, 2009 at 11:06 am
#79 strataman there is no 2-10-10 warranty anymore.
Only 2-5-10 I know as much as you do about this topic.
June 14th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Strataman: I have seen examples where the developer does a patch only for it to fail later. If an owner is not satisfied, they should notify their warranty. There is an extended 1 year Labour & Materials coverage extended on any repair by developer or warranty, fyi for owners.
The warranty periods are as follows:
2 Year – Labour & Materials – including HVAC, plumbing, electrical etc. (within this period a 12 and 15 month warranty are also defined).
5 Year – Water penetration (building envelope), some warranties extend this to 10 years.
10 Year – Structural, only on new buildings not renos.
On new developments the owners report all deficiencies to the developer and literally sign off on the repairs once satisfied with the repair. To me, this is a fair arrangement. When the developer fails, that’s when the warranty comes in.
After the 2 year L&M expires, it’s all on the warranty and people should be thankful. I’ve seen some pretty significant repairs happen within this period. I’m talking $100,000′s to repair a building envelope, that would’ve been passed onto the owners through an assessment. You can’t tell me this doesn’t protect the owners, I’ve seen it in action. I’ve also been part of some huge leaky condo litigation so… I’ve seen what happens without a warranty, it’s ugly and extremely costly and onerous on the owners. It may not be perfect, but it does protect owners from some pretty significant costs down the road.
Similar to a vehicle warranty if you start changing parts or taking your vehicle to a shady tree mechanic vs. the dealership where you bought it (while under warranty), your warranty is void.
A warranty is in place to ensure that things remain the same and functioning as they should. It’s not a maintenance contract, contrary to popular belief. That responsibility remains with the owner of the property, as it should.
That being said, due diligence is always required but rarely undertaken. Research the developer/builder/warranty before you buy.
June 14th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Strata fees aren’t particularily high here for new, older, middle aged condos. Tells me except for the leakers they’re not badly built, not perfect of course. I think Strata man is just a doom and gloomer who gets a kick out of trying to scare people. Hey Jesse, when people weigh out buying or renting it’s like anything else in life, they just have to make what’s called a “decision”. One day you will grow up too.
June 14th, 2009 at 10:11 am
#79 Yes, you are right. Did not hear that arguement before, but I think on the flip side, for every buyer, there is a support for higher prices.
However, the locomotive downhill run is in action now, so I dont think the odd buyer now is going to slow down this beast.
The seller is the one that avoided getting killed, just a few broken bones (losses) and hurt ego.
Somehow this downturn feels normal. It seems we are going back to the basics, no wasting, no strutting, humbleness, back to being frugal and modest.
Those that were strutting and flashing made me feel uncomfortable. Why are they trying to state (actions and behaviour) that they are “better”? What is the point? Or there is no point, just plain lemmeling and brain laundering. Lotsa ellls as in lala land. lol
Memory lane: Remember when people lined up outside sales offices to outbid each other for that “great condo”? It was FEVER! Media induced madness. Gold fever, one would think they pumped oxygen into the sales offices and display rooms.
Where are they now? Kraft dinner? Master card hounding them? Selling that BMW?
I just never could wrap my brain around this nor understand it b/c I never got any raises.. so where was the money coming from?? Yes, banks, but, but, but that is NOT your money! How hard is that to understand??
(ps. I dont like loans or debts and spend/live accordingly, I guess I wont feel so much like an outcast anymore now that people have to go back to the sweet basics)
June 14th, 2009 at 10:09 am
No Longer Looking:
All is can to that is ………..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....p;index=31
June 14th, 2009 at 9:36 am
“First off, the talk about the warranty here is misleading. I work in the field. The 2-10-10 warranty is a really good product.” It’s a great product for the developer! The 2 applies to in-suite and building infrastructure such as HVAC etc. Under the present situation the developer has total controll to access these systems and in fact if a third party looks at the system the “warranty” if you call it that is void. The basic idea is the developer will patch things and make it work until the warranty is expired then hand the remains to the new strata which in many cases find building equipment non functioning and in total dis repair. One large new tower I was called to did not even have any permits for the electrical or steam installations. The developer also keeps the maintenance fee low for those two years by not doing any preventative maintenance allowing the unsuspecting strata to discover all the defects, which results in sudden increse in maintenance fees. All buyers should be aware that maintenance fees during the first two years do not in any way indicate what actual maintenance will be but in fact a low maintenance fee is indication of scam to sell the units rather than an indication of an economical building.
Try to get a copy of an as-built from your developer after the two years…guess what they don’t have any available. Show the City the differance between the as-built and what is on-site and they shrug and say see the Engineer, ask the engineer and they say hire me to correct it! 
ENGINEERS regularly sign off on uncompleted substandard work,(if in doubt look at any as-built all of which are in- correct when compared to actual on-site conditions) which relieves the City of all responsibility. There is NO ONE looking out for the buyer ZIP!
June 14th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Vansanity: “Isn’t this person less competition for you when you eventually do decide the price is low enough to buy?”
Yes but if the problem gets too big then governments bail out stupidity and I end up paying for others’ mistakes. Plus bubbles significantly affect the decisions people make — they either capitulate and have to overpay or they end up renting when they would normally prefer to own. This mis-allocation of capital or delay in preference in itself is an unnecessary burden.
Bubbles produce no net positive economic value. At best they are a cash transfer from one person to another, at worst the divert capital from more productive enterprises and mis-allocate capital until after the bubble deflates. The best you can hope is that after the bubble deflates you can buy at lower than fundamental value but you’ve wasted well over 10 years waiting to do so.
June 14th, 2009 at 8:44 am
First off, the talk about the warranty here is misleading. I work in the field. The 2-10-10 warranty is a really good product. We hire some very talented engineers in investigating defects and remedying the same. The company that backed away did so simply due to a lack of diversification in their underwriting portfolio.
Other insurers have stepped right up. There were plenty of premium dollars being made with little risk due to the contract’s indemnity agreement.
Anyone with an insurance background would tell you you don’t make profit through underwriting premiums alone, they make it by investing the earned premiums.
Secondly, I’ll preface this rant by saying I’m a bear. What I don’t get is why other bears rip apart someone who decides to buy. Isn’t this person less competition for you when you eventually do decide the price is low enough to buy? Shouldn’t the capitalist in you encourage your competition to make a mistake? When you attack a buyer, you sound as though you’re trying to convince yourself of your argument. I just don’t get it.
To the previous couple that’s going to buy: Good for you, I suggest a variable rate mortgage on a property that takes up over 75% of your combined net income, good luck and keep us posted!
June 14th, 2009 at 1:39 am
Did anyone look at that B.C. hydro report a couple of years ago that stated 30-45% (i cant recall the exact number, close to 40%) of condos didn’t use enough electricty for anyone to live in them? That means a good chunk, over a third are speculator condos.
June 14th, 2009 at 1:36 am
I’m in Edmonton and no matter what city, bubbleheads are freaking out by a small increase in the average/median price of a house/condo in the Spring. Doesn’t anyone look at stats? Spring always has a bounce.
Relax, the drops come from August-December. This spring had a bit better bounce than normal due to the lowering of the prime to 2.25%, but as you can see that hasn’t stopped mortgage rates from going up the last two weeks by about 0.6% (for five year mortgages).
If people look at all the past recessions, they enter and leave recessions in V type shapes. The milder recessions look more V-ish. The bad recessions like like \_ and this current recession has been a bad recession, but people are saying its over? So this recessions looks like this? \| ? Wow, that looks better than all the mild recessions we had. Since the government of Canada freaked out about the recession in March – we haven’t had a recovery yet. Wait until unemployment hits 10% in Canada.
People have maxed out their loans with these mortgages. Time will not be nice to them.
Vancouver’s going to get hit really hard – *ahem* tourism, lumber, etc.
If you’re so desperate to buy, go buy now. We’ll see you cry this winter.
June 14th, 2009 at 1:23 am
Bob:
Yes, there’s always risk and reward in any financial endeavour; most of us, however, believe that–right now–the preponderance of evidence points to there being much more risk than reward purchasing Vancouver real estate now. Does that mean that real estate prices won’t rise? No, not at all. Every investor knows the old adage that a market can stay irrational longer than you (the investor) can stay solvent. But, given everything that we’ve seen in other cities around the world, there is no way that it will not happen here as well.
What’s your view of the risk-reward of purchasing RE in Vancouver right now?
June 13th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
“Not sure why ING jetted up the rate again for its 5-year fixed when I don’t see other banks do the same thing”
It’s ING’s turn at the front of the peleton.
June 13th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Noticed that the 5-year fixed mortgage rate of ING Direct has gone up again.
It was 4.19% (from 3.99%)after TD made the announcement of the 2nd rate hike mid last week. When I checked the ING site yesterday night, the rate has gone up from 4.19% to 4.49%!!
Not sure why ING jetted up the rate again for its 5-year fixed when I don’t see other banks do the same thing.
Thoughts?
June 13th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Effective January 10, 2008, the ^&*(*& Warranty Program is no longer enrolling new projects for either new construction or building envelope remediation work. For any projects that are currently enrolled in the program, we give you our assurance that we will continue to provide the same standard of service and support you’ve come to expect from &^&*(*.
June 13th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
If anyone doubts the warranty is bunk check out the website of the broker that did the 2-10-10 warranty.
Looks like the insurance company didn’t want to continue with the program. Hmm, now why would they forgo millions in premiums in a situation where the developer was forced to buy a warranty in order to get an occupancy permit to sell the product?
Think of the talented consultants that the insurance company could have hired to determine how long a condo would last?
If it was a publicly traded company they would have had to due their due diligence before forgoing said permiums, no?
June 13th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
“Maybe you guys will think we’re nuts or very naive
but we’re simple people, and i guess we just feel we’re ready to make that plunge.” Very smart move! I am sure you may have rented a lemon (car) and maybe even bought one?If you HAD to do one again which would you do?. People are buying 1/2 million condos with a worse warranty then a toaster from Canadian Tire! Go figure! Why is there no warranty for 10 Years? Cause the developer knows damn well nothing will work after two years! Otherwise they would be competing with each other as to who offers the biggest warranty. So hey you two are smart, only a complete and total idiot would spend .5 m + with a lessor warranty then a toaster! (Lesser)? Yup they give you a new one if the old one doesn’t work. So….ask your seller for the same deal….bet your warranty isn’t as good as Canadian Tire, Best Buy, or Home Depot….hope you didn’t spend more than $30! Nope you both are right on!
June 13th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
RCMP discover secret pot room in upscale Surrey home
http://tinyurl.com/n98swe
don’t need no stinkin’ mortgage payments here!
June 13th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Anonymous 68: “we’re not saavy investors or anything, heck we dont even own mutual funds. “
Well then heck you’re doing better than 80% of the population who invested in mutual funds since 2000 and have net lost money. Who’s the “savvy investor” now?
You can certainly “make the numbers work” at current rates and prices but if you overpay for an asset, you overpay. As long as you are aware you are overpaying and prices are most likely to be lower for a long time, go for it. But please do all on this blog a favour and don’t say your home is a good “investment” in the financial sense of the word, ’cause it ain’t.
June 13th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
i would prefer to rent than to buying (or so until the spring bounce started scaring me..), but bf believes in the whole renting is throwing money away idea and i cant convince him otherwise.
Ive done the #s at a higher rate, based on current income, it’ll take us about 13-14 years to pay off house on our own, or 8-9 years with us living in the basement and renting out the top. (we live/work/want to buy in langley/surrey, so houses are cheaper).
We really dont need much space and since there’s just the 2 of us, we’re fine with living in the basement until our future kids are of age to live in a room of their own (in about 9-10 years). Thats when we intend to move upstairs. (I refuse to buy a townhouse/condo/apartment)
we’re not saavy investors or anything, heck we dont even own mutual funds. In fact our down payment is just in a high interest savings account earning a whopping 0.75%.
Maybe you guys will think we’re nuts or very naive
but we’re simple people, and i guess we just feel we’re ready to make that plunge.
June 13th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
yup. and why would one want to take on all the risks and costs of owndership just to live in a basement – so that one can move upstairs in 35 years once the mortgage is paid off?
June 13th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
The episode I mentioned:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpaUNQ4a6Bc
Go to 5:54
Lister: Rimmer, you fantasized that you had seven kids and a mortgage.
Rimmer: Help
June 13th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Wow, when I was in my mid-20s, the last thing I thought about was buying real estate. Kids these days
Anyone else a Red Dwarf fan? Remember that fantasy world episode where Rimmer can’t even imagine himself into a good situation. He ends up with a dumpy wife, several bratty kids and a mortgage. ;P Then the tax collector comes to break his thumbs.
If I had my 20s to do over again, owning a Vancouver crackshack and living in its basement would not be on my list.
June 13th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
thanks for answering my questions guys.
I am young (mid 20s) and yes, in order for me to buy right now, dual income is necessary, and I was thinking of living in the basement suite while renting the top of the house to help pay off the mortgage sooner.
The spring bounce really caught me off guard, and im not at all versed in fiance, so what i see is just stories of how we’re recovering from the recession etc.
I had thought about the whole job loss EI situation, but honestly, I only know of one person who lost their job. Restuarants, store, etc. seem just as busy to me and when i talk to my coworkers, everyone believes its not that bad, and that yah, we are recovering. When I read comments here, and other places, its more gloom and doom than what im noticing. Coupled that with the spring bounce, I am doubting everything now.
June 13th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
justspiffy:
very well put
June 13th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Nobody is now complaining that they didn’t invest in the dot com bubble.
So you’ve stayed away from tech stocks since then? If so your choice makes no sense. There is always somewhere to make money and you’re right, risk does not always equal reward, just potential for a much bigger reward/loss.
GM & Chrysler? Come on, they’re two of the most pathetically run entities around and deserve to fail. The only risks they took were the amazingly obvious bad ones.
June 13th, 2009 at 11:31 am
This is to bring in notice of user/poster that site administrator has fixed one poster and linked him to cbc article from january 2008 that says home prices to increase 10% etc.
I want to bring this in notice that any prediction stated in the articles are not mine nor does it belongs to media and news paper.They are there to run their bussiness,They will never tell you that “Vancouver Real Estate Never Goes Down”or else that will shut off their bussiness.Media always chose a medium to communicate by someone for example articles by some agencies or boards let’s say RICHMOND REAL ESTATE NEVER GO DOWN,COAL HARBOUR REAL ESTATE NEVER GO DOWN,ETC.SO is there any doubt about 15 different location monitored by individual poster? Hello? If you can’t face the truth would you mind shut the fuck up? Hello? And by the way who the fuck has deleted comment number #4 on last thread ? Hello? it was TD vs FF if you can’t face the lower interest rates through the link was provided then shut the fuck off again.Hello? look to whom jesse is talking to @#5 on last thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0LXAu15J54
June 13th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Bob: tell it to GM, Chrysler, and all the banks.
Risk can suggest reward, but it doesn’t equal it. Risk can also incur abysmal failure, and everything in between.
Bubbles always look like a sure thing to suckers in the middle of them, but after the fact they always look like the scam that they are. Nobody is now complaining that they didn’t invest in the dot com bubble.
June 13th, 2009 at 10:46 am
jimbeam: Definitely…I couldn’t agree more. I saw an article in the Globe & Mail last week that mentioned this same concept. I think tho w/the number of CQMI contracts that are popular these days, this could take some time to unravel. Cheers!
June 13th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Our spring housing bounce coincided with a stock market bounce, a low interest rate bounce, a government bailout bounce, an FTB this-must-be-the-bottom bounce, a media-fed green-shoots-recovery bounce, and an Olympics-will-save-us bounce.
It’s not surprising that the market bounced high, and it won’t be surprising when the bounce fails and the market falls much lower by the end of the year.
I won’t buy before late 2010, but I expect prices to have dropped precipitously by then.
June 13th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Did u ever think about how the prices tend to go up when the financial pressure increases, especially with respect to the owners and buyers? I think this is the main reason the Van RE has hit the roof. People are on the fast track and take too long to make a decision. Human nature, I guess. With interest rates at historical lows, it is likely only a matter of time before banks realize there is a problem with the system and take adequate steps to correct it.
June 13th, 2009 at 10:33 am
One thing about losses in real estate, is people underestimate them. They just look at the price tag of when they bought and when they sold, and don’t consider all the other costs. Even if you “break even” by selling at the same price as you bought, you still had all kinds of money you sunk into realtard fees, taxes, strata fees, sweat equity etc. Its best to keep your mouth shut and not remind the sheep cuz its too late for them and it will just piss them off.
June 13th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Great stuff Anob!
June 13th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Vancouver is a beautiful city. I’ve traveled enough to know as much. It is also a great place to live. People work, come home and enjoy all the recreational activities the wondrous nature of this region provides – skiing, hiking, kayaking… Our leaders are lazy, yet they provide a strong social security net, and are keeping this place affordable to all demographics. This is a place where seniors and students are treated equally to all, and middle class rules, especially if that middle class is unionized. What keeping us entertained are regular cops raids on the house of a premier, since he was a generous man and gave out one too many casino licenses, but also the complaints of some rich snobs whose boats are rocked by waves from fast ferries.
This is a place where all religions are accepted, and none is universal… This is a place where a home is what it is, and not a religious place of worship. This is Vancouver on the turn of millennium.
…Until the prophet came…
The prophet who promised honesty, accountability, and more than anything, the promise of unbound wealth…
The prophet and his disciples swept across our great province, taking almost every region. With such unbound power to rule, the prophet quickly turned to his true task. There were some minority groups who did not believe the prophet’s words, such groups were deemed unimportant, and their social benefits were cut. The prophet has been building temples across Vancouver for quite a while, and had personal vested interests in those temples. But he did not think that people valued his temples enough, he thought the temples should be worth at least three times as much. So he went abroad and brought games to Vancouver. His disciples went on television and proclaimed BC to be the “best place on earth”. The prophet went North and shut down manufacturing plants. The prophet went to Yaletown and evicted all the IT geeks and the industry along with it, since was a holy place to build the most expensive temples. He gathered many peoples from many professions and ordered them to abandon their trades and build temples instead. People were told if they convert their home to a temple, they would instantly find many riches. People believed and converted. They went to big banks and borrowed a lot of money because they could buy options to buy temples in the holy place called Yaletown. More people converted, and it became a holy practice of homage to offer senior converts more money for their option to buy temples in the holiest place. Soon the temples were worth three times the value, just as prophet thought. Most converts were happy because they would own at least three temples, and if they needed money they could just go to the bank and borrow more, since holy temples are worth more than any money in the world. The converts did not relax they did not ski, hike, or travel, it is against their religion to do anything other than buy temples and sell it to the next convert.
But suddenly, BC has started running out of converts. There were no more believers, only infidels who dared to spend their time traveling from “the best place on earth” rather than buying and selling temples. The prophet and his disciples saw his temples losing wealth, since the only way the temples could increase in value if more people converted. The prophet’s disciples blamed “the global crisis” for these losses, and when the prophet was asked why Vancouver’s housing was the most unaffordable on the planet, he replied its because it’s a holy place and all the people around the world want to come and convert to his religion. The prophet knew that in order for his plan to work, he needed to collect a lot of duties on the value of the temples, and since Vancouver is a holy place, the price of the temples was frozen at the highest level. Many converts were happy because their religion resided in unabated belief that the value of their temples never goes down, and they gladly pay more duties to the prophet for that belief.
The converts saw that prophet and disciples could not increase the wealth of their temples anymore, so they turned to convert infidels among their families and friends. They said to be happy, you needed to abandon things that make you happy, such as traveling, skiing, nights out – and spend all your moneys buying a 40-year-old temple. Because the rain in Vancouver is holy, temples that leak only add to the value as the years go by. They say after you pay bank your dues, in 35 years, you can sell your 75 year old temple for many millions, because the older the temple the more expensive it is, 35 years of soaking by holy rain make it grow holy mold…
June 13th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I work with hundreds of people who are getting laid off. I’m hearing sad stories of owners having to sell condos at a loss, and happier stories of renters who are taking the summer off before they look for other work. Oh well, people live out the consequences of their decisions.
June 13th, 2009 at 9:16 am
justspiffy: “It is amazing how long people can survive for before they getting really desperate.”
What’s “really desperate” anyways? Prostitution? Selling kids into slavery? One thing is for sure, anyone who is “really desperate” or just plain “desperate” isn’t going to buy a larger house anytime soon. Move up market: dead.
June 13th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Keep the faith people. Values have only one way to go, that is down. Interest rates are rising, people are still getting laid off, EI payments will stop soon, rents are declining, incomes are declining, cost of gas and food are increasing, US is still is collapse mode……………. not sure if anyone here has looked into the vaditity of the front page articles (I refuse to read any Sun or Province paper, even online stuff) but I wouldn’t be surprised if the stats were fudged. Let me guess a realtors association economist produced the report? Anyway, for me the big news, (front page in my paper) was the 0.4% increase in bond yields this week and major banks jacking up mortgage rates. Governments can do nothing about increase cost of lending and it getting passed onto consumers.