Friday Free-for-all!
It’s the end of the work week, and for most people a long weekend – are you ready to talk turkey? It’s time for our regular news round-up and open topic discussion post for the weekend. Here are a few stories I’ve noticed lately:
-TD: Vancouver RE rebound ‘too much, too fast’
-Royal LePage: reboung doesn’t point to boom
-Ipsos Reid: Optimism rising amongst BC home sellers, buyers
-Hot market expected to cool by November
-Olympic Village $131 Million over budget
-Strong market needed for Village to break even
-Australia first G20 nation to raise interest rates
-Currency traders bet Canada will be next to raise rates
-TD: Could home prices trigger rate hikes?
-BC recovery so feeble it might as well be dead.
-CIBC: Consumer borrowing in Canada ‘defying gravity’
-US rents are falling almost everywhere
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent long weekend!
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October 14th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
@mk-kids:
We were paying $2200/month and saw another unit in the same building for $2100. Looked at it and said “too much” and it is now listed at $1800 – South Granville.
October 14th, 2009 at 11:08 am
dboy, so now you want to restrict freedom of speech as well?
Wow, interesting how some deal with the more inconvinient matters.
Not sure but when a city/province starts limiting my personal freedoms in major ways (through wacky bylaws/police) then this does affect me and my decision to buy a house for my family here. In fact it’s one of the main reasons not to settle here at this point. Someone pointing out the not so great things about Vancouver, cutting through the re marketing crap, is actually quite helpful.
If you dislike other’s posts howabout choosing to ignoring them?
October 14th, 2009 at 7:52 am
@dboy: The Troll has posted 14 times so far in this thread. Not a single one of those posts has a positive score!
October 14th, 2009 at 6:11 am
@realpaul:
You are a fucking moron. This is supposed to be an re site. There really needs to be moderation on this site, its going to the dogs.
October 14th, 2009 at 6:09 am
@read on:
Funny I was thinking the same thing….. a bunch of nut jobs on here with nothing better to do… get a life already!
October 14th, 2009 at 4:41 am
@tincup: “Or are homeowners/landlords generally able to come up with enough related deductions to offset that?”
Yeah, pretty much. Say your basement suite is a third of the floor area in your house and you have to spend $10,000 to replace your roof. Well, you claim $3333.33 against your rental income. That should take care of about four months alone. And it goes on from there…
October 14th, 2009 at 2:20 am
^^ Jesus, what a sense of entitlement this spoilt little bitch has:
“With a blunt and harsh realization that not everyone with a Canadian passport is brimming over with excitement and anticipation for the sixteen day event in February”
- no shit. Perhaps that’s because folks from back home “Albertie” aren’t going to be stuck with the bill for her little party?
“Seriously? Ten thousand PAID positions for a once in a lifetime chance at working at an Olympic Games and we gotta beg? Maybe a free jacket and lunch would sweeten the pot.”
– perhaps they could offer market wages, rather than trying to get poeple on the cheap?
“And the Olympics are a bad thing? ”
- yes, yes they are.
October 14th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Poor Alberta girl doesn’t understand why people who are loading up on generational debt are such DOWNERS and can’t just ENJOY life and spend billions so she can go zooooom on her little sled!!
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/luge.....stler+life
October 14th, 2009 at 1:50 am
We really are growing up; it only took us 30 years to have an Olympic fiasco as large as Montreal’s. Go Vancouver!! Maybe in another 50 it will be a great place to live.
October 14th, 2009 at 12:02 am
It was/is Kim Rossmo but the story is the same. He was shunned by VPD as a Crim PhD. Shame. He is brilliant & a great guy but not a VPD asskisser.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Someone mentioned there is a high number of furnished apartments for rent, I agree.
I did a quick search on craiglist and counted 123… all posted October 13!!! 123 posted, in one day. Furnished.
Nuff said.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
No, it is not “normal” in any balanced market.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Secondary suites needed for home ownership
http://www.vancouversun.com/bu…..story.html
“Heaney said that on a $580,000 mortgage, which is fairly typical for Vancouver, a buyer would need a family income of around $100,000 a year to carry the payments
*****************
BOM will lend almost 6 times family income? Is this normal?
October 13th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Watch two really uncertain and anxious guys, who actually seem to know very little, trying really hard to look like they know what they’re talking about as they chat about RE and mortgage rates:
http://watch.ctv.ca/news/clip219864#clip219864
October 13th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
@rp:
“If it increases the income due the owner then it does increase the value…….”
Yes, I agree. But the point I was trying to make is that with a laneway house, you’d have somebody living in the backyard, which on some level, lowers the value of living in the place, even if the dollar value of the place is higher.
October 13th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Braidwood Inquiry determines RCMP defense of Taser use ‘ a reliance on junk science’. No kidding. How many science geniuses do you think are on the police force. Stop counting you idiot , there aren’t any.
For example, remember when the VPD refused to incorporate the geographic profiling work of Gene Rosmo in the Willie Piction / Missing Womens case of the DTES. Rosmo was up for an inspectors promotion but the high school drop outs who infest the senior positions of the VPD boycotted his work because the promotion was deemed by the insiders ‘ an inside position’ and they wouldn’t allow a better educated outsider to get the job.
They effectivley shut down the investigation for two years until they forced Rosmo out of the running and an insider high school drop out from Richmond was slid into the position based on seniority not ability. Picton killed a dozen women in those two years while the ‘police department’ argued and fussed over that promotion of a ‘science guy’ into a senior position on the force. Rosmo now works for the FBI and his technology is world famous.
October 13th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
@patriotz
Regarding the secondary suite discussion way back on comment #96&97:
I never hear taxes mentioned when doing these calculations. Isn’t rental income fully taxable? Or are homeowners/landlords generally able to come up with enough related deductions to offset that?
If I have a marginal tax rate approaching 40%, isn’t that going to effectively reduce my income from a secondary suite by 40% (less the deductions like portion of utilities etc)?
October 13th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
It’s like they are testing the rather numb Vancouver folk on how much they can get away with. It’s a really thin line to walk with these bylaws that’s for sure. Basically it’s the city/province (the folks working for *US*, the public, our civil *servants*) telling *US* to kindly shut up and put on a smiley face for the olympics if we like it or not.
Imagine France gov tells their people that they can’t go on strike anymore to express their opinion because it might look bad in the news. F*ck they’d have a major revolution on their hands and rightfully so. People fighting for their rights is a good thing and should be embraced and supported by government on all levels at all times.
Having grown up for 30yrs in Germany (right on the border to France) I can compare this to EU and have to say I’m proud of how people fought and still fight for their rights, to name a few: 6 weeks vacation time by law/health care for all by law/shelter for all by law/job security by law (companies can’t just hire and fire as they please like). You could argue not all of these are working perfectly but I they are working well, to a degree that is very statisfying and so that you do not have to worry about these basic things. Never had to worry about health cost, job security or any basic needs for that matter. While the government also screws up, no doubt, they also do usefull things with long term benefit for people in mind, for example you need to abide by energy efficient buidling codes when building a house or when buying a house you need to upgrade to fulfill the codesor you pay large fines. This ‘forces’ people to save money over the long run and lowers energy cost/dependancy on Russian gas.
It took some courage to push this through since housing gets more expensive but this is truly for the greater good and it’s cool to see politicians caring beyont theri 4 yr term.
Here in North America it seems govs do the opposite, they go and help people screw up, encourage their greed. ts ts ts…
October 13th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
@NO – LYMPICS:
Yes , have we elected these shitheads to commit to civic leadership or to undermine the institutions that have produced the very system that has given them the lives they enjoy.
“Our civil liberties are being undermined on a 24/7/365 basis.
For someone like Gregor or anyone else to lay the obligation onto their constituent citizens to challenge in court the legislated whims by elected officials which conflicts and tramples over our basic rght is disgusting”
How does the idea of making bad laws purposely so that the citizens have to challenge them make sense to anyone? What next , pass a law that, say, says ” Lets kill the Jews” and then expect the citizens to challenge that through to the Supreme Court ” to make our laws stronger” as stated by this idiot Nazi Mayor Of Vancouver? Is this shithead Mayor on crack?
October 13th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
realpaul:
I see that Garth Turner(on his blog) has resigned and will not run for the Federal Liberals. I am surprised he waited this long.
To me, this indicates a homogenization in our political representation, a lack of clear and distinct choices.
Our civil liberties are being undermined on a 24/7/365 basis.
For someone like Gregor or anyone else to lay the obligation onto their constituent citizens to challenge in court the legislated whims by elected officials which conflicts and tramples over our basic rght is disgusting.
It is this type of “we dare you” arrogance by our officials that makes one wonder why we bothered fighting wars .
October 13th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
@gorky:
#116 G, how civic politicians who grew up in this country can turn around and pass draconian police state style laws is completley beyond understanding. This is shame beyond shame.
The comment you posted is on the lines of Hitler saying to the world ” give us Poland and we will stop the blitzkeig”. As we we all know these police states have all started with ‘just a little more power being neccessary” type thinking. Thats usually the night before the truck loads of storm troopers and the barking dogs have been placed on every corner.
And then you hear from the deniers ” But we didn’t see it coming”.
Zeig Heig Greggor Robertson, you anti democratic shit head.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Rennie and the Olympic Village:
If not mistaken Rennie takes an up front cut for every unit he markets/sells….I read somewhere it started at $50,000.
Regardless, this may be the time the ” condo king ” falls on his own sword, and thuis may be due to his contractual obligations to market what is likley far too much product.
The Olympic Village gig was a feather in his cap, and apparently he had a lot of sway with its design and features. He has advised COV to delay marketing the many UNsold units till MAY, 2010. I read that they are hoping the units will not be vandalized and have put up temporary barriers in the units to prevent use of certain areas and items by visiting athletes.
Given these several hundred UNsold units will have to be renovated after the games are over (ie certain features removed and others installed), the Condo King will have his credibilty severely tested in trying to sell used and overpriced units before the dreaded HST kicks in.
I am sure that many developers he works for will resent this COV project competing against their own. I highly doubt COV has much wriggle room and will be the first to slash prices in order to cut their losses.
Good luck Bobbie boy, and fasten your seat belt…
October 13th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Re Cruise ships and disposable income:
Saw a feature on the Cruise business last week ,….much of which is based in Miami, and most of the pie is owned by 4 major companies.
While the logistics etc. to facilitate a cruise were fascinating…the bottom line is are they making $$$? The news crew followed one cruise, and in the end, the cruise line said they barely broke even. The industry is really suffering, and cut back on expansion plans.
One interesting note was they are very dependent on repeat business, which I interpret as the older crowd that used to have a lot of disposable income. Looks like this will be another bubble ready to burst.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Wasn’t Rennie saying last week that prices are unsustainable and we should watch our spending. What a difference a few days make. If this doesn’t tarnish his credibility I don’t know what will. If you wanna know what he really thinks you should ask his boyfriend. He is a little more straight up.
October 13th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I’m sure the 2010 Olympics will have more surprises coming, they are simply letting out the remaining agenda slowly.
I am sure much of these affronts to civil liberties were part of the contracts signed once we “won” the bid…there is much we ,the public who pays the Olympic Tab, will never see.
What this indicates to me is that our elected officials can and will sell us out (prestige/ego etc.), and/or are too stupid to read the fine print and fold like a cheap tent to a bunch of non constituents.
Unfortunately, the games will be used as a distraction and focus by our politicos from now till the last Polish athlete leaves safely in Feb 2010.
Back to reality,…Then the REAL games begin.
October 13th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I agree there are a ton of furnished suites available these days… actually a ton of suites available, most with “wish” rents still. We’ve been doing a lot of looking lately and I’d say on average suites are priced about $300 more than they should be but we are seeing some movement.
Rents are really all over the place – amateur landlords are trying to cover their mortgages and maintenance fees but most renters aren’t willing to pay the premium, especially with all the inventory out there.
On the Olympics front, got an email the other day from the Pan Pacific for Olympic rooms. Apparently they held back a bunch of their inventory which they are now renting. I expect there are a number of hotels gearing up to “release inventory” in the next month or two. Read about a company who booked a whole cruise ship and they are slashing prices on room rentals. I don’t think this bodes well for the landlords who still believe they will be able to rent their yaletown studio for $500 a night…
Here’s a bit of what we have seen this week:
Coal Harbour – last tenant paid $1850, listed at $1875, dropped recently to $1650, still about $200 to $300 high. Vacant 2 months.
Coal Harbour – last tenant paid $1650, listed at $1700, dropped to $1600, still $200 to $300 high. Vacant 2 months.
Coal Harbour – listed $1675, rented for $1500.
Granville Island – listed at $1600. $300 too high. Vacant.
October 13th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
@RennieWhereRU?:
@rentah:
$2000/sqft??? Check out MLS: V790414, this is prime waterfront in Yaletown with a park in front and uninterupted water view for $732/sqft (still a bit overpriced in my opinion) with top end finishings and upgrades. If prices don’t tank, the city is lucky if they get 1/3 of asking. I will buy eventually but it will definately not be in Vancouver proper anymore as I don’t want anything to do with that tax burden…
October 13th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
@rentah:
$2000/sqft??? Check out MLS: V790414, this is prime waterfront in Yaletown with a park in front and uninterupted water view for $732/sqft (still a bit overpriced in my opinion) with top end finishings and upgrades. If prices don’t tank, the city is lucky if they get 1/3 of asking. I will buy eventually but it will definately not be in Vancouver proper anymore as I don’t want anything to do with that tax burden…
October 13th, 2009 at 11:50 am
absolutely get where you’re coming from realpaul. How civil rights are handled here is shocking to say the least – nothing to do with conspirancy theories as some suggested. These civil right violations are real, they are major and yes, they put us on track to become a police state.
just one example to make my point:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/briti.....:b28176400
“Violators could be fined up to $10,000 a day and jailed up to six months, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association said Friday.
The proposed law was introduced Thursday as a bill to amend the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act.”
Also love how Robertson talk about the civil rights group as some nice to have group to help make the laws better…
“Certainly, groups such as civil liberties have the right to challenge the laws, the bylaws that are made, so we’ll respect that process and hopefully it makes those laws stronger and more reasonable,” Robertson said.
WTF, HE should be the one challenging the weirdo bylaws and why the city/province is asked to pass them; the fact that a civil rights group has to step up to fight this is embarrasing. He’s holding a public office and that *mandates* him to work work within and protect the constuitution and that includes our civil rights.
It’s frustrating to see how little people in Vancouver care about how things are run.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:34 am
@Carioca Canuck:
I saw that commercial over the weekend, and if I rolled my eyes any further they’d fall out of their sockets. Sadly, the science of marketing has become so advanced that this sort of crap probably works on the majority of people. I’m sure it subtly evokes all the right reactions out of its target audience. A 30 second clip with a paid actor saying “he’s right” is all the facts most people need these days to make financial decisions.
ScotiaBank’s slogan “you’re richer than you think” is also pretty funny these days – in reality people are most definitely poorer than they think. The only thing they have more of is debt.
btw, the original ad was “Suzanne researched this”
October 13th, 2009 at 10:51 am
@Vancouverite:
#103 V, this can’t be good for the perception of value by those considering Vancouver as a destination.
Last night on Global TV @ 11 a spokesman for the Canadian Civil Liberties Associations made a statement on behalf of all civil liberties asscociations and right minded organizations decrying the fact that Canada has begun the slide into a ” POLICE STATE”, his words not mine. This is bad news for the deniers. Apparently the people that have been setting their hair on fire with my reporting of the public concious are just a minority group of far right wing nuts.
Mr. Riddle went on to say that the recent growing violence by police against the citizenru resembles the state of affairs under totalitarian regimes historically ( as in Communist bloc regimes) and nefarious dictatorships existing today.
Denial is apparently a fact for proto and closet fascists, psychos and losers in the context of world opinion it seems and this can’t be good for the perception of canada to be dragged into the mud by kill happy nut jobs in uniform.
Hey public opinion is a bitch isn’t it.
This morning the Olympic spokes person is demanding that they be vaccinated first ” ahead of woman and children” her words not mine. I am listening to the speech right now. They want to be protected while the population can F**k off. What a c##k, this doctor is. What kind of an asshole would suggest children should be put at risk so that the IOC and company can have ‘games’. What crap!!!!!!!!!
Bring on the clowns.
October 13th, 2009 at 10:12 am
In other news………
Has anyone seen the new 30 second commercial tripe from The Bank of Silly Notions…….eerrrr……The Bank of Nova Scotia……..?
In a dark twist on the Century 21 “Suzanne knows what is best” commercial they now have their own blatantly sexist and demeaning towards women variant, designed to embarrass females into letting hubby throw all their hard earned savings away on some heavy fee earning (for the bank anyways) stupid mutual funds, ABCP garbage or other stock market investment with one of their “Scotia Advisors”.
Basically, what you have is a couple sitting in front of their “Scotia Advisor” and hubby is trying to explain to wifey that the market is where the great returns are, and that they get nothing in GIC’s…….etc…..(well, I wouldn’t exactly call the preservation of capital “nothing”, would you ?? LOL !!) but I digress……
Anyways, the rocket scientist, errrr “Scotia Advisor”, (I wonder if that should have “TM” behind it like REALTOR does…….LOL !!!) says “he’s right” to his wife……and hubby rips off his shirt to expose underneath that he is wearing at-shirt with HE’S RIGHT written on it and he proceeds to run around the bank screaming in victory.
Classy……..
October 13th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Thanks for clearing that up.
October 13th, 2009 at 8:34 am
@No Longer Looking:
I don’t know if it is people leaving town or just hopeful landlords trying to cash in on short-term rentals for the Olympics, but there are a ton of furnished condos available for rent these days. Seems to me that the first group out is usually the consultants who originally came to town and rented a furnished unit as they are not long-term residents. Next out will be the construction workers…
October 13th, 2009 at 6:22 am
rp your $1000 is part of the total monetary float. In other words your $ came from someone else whose $ ultimately came from the bank as a loan.
The Money as Debt video is misleading
October 13th, 2009 at 5:38 am
@tincup:
It just occurred to me – never mind the economics, what he said does not make sense logically. Bubbles are unsustainable, by definition.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:46 am
@rp:
No it’s not correct. They can lend up to $1000, depending on the reserve requirements for that class of deposit.
You do not understand how the multiplication of the monetary base works. Suppose I put $1000 cash in the bank and the reserve requirement is 10%. The bank can loan out $900. That $900 becomes a new deposit either in that bank or in some other bank. $810 can be loaned out from that deposit. And so on. The $1000 results in $10,000 of deposits across all banks.
But each individual deposit results in a loan not exceeding that deposit.
October 13th, 2009 at 12:54 am
To patriotz: If I deposit $1000 cash in a bank, how much money can they lend out? Obviously they have $1000 in currency, but if they maintain a Tier 1 capital ratio of 10% I believe they can extend up to $9000 in bank credit. Is this correct?
October 13th, 2009 at 12:39 am
#104: This is exactly the point behind lane way housing: it’s designed to pump up the value of the associated real-estate – not because it adds value to the property but because it adds $’s to the monthly mortgage payment
If it increases the income due the owner then it does increase the value. Maybe not by as much as people think, since being a landlord has its own associated costs and risks, but the fundamental value of an asset is a relative multiple of the income it can be expected to generate in the future. The market price is ultimately that plus or minus a premium that somebody is willing to pay to own the asset at a given time.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
@Vancouverite: “TOO MUCH NEGATIVITY ON THIS BLOG!”
Okay, try this:
http://disney.go.com/index
October 12th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
“Secondary suites needed for home ownership
Yes of course they are. When secondary suites become the norm, the market prices houses to include the revenue from a suite (whether there is one or not).”
This is exactly the point behind lane way housing: it’s designed to pump up the value of the associated real-estate – not because it adds value to the property but because it adds $’s to the monthly mortgage payment – the sucker who buys the house can be sucked in even more if there’s more income available.
The end result – no more single family homes (been to Kit’s lately), just former single family homes with an apartment on the second floor, one on the main floor, two in the basement, and one in the yard. That becomes the ‘norm’. Idyllic, isn’t it?
October 12th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
TOO MUCH NEGATIVITY ON THIS BLOG!
October 12th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
thanks for the post real paul. Actually he is an aquantance, problem with him he is too accepting. He allows people to walk all over him. If it was me, in fact I wish it were I would not let it rest like I am sure you wouldn’t.
October 12th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
@other ted:
#98 , If questioning authority and appreciating my civil rights is ‘up my alley’ then yep it is. The problem with most of these denial retards is that they don’t whine about losing their rights, paying too much tax. having their schools closed down, getting beaten by the cops until after the fact. After the fact they cry and whine and want ‘ the government to help’. Wahhhhhhhh, my taxes are so high I can’t afford children, wahhhhhhhhhh I pay so much tax I can’t afford a house in the city, wahhhhhhhhhhhh, wahhhhhhhhhhh there are homeless people living in my neighbourhood and if they stay it will make me feel bad about my huge mortgage, wahhhhhhhhhh with my huge freaking mortgage my condo has to go up in value or I will lose wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!
#94 , I repeat, I do believe my own eyes and I don’t need the police to feed me an interpretation to help me make up my mind between their ‘cloaked in legal protection weasel clause explanations’ and what I actually saw/see/have seen. What kind of a freaking idiot can’t make up their own mind about what they see?
Do you have to phone 911 for the OK to wipe your ass. Will they be able to help you decide whether you’ve actually shit something out you’ve just imagined it.
OT if your friend had a receipt and the store took his/her goods then they should take that receipt to a lawyer and fry SEARS ass with blowtorch. A stop at the local media outlets would be a good thing. These corporate dipshits hate embarrassment more than anything. Much like the deniers they prefer to live behind a cloak of Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !
#95 BB, Still mad cause I called you out as a wanker eh? I’m sure its not your first time hearing that.
BBBBBBBBB ut don’t say bad things about me…….YYYYYYYYYou’ll hert mi feeeeelings,,,,,, snurfle.. Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha