Friday free-for-all!
It’s the end o’ the week! Lets do our regular round up of recent economic news. Here are a few stories I’ve noticed lately:
-CIBC: Canadian employment quality ‘nose-dived’ in last 6 months
-Olympic rental market swamped with thousands of empty homes
-Real estate industry could face millions in fines for not lowering fees
-CREA will keep MLS locked down for now
-CMHC needs to review policies
-Is a condo a good investment?
-New US program to allow ‘owners’ to ‘rent’ their homes from bank
-Wells Fargo bets on housing recovery
-A put option for your homes value
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes about the economy and housing markets here and have an excellent weekend!
RSS 2.0 comments feed. leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Can anybody in bear land help me with some links detailing the foreign buyer myth in Metro Vancouver?
November 9th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I bet a lot of waiters are making more than the median income in B.C. Once the market turns the realtors will start trying to get their old jobs back.
November 9th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Just after i heard the news report about the EA job cuts on CKNW, they went straight to a Vancouver Job Shop commercial advertising some crappy little job. That appears to be the pattern: good jobs disappear by the 100’s and 1000’s to be replaced by single-digit hires of low-paid employees.
Yet still the 750,000 – 1,000,000 houses near me in Burnaby keep flying off the shelves.
November 9th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
@Garth:
Yeah, but the former realtor could possibly be making $1000/week (tips and wages) if he’s working full time. He probably declares about 10% of his wages or $30-40 week in tips, so his cash income is very good. There are many, many worse paid jobs in this city.
November 9th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
@patriotzed: “For food, which is 0% taxed under GST and HST, and for all exports, there is no net GST or HST cost in the price structure.”
You’re missing the point. If a good is suddenly taxed that was not taxed before, that leads to a decrease in demand unless costs can be lowered to compensate. With efficient markets, lowered costs will rarely happen because there is nowhere to cut costs enough to offset the tax gains.
With real estate the ability to lower costs through reduced land prices is always possible so the net effect of increased tax has a much better chance to be muted, if not eliminated entirely.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
#117“Balloon” Update:
Drove by the Scena sales center near Kingsway and Nanaimo on Saturday and there were balloons tied to every lamppost and realtor’s car. More distressing is that there was a lineup out the door for presales! Clearly the market has not died yet.
=================
I was there!! The realtots paid me 100 bucks to stand in line for a couple of hours.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I posted this early, but here’s a better link.
roughly 100 (previously i said over 100. oops) jobs in Victoria and Burnaby affected. The Kodak Burnaby office is right next to EA.
http://www.bivinteractive.com/.....;Itemid=32
November 9th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
“Cassiar and hastings was the only intersection on the trans Canada.”
Hmm…who knows, although it ONCE WAS the only major intersection in the COV without left turn lanes (with SIGNALS) back in the 1960’s!
It was so dumb!
November 9th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
…er, back to that earlier Electronic Arts posting, Deborah Hope on Global confirmed that “1500″ (!) positions were due to be axed. A “significant” number of them in Burnaby.
Poor slobs.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
“Channing Tatum called.”
I laughed and laughed when I heard that name a few weeks ago. Some TV show or other… People tell me it’s an actor’s real name.
So Hollywood.
And, so sorry to be so “off-topic”.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Real Paul you beat me to it. I read the article about California based electronic arts laying off 1500 people. Ouch I imagine a lot of them will be out of the Burnaby office. So ends one of the myths, electronic arts never lays off always growsn. Now if people can get into there head myth number two in vancouver real estate in Vancouver never goes down.
Myth number 3 I found out for myself when I moved to Calgary.Cassiar and hastings was the only intersection on the trans Canada.
Now that I think about it Vancouver is a city of myths. Well one down many more to go.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Wow, the economy is tanking because pigs fly! Isn’t that convenient!
Ever get the feeling that someone is trying to pull the wool (or pig skin) over your eyes?
November 9th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Is this why the government is so intent on keeping canadians in the dark about the H1N1 virus? Is it all about hotel reciepts. Its the same that was speculated about why they let SARS get so out of control.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....le1356684/
November 9th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Electronic Arts just posted their earnings numbers… net loss. Plans to lay off 17% of workers (1500) saving them will save $100 million. Don’t know how many will hit the Burnaby office, but that is their largest studio.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Electronic Arts cuts another 1500 as the vid game biz continues to crater. This had got to be a real screwing for the many Yaletown hipsters with big mortgages and pre sale contracts ready to explode.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/.....&pos=5
November 9th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Hey Supratard:
Channing Tatum called. He’s heard what you’ve been doing with that G.I. Joe action figure and he asked you to stop. G.I. Joe doesn’t like spelunking apparently..
God I hate you, and every idiot like you. You go running around town thinking this really is the best place on earth for whatever reason, and it so plainly isn’t. I have no idea how this town manages to function but I’ starting to suspect it runs by convincing idiots like you that this is a town full of high rollers and you’re somehow special.
You claim wealthy people are pouring into this town but you don’t have a shred of proof to back up your claim. People are eating in restaurants. Big fucking deal. If the Chinese community were that wealthy they wouldn’t be shopping in those cheap ass RIchmond malls and eating in filthy DIm Sum Dumps.
I can’t wait till you and your fucking family are living in some dumpster killing and rating rats, and you’ll STILL be eating better food then they serve in Richmond.
Idiot.
November 9th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
I was just reading a Vancouver Sun article about a guy being sentenced for a car accident that killed some people. They describe the guy this way:
“Hughes, a former Vancouver realtor who was most recently working at Joe Fortes…”
So that’s where realtors go.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
@117
As long as buying a condo in Vancouver remains an easy way of getting Canadian permanent residency status for all Asian “investors” this market will do just fine. And don’t forget the free healthcare for their extended families and elderly. Don’t believe me?
Sad but true.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
@patriotzed:
I agree, as much as many or most overweight people are costing the rest of us more money to support their medical bills if we’re to consider them targets for extra payment we should also consider;
Speeders (although they at least give back, perhaps more than they take because high speed traffic accidents are one of the leading sources of donated organs)
Promiscuous people
People who travel extensively
Smokers
Airline pilots
Doctors and Nurses
Heavy drinkers
Athletes
The elderly
Well the list could go on until it encompasses nearly everyone… Everyone engages in some kind of risky behaviour that increases their chance of getting sick in one way or another.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
“Balloon” Update:
Drove by the Scena sales center near Kingsway and Nanaimo on Saturday and there were balloons tied to every lamppost and realtor’s car. More distressing is that there was a lineup out the door for presales! Clearly the market has not died yet.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Sure they fucked but will they ever admit it? Of course not.
http://www.nationalpost.com/ne.....id=2199519
November 9th, 2009 at 11:51 am
health Official admits that vaccine PR push is just a scam to cover past mistakes. The majority of people will remain un vaccinated after the peak season is long gone. Gov fears fuck up will leave them with 50 million doses in the warehouse. Typical canadian efficiency.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....le1356125/
November 9th, 2009 at 11:43 am
More competition coming for condo holder flippers as rental towers built in west end.
http://www.theprovince.com/Wes.....story.html
November 9th, 2009 at 7:27 am
“Over 100 jobs gone at Kodak Burnaby”
There is AN UPDATE TO THAT…100 people worldwide, so, not just in Burnaby.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:50 am
@logic:
Nobody should pay any MSP fees at all, and most provinces don’t have any. It’s not an insurance premium in any real sense but just a head tax. And I’m not in favour of charging people in any way for behaviour which is considered by those in charge to be medically risky, that’s an open door for the medical system to be swamped by a raft of user-pay (or co-pay as they say in the US) charges.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:11 am
@jesse:
That is completely backwards. Like the GST, HST is rebated on purchases by intermediaries in the supply chain. That’s why it’s called a value added tax. The end buyer is the net payer of GST and HST. For food, which is 0% taxed under GST and HST, and for all exports, there is no net GST or HST cost in the price structure.
November 8th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
I love the whole conspiracy fantasies. Tell a couple of people at your work some “secret” and see just how long it will remain secret. As they say, “It’s not that I can’t keep a secret, it’s the people I tell who can’t keep a secret.”
The odds of a Government organization being able to keep ANY master plan secret are about zero.
It makes good blog fodder, but that’s about as far as it goes.
“Bankruptcy for two swinging 20 year olds and two aged Mainland Chinese folks (the parents who funded them)” « Vancouver Real Estate Anecdote Archive Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
[...] November 2009 · Leave a Comment This from Strataman at vancouvercondo.info 8 Nov 2009 at 7:34 pm [...]
November 8th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
“I am certain that there is more of a link between a fading pseudo celebrity and a desperate attempt for fame (Miss Mccarthy) than there is between vaccines and autism. ”
Does Democrat nominee for president and current senator john Kerry count? He’s on the record as saying there’s a link.
I believe he’s bringing this same science-based approach to the Kerry-Box climate change bill now in the senate.
We’re led by donkeys.
November 8th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
nice post strataman – lets hope to see mnay more like it
November 8th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Well, as Garth Turner is wont to say, “Most people have NO IDEA how bad it is going to get. ”
Believe it.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
“They’re here to avoid the corrupt chinese government and funneling their own money out of their country.” and down the drain!
Looking after a bank repo at King’s Landing. Bankruptcy for two swinging 20 year olds and two aged Mainland Chinese folks (the parents who funded them)!
The old folks are dumping their other two condo’s cause they co-signed!
All heading back to China it seems. 500 K loss after mortgage was paid off. They must have spent too much time lining up to eat Dumb Son!
Strataman
November 8th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I don’t think this made the news yet. Over 100 jobs gone at Kodak Burnaby, outsourcing to Israel and china. We’re talking about over 100 skilled s/w R&D people making 60+k/year.
not the best source, but let’s just say I can confirm it.
http://www.prepresspilgrim.com.....y-is-dead/
November 8th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Do people really still believe that there is a link between vaccinations and autism? I am certain that there is more of a link between a fading pseudo celebrity and a desperate attempt for fame (Miss Mccarthy) than there is between vaccines and autism. I work with severely autistic children, and I still had my kids vaccinated. It is just irresponsible not to. Sorry, but I think listening to doctors over fading playboy bunnies makes a little more sense.
November 8th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
What I see as the biggest issue in all of these topics is the willingness of Canadians to believe everything that they are told by the government and the media. People here believe anything they are told. The level of complacency is shocking.
Do you people share a brain and just pass it around?
Of course the hockey teams are lying about the way they got the vaccine. Anyone believing that statement MUST be a true ADD sufferer. They said they are high risk because they ‘high five’ a lot of people. heres a suggestion… do the elbow bump and stop abusing the children who need protection before the fat cat dipshit hookey players do.
Of course Supraboy is an idiot
Of course children are sickened in large numbers by vaccines in numbers that the government wants to suppress so that they can control the message. Didn’t they also say that the GST was revenue neutral and that the Swine Flu wouldn’t be an issue in Canada?
Of course genetically deficient children are not surviving in greater numbers than ever before ( WOW on that one by the way).
Of course ADD is not over diagnosed. Thats just an excuse to misdirect the discussion.
November 8th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Good lord – Supraboy just illustrates that you can take the peasant out of the village, but you can’t take the village out of the peasant.
Most of the nouveau riche Chinese haven’t yet experienced a serious downturn – they haven’t been wealthy long enough. Oh the wailing we shall hear.