Friday Free for all!
Hey! You made it to the end of the work week! Perhaps it’s time to get out of town, relax at home or wait in long security lines. What you do with your weekend is up to you, but what we do here is our regular end of the week economic news round up and open topic discussion post. Here are a few recent stories to kick off the conversation:
-There is no housing bubble
-Property tax deferral plan a debt time bomb?
-Scotia Capitol warns Ottawa on popping bubble
-Is Canada in a housing bubble?
-The cult of home ownership
-VREAA: Froogle Scott 4
-Five warning signs of a bubble
-First Canadian trade deficit in 34 years
-Games will give BC short term boost
-Mortgage insurance peace of mind – at a price
-The doomsday view of the mortgage market
-Ottawa weighs stricter mortgage rules
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!
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February 15th, 2010 at 3:39 am
@BeggarCity:
Entertaining, but one big clanger:
I have a hunch that his only exposure to Canadian aboriginals was at that ceremony. Or perhaps he visited some of our local reserves, which are about as relevant to Canada as a whole as the Beverly Hillbillies were to Appalachia (the locals are sitting on top of huge RE wealth). Just a short walk down to Hastings and Main would have given a taste of the reality for most of the rest.
February 15th, 2010 at 2:28 am
oo, oo, can i sigh up for an 800k condo there right now?
February 15th, 2010 at 2:23 am
DON’T SNORE — ‘THE WALLS ARE AS THIN AS CURTAINS
http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/b.....tains.html
Disgruntled athletes and coaches staying at the Olympic Village in Vancouver have hit out at what they say is shoddy accommodation and a lack of basic comforts.
One of the complaints is that the walls of the rooms are so thin that the athletes are struggling to fall asleep – not a good time to have snorers nearby…
Ski jumping trainer Werner Schuster compared the Olympic Village with a boy scout camp. The 41-year-old said: “The living standard is very poor. Five, six people have to share a bathroom and the walls are as thin as curtains.”
Such Spartan living, all in the quest to win gold at the Olympics!
The size the accommodation has also been criticised. A particularly sore point is that there isn’t enough space for athletes to dry their clothes.
A German functionary said: “The Village is good for summer. But now in winter with this weather it’s a problem.
“The German team have especially bought heaters to dry their things which are always getting wet due to the relentless sleet.”
Hermann Weinbuch, Germany’s Nordic combined coach, also slammed the fact that athletes and support staff will have to live so far apart.
And having to eat with plastic cutlery off paper plates in the Olympic Village hasn’t gone down well with the 49-year-old either.
But despite the problems, most of the Olympic Village residents seem to have come to terms with the inconveniences.
Schuster added: “I think it is enriching for the athletes to experience this. There’s a different atmosphere in a four-star hotel because you have to adjust to the circumstances.”
February 14th, 2010 at 11:54 pm
I told you carpet baggers that the olympics would be a national disaster and the opening ceremonies have clearly demonstrated just what I meant. How could you possible fuck up the lighting of the olympic cauldron after 5 years of planning? How much money was spent on olympic security which was apparently non-existent during the “great ones” ride on the back of a pickup truck in the rain to the real cauldron? Which btw what kind of a bumpkin country has the final torch bearer ride on the back of a pickup truck? I won’t even talk about the hour long interpretive dance snooze fest.
February 14th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
@Drachen: I agree. It should be scrapped, it would benefit almost all buyers and equilibrium prices would settle at a lower level. However I am afraid politicians would not go for outright abolition: then, it seems reasonable to redirect its objectives and limit its distortionary effects on the housing market.
In summary the CHMC is the single biggest distortion of thr Canadian housing market, with effects particularly dire for Vancouver (where the share of low down-payment buyers is the highest).
Removing the distortions due to the CHMC would result in a more balanced, stable and affordable market.
February 14th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
@domus:
“He suggested that it would be wise for Ottawa to officially give CMHC a mandate to watch over the health of the housing market.”
Abolish the CMHC entirely. Not only do they have a problem “watching over” the health of the housing market they are the cause of most of the problems in the housing market.
When they at least did housing inspections and stopped things like leaky condos from happening (they lost that mandate just before the leaky condo crisis of the ’80s) they had a purpose but now they’re taking taxpayer money and using it to fund a program that hurts taxpaying Canadians! How ludicrous is that!
February 14th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Guardian: http://tiny.cc/BqpNW
“..the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Vancouver, where four giant penises rose slowly from the floor to stand proudly erect in the arena, presumably intended as symbols of a thrusting young nation… (sorry, but does that not look a bit like four huge todgers?)”
February 14th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
@Chilled:
I spent the day today, riding my bicyle downtown and checking out the tourists. I suspect this entire non-event may be the con of the century.
I also took a bike ride and probably went to similar places as you. Yeah, the Art Gallery line, was unmentionable. It almost took 10 minutes of standing. What a bunch of cheap a$$es getting in for taking advantage of the free entrance fee instead of paying the normal $18. There’s a couple of paintings inside, alright – a few rough sketches too – Original 500 year old sketches from Leonardo Da Vinci from the Queen’s collection that we were able to get within millimeters and see the details of his pen stroke, the texture and thickness of the paper, light construction lines, the edges of the paper that’s a bit deteriorated. Who cares? We’ve got digital cameras now.
Unfortunately, it was sunny in Vancouver – Too bad the visitors get to actually linger around outside instead of jump from one cover to the next. Too bad also that Canada won only one Gold medal today. So sad that the entire Yaletown including boats in the harbour almost blew up from excitement when it was won – what a bunch of losers with low standards, they had home team advantage and should’ve won at least a dozen Golds by now.
February 14th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
149 – patriotz – see, what you did there – actually read the author bio – was far deeper “reporting” than anything I’ve seen in the press for years. it’s really sad – i know some eager young journalism students, socially-active and activist in nature, and I fear they will be simply transformed into midless parrots if they are ever “lucky” enough to get a mainstream media job…
February 14th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Some links posted on Garth’s blog. I like these:
http://rabidoux.tumblr.com/
http://catharticranter.blogspot.com/
February 14th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
One last post about the David Dodge article. This is what he had to say about the mission of the CHMC!
CMHC’s “actual mandate today, which is different from what it was back 20 or 30 years ago, is really just to get people into houses,” Mr. Dodge said. “And that’s always been something that bothers me, because it really doesn’t have a stability mandate.”
He suggested that it would be wise for Ottawa to officially give CMHC a mandate to watch over the health of the housing market.
This makes a lot of sense! It is exactly what we would need. I wish he was still in a position of influence, instead of these young yuppies who just want to ride the good times and let them roll as long as possible.
February 14th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Stop the CHMC!
David Dodge is a smart (and, above all, honest) guys. This is what he has to say about the CHMC:
“……you’ve got to look at lending standards and the framework for mortgage insurance as very important tools of stabilization,” he said. “The terms and insurance over which mortgage insurance should be given over the next little while probably should be tighter, and probably should have been tighter over the past period.”
Mr. Dodge said he has never been comfortable with the idea that people can buy homes with down-payments of as little as five per cent. Whether increasing it to 7.5 per cent or 10 per cent, he would be supportive of raising the minimum payment.
He certainly makes A LOT MORE sense than Mark Carney or Jim Flaherty. What are these guys doing? What are they waiting for? I sincerely hope they will crucified for not taking action on time, and letting this bubble get out of control.
Abolish the CHMC!
February 14th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Dodge suggests Feds should cool house market
Canada should be bracing itself for the reality that house prices are more likely to go down than up in the next few years, says former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....le1468224/