Friday Free-for-all!
It’s the end of the week and the start of a long weekend! Lets do our regular end of the week news round up and open topic discussion thread, here are a few recent links to kick things off:
-How to filter out the foreclosed comments on VCI
-August stats from the REBGV
-Crashcow tracks the benchmark changes from April peak
-Fraser Valley market sags
-Housing will be banks next sore spot
-Bubble case-studies: Ireland and Canada
-Yatters average nears a million again
-Still lots of room in Olympic Village
-Nova Scotia realtors send threatening letters to FSBOs
-Huge sales drop in Victoria
-US: Feeling the pressure of life ‘underwater’
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!
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September 3rd, 2010 at 1:16 am
steady drumbeat of negative news
on the RE front……..
methinks the fat lady is about to sing
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:08 am
No matter where you live, you can’t escape the lowlife in this town:
http://www.vancouversun.com/Re.....story.html
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:34 am
Watch the end of this news video:
http://www.cbc.ca/video/player.....1580424795
Some lucky speculators are cutting side-deals with Rennie and friends. Now this is on the public record, these “side-deals” will be become quite popular. Anything involving public money, can’t involve special treatment, right?…right?…
September 3rd, 2010 at 6:37 am
@PW,
In poorely built OV case, “waiwing maintenance fees” can mean only one thing: ignorant owners (FTB sheeple) will be slammed with assessment when two years are up. Or they will have to cough up $1.8 per sq. foot for the CRF “top up” – indefinitely. The only water they will see will be dripping down their walls, before the tarp covers them up for many, many years.
I would not rent there even if the rent was $1.2/sq. foot, let alone buy.
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:15 am
That’s one thing speculators likely hadn’t considered: it will take some time for the OV area to be “livable” with amenities close by. I wonder if they’re having trouble renting at full value because of this.
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:25 am
http://www.calgaryherald.com/m.....id=3472287
crashing in Calgary
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:30 am
re; Calgary RE
“It’s the economic situation that we happen to find ourselves in and the negative reports that keep popping up and buyers are kind of standing back, thinking it’s going to go down lower,” she added.”
I guess the whole process is now in “reverse”.
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:36 am
Or…
“When you’re hot, you’re hot, when you’re not, you’re not”.
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:56 am
One thing I have noticed with the new inventory in Abbotsford.
Almost all of the new properties put on the market in the last two days are priced SHARPLY! (especially when it comes to some of the bigger name realtor listings)
It looks like some of the realtors here are getting through to the buyers.
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:59 am
One thing that should be obvious is the fallacy in the pimps argument that ‘real estate markets in Canada are sound’ is the fact that everything they put forward is premised on the extention of record low intrest rates ad perpetuum. Like debt is a childs fantasy where money comes from a magic hole in the back yard that never has to be explained (kind of like the NDP economic policies) and that the ‘debt’ is some nebulous thing that just keeps rolling in and has no consequence. The fact is that the low intrest rates are a product of the government continuing to purchase its own debt issues to keep intrest rates artificially low and its own debt service ( by Treasury auction)is laddered on the back of prior issuance. Normally we would call this a Ponzi scheme.
The pimps would like the government to keep digging the debt hole deeper…they seem too think the taxpayer will never have to pay the money the government borrows to keep intrest rates low back in any way…thats the infantile mentality of the pimps…low intrest rates and debt are the same thing.
For an economist like M Campbell…or any of the others to try and obfuscate the facts..just to keep the pimps in the game is a sad commentary on the Canadian universe of opinion. Just this morning one of Canada’s premier authors..M Atwood came out swinging against an objective news network being establishged in the country…..the pimps think they are in control and they don’t want you to have facts to consider.
http://fullcomment.nationalpos.....s-freedom/
What will the pimps do when they lose control of the media. Will Canadians start to realise that the little box they are in has been purpose built to bilk them and herd them like little sheep?
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:00 am
More and more people are now finally taking off the rose colored glasses and seeing things for what they really are: Overpriced boxes with four walls and a roof.
Funny part is when you know people who are selling who now just despise the media for reporting the truth and blaming them for not getting the sale. They loved all the pumper articles on the way up about never ending economy, rich immigrants, with no thought in the least for the reality of affordability for average working people.
Damn sensationalism, why can’t they just read Cameron Muir’s canned speaches, AKA the Pied Piper of happiness, and just sign on the dotted line.
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:04 am
Rennie offers on OV will include reduced HST and 2 years of waived maintenance. Too little too late.
I wouldn’t be interested even with no HST and 200 years of waived maintenance fees.
Leaving the units empty is expensive, and the city loses out on tax revenue. Might as well auction it off now for whatever the market value is. Move it now before mortgage rates rise.
btw, PW, that’s a great video!
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:07 am
Since it’s Friday… here is one joker’s ads on Craig’s List, address 1328 W. Pender:
http://tiny.cc/vtwdt
He tried with furnished, unfurnished, raising the rent ($3300 – wow!), reducing it some, and raising again… still no one is biting. I told him to reduce it to $1700 and include parking, I might be interested
, although, on the second thought, I do not like West Pender, too noisy….
And the other joker has, at the same time, a condo on MLS for sale since June 2009, http://tiny.cc/8snwm, AND for rent on CL: http://tiny.cc/unxgr
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:19 am
I posted here earlier in the year that the city should sell the OV right then for whatever they could get for the units, maybe even with an auction. They didn’t, and look where they are now. Why can I, as a rank amateur, see this and the so called ‘experts’ who were dealing with it, could not?
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:19 am
Ooooooh Wooooooh
Ooooooo Wooooh ohoooo
Give me freedom, give me buyer, give me condo, take me higher
See the champions, take the field now, Simon Fraser, make us feel proud
In the streets are, fall of listing , as bears lose their “B” formation,
Celebration its around us, Vancouverboom2, all around us
Singin forevery bulls, singin songs underneath that sun
Lets rejoice in the beautiful Vancouver.
And together at the end of the day.
WE ALL SAY
When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll give me freedom i will be flipping house
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom
Just like a wavin’ flag
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes
Oooooooooooooh woooooooooohh hohoho
North 5 Vancouver BC
**♥☆**♥☆**♥☆**♥☆**
YOU GOTTA BE HERE
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:58 am
Here are a few bad signs (not neccesarily RE related, but they tell an interesting story nevertheless…)
Coupons for 50% off at an ultra chic Yaletown hipster bar and lounge are now starting to make the rounds. Not that long ago, it was next to impossible to get a table there unless you were someone important.
Griffins @ Hotel Vancouver is continuing on with their 50% off promotion which has been running all summer. This applies to ALL food items if you seat yourself before 6pm and still includes the all you can eat dessert bar. I was there last week and noticed that the entire restaurant (which was only about 75% full and all asian locals) emptied out quickly once the 6pm sitting was done.
I often go down to Pajos in Steveston. Their fish & chips rock. This summer, the lineups were maybe 4-5 ppl deep even on nice sunny weekends.
My wife got a coupon for Banana Republic recently. She checked out the Robson store the very next day thinking that all the good stuff would taken. As it turns out, she was the only shopper on the 3rd floor. I guess everyone was at I5 exit 202?
Makes me wonder, where did everyone go this summer?
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:01 am
I wanna be a billionaire so fricking bad
buy all of the condos I never had
uh, I wanna be on the cover of Vancouver Sun
smiling next to Rennie and the Queen
[Chorus]
Oh every time I close my eyes
I see my name in shining lights
A different city every night oh
I swear the world better prepare
for when I’m a billionaire
[Travis “Travie” McCoy]
Yeah I would have a show like Bill Good
I would be the host of, everyday Christmas
give Rennie a wish list
I’d probably pull an Angelina and Brad Pitt
and adopt a bunch of baby bears that ain’t never had sh-t
give away a few Mercedes like here bear have this
and last but not least grant somebody their last wish
its been a couple months since I’ve single so
you can call me SuperSmartBull Claus minus the Ho Ho
get it, hehe, I’d probably visit where Olympics hit
and damn sure do a lot more than COV did
yeah can’t forget about me stupid
everywhere I go Imma have my own theme music
[Chorus]
Oh every time I close my eyes
I see my name in shining lights
A different city every night oh
I swear the world better prepare
for when I’m a billionaire
oh oooh oh oooh for when I’m a Billionaire
oh oooh oh oooh for when I’m a Billionaire
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:14 am
Re: Nova Scotia realtors sending threatening letters to FSBOs.
Is is just me, or are real estate boards starting to look more and more like local mafia syndicates? Let’s compare:
Like the mafia, local real estate boards:
-Command excessively large fees for work of dubious value
-Aggressively protect their monopolies with their significant financial resources and political connections
-Require little to no education to join
-Use scare tactics to extract payments from local residents in exchange for “protection” for their families
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:15 am
@bullwhip29: You’re not the only one to notice the perpetual summer sales at all kinds of retailers, from department stores to the nice and even high end boutiques. No one is escaping the wrath of the consumer in a “recovery”.
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:25 am
@Yalie:
You are correct.
Real estate boards should be subject to racketeering laws.
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:26 am
Here is an anecdote for you.
Friend of mine just got into town from Dublin. He used to live here but moved back home in 2000. So last night over a few glasses of wine ( ok many) he said to me “I can’t believe how expensive it is here”. He couldn’t believe the price of food and booze and a few other things. He said the restaurants are ridiculously expensive. He loves going out to restaurants but said at these prices he simply couldn’t afford to, much cheaper back home. This coming from someone who lives in Dublin!
HE told me that he just bought a nice brand new flat for $130k Euro. Not too long ago they were preselling them for $210k euro. HE said Dublin is now full of what they call “ghost towns” which are condo/townhouse developments that they can’t sell and are sitting empty. The city is now coming up with a plan to rent them out as low income housing.
Dublin was not too long ago the crown jewel in tech jobs and a booming economy.
I think I’m going to slap the next person that says “but prices here are still cheap compared to Europe” No they are not, get yer heads out!
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:28 am
Whoops, the Dublin anecdote was mine.
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:30 am
Hey…why does the COV get to waive the HST on the OV condo project…..what kind of a message is that sending to all the businesses that can’t cancel the HST when their business is failing. I’d get jailed if I didn’t collect the HST….n’est ce pas? What fucking hypocrisy !!!!!
And what kind of double taxation occurs if the COV tax payer has to eat the cost of the HST ? We still have to cough up the dough in some fashion…and now Prince Runnie Pants suggests that to get to his commission easier he will instead lower the prices and start cutting into our profits by having us eat the HST….why not cut the commission instead as he has been less than successful in moving the project..
Any other business in a bind like this would auction off the stock..at least that would find the true value of the units….and…..we would pay zero real estate commission on the sales!!!!!!! Mayor Moonbeam, you’re an idiot.
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:35 am
Man, those kichens in the OV suites are UUUUGLY!
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....;bedrooms=
I currently reside in Anchor Point & the landlord is finally getting around to renovating the original 70′s kitchen … which looks THE EXACT SAME AS THOSE!!! (substituting ‘granite’ from the ‘laminate’ type countertops …
How dated are those places going to look in a few years! Gross!
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:48 am
@Teddybear:
“He tried with furnished, unfurnished, raising the rent ($3300 – wow!), reducing it some, and raising again… still no one is biting.”
He should try adding some PHOTOS.
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@Ugh!:
“I currently reside in Anchor Point & the landlord is finally getting around to renovating the original 70’s kitchen … which looks THE EXACT SAME AS THOSE!!! (substituting ‘granite’ from the ‘laminate’ type countertops …
How dated are those places going to look in a few years! Gross!”
Fashion works in cycles. For example, right now, every new building has an elevator interior of brushed steel and mirrors. Whereas 10-15 years ago they were all gold and wood trim. Eventually you’ll see those ugly gold ones coming back into style again.
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:54 am
@Anonymous:
“HE told me that he just bought a nice brand new flat for $130k Euro. ”
Whereabouts in Dublin? Central, or suburban?
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:54 am
So… perhaps this is just a “duh” observation of mine- again being the stupid American observer, but a few days ago someone on here mentioned that Canada’s government underwrites most of the mortgages in the country and that the bulk of those are variable rate mortgages. Coincidentally I’ve noticed that New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and Canada all use these types of loans and as we speak, AU, CA, and NZ have cities that nearly tie each other for being the most expensive in the world.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:00 am
@realpaul:
Seriously? You know it’s just a discount labelled as HST rebate? They still remit the same tax. Don’t worry your CPP cheques won’t be affected.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:10 am
$1750 for a 1 br in the OV?
Ha ha ha ha
Oh wait, he’s serious, let me laugh even harder.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:21 am
Its funny how rennie is mentioning discounts coming later in the month. Who would buy if they know big discounts are coming. I guess he has no confidence in selling another unit until then.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:24 am
Ya, gonna have to back SSB unfortunately.
That HST does come out of the tax payers pocket (in reduced selling price), but the tax still gets paid to the gov’t.
Way to go SSB. I knew you’d get something right at some point.
Now, back to your useless drivel please.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:24 am
@Anoymous:
Well, it’s still ugly & an instant put-off for me. Something more neutral would have been a smarter choice at the prices they’re asking …
For comparison purposes:
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....01904.html
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:30 am
@SuperSmartBull:
You forgot to add your fake Chinese accent… makes you sound bearish on housing without it.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:31 am
An anecdotal sight from driving across southern BC was a ton of signs for property advertised by propertyguys dot com. Looks like the idea has caught on.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:35 am
@Anoymous:
He told me the area but I can’t remeber the name, and when I went to visit him I would say it is not central ( downtown in the city) and certainly not suburban. It’s near Clontharf Castle ( sp?) I would say 10 minutes max into downtown Dublin. Probably equivilant of east van somewhere.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:51 am
@Ugh!:
Stainless steel is the new harvest gold? All these new condos and townhouses are going to age very fast, just like trendy condos of old. Try selling those for top dollar 10 years from now.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:55 am
@Anoymous:
These people spamming CL every day with their crap (without even bothering to delete the old) don’t have time for photos, nor should they need to post any. Clearly, their shoebox is god’s gift to mankind, and anyone should feel blessed just to be given a chance to pay asking rent on it.
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:07 am
DaMann
Clontarf is a nice part of Dublin, right on the water, and very close to the city centre. A couple of my friends live there. One’s a generation older than the other and remembers Ireland’s hard times. The older chap watched the value of his terraced house sky rocket over the years and thought it was absolute madness. The younger chap thought it would never end and bought several rental properties. Ouch!
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:12 am
Was at Glowbal last night and people started buzzing about 2 people getting shot at Shangri la. Went home and expected to see it all over the news but nothing. Anyways it seems the story was blown out of proportion and no one was shot:
http://www.news1130.com/news/l.....i-la-tower
Still goes to show that the lifestyle they are marketing at these condos isn’t what it seems.
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:16 am
Downed quite a few pints in this pub, my friend’s local, before it was sold off for a fortune during the boom for a housing development. It was an empty lot when I was there last year. Probably still is.
http://www.independent.ie/unso.....68882.html
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:19 am
@realpaul:
“Hey…why does the COV get to waive the HST on the OV condo project…..what kind of a message is that sending to all the businesses that can’t cancel the HST when their business is failing. I’d get jailed if I didn’t collect the HST”
Offers like these aren’t unusual. Big retailers do them all the time. They still collect HST, they just give you the equivalent amount as a discount.
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:20 am
In the sun now:
http://www.vancouversun.com/he.....story.html
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:20 am
@manna from heaven:
Loved Clontarf when I was there! Great part of town and can see the main part of downtown Dublin as well. Yup I loved it too, but I was on there for 3 nights. Pretty nice place to get a condo for $130k euro!
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:27 am
@Ugh!:
“Well, it’s still ugly & an instant put-off for me. Something more neutral would have been a smarter choice at the prices they’re asking …”
That’s always a good idea, to appeal to the widest possible market.
I think the Shangri-La kitchens look similar, too
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 am
@gangstersout: Who cares?
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:50 am
@PW #2
CBC know not what they talk about. They can’t even spell Millennium right. There are two “nn”, not one.
Hearsay is also not “news” no matter how much Bear want to use it to support argument.
Fact is 1/3 of avg million dollar properties have sold. That is very, very good. 2/3 more to go maybe not so good but there will be room.
There is no comparable to OV. It will be fantastic! Please, Bear, stop beating up on OV.
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:04 pm
@BadNewsBears:
It seems many want the OV to fail for some reason, even though they’ll ultimately suffer a higher tax burden as a result.
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:05 pm
@BadNewsBears:
Yes, vast majority of it pre-sales. With Rennie announcing future price drops, you can be sure there’s no sales right now that will be spoiled by this news.
There sure is not! No 40% price slashes and no inventory moving until after the elections!
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:10 pm
@Anoymous:
Nothing to do with “want”. They will. Don’t shoot the messenger.
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:19 pm
@Devore: So bear “want” housing market to crash, but also “want” OV condos to sell at full price so no increase in tax? Can’t have DougieDog and eat it too bears…
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:28 pm
“Nothing to do with “want”.”
Well….. to be honest 1000 condos at a million a pop (with heaven help us a high percentage of subsidized social) owned by the city and jammed together like prison cells was always outrageous, hubris-fueled idiocy. If there is a part of me that very much wants it to fail, it’s so that next time one of these municipal inbreds decides to wave their magic social engineering wand they get shown the door or worse. Blinkered and infuriating arrogance drove them to the current “this time it’s different” clusterfk and justice prevailing would have their names synonymous with provincial stupidity for the rest of our lifetimes.
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:37 pm
I wonder: At what point is forclosure and can a post be unforeclosed by upvotes? Even judge allow poor man to buy back house. Some foreclosed at only -7? That does not seem like a very strong metric.
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:42 pm
SSB – unlike the six condos you and your huzzba bought at the rapidly-deteriorating Yaletown Park complex (maybe even my unit, for all I know), the bears here did not willingly agree to pay for any of those shoddy units at the Overpriced Village. And yet we are on the hook for them anyway.
Incidentally, you’ll be getting my next rent cheque as soon as you’ve fixed the faulty plumbing system. I don’t care that it’s a strata problem, nor do I need to.
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:48 pm
@Devore:
“Nothing to do with “want”. They will. Don’t shoot the messenger.”
This isn’t a case of shooting the messenger. It’s wondering why the messenger has a big grin on his face.
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:59 pm
@Yalie: Right, so you don’t want to be on hook for OV condos. So you want them to sell for maximum no? But you also are happy that ‘crash’ has started and hoping for 70% price drop? Also you want to teach the ruling class a lesson by having the project fail miserably like Storeum. Bear logic make no sense, bear just angry at everybody because still renting Yaletown Park junior 1 bedroom.
September 3rd, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Why should I care if the OV is a sales disaster?
If the city bankrupts itself over this that’s their problem, not mine.
September 3rd, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Latest from founder of Case-Shiller:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09.....wanted=all
September 3rd, 2010 at 1:24 pm
@SuperSmartBull: uh oh bull. market beginning to crash as bear predict. numbers dont lie only realtors do. time to go back to selling cranteeny holder on ebay.
September 3rd, 2010 at 1:31 pm
@SuperSmartBull:
Again, let me repeat this slowly, so maybe you will understand. “Want” is irrelevant. Of course no one “wants” taxpayers to be hit with the OV losses. Also no one “wants” to be underwater, or have to declare bankruptcy, or lose all their savings.
But there is “want”, and there is reality. I want to live in a mansion filled with Playboy bunnies. Reality happens regardless of what you “want”.
OV buyers want to see the value of their purchase appreciate, so they can sell at a profit. They want prices to keep rising, so they can see themselves as smart investors. Taxpayers want the city to recover the money it put in, like it promised. But it doesn’t matter what all these people want.
There is nothing to be happy about. We have worked ourselves between a rock and a hard place. There is no solution to this that is positive for everyone. All roads will lead to pain.
Wanting prices to remain expensive or keep going up tells young families and first time buyers that they are not welcome in this city. Wanting prices to go down will deliver losses onto recent buyers who were hoping to flip for a quick profit, and those who leveraged dangerously and cannot refinance.
Either scenario will put a serious squeeze on the purchasing power of consumers, who are spending far too much on housing and have too much wealth trapped in RE, and continue to tank the general economy.
Since you’re such a genius, you tell us how to solve this.
September 3rd, 2010 at 1:33 pm
FFS
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:03 pm
@Supersmartbear no wonder you mad. You sell cranteeny holder on ebay? Is that your last possession? I bid $1 to help you out and can pick it up from corner of Richards and Helmcken if you work again tonight.
@Devore no wonder you sad. You feel as victim of own reality which is no home to afford. Use your imagination! Get power! Make something of yourself! Is “But there is “want”, and there is reality.” what you tell child? No! You never put such bad depressing thoughts into child head. You inspire to reach higher! I try to inspire you, now. Go forth and be great! You want mansion and bunnies then go get mansion and bunnies and let nothing stop you! You can do it if you try. Be creative and find own way! And start with only two bunnies. They will multiply many times over. Soon you will have more bunnies then you know what to do with!
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:29 pm
#60 Devore,
Great post thanks.
As the market begins to fall it is amazing that the Bulls have now turned to the “it is all emotion” argument regarding the market. I guess I should have presumed long ago that they spend their time on these blogs trying to change sentiment for exactly this reason.
No one wants to see the city lose millions on the OV. However wishing or not wishing won’t change a damn thing.
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:31 pm
@REBGV August stats
I bet they are loving the fact that they got to issue their monthly stats on a long weekend Friday when no one is reading the news
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Yeah yeah…waiving the HST on the OV is just hucksterism….like a free car or vacation along with your full price purchase…anyone stupid enough to buy OV at these prices ahould get a free year on the couch. You’d have to be crazy to buy now. What I said is that the taxpayer is taking it up the ass…..some of us don’t go for that type of thing.
I’ll tell you a joke cause it Frietag
.A guy goes into a bar and asks the bartender “Where can I get some pussy’
Bartender answers..”Theres only old Joe’ and he points to a surly old bastard sitting with his back to the wall.
The guy says ‘If I screw Old Joe whos going to know?
Well, says the bartender…theres you…theres me…and theres Joe…that makes three..oh and then theres those other two guys…the bartender points at two other patrons.
“They’ll know as well….
“Why do they have to know says the guy
“cause they have to hold Old Joe down……he doesn’t doesn’t go for that shit answers the bartender
I saw a bit on CHEK today trying to whore a ‘Qualicum’ development ( which doesn’t seem to be selling ….no really?) The douchebag spokeswoman is saying that ‘ Vancouver Island is differant’ and that it a good alternative to ‘Arizona’ cause ‘things are just awful down there’….like Qualicum is on another planet……Anyway a lot of moose pasture for sale…a lot of units unbuilt and unoccupied…loks like a ghost town in the middle of nowhere…the little shacks are like 300 sq ft by the looks of them……..What a fucking joke……the pigs are getting slaughtered. Ya baby….looks good.
September 3rd, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Real question for depressed bear mold sniffer is will emerge from cave this weekend to enjoy bar and cafe in Vancouver downtown? Answer is probably no for little bear sit around in basement stare at wall most of day.
September 3rd, 2010 at 3:31 pm
@SDB: Obviously you don’t listen very well.
Most of us bears rent, so we’re the ones that keep the bars and cafés in business.
All u bulls are up to your horns in mortgage payments waiting for the special assessment on the mold removal. When mold shows up in my apartment, I just stop paying rent until I find a better place to live.
September 3rd, 2010 at 3:53 pm
@Yalie: “the rapidly-deteriorating Yaletown Park complex”
What has gone wrong with Yaletown Park? Please ellaborate. I love “crapy condo” stories.
September 3rd, 2010 at 4:26 pm
@realpaul:
Here are the August stats for Parksville/Qualicum:
Condo/Townhouses: 19 SALES 338 ACTIVES
Single Family Houses: 39 SALES 414 ACTIVES
Also, Port Alberni Condos/Townhouse: 59 ACTIVES ZERO(!) SALES
http://www.coastrealty.com/pag.....pdf_links/
September 3rd, 2010 at 4:44 pm
@superduperbulltime:
…to enjoy bar and cafe in Vancouver downtown?
Peasent,
What bar and cafe??? Are you that much dumb and untraveled that you consider the Starbucks at the corner of Robson and Thurlow a fancy place to hang out and enjoy? OMG how pathetic and limited you are.
Get yourself on the plane and go to the any village in Europe to learn the basics. For starters try Campari over ice with splash of soda and don’t even mention from where you came from.
September 3rd, 2010 at 4:59 pm
New Listings 210
Price Changes 108
Sold Listings 103
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Sweet… Rennie drops prices. Previous presale buyers cant sell.
Must lose 100s of dollars every month to rent them out.
Freeloading renters get subsidized fancy housing. MMMmmm new condo smell!
Others cant complete due to financing issues.
Rennie sues their azzes. Lawyers get rich!
Its a wonderful life!
HEY Larry Campbell, how you feel now????????????
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Well, it looks like the price collapse has begun in the outer suburbs.
Try this auto-update for Port Coquitlam just today. Listed at 379,900
Show Neighborhood Places
BRING THE WHOLE FAMILY!! Beautifully renovated 5-Bedroom Home in the prestigious Oxford Heights neighbourhood of Port Coquitlam. Bright and sunny backyard, great floor plan and room for everyone! This home is a MUST SEE! Just steps to anelementary school, parks, nature trails & transit, and just a short drive down the hill to shopping, groceries, restaurants and coffee shops. Fully fenced yard with loads of room for the kids to play! Call Listing Realtor for details.
Uh oh…
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
…it was built in 1980 and it has two full baths…
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Here are the month end projections, given what we’ve seen the first three days of July.
Days elapsed so far 3
Days remaining 18
Average Sales this month 101
Average Listings this month 196
Projected Sales 2121
Projected New Listings 4123
Projected sell/list 51.4%
Inventory as of July 31st 15962
MoI at this sales pace 7.53
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:06 pm
@VHB: whoops–that should be August 31st for the inventory number.
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:21 pm
#70 DDP, I was in Brussels and Amsterdam recently..now thats urban sophistication. The cafes ( because they don’t segregate people to serve alcohol) are full service and function as an extension of the surrounding neighbourhood….bliss….no phony pretense or commercial overkill…..the fresh mint tea and extensive drinks menu is fantastic. To relate a Starbucks and its three watered down coffe choices to a sublime European cafe experiance is like comparing caviar to dogshit…..Vancouver being the dogshit.
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:24 pm
What we need is a way to filter out Realpaul too, or buy him him some mouthwash.
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:27 pm
RealPaul – The are a lot of dogshit cafes in Europe. They scrape it off the street because no one cleans it up! As far as service goes, I would take Vancouver service any day over what passes as service in most of Europe.
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:34 pm
It appears that listings are steadily getting back in shape. An exciting season is ahead of us and “games” will be interesting to watch. Eventually some fun in this part of the World
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Agreed McLovin, nothing beats the “it’s your privilege to be served by us”, remind-them-to-give-you-product-rung-up service in Vancouver. It never disappoints.
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:41 pm
@VRENGD, re shoddy work at Yaletown Park… I don’t know where to begin.
The place was built at the height of the boom, and it shows. There have been many problems since I moved in. For one, the general level of fit and finish is pretty dire. Loose fittings, doors, cabinets, etc. The paint on the sliding bathroom door was not fully finished, a problem I didn’t see until after I moved in. I’m guessing that the guy who painted it got away with it since the door is generally kept open, and you can only see the missing paint from inside the bathroom with the door closed. When I had my first shower, the heavy ceramic soap dish suddenly fell off onto my foot – ouch. The sink leaked, which again wasn’t apparent until after I moved in as it was turned off at the valve under the sink – as if I wouldn’t notice there was no water and open the valve myself! There are many more minor things – generally not a big deal but all of which are indicative of a rush job (e.g. the thermostat reads about 12 degrees when it’s actually set to 20, etc).
That’s just inside the unit. Recently, the front entry door just broke down so visitors can’t buzz up. Apparently the circuits got fried in the hot summer sun (you would think that a system designed to be placed outside would be able to handle a little sunshine). And then there’s the plumbing. Apparently the main water system was built with a flawed design, which means the hot and cold water don’t equalize the pressure as they should, resulting in uneven water pressue, hot water out of cold taps, etc. From what I understand, fixing it would be a major expense, likely resulting in a special assessment. The property manager seems like a super nice guy btw… I feel sorry for him as he looks particularly frazzled most of the time. I’m guessing he gets a lot of complaints.
I’ve spoken with a number of people here, and they’ve had similar problems. The phrase “cheap Chinese-made parts” seems to come up a lot. Again, none of the problems individually are too bad. They’re just very numerous, and given the large number of issues and the young age of the building, I would guess they’re only going to multiply greatly over the next few years. Anyone buying at today’s peak prices is going to be hit with a world of hurt when all the special assessments start coming in. On the bright side it doesn’t seem to be leaking – yet!
I guess this is what you get when a building is 100% sold to speculators before there’s even a hole in the ground.
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I am cautiously optimistic that the negative press + the typical seasonal increase in listing activity will make -30% S/L days commonplace.
Until then I will bask in the massive fail that is the OV.
September 3rd, 2010 at 6:18 pm
“They’re trying to make a bold move to get ahead of the market,” said Jim Kinney, vice president of luxury sales for Baird & Warner, a residential brokerage in Chicago. “This time next year, that house is not going to be on the market. They’re going to find whatever it takes to get it sold.”
JPMorgan CEO Dimon Cuts Chicago Mansion’s Asking Price Again
September 3rd, 2010 at 6:20 pm
@Yalie:
Some of the Coal Harbour buildings are a plumbing disaster. Lots of leaks etc. Companies like Milani are constantly being called in to fix and repair.
One of the buildings are being investigated for more serious problems.
Make sure you read the strata council minutes for the last year before you bid on anything.
September 3rd, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Wow, the real estate pimps are running flat out. There have three real estate stories ( all related to how its a great time to buy) in the first twenty minutes of the ‘News Hour’.
They’ve got realwhores, a weasel from the Board. a spokesman for the developers, two dummy couples who’ gotta get in to the market this weekend’….for shits sake its a god damned tsunami of bullshit.
The station has no shame obviously…this is the most blatant pimping I’ve ever seen. Apparently ‘its differant here’……..I wonder if they’re raising prices as we speak…the pimps are contradicting everything…things are going up, down, sideways, sluggish but stable, longterm, great buy, low rates forever…….. I’m so overwhelmed by this barrage of smart advertising I may buy treeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee this weekend……..theres nothing like real estate porn to get the old flag flying eh?
September 3rd, 2010 at 6:57 pm
@realpaul:
Have another one
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:22 pm
@Yalie:
Who built Yaletown park?
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Foreclosure story from Garth’s site:
No, it’s not your typical American real estate story, this is Toronto.
http://www.thestar.com/iphone/.....oreclosure
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:49 pm
@Boombust:
I guess that PoCo listing hasn’t made the MLS yet but I did find this poetic, flowery description of another property while I was looking.
http://www.mls.ca/propertyDeta.....1610860888
It’s this kind of extensive verbiage that earns realtors their large paycheques.
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:55 pm
@Daniel Del Ponte:
For starters try Campari over ice with splash of soda and don’t even mention from where you came from.
Whooo, you’re so “cultured” because you can shoot off the name of some Italian alcoholic beverage. That’s great buddy, thanks for the tip.
Can I be your friend? Or do I not qualify because I drink Starbucks coffee?
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:03 pm
A neighbor rented out his house for the last 20 years, and has recently returned to Vancouver to occupy it. It seems that he has to stay in it for about 1 year before selling it to save on taxes. He shrugs off any possibility of a housing crash, only a slow down, and mortgage rate will remain low until wages and inflation catch up. His adviser is his real estate agent who is also his property manager.
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:32 pm
@Anonymous: saving tax that way is a real gamble. CRA cross references addresses of tax returns with primary residence sales. I wish him luck nonetheless.
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:50 pm
@House:
Thanks for your insight. But he might satisfy CRA’s requirement, because he has been living in Taiwan for the past 20 years, with short visits to Vancouver every few years.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:33 pm
@BadNewsBears:
New Listings 210
Price Changes 108
Sold Listings 103
sounds like bull huntn season!
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:49 pm
@bigbadbear1 Comment#64
You more like BigBadDUMBBEAR because you not realize today is Friday but stats issued yesterday which was Thursday. Why not you go back to being GreaterFool with Garth. You can continue to mindlessly nod head at all Greatest Fool ever said.
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Re: “How to filter out the foreclosed comments on VCI”, anyone have it working in Chromium/Linux?
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:43 pm
And the wave of reductions grows. Sound the Tsuamami warning!
$199K in Richmond
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....90938.html
10% reduction in South surrey
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....89164.html
1st time on the market since 1952! WOW what a selling feature and its already been reduced twice
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....73510.html
Can you smell the desperation? Anyone reading this, if you can’t see we are in a full fledged real estate collapse then you deserve to be an owner and you should go out and buy tomorrow! I am sure the Realturd’s will have lots of time to present your offers in between shifts at Starbucks and McDonalds.
Bears do not touch Vancouver sellers, do not try to help them, there is nothing you can do. They are infected and all you can do is stay away!
This market is down 10% from April and its only a matter of time before it shows up on the “official stats” We are dropping 1-3% per month and nothing is going to stop it.
The next three years of posts should be interesting.
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:44 pm
WTF??? We have a moderator? When did this happen?
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:52 pm
@McLovin: No moderator, just this procedure. Gets rid of foreclosed comments. It is AWESOME.
September 4th, 2010 at 1:17 am
@shawnchong:
You could be my acquaintance rather than friend but you would still need to “grow and polish up” to qualify. I can smell mix of garlic and some cheap cologne made in China when you talk to me even over the net. And when it comes to drinking coffee you don’t need to go too far just go to Commercial Drive and sample espresso at the couple of places there, that would help you to start getting sense what the coffee is all about.
September 4th, 2010 at 3:33 am
@Crash:
As did I.
But I think the “experts” can see perfectly well that an auction is the best course of action for the CoV. The problem is that an open auction of the OV would broadcast loud and clear that the bust is undeniably on. This is the worst nightmare of the REIC, which bankrolls both Vision and the NPA. So council is acting in the financial interests of the REIC, and against that of the taxpayers, by prolonging the agony.
Thus Rennie takes the drivers seat with the usual subterfuges to disguise declining market prices.
September 4th, 2010 at 4:53 am
An old saying in project management is that if you’re hoping for miracles you’re in trouble; when you start scheduling them it’s over.
September 4th, 2010 at 7:10 am
10 bux says Rennie opens up an office down south
in the Sunbelt to hedge declining business in Van.
September 4th, 2010 at 7:26 am
I found this video tape of Kelowna’s bubble on Garth’s site. Hat tip to Robert James.
http://tiny.cc/k7q71
Remember when Lou used to make similar videos on Ben Jones’ Bubble Blog 2?
September 4th, 2010 at 7:34 am
@Bilbo Bloggins:
Rennie’s business model won’t work down there. The only thing that moves RE down south today is price. Hypemasters like Rennie still have a couple of years to harvest the remaining fools up here.
Now I do think the likes of Rennie might be able to make money hooking up Vancouver fools to Sunbelt sellers. Not sure if that’s what you meant.
September 4th, 2010 at 8:58 am
@Bilbo Bloggins:
10 bux says Rennie opens up an office down south
in the Sunbelt to hedge declining business in Van.
——
Can’t happen due to previous criminal convictions for some improprieties that occurred in Stanley Park a few years ago. Something about a Beaver, a Bentley and a bottle of lube if I remember correctly.
September 4th, 2010 at 9:01 am
@patriotz: “which bankrolls both Vision and the NPA.” that is one of the f’d up things about this town. The developers own BOTH municipal parties. We need an election like this one.
September 4th, 2010 at 9:01 am
@McLovin: Comments with more than two links in them are automatically held for moderation to keep out spam. If you think the trolls are bad you should see the volume of spam that makes an attempt to get posted in the comment section here.
September 4th, 2010 at 9:52 am
@VHB: @patriotz: “which bankrolls both Vision and the NPA.” that is one of the f’d up things about this town. The developers own BOTH municipal parties. We need an election like this one.
—
Yeah. Everybody, even the University Business School RE commentators, appear to be in the back-pockets of the RE industry.
That’s what you get after 10, 15, 20 years of an economy becoming more and more and more dependent on RE.
We have absolutely no prominent public voices warning of the effects of the bubble, because by now all prominent public voices have been co-opted, one way or another, by the RE market (that includes those who are co-opted simply by virtue of the fact that they are up to the eye-balls in RE).
If there was a way the RE industry, or local government, could bail out the RE market, it’d do it, almost at any cost, but the bubble is now far too large, too top heavy.
September 4th, 2010 at 10:41 am
The pimps and assholes are really miffed at the ongoing loss of control as the current wave of information technolgy grows and people have better access to information in real time. Both the real estate boards and the RCMP have existed in a world where they thought of themselves as Gods..above the law and subject to no ones criticism.
Today the RCMP is threatening university professors who dare to speak the truth…..man….this country has really got some assholes who think that freedom and democracy is a bad thing.
http://www.vancouversun.com/te.....story.html
The truth is that the Real Estate Boards should have been criminally charged by now for manipulating themselves into a monopoly that costs homeowners thousands of dollars when they want to sell their own homes. They are the scum of the earth and should be consigned to cess pool of history. Their time is coming.
The RCMP did fuck up the Picton investigation ( between them and the incompetant VPD flunky’s Picton was able to kill twenty women while they dithered over what information they would share and who was on who’s turf and who was in line for what promotion…the incompetance is actually sickening)..everyone knows this and the RCMP are seething at the continued multiple embarrassments.( of their own doing…..the list is long and growing…they seem like an organization out of control and now they want to start shooting the messangers???)..they seem to act like children who ‘can do no wrong’ …this behaviour of never admitting to their mistakes is ‘arrogant’ exactly as the professor said.
To threaten the professor for telling the truth should result in criminal charges against the RCMP executive for their misguided role in this matter…its thuggery of the worst order. Don’t we insist that the RCMP works arms length to ensure the truth comes out….then why can’t they apply this same concept to anyone else……they’ve been in the ivory tower too long…time for some spankings to get these miscreants to realise they serve us…not themselves. Maybe we should start cutting off the generous funding to the RCMP every time they do something that we don’t like…they’d be down to picking bins for bottles and gas money.
http://www.vancouversun.com/te.....story.html
deny deny deny isn’t working anymore you jerkoffs…Canadians want a democracy…..and in a democracy the police have to be accountable.
September 4th, 2010 at 10:48 am
Coming soon to a province near you?
High-Speed Courts Offer Answer to Foreclosures
And remember – mortgages in Florida are full recourse, just like here.
September 4th, 2010 at 10:57 am
I think all the bulls and posters with foreclosed comments should be ban from this site because,if few bullish comments can lift up dead bears attitudes,What will happen to Vancouver real estate when flood of buyers will throw multiple offers on Vancouver real estate starting April 2011?
Ooooooh Wooooooh
Ooooooo Wooooh ohoooo Vancouver boom2
Ooooooh Wooooooh
Ooooooo Wooooh ohoooo
Everybody will be singing it
Ooooooh Wooooooh
Ooooooo Wooooh ohoooo Vancouver boom2
Ooooooh Wooooooh
Ooooooo Wooooh ohoooo
And we all will be singing it!
North 5 Vancouver BC
**♥☆**♥☆**♥☆**♥☆**
**ROAD TO BE TAKEN**
September 4th, 2010 at 11:06 am
@VHB:
No need to look that far east or that far back – Art Phillips (1972) and Mike Harcourt (1980) both won big with anti-developer platforms.
Shows you how much things have changed. Back then people still had an idea of civic worth based on something other than RE prices.
September 4th, 2010 at 11:53 am
Oh fcuk, big trouble in little China.
Rennie and Gregor Robertson can’t sell the little boxes, my suggestion in some kind of promotional gimmick.
I’m thinking something along the way of them dressing in drag, and having simulated sex, televised around the world.
You know, the best place on earth, the best sex on earth….. …… New Orleans of the north,- Amsterdam of the Americas, etc etc.
September 4th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
@Keeping An Eye on The Pimps: Well, I just watched that Global report from a few days ago. Looks like one of their pitches is “Hey, it won’t be empty for long–we will have it full of social housing recipients in a few months.”
Now that should help move some $1000/sf condos.
September 4th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
@VHB:
Yes, it’s unbelievable. Didn’t the buffoons give their calling card to the world?
And you would have thought there would have been enough billionaires to snap up the world class city condos.
Best place on earth, with the best real estate anywhere, and these peddlers can’t unload a few boxes to some unsuspecting greater fools.
Where is the lady and her huzzbund, perhaps she may be interested in 3 for herself and” tree for her huzzbund”.
September 4th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
I just posted in the forum here with OV MLS details for 191 W. 1st. 18 units on the market; only 12 were on the market in June. A few units have had small price reductions–and these were Rennie’s listings. He is telling his clients to move their prices down, I guess.
I wonder if ‘resale market Bob’ ever talks to ‘selling the city new condos Bob’. Same guy?
Still many clinging to their wishing prices. I like one of the 800K+ listings that brags that the place is rented for 2400. Wow, what an investment. 3% pretax yield. Woohoo!
September 4th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
116
Yeah their’s nothing the rich folk like more than living with a bunch of po folk. The haves and have nots have always got along as neighbours in the past…
September 4th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
@Disbelief: Well listen now… it’s different here in the BEST PLACE ON EARTH, everyone lives together in harmony and shares their bounty with the less well off.
It will also be very convenient for the well to do to buy in such close proximity to social housing so that when their commissions dry up or their RE projects fail they don’t have so far to move to get into the subsidized units after they’re foreclosed on.
September 4th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
@Disbelief:
But people buying million dollar houses in Vancouver don’t have any problems renting out their basements to poor people.
An ironic consequence of the housing bubble has been the mixing of income levels due to the de facto demise of the SFH and real or imagined gentrification. No middle class person in their right mind would have thought of living at Hastings and Abbott a generation ago.
September 4th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
The Periphery Is Imploding –
Penticton, Kelowna, Whistler, Sunshine Coast –
“Priced more than 40% below what was paid in 2002.”
http://wp.me/pcq1o-1fh
September 4th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Man, Kelowna is in deep doo-doo.
They’ve got 2.5 listings per 100 people compared to roughly 1 per 100 in Metro Vancouver and Victoria.
September 4th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
@VHB:
I’m not sure how a mayor on an anti-development platform could do anything about the state of the market other than drive up prices. The city can only regulate the supply of properties whereas demand is controlled by the BOC through interest rates, and by the feds via the mortgage insurance program, no restriction on foreign buying etc.
So wouldn’t an anti-development mayor who restricted supply merely drive prices higher as long as the federal govt had the taps open on full?
September 4th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
@chip:
The city can at least regulate the quality of construction but they’re not doing that.
They’re asleep at the wheel while worthless piles of garbage go up all over the place.
I suppose that’s what you get when your local government is in the pockets of developers.
September 4th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Looks like the kondo krash is in full swing in Port Moody.
I checked out the selling price of a unit listed last month at the “Sahalee” at 651 Nootka Way…(Klahanie neighbourhood).
Building TWO years old. Pre-sales were in the high 300K’s with tons of optional add-ons that many people went for…laminate flooring, extra parking stall, nicer interior doors/finishings, a STORAGE unit…(if you can believe it, for an extra $3500.00) blah blah blah.
Two bedrooms, two baths, almost 800/ft. Granite this and that. Nice appliances. 11th floor.
At any rate, sales are, shall we say, “slow” and “slowing”.
It was listed for 323K to undercut everyone else, went to 299K and finally sold for 296K.
Uh oh.
September 4th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Boombust,
Am I reading that correctly? Basically a 30% drop in this building over 2008 prices?
If this is correct how can anyone use the following terms:
Leveling
Easing
Edging
Balancing
Slipping
Ticking down
or even Dropping?
The only world the shrills should be allowed to print is CRASHING!!!! (with four exclamation marks)
Ha hah a ah aha ha
September 4th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
“Am I reading that correctly?”
Yep.
September 4th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
A question for the smarter folks on here. We talk about how Japan was unable to fight off deflation with long term low interest rates and the term “lost decade(s)”. Proof that low rates don’t prevent a collapse in asset values.
We also talk about how central banks won’t be able to keep rates low forever because they will eventually need to raise bond returns to attract buyers to support government debt.
How was Japan able to sell it’s debt with low rates all through the 90′s while other countries had presumably better returns?
September 4th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
@Ed:
Japan sold all of it’s debt to its own citizens.
Also, the stock market in Japan sucked throughout the 90′s and deflation was persistent so the people of Japan didn’t mind rock bottom yields as long as their money was safe.
September 4th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
@Ed: I believe part of it is due to currency fluctuations as well as a high personal savings rate. It’s the classic savings/investment imbalance. Low rates in Canada amount to the same thing — the government is investing for us and most likely not doing a very good job of it.
That said, Japan has one of the worst balance sheets in terms of magnitude. A good question to ask is how they could default.
September 4th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Great Marketplace segment tonight on the Rich Dad real estate seminars.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/...../main.html
I wonder if Jurocks are as bad as this scam.
September 4th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
*POP*….Sssssssssssss
Here dat?
September 4th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
@Patiently Waiting:
Sun photographer missed it
http://www.mingpaovan.com/ftp/...../_03r2.jpg
September 4th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
@Best place on meth:
What a disgrace.
September 4th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Thanks BPOM and House… How it unfolds here will be verrry interesting indeed.
September 4th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
@House:
Er, savers invest. The government is a saver if it’s running a surplus. Which of course it isn’t.
Canada has been running a current account deficit for a few years now. That means that the country is now a net borrower. It’s foreigners who are the net investors in Canada. Canada had been running a current account surplus since the end of the oil bust in the 90′s. That we have a deficit with the current oil prices shows how much the country has been running on credit, like you know where.
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2275615
September 4th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Aside from RE, the other bubble is higher ed (this is a case where Canada is not as bad as the US but still not good) – check out the economist article: http://www.economist.com/node/.....N=98796212
September 4th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
more street art
http://www.mingpaovan.com/ftp/...../_04a8.jpg
September 5th, 2010 at 12:00 am
“It’s time to take a look at this to see how we can gradually move that minimum wage to make sure that we are keeping up with the world around us.”
Who said that? A union leader? An NDP MLA? Nope.
Guess who:
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/bu.....z0ydSzJ4zF
September 5th, 2010 at 12:08 am
@chip:
“Anti-developer” is not the same as “anti-development”. Crombie, Phillips and Harcourt all ran on platforms of “smart development” (we would probably call it “sustainable development” today). As BPOM alluded.
The greatest legacy of the Phillips council was the city-planned development of city-owned property in West False Creek and Champlain Heights which had been an industrial slum and dump respectively. And the city still owns them – the property is leased.
This idea was copied by Bill Bennett when he obtained the Expo Lands from the CPR and thrown in the garbage can by Bill Vander Zalm.
September 5th, 2010 at 4:34 am
What happens when people rent out properties rather than selling them, to wait for higher prices? Prices just get lower. Coming to a city near you:
Pay attention to that last paragraph. When prospective buyers get that attitude, it’s all over for excessive prices. Buyers will only pay rental value at most.
http://www.calculatedriskblog......hases.html
September 5th, 2010 at 7:00 am
@patriotz: it’s worth remembering how corrupt Vander Zalm was when he was premier. All his HST populism distracts from his real legacy: selling hundreds of millions of dollars of prime real estate for peanuts.
September 5th, 2010 at 7:58 am
@ToddM: I’d like to think that Canada is nowhere near the outrageous tuition of the US schools. $38,000/yr for an Ivy League program!
My memory is a bit hazy but I believe that in 1990 I paid ~$2500 for my first year of BSc at UBC. The last year of my grad school a few years ago cost me something like ~$4000, and that included the summer. To me that rate of inflation, and the absolute cost, seems reasonable and I was able to pay for it all myself without incurring debt. (Not considering the public support universities receive, of course.)
In the US doesn’t the whole student-debt industry push students into massive borrowing, allowing tuition to be inflated? I think I read a Mish rant about $100,000 of debt for useless degrees and no hope of repaying it… Since most of the debt is government-backed, and the private companies pushing that debt make huge fees, perhaps there is an easy parallel to RE prices and CMHC here?
September 5th, 2010 at 8:11 am
@/dev/null:
Indeed. Higher education is one leg of the government-supported trio that keeps young people out of the labour force and thus not counted as unemployed:
Affluent: Higher education
Poor whites: Military
Poor minorities: Prisons
The one growing the most lately is prisons, on which many states (e.g. California) spend more money on than higher education.
It’s self-evident that spending on at least one of them has to come down considerably, but like most other self-evident problems in the US, nobody wants to talk about it.
September 5th, 2010 at 9:14 am
“…it’s worth remembering how corrupt Vander Zalm was when he was premier.”
He’s nothing but an attention seeking creep.
Kinda like Tony Parsons, but worse.
September 5th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Michael (Douche) Campbell just stated on the Global Morning propaganda dose that “people aren’t worried about the bubble, but are worried about the bubble bursting.”
It amazes me how these douche bags are stealthily agreeing with what they vehemently denied. And no one calls them on it.
September 5th, 2010 at 9:21 am
@patriotz: it’s worth remembering how corrupt Vander Zalm was when he was premier. All his HST populism distracts from his real legacy: selling hundreds of millions of dollars of prime real estate for peanuts.
Millions? I would say easily in the low Billions! That guy just gave the expo lands away which at the time we rated the 5th (if memory serves me correctly) most valuable undeveloped urban land in North America.
The guy is an absolute douche bag who belongs with the likes of Glen Clark.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:16 am
@McLovin: “belongs with the likes of Glen Clark”
Just so we have the orders of magnitude correct, Vander Zalm sold off $1BB land and got close to nothing to show for it. Clark spent $1BB on fast ferries BUT recouped some of this since it was mostly spent in the province.
Not excusing either but in terms of their effect on the balance sheet, old Bill was far worse. And for all the hate Gordon Campbell gets, imagine if Vander Zalm had sold off BC Rail. I’d put the sale price in the low 5 figures.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:19 am
@Ed:
“How was Japan able to sell it’s debt with low rates all through the 90’s while other countries had presumably better returns?”
Consider the reserve accounting.
A sovereign country like Japan, with control over its own currency, can generate revenue in 4 ways.
1. Taxation. (drains cash from public cash balances)
2. Selling Bonds to the public. (drains cash from public cash balances)
3. Selling Bonds to the central bank. (adds cash to public cash balances when the funds are spent)
4. Printing money directly (no bond sales) (adds cash to the public cash balances)
Adding/draining cash to/from public cash balances produces DOWNWARD/UPWARD pressure on rates.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:26 am
@chilled:
“people aren’t worried about the bubble, but are worried about the bubble bursting.”
Huh? So a bubble is fine as long as it doesn’t pop? A ponzi scheme is fine until it crashes? WTF…too bad all bubbles pop eventually. Nothing will stop it.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:33 am
@House:
Vander Zalm DID sell off BC Hydro Rail and BC Hydro Gas. Again at a time of low stock market valuations.
BTW the fast ferries cost $460 million not $1 billion. And as has been noted, at least there were some job spinoffs. The Expo land sale created no jobs since it would have been developed anyway had it remained under provincial ownership as Bill Bennett had planned. Just a whole bunch of profits going to HK rather than going into provincial revnue.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Just a question I have…
I have been saying, along with MANY others, that we have been in a RE bubble for the PAST NUMBER OF YEARS.
Why is it FINALLY getting so much attention; particularly in the MSM?
Is it only because of the way the numbers have shifted? (increased MOI, price reductions, sales declines?)
And, because of the downward shift, the so-called “experts” are starting to ooze out and look like they knew it all along?
I know I have just answered my own question, but I’d like to hear what others have to say.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:49 am
@Boombust:
Same as you. It’s CYA time. They knew it would happen all along.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:49 am
My girlfriend and I just got engaged and I’ve convinced her to rent for a year. Everyone thinks we’re crazy. I know my numbers and it just makes sense. However, I’m looking at craigslist rental ads and totally coming up empty. So much crap out there. Someone please enlighten me with the art of renting.
Are there other ways to find rentals other than craigslist? Forums, websites, brokers?
Thanks
September 5th, 2010 at 10:55 am
“It’s CYA time”
What is CYA?
September 5th, 2010 at 11:10 am
“What is CYA?”
Cover yer a$$.
I knew a few reporters in a former life and let’s just say a journalism degree isn’t exactly special qualification for seeing to the roots of this issue. ‘Business reporters’ generally fall into the same camp as ‘weather department’, a handful in the industry with the educational background and some who just look good on camera. Infotainment providers like CKNW who tap advertisers for on-air commentary? Probably a stronger case.
September 5th, 2010 at 11:18 am
The pimps are shitting bricks at the prospect of higher rates coming this week.
http://www.thestar.com/article.....rest-rates
The reality is that the ‘emergency rates’ have caused huge inflationary pressures to build…one of those issues is an unsustainable real estate bubble the very thing the self serving real estate pimps are trying to protect.
Buy any groceries lately?? I had an old lady start talking to me in a grocery line the other day and hey….these seniors on fixed income are getting hammered by the rampant escalation of food costs. If you don’t like your Mom or some such shit..too bad for you…but the reality is that cheap money iss bad policey for common folk….look what happpned in Zimbabweans whose food prices rose until the businesses could no longer afford to stock the shelves…same thing is happening in places like Venezuela…so don’t think it won’t happen to little Canada when food prices escalate beyond the average persons ability too pay. I see things…like people paying for groceries on credit cards…always a bad sign…don’t overlook the obvious just because the pimps want you to look the other way.
September 5th, 2010 at 11:27 am
@Ru:
It is frustrating, I know. We looked for a good six months (ok, most casually) before we found a gem. But they ARE out there. Takes a bit of luck too, and there seems to be competition for the good places. My advice? Just keep checking out craigslist, daily. And if there’s a phone number for a good place, call, don’t email. It shows you’re really serious and sets you apart from the lazy-emailers.I noticed in the last few months some landlords were more willing to negotiate than before-some condos sitting empty for months at extraordinarily high rents-check out some that have been on the market for awhile. Eventually you’ll find a decent place, takes time and patience.
September 5th, 2010 at 11:35 am
@realpaul:
“. I see things…like people paying for groceries on credit cards…always a bad sign”
If that person pays off in full every month and gets airmiles/cashback with every purchase (some cards double their reward programs at groceries stores, too) then it’s actually better than paying with cash/debit.
So it’s not ALWAYS a bad sign.
September 5th, 2010 at 11:38 am
@anonymous123:
Wait, I thought that residential vacancy rates were high in Vancouver, that landlords are having trouble filling their places, that we’re being swamped with properties from amateur landlords who are unwilling to sell, and that it’s a renters dream come true right now due to the empowerment of the prospective tenant to negotiate rent? That’s the mantra that’s been recited on this blog for months, but now we have an anecdotal account of it perhaps not being the case?
September 5th, 2010 at 11:40 am
@Ru:
This site consolidates a few other sites (incl. Craigslist) onto a map which is useful.
http://www.padmapper.com/#
This site has proper apartment buildings all over metro Vancouver.
http://www.aptrentals.net/rentalvacancies.htm
If you’re using Craigslist make sure you filter out the basement trash by entering -basement and -bsmt.
Good luck.
September 5th, 2010 at 11:56 am
@Ru:
Another thing to try that has been met with some success for people I know is comb the for sale units on Craigslist and Kijji and find one you would like to rent and write the person a polite email stating that you are aware that their unit is for sale but if they would like to rent it you would be willing to pay X. Include a information about you and why you would be a good renter so they know you are serious and not wasting their time.
This works better with places that have been on the market for several months. Make sure you insist on a one year lease. If they want to park you in it and collect some rent while they still try to sell it politely decline. This takes some patience but create a form email and blast it out. Sometimes you might get no response or people telling you to beat it but if you are patient these same people may come back to you in a month or two. Especially as prices start to drop and nothing is moving.
This tech worked for two people I know and they are in sweet places that we never actually for rent so they didn’t compete with anyone.
September 5th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Anonymous Says:
September 5th, 2010 at 11:38 am
@anonymous123:
Wait, I thought that residential vacancy rates were high in Vancouver, that landlords are having trouble filling their places, that we’re being swamped with properties from amateur landlords who are unwilling to sell, and that it’s a renters dream come true right now due to the empowerment of the prospective tenant to negotiate rent? That’s the mantra that’s been recited on this blog for months, but now we have an anecdotal account of it perhaps not being the case?
This is a good point. Can anyone add some information to this? I would be very interested.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
There are lots of high quality places on Craig’s List for rent. You just have to be willing to pay a reasonable rent. If your budget is $700 then yes all you will find is a dump. But if you are considering buying you should have enough of a budget to rent a nice place. Rents are always negotiable.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
@McLovin:
Basement dumps and 1 bedrooms are in plentiful supply, oversupplied and sitting empty actually.
The second link I posted shows several examples of 1 bedrooms asking $900 when they were previously $1050. These are in professionally managed apartment buildings run by people who know what they’re doing.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
@Anonymous: “I thought that residential vacancy rates were high”
Relatives of mine rented out their DT unit and had not too many problems doing it. They were not pushing the envelope in terms of market rental rate. IMO what suffers most is the tenant quality, not the vacancy rate. Landlords pay for it either way though.
If you’re a good quality tenant you’re most likely getting a discount to market rent, either through a lack of rent increases or a lower starting base. If this isn’t your situation you’re getting the short end or you smell funny.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
#160 A…..I stood behind a postal worker at SuperStore who pulled out 4 credit cards ..one after the other…and all of them were maxed out/declined. The postie walked out without his groceries, that looked like the families weeks worth, kids stuff etc. So the bullshit that everyone is happily paying off the bill at the end of every month and collecting travel points is really just false advertising that hides the grim reality of a lot of people who are so debt encumbered that they can’t afford to feed themselves . The fact is that Canadians are 150% debt encumbered on majority average and the cracks are starting to show.
I have to wonder why the long lines of people at the food banks these days don’t just apply for more credit so that they can go to Europe on the points……nah….reality is much uglier than that. The fastest growing segments of food bank clients are young families and seniors…you’d think their credit would be pretty good.
Nope, normal people aren’t buying groceries on credit for fun…thats a fallacy.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
“people aren’t worried about the bubble, but are worried about the bubble bursting.”
Ya, ok Michael Campbell, just like your mother warned you, running with scissors is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
All is fun and games on the way up in the world of RE, yet when it crashes all you’re left with is a pile of debt and tears.
September 5th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
@realpaul:
That’s because you shop at SuperStore.
September 5th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
@McLovin:
We are moving on Oct 1 into a 1000 sq.ft 2bdr/2bthr pet friendly apartment with dishwasher and insuite laundry, parking included, in quiet area of West End, and the rent is just little above $1600 per month.
There is plenty of suites for rent, it is just that people need to brush up on their negotiating skills. Do not give a notice before you find a suite that is to your liking. If you know what you want and especially if you have a high credit score, you got the upper hand. I find it funny how “landlord wannabes” try to dictate “no this, no that” terms for obnoxious amounts of money that actually only cover their mortgage and maintenance. I don’t waste my time with them, only when they get very funny and stay vacant for months, I send them an email reminding them what they need to do in order to rent out the suite.
There are many rental agencies, eg. Downtownsuites.com, Brucewardrealty.com, Gold Team Management Services, Advent Vancouver, Metro Core Realty, Prompton… and some of them actually do have good deals. Bruce Ward had a fantastic suite at 1000 Beach (very nice building), False Creek North, I think a month ago – about 1200 sq feet, hardwood floor, partial ocean view etc. for $1900 per month, and it was rented out immediately. Who doesn’t want to live in a 600k suite for $1900/month?:)
So, there are good deals out there, actually plenty of them, it is just matter of finding them. And of course, dictating your terms. As long as you remember that you already have a roof over your head, and they are the ones not having a tenant, you are in position to negotiate.
I am never surprised when I see a pig requesting $2000 for 800 sq. feet shit box in Crosstown, yet I always ask myself what kind of an idiot would pay that much and – WHY?
September 5th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
@BPOM – great links, particularly padmap.com. I wish I knew about that site when I was looking for a place. Probably would have saved me some money. It’s a great way to see comparable units in nearby buildings.
I must admit, though, I’m slightly skeptical about a couple of the downtown listings. e.g. here’s a 1-bedroom at the brand new Alto asking only $800/month for 807 sq. feet. That’s about half what similar units are asking:
http://apartments.canada.oodle.....couver-bc/
Or this one in Yaletown, fully furnished in a new building, asking 1150. Similar furnished places are several hundred dollars more:
http://www.rentboard.ca/rental.....;ref=oodle
I’d say this is either a signal that the downtown rental market is imploding (unlikely) or something fishy is up with some of these listings. Or maybe there are just some people who have no idea what the going rent is for a given type of unit (this is undoubtedly true, but usually people ask way more than the going market rate, not way less).
In any case – Ru you just need to keep looking, and ignore the overpriced speculator condos. There are plenty of good finds out there.
September 5th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
@Yalie:
Those are scams. The “landlord” is in UK or Jupiter or somewhere, or just about to go, so they will send you a key after you wire them damage deposit money, or something like that.
(Or maybe weekly rental rates.)
September 5th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Realpaul: Until grocery stores start giving discounts for cash, I will continue using credit to pay for my groceries. The credit card company takes a cut of every transaction, and those costs are passed through to the consumer through prices. You’re paying these higher prices, you might as well take something in return. Best would be a cash discount, but the rewards (I use my points toward rrsp contributions) coupled with money carried for a month at 0% is better than nothing. And no I don’t ever carry a balance.
And sure, people in serious trouble are out there, and probably in increasing numbers, and they will be using whatever methods they can to push back the day of reckoning. But that does not mean that every person you see using a credit card is in that situation.
Also, the stores in Venezuela run out of stock not because of high prices, but because of low prices – price controls set below the cost of production, which leads to shortages. This is centrally-planned economies 101.
I actually like your cynicism, but it’s kind of sad when you miss the mark and are too stubborn to admit it. It places your other viewpoints in a more dubious light.
September 5th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
@Ru:
rentersden.com
There are several brand new and 3yo condos @UBC, 2 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms, asking around $2,300-$2,400/month
September 5th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Related to Microsoft CDC closing its Richmond facilities -
“One source told the News that the Microsoft’s move had a lot to do with Richmond’s lack of rental accommodations.”
“And because some workers had learners’ licences, they weren’t allowed to drive at night.”
September 5th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Vanderzalm sold bc hydro?……..give your head a shake. Due to Gordon Campbell and his band of idiots
Hydro is forced to pay for privately generated power at double its market value and the total bill is over $40 BILLION. This “buy high/sell low” policy can only have one result – bankruptcy. Look at our ruined rivers and the ecosystem.
One tends to look at the immense dams and think of that as representing Hydro’s value but it doesn’t. The real value is in the water rights under the government’s control. The only way BC Hydro looks attractive – and it does do that! – is if the right to use the water, be it for power or use as a very sought after commodity, goes with the deal.
Campbell has sold BC jobs and will probably sell off our natural resources to the US. Read this article from the tyee:
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010.....athToRuin/
Zalm has his faults but he is for the people of bc and not trying to sell us out of our livelihoods.
September 5th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
You have to go all the way to Fairfax, VA to find an academic real estate expert who “gets it.” From today’s NYT:
“Housing needs to go back to reasonable levels,” said Anthony B. Sanders, a professor of real estate finance at George Mason University. “If we keep trying to stimulate the market, that’s the definition of insanity.”
September 5th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
@oneangryslav2:
Not nearly that far. UCLA’s Chris Thorberg was spot on about the RE bust and is now predicting a double dip recession:
He’s talking about the US, but it goes doubly for us because we’re just starting our own RE bust. Oh and add “private debt” to “public debt” for Canada – at least private debt has been falling south of the border.
http://pragcap.com/chris-thorn.....ng-in-2011
Imagine standing him up against the jackasses we have here.
September 5th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
I pay for just about everything with one credit card. Back when I used three credit cards and two debit cards, I found it harder to keep track of my spending. So its not even for the sake of points. I just find it more convenient, that’s all. I hope nobody ever raised their eyebrows when i put a litre of milk on plastic, because they had no reason to.
I also would rather just “sign here” than use a number pad that had countless random people touching it.
September 5th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
#174 DD, congrats on being in the minority of Canadians making an RRSP contribution…be sure to thank your parents for paying foe a better education than most. The fact is though that a minority of Canadians are barely getting by…hence all the debt.
There are plenty of Marie Antoinettes in our society who are so coddled that they fail to recognize the majority situation because they don’t experiance the day to day drugery of the majority…our politicians and the scum bags in the public service unions all share this pissant ‘Let them eat cake’ attitude…..you’re not here to tell us that your entitlement overshadows the reality of everyone who doesn’t share your good fortune are you?
Food prices going up because of visa expenses by the retailer are NOT a good thing for the majority of consumers…this is why recent changes introduced to the Credit Act for banks to disclose the length of time it will take to pay off a credit card balance…I’m sure if you care to look you’ll find that you’re also in the minority of credit card holders that pays off their account in toto every month……sorry kid but not everyone lives in the ivory tower of mostly granny bashers and parasites who have leached themselves into positions of grandeur while sucking off the social payroll. The fact that prices are going up to the degree that they are is one of the many reasons why so many young families, single mothers and seniors are crowding the food banks and welfare rolls…of course you don’t look down that street do you?
Hey..its not my issue either…I’m on a pacific island right now in the sunshine….I just got back from New York…but that doesn’t mean that I’m such a effete snob that I don’t see what the less fortunate are experiancing…..tell you what…..since your so brilliantly situated, why not put a bit of surplus into charity..I do….and most understanding grownups do too….look at what your parents did for you. Too bad they didn’t teach you anything about having a social consience while they were pandering to your every need.
September 5th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Some of you constantly demonize Vanderzalm and emphasize Gordon Campbell’s era. Fortunately most people are able to pick up the underlying message and read between the lines. They all grew horns commencing the second term onwards.
September 5th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Now this is what I am talking about.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09.....r=1&hp
September 5th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Amazing price reduction:
v832960
Dropped from $1,150,000 to $1,147,500
$2500 price reduction on a million dollar property? Really? Think that’s gonna make a difference? You originally listed at $1,450,000 in 2009 and the $300K drop didn’t make a difference so maybe it’s just about picking the right combination of numbers, not what the market wants to pay…
September 5th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
“And because some workers had learners’ licences, they weren’t allowed to drive at night.”
that’s either misinformation or just an excuse. you can drive at night, just not past midnight. also, i drive by that office every day at 11 pm and there has never really been anyone there at that time anyway. i guess they don’t overwork people at micro$soft?
September 5th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
@YLTNBoomerang: This moron should find a RE agent who understands the Vancouver market. How could you have foregone the opportunity to reduce the price from $1,150,000 to $1,148,888?
Amateurs!
September 5th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
See Realpaul, you could have conceded that using a credit card can be a rational choice, and we could be buddies.
Instead, you got all riled up, made a bunch of unfounded assertions, and generally made an ass out of yourself. Par for the course I guess.
Would it bother you to find out that someone works in private non-unionized industry, receives no aid from family or government, and attempts to provide financial security through saving and investing?
September 5th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
oneangryslav2 Says:
September 5th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
@YLTNBoomerang: This moron should find a RE agent who understands the Vancouver market. How could you have foregone the opportunity to reduce the price from $1,150,000 to $1,148,888?
Amateurs!
—————————————–
Sorry, a professional Realtor (TM) would have convinced the seller that the price is still too high and should reduce to a price that would sell: $888,888.88
September 5th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
@Daniel Del Ponte:
You could be my acquaintance… that would help you to start getting sense what the coffee is all about.
You must be related to Hipster Kitteh.
And if you think I don’t know coffee… well… my dad was born in Jamaica, which has a mountain that is called “Blue Mountain,” that has some pretty famous coffee grown on it. My mom was born in India, which provides a lot of the cheap filler beans that you probably drink in your espresso. Furthermore, Coffee Time makes an excellent brew.
What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s a French Press with coarse ground coffee that you love. Look again, the coffee is now Campari. Anything is possible when you are cultured and not a peasant. I’m in a condo.
September 5th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
“…using a credit card can be a rational choice.”
LOVE those Airmiles!
September 5th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
“Some of you constantly demonize Vanderzalm…”
And for GOOD reason.
Remember Faye Leung and that brown paper bag full o’ cash?
F-aaaaaan-tastic!
(Say, I wonder if Lilian fought her way out of those headbands. Awfully constricting…)
September 5th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Ya ……maybe I should be thirteen and be looking for ‘buddies’ Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Kids are so stupid….heres a good example of a ‘real estate no brainer’ from the perspective of an underage idiot.
http://www.financialpost.com/n.....story.html
Must be rosy to think you’re smart until reality smacks you on the ass eh?
Don’t hate kiddies……realpaul always knows better. I know this because I’m kicking back on the beach…..and you’re not.
September 5th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
@shawnchong: Both of you are ADHD.
All 3 levels are gripped with greed. Someone will have to pay for it eventually, eh! Now before I was so rudely interrupted by iPhones and iPads, ………
September 5th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
@Boombust: Smart asses don’t deal with “brown paper bag full o’ cash”. That’s so primitive.
Your contact can set up a shelf company in Nigeria, and deposit M$$$ account in an Asian merchant bank on your behalf. You then show up in an Asian city to empty the account and relay it to the Nigerian company with further instructions.
September 5th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
patriotz Says: UCLA’s Chris Thorberg
No longer with them I think but still can’t recommend highly enough Thornberg’s 2006 Economics Roundtable speech on the California market as an example of how real economists analyze markets, in contrast to those who act as wings of the marketing department.
September 5th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
@fixie guy: Youtube link to Thornberg speech
September 5th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
@realpaul: It looks like rp’s post is being quickly voted into foreclosure. I wanted to rescue the link he posted, though, as I’m sure others will find it interesting. A 32-year-old who has never witnessed a property bust sure seems like a genius now.
http://www.financialpost.com/n.....story.html
September 5th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
New listings for Greater Vancouver detached houses:
July, 2010: 1688
Aug, 2010: 1420
Both of these are the lowest since at least 2001.
If the Fall is going to bring some price declines, we can’t repeat that kind of listing performance.
September 5th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
From the HGTV guy:
““I’ll even go so far as to determine the value of a property by dividing it up per bedroom, with a limit of $65,000 per bedroom,”
Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/n.....z0yiW0B8Vc”
———
Ha f**king ha. See how far that gets you in Van.
September 5th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
@VHB: The inventory graph is quite interesting this year. One would conjecture that it is the result of sellers not getting their prices and pulling their units off the market. But if we assume that’s the case, it suggests (but is not proof of) that the market may be 15% investor driven (3000 or so units lower than what one might guess from a more typical graph). Either that, or 15% of the move up market has died because no FTB are buying in.
Typically in a bubble the mania grows and pulls in more investors or current investors expand on their portfolios. Once the bubble reaches a peak, prices start to fall, or another possibility is that the market freezes, but prices eventually fall at the margin due to sellers who need to sell.
The amazing thing about the current situation is that it is a ticking time bomb. Bond yields go down with the economy. If the economy goes down, eventually it will hit the re market with unemployment, even with very low mortgage rates (witness usa). Or if the economy picks up, bond yields rise, mortgage rates rise, re crashes.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
@Boombust:
Remember Faye Leung and that brown paper bag full o’ cash?
Not being from BC and thus not knowing about this… I just read up about it, and coincidentally, found this recent video of Faye Leung on Global News!
http://www.globaltvbc.com/vide.....xZyck_7XhD
September 5th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
@patriotz: Well, there’s Prop 19, which is trying to lower the prison population some.
September 5th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
@Boombust:
I googled the story. Isn’t this just as bad as setting up a shelf company in Nigeria?
“The Vander Zalms originally wanted an all-U.S. cash deal for $14.5 million with $2 million going back to a Taiwan company called IAA, which Leung represented.”
Not saying this is right, but Sam and a whole bunch of others also enjoyed all-expenses paid junkets.
“Tan Yu was provided with VIP treatment and lunch with the Lieutenant-Governor prior to the sale”
VdZ was no match negotiating his own asset and crown asset. It would seem that Gordo did a better job with BCRail and BCH. Hopefully, the next PM will not give away the Burrard Inlet.
“Then they agreed to $3 million cash and the rest mortgaged. Now, Leung explained, there was to be no interest on $7 million of the mortgage for five years.”
“He was being drawn in deeper into unfamiliar territory. He and his wife believed they were negotiating Asian-style with a man Vander Zalm considered to be a more astute businessman than himself.”
“Li Ka-shing did the same thing on the Expo deal: cutting down the interest,” he said, to nobody in particular.
September 6th, 2010 at 1:16 am
Harpers uber quest to gain a majority has had the government doing everything it can to cheat the hangman in spite of th e longer term destruction of the consumer economy in Canada, but….he’s doing it anyway.
“Efforts to halt prices from falling sharply might keep homeowners, and hence millions of voters, happy, but it’s bad economic policy. First-time buyers would be forced to take on even more dangerously large mortgages. At the same time, if the housing market continues to swing up and down, that eventually translates into stagnation—albeit at high levels.”
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/0.....the-crash/