methinks the G&M is slightly
more journalistically honest than
the local MSM rags………

http://tinyurl.com/44mal5g

"KINGSTON, Ont. — The planet is running out of oil and heading toward a future that could trap Canada in a violent spiral of decline in the economy and the environment, a special research unit within the Canadian military is predicting."

interesting read
"some" may try to find a
bullish angle to this but
trust me it won't have one………

@blueskies:

So,Canadian should seek alliance with China,the only super power.It will help Canada against US aggression;Van will be benefitted from it because there will be huge demand for houseing those Chinese military personnels once a Naval base has been established here.

There is a Chinese housing bubble and it is located in Vancouver:
http://www.gurufocus.com/news/129183/there-is-a-c…

@Extremely rich Van house owner.:

I assume you are unfamiliar with the the Monroe Doctrine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine

While I don't entirely agree with the concept, it is still a fundamental pillar of US foreign policy. China won't be coming to our shores in that way. ever.

It is also why our oil is US oil and our water is US water 🙁

@ Dave

Let's say you could buy something today, and rent it out.

What sort of cap rate would you require to offset the risk of your investment falling in value moving forward?

Let's assume you think the worst case scenario is a 30% haircut.

@Dave: Affordability drives the market.

Is that why prices in Arizona (record high affordability) are falling, and prices in Vancouver (near-record low affordability) are rising?

Wonder if rates will go up on May 30th? Looks like they'd have to now. Ouch. I read somewhere that when gas prices increase as much as they have in the last few months, there's usually a recession within 6 months, as consumers have to cut back in other places.

Not to mention no more HELOC's will have a huge effect on our economy. Look out below.

It seems to me that RE prices have been anticipating the inflationary environment we are about to enter into.

BoC wont increase rates in a significant manner before the FED. People thinking otherwise are fools.

With more than half the work force working for the government and automatic inflation adjustment in their wages, RE affordability will not be an issue for the lucky ones with government jobs in the foreseeable future.

Savers have no place to hide in this environment.

Interest rates will severely lag inflation rates for years to come. This is the plan all along.

Those who bought RE were not fools after all, as their wages go up with the inflation rate, and their debt deflates by the same amount, it is a double winner. Visionary indeed.

People comparing rent versus ownership are severely biased.

It is very hard to find quality rentals in Vancouver. Yes there are apartments that are cheap, but I would pay twice the rent to live in a decent place rather. To make this comparision fair one has to find a way to account for this quality of living factor. Quality places rents are expensive, and will rent for 5% yield to the purchase price which is decent considering the interest rate environment.

Also, RE will provide a better inflation protection. Right now mortgage debt is deflating at 3.3% pace while your savings in the bank are barely yielding 1%.

@Dave:

In the low yield environment that we are currently in, the return on real estate makes sense from a risk reward perspective.

Isn't that speculating? I would think that what you just described, in terms of the low yield environment, the risk reward spectrum is tilting heavily toward the risk side.

@paradox: And who's going to be paying for all those automatic wage increases you like to brag about? The other half of the working population in the private sector who get paid less than government workers for the same jobs? The same ones who are stretched by the high housing costs, higher cost of living, no wage increases, and higher taxes?

I would suggest you take a look at what's happening to civil servants in places like Greece, Ireland and Britain when the inequality goes too far.

Also guess what? When you tax productive people too much they tend to leave and you end up with lower tax base to fund your gold plated wage package. Remember the brain drain problem back in the 90s??

@paradox: So are all the piece of shit condos and townhouses selling for $600k+ with less than 1000 sq ft of living space and unlikely to last more than 20 years. Quality housing is just hard to find here regardless of whether you are renting or buying and what price you are paying. Just take a look at any condo towers or townhouses building in the late 90s that are now 10 to 15 years old, most of them look prett sad for still being a teenager. I can't imagine newer constructions to be much better. In fact for a lot of townhouses around my area, the new townhouses constructions just look terrible.

I disagree with voting Dave down. It makes it so it is hard to read his posts. While I may not agree with what he says, he has well thought out, articulate, comments that I find interesting to read. We should only vote down the trolls…

@space889:

"unlikely to last more than 20 years. "

You think they're going to be pulling down buildings like Conference Plaza in less than 9 years? Come off it.