Bloomberg on Chinese buyers in Vancouver
Breaking news from February just released!
Realtors say Chinese buyers drive the Vancouver market.
“I hope the government can do something to control the price” so younger generations can buy, said Huang, who paid almost C$1 million for a condo in the Westside’s Kitsilano neighborhood two months ago so her daughter, now aged 6, could attend school nearby. She couldn’t afford a house and prefers apartment living because she doesn’t like yard maintenance. She also likes the views from her sixth-floor condo.
May 18th, 2011 at 9:27 am 1
First !!!!
I own bloomberg
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May 18th, 2011 at 10:51 am 2
Don't worry chumps, its coming.
A McLosin and his money are soon parted.
Remember these lessons. Pass them on to your children, if you love them.
xoxox
Romeo Jordan
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May 18th, 2011 at 11:05 am 3
New Listings 248
Price Changes 120
Sold Listings 259
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May 18th, 2011 at 12:41 pm 4
it's no longer a secret! most everyone now knows the mainland chinese have found vancouver, bc
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May 18th, 2011 at 12:48 pm 5
Cut the music!
Li kai, you under sexed over mortgaged sweat hog. Dealing with you would be two hits, me hitting you and your wife's undies hitting the floor.
Three hits if you count your real estate portfolio hitting bankruptcy protection… Soon enough sweat hog.
Hit the music!
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May 18th, 2011 at 1:10 pm 6
@Dave: You mean there isn't sustainable demand for fifty $3 million houses per week in a small city with a median family income of under $75K/year???? Say it ain't so.
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May 18th, 2011 at 1:14 pm 7
May 2011 month-end projections
Days elapsed so far 12
Days missing 1
Days remaining 8
5 Day Moving Average: Sales 172
5 Day Moving Average: Listings 250
SALES
Sales so far 2042
Projection for rest of month (using 5day MA) 1548
Projected month end total 3590 +/- 350
NEW LISTINGS
Listings so far 3487
Projection for rest of month (using 5day MA) 2250
Projected month end total 5737 +/- 325
Sell-list so far 58.6%
Projected month-end sell-list 62.6%
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May 18th, 2011 at 1:24 pm 8
Interesting numbers… YVR is still rolling, the rest of the province has hit a wall.
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May 18th, 2011 at 1:50 pm 9
@Anonymous: It's probably nothing.
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May 18th, 2011 at 2:05 pm 10
RJ are you still here?
I thought you were cruising for girls on Robson in your played out Porsche.
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May 18th, 2011 at 2:15 pm 11
@vancouverites should consider opening their eyes:
Of course not. I'm not officially a bear yet, but I suspect that I will be once I have a chance to see the latest affordability numbers.
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May 18th, 2011 at 2:31 pm 12
@Ravishing Rick:
You are love child of drunken weekend.
I can't go broke,I own most of the world, rest is what I won on poker game at RiverRock
Vancouver is chump change west van hillbilly….go back to basement and lick toilet.
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May 18th, 2011 at 2:32 pm 13
Global Slowdown to Hit by Summer, Even for U.S., Says Achuthan
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/globa…
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May 18th, 2011 at 2:55 pm 14
New Listings 248
Price Changes 120
Sold Listings 259
Hey Best Place on Meth,
Look at the death of the market! Sales have dried up since March 18th!
F`ing retard
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May 18th, 2011 at 3:31 pm 15
@observer: If the slowdown happens, it may be used as an excuse for QE 3.
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May 18th, 2011 at 6:02 pm 16
April MOI (Months of Inventory) calculations from BC’s 12 sales regions. Sales and listings data courtesy of BCREA’s website. MOI calculations courtesy of Moi. Note the % change from the previous month.
BC Northern
Inventory: 2696
Sales: 318
MOI: 8.5 (+16%)
Chilliwack
Inventory: 1757
Sales: 187
MOI: 9.4 (+10%)
Fraser Valley
Inventory: 8064
Sales: 1414
MOI: 5.7 (+28%)
Greater Vancouver
Inventory: 15239
Sales: 3270
MOI: 4.7 (+36%)
Kamloops
Inventory: 2083
Sales: 157
MOI: 13.3 (+33%)
Kootenay
Inventory: 2864
Sales: 155
MOI: 18.5 (-4%)
Okanagan Mainline
Inventory: 6318
Sales: 395
MOI: 16.0 (+26%)
Powell River
Inventory: 235
Sales: 26
MOI: 9.0 (+10%)
South Okanagan
Inventory: 1981
Sales: 114
MOI: 17.4 (-7%)
Northern Lights
Inventory: 277
Sales: 26
MOI: 10.7 (+123%)
Vancouver Island
Inventory: 6206
Sales: 585
MOI: 10.6 (+17%)
Victoria
Inventory: 3709
Sales: 540
MOI: 6.9 (+27%)
Provincial Totals
Inventory: 51268 (+7%)
Sales: 7187 (-16%)
MOI: 7.1 (+29%)
April was, of course, the first full month of sales activity post March 18, and as expected, sales are down and inventory is up, for a whopping 29% increase in MOI province-wide. Vancouver once again leads the province in delusion quotient (DQ) with a still-low MOI at 4.7, but it also sported the second highest monthly increase at +36%.
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May 18th, 2011 at 6:54 pm 17
@Anonymous: Looks like reality is coming soon to a neighborhood nearer to you, Vancouver.
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May 18th, 2011 at 7:12 pm 18
@paulb.: On the other hand…..
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May 18th, 2011 at 7:48 pm 19
nice objective article
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May 18th, 2011 at 8:33 pm 20
@paulb.:
Wow. This market keeps surpassing even my predictions. At this point, I am actually starting to turn bearish. You guys could use me on your team.
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May 18th, 2011 at 9:46 pm 21
Things are starting to get desperate in Australia as sellers have had to reduce asking prices by 6.5%. Unfortunately real estate professionals don't seem to understand what a market is:
"the current situation presents an opportunity for prospective buyers to purchase at below market prices, according to RP Data and some of the State’s leading property players."
"those who take the plunge are in a great position whether they’re looking for land, units or houses: it’s a buyers’ market.”
http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/buyers-market…
Falling knife anyone?
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May 18th, 2011 at 10:45 pm 22
@CanuckDownUnder: "Falling knife anyone?"
Call that a knife? Vancouver has a… spoon. (Hangs head in shame)
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May 18th, 2011 at 11:38 pm 23
@ jesse:
I see you've played knifey-spoony before!!!!
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May 19th, 2011 at 12:24 am 24
This decade nothing like the last…i'm convinced.
http://www.theeconomicanalyst.com/content/revisit…
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May 19th, 2011 at 12:36 am 25
@CanuckDownUnder:
RE speak:
"below market" – below asking price
"buyers' market" – most sellers are asking above market
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May 19th, 2011 at 2:21 am 26
@CanuckDownUnder:
>>>“the current situation presents an opportunity for prospective buyers to purchase at below market prices, according to RP Data and some of the State’s leading property players.”<<<
There is no such thing as below market price.
The current selling price is the market price.
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May 19th, 2011 at 2:47 am 27
>>>“the current situation presents an opportunity for prospective buyers to purchase at below market prices, according to RP Data and some of the State’s leading property players.”<<<
There is no such thing as below market price.
The current selling price is the market price.
_____
Hey Best Place on Meth,
You still show up here after being discredited once again with your March 18th mortgage rules?
Its almost the end of May, and look at how strong sales are! Gee, yesterday had a 100% + sell list ratio. Looks like the market is toast
So much for the death of the market after March 18th. Sales are still nice and strong and prices are going up.
Guess you better just toss that prediction in with the collapse of the market following the recession, rising interest rates, the end of the Olympics, the introduction of the HST, the April 2010 rules…
It is a good thing that you are young and still in school, or else you would have learned to have shut your trap after being wrong so many times.
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May 19th, 2011 at 3:04 am 28
"Cities that define our time: Which of the current crop of 21st-century metropolises will our children's children be talking about in 100 years as the most symbolic of our age? Here are three possible contenders."
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20110513-cities…
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May 19th, 2011 at 3:08 am 29
@Genie: "You still show up here after being discredited once again with your March 18th mortgage rules?"
If sales do remain strong(ish) and prices high in Vancouver, do you think this won't be raising a few eyebrows with the bosses back east?
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May 19th, 2011 at 3:44 am 30
@Genie:
Sometimes I think I don't care what happens to Vancouver Real Estate. I feel indifferent about what happens because I have the choice to either buy or rent… and then someone like you comes along and all I can think is, I really want to see a massive crash just to shut people like you up.
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May 19th, 2011 at 3:49 am 31
"If sales do remain strong(ish) and prices high in Vancouver, do you think this won’t be raising a few eyebrows with the bosses back east?"
Oh Jesse, how many years have prices been high (astronomical by income to price ratios) without any federal intervention?
Ten plus years now – and no serious (serious being the operative word) intervention. Lets recap – "emergency rates" have been low for THREE years now; the April 2010 mortgage rules supposedly targeted cities like Vancouver, and that did bubcus; and the March 2011 rules were simply window dressing. Its funny that bears cheer each new purported federal intervention (beyond the CMHC) in the market as popping things – by now they should realize none of the federal measures mean anything.
When RE activity constitutes 25% of the national GDP; when you have an immigration policy that brings in 250k immigrants a year to appease the developers and bankers and absorb all supply of housing (the US brings in between 300k to a million a year with 10 times the population); and when citizens are happy because of the wealth effect from rising RE prices, which prompts them to increase consumer spending; nothing will change.
I am shocked you have to fall back on "the government will intervene to pop the bubble" argument.
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May 19th, 2011 at 3:53 am 32
@Genie: Honest question…do you think it can continue at this pace?
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May 19th, 2011 at 4:02 am 33
@Genie: "I am shocked you have to fall back on “the government will intervene to pop the bubble” argument."
Not an argument, a statement of fact that there is a better-than-even chance of further attempts by politicians and governments to tighten the clamps on Vancouver real estate.
Your assertions are as disingenuous as Flaherty's recent form letter to constituents. One of the major root problems is access and willingness to take on debt that has occurred in the past 10 years; recent changes you cite do not fully retrench previous lending conditions. Foreign capital flows are also contributing to asset price distortions and I think the federal government is aware of this and "not pleased".
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May 19th, 2011 at 4:14 am 34
@Genie:
You are including only legal immigration to the US. Illegal immigration is far greater. Add the US's higher birthrate, and you get a % growth rate of population similar to Canada's. That's easy enough to verify, the proportion of population between the US in Canada has not varied significantly for decades.
Summing up – all of these factors applied equally well to the US five years ago. So what went wrong?
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May 19th, 2011 at 4:23 am 35
@Anonymous: @Anonymous:
i agree – f em
schadenfreude is sweet if it's not happening to anyone you care about
how would you prefer it to go, a quick fell swoop or a thousand cuts?
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May 19th, 2011 at 4:30 am 36
You are including only legal immigration to the US. Illegal immigration is far greater.
So Patz, were those ILLEGALs getting mortgages???? Hmmmmm
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May 19th, 2011 at 4:43 am 37
@Popeer:
Indeed many of them were, which you would have known if you'd been reading HBB etc.
If not, try reading this:
http://www.bankofamericaboycott.com/
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May 19th, 2011 at 4:56 am 38
@Popeer: "were those ILLEGALs getting mortgages???? Hmmmmm"
Yes they did. I though that this is common knowledge.
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May 19th, 2011 at 6:13 am 39
@patriotz:
"Summing up – all of these factors applied equally well to the US five years ago. So what went wrong?"
This is what went wrong: not enought chinese people went to the USA.
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May 19th, 2011 at 6:17 am 40
@vancouverites should consider opening their eyes:
"Say it ain’t so."
It is so: chinese people.
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May 19th, 2011 at 6:36 am 41
Lol – lookee lookee – rates to stay the same. So we are in year THREE of "emergency" low rates. I guess those predictions of inevitable rises due to the bond market are so 2010 eh? And the corresponding crash in RE from rising interest rates is also so 2010 eh?
http://business.financialpost.com/2011/05/19/bocs…
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May 19th, 2011 at 7:45 am 42
A summer shock for US inflation?
"An expert who helps put together the government's Consumer Price Index (CPI) says that the closely-watch inflation gauge could rise abnormally "after June."
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/think_price…
And inflation fears have hedge funds buying farmland.
"This is happening in part because investors see their play as a hedge against hyperinflation. While the rest of the world uses the current calculation of the Consumer Price Index as a proxy for the cost of goods, some farmland investors are using a different equation, one from 1980. These investors assert inflation should be calculated the way it was before the Boskin Commission's 1996 reworking of the CPI formula-in which case, it would be much, much higher.
"The CPI supposedly today is something like 1.5 percent," says the hedge fund manager. "We think the actual rate of inflation is something closer to 6 or 7 percent on an annual basis. It's also not about what it's been over the last 10 years; it's about what it's going to be over the next 10 years."
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May 19th, 2011 at 7:52 am 43
@Dave:
Who would care the fuzzy Affodable index which is just a indicate # only applicable to whites who can't even afford to buy a run-down apt in a white city called Winnipeg famous for its dead-water economy,-30 weather 5 out of 12 months in a yr,and bore to dead life style.Vancouver is only reserved for those who can contribute the prosperity and progress of this Nation which used to be a dead third grade economy before Mainland Chinese start coming here.As Great China will surpass litter (us),(indeed it has already surpasses midget Japan last yr) there will be hundred thousand Chinese billionairs would invest and buy Van RE with pocket money.Van RE to them is super Cheap.We are now witness a perpetuall up swing of price for the decades to come.Chinese is too rich to be thrifty.Affordable index does not apply to China.
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May 19th, 2011 at 8:02 am 44
@Extremely rich Van house owner.:
The whole Chinese buyer issue is very much exaggerated. I live here and I know lots of Asian people. They don't have the kind of money that many seem to think they do. I know lots who seem to 'struggle' like everybody else.
A certain amount of money from China is definitely flowing into the City and we can see that in Richmond and west of Main. Maybe that money has shifted the marginal buyer one step further out of the City. The historic west of Main buyer now buys east of Main. The east of Main buyer now buys in Burnaby… etc…
Outside of these zones, affordability drives the market. It still drives the market for townhomes and condos. I have always maintained that there will be a gradual long term shift in affordability due to a limited number of SFH lots, but I consider it to be excessive at present.
Affordability matters.
My previous expectation for this market was stable prices with improving affordability over time with wage inflation. I expect interest rates to remain low for an extended period. The 'problem' with the present market is that wage inflation is being pumped right back into the market. There has been no easing of affordability this year.
Although that results in rising prices, I don't consider it to be a bullish signal. It actually troubles me because I know what happens when rates inevitably go up. There is nothing left to give other than price. As with any market, what gets overbought typically gets oversold. Since we are pushing the affordability envelope, I am concerned about the depth of a future correction. I would much prefer to see flat prices.
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May 19th, 2011 at 8:15 am 45
@Dave: "I am concerned about the depth of a future correction"
I am not concerned but I might be if I had a large mortgage.
The guys who have the ability to print money won't bat an eye if Vancouver prices drop 50% or more.
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May 19th, 2011 at 8:23 am 46
@jesse:
I may be turning a little bearish, but 50% is well beyond my predictions. I still think the 2009 low is the likely worst case scenario.
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May 19th, 2011 at 8:26 am 47
@Dave:
Go to 33 and Arbutus and make 2 hours survey within 7 miles radius,and you will find ten of thousand wealthy mainland Chinese walking around there.Denial will deprive of house ownership and lucrative retirement.
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May 19th, 2011 at 8:49 am 48
@Dave: Out of curiosity, when you state you're "concerned" does that mean you think some active policy is required to alleviate affordability, or your statement just a passive armchair observation?
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:00 am 49
Who wants bet that the list sell ratio is over 100% this evening?
I think the Spring market is finally here!
Onward and upward!
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:04 am 50
@jesse:
I don't like government interference. Let markets be free.
Again, I need to see the latest affordability data to have a better prediction. Maybe in a week.
What I am saying is that there is little room for prices to go higher. I don't think waiting is going to hurt. There is no rush to buy at present.
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:18 am 51
Vancouver East & West*
New Listings – 54
Back On Market Listings – 2
Price Changes – 30
Sold Listings – 53
Vancouver All Areas*
New Listings – 214
Back On Market Listings – 7
Price Changes – 116
Sold Listings – 212
Since Tuesday's numbers were not posted, here they are. This almost 100% list sell ratio, coupled with yesterdays 100 plus, and what surely will be another 100% plus tonight means the market is back.
Hey bears, maybe the crash of 2012 now? Just around the corner right? hahahahha
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:22 am 52
Too bad he was ex-imf chief when his bail was granted or else it would have given a whole new meaning to IMF bailout
Ex-IMF chief Strauss-Kahn granted $1 million bail
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/formal-charges-filed-aga…
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:27 am 53
@Dave: "I don’t like government interference. Let markets be free."
Then you will join me in a call for the removal of a government guarantee of CMHC-insured mortgages and mortgage-backed bonds.
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:28 am 54
@Troll:
100% sell/list days are my favorite.
What short memories people have.
We had those too in 2008. you know, right at the very peak of the market just as it was about to crash.
I was disappointed with the lack of 100% days last year, it was commented on a few times.
Cheer all you want trlol <– (see what i did there?) but the 100% sell/list indicates to me the top is nigh. ready or not, the drop is coming. yeehah! tell 'em Sheriff Dave, the values are a comin' down!
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:29 am 55
@Dave: “I don’t like government interference. Let markets be free.”
Then you will join me in a call for the removal of a government guarantee of CMHC-insured mortgages and mortgage-backed bonds.
_______________
Lord, who did not see that logic trap coming…
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:33 am 56
@jesse:
Sure. I think they play too big of a role. I would rather have banks underwrite and manage their risks.
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:37 am 57
@curious lurker:
This isn't going to be 2008 again. I think we are in for a soft Winter market though. I think prices will be lower 9 months from now.
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May 19th, 2011 at 9:44 am 58
@curious lurker:
I still need a Deputy. Interested?
Always two there are, a Master and an Apprentice.
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May 19th, 2011 at 10:10 am 59
@Dave: Dave, you're a master all right… bater
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May 19th, 2011 at 10:11 am 60
@Dave:
"My previous expectation for this market was stable prices with improving affordability over time with wage inflation."
Let's check the stats. April wages in BC averaged $23.06 an hour, which was a whopping 1.1% increase from April 2010. But this was only because wages jumped in govt-funded positions (7.4% for health and over 12% for "Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport")
Wages in the productive economy were less rosy: primary industry fell 5%, manufacturing fell 2.1%, management 1.9% and business down by 1.7%.
http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/labr69k-eng.htm
Anyhoo, the idea that affordability will improve because wages are rising 1.1% a year — mainly because the govt is running a deficit — while Vancouver house prices skip along in the double digits is pretty hard to digest.
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May 19th, 2011 at 10:13 am 61
@Troll: Fake numbers. Tuesday was under 50%. Check the forum.
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May 19th, 2011 at 10:46 am 62
New Listings 250
Price Changes 86
Sold Listings 120
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May 19th, 2011 at 11:03 am 63
Thanks Paul,
Numbers have been looking better for quite some time. However, this market would have to move down dramatically for me to afford where I want to live.
My wife and I are trying to start a family and we are seriously considering moving to one of the gulf islands when a baby arrives. We could buy a nice house with several acres outright and still have a very nice cushion. Doesn't sound too bad does it?
I hate to admit it but it looks like Vancouver has got the better of me.
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May 19th, 2011 at 11:17 am 64
@manna from heaven:
(move down dramatically for me to afford where I want to live)
Well the chance is as dim as winning the Lotto Max man,Van is a heaven city reserved for the succeccful citizens who have the talent in earning power,in China there are millions of individuals who belong this catgory.If you are a white you might have a better chance somewhere. I would suggest U move to those typical white Canadian cities such as ,Edmonton,Thunder Bay,Regina,Saint John………….where GDP income are in par of second world level Such as Mexico,Greece,and Groatia.
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May 19th, 2011 at 11:23 am 65
Cut the music!
@paulb
Those are good digits….
i just bought a new pair of chrome plated balls to hang off the rear bumper of my honda ridgeline. Ill slap the balls on, pick you up, and drive around richmond with you in the bed holding up these numbers. We can stop off at Li kai's house aka my favorite asian brothel and do doughnuts In his front yard.
Ill be over at 9
hit the music!
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May 19th, 2011 at 11:23 am 66
@manna from heaven:
Good choice in the Gulf islands; make it happen! Why not?
Personally I would love to move to Vancouver Island, Victoria in particular. Living in Oak bay would be great! When I get out of the fire academy I will definitely apply there.
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May 19th, 2011 at 11:24 am 67
@Ravishing Rick:
Pick me up in 30 mins.
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May 19th, 2011 at 11:28 am 68
@paulb.:
We're moving there this fall and have been watching MLS for the last few months. Prices are falling steadily. I think the April sales number was the worst in 15 years or so, and May looks pretty bad as well.
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May 19th, 2011 at 11:30 am 69
Dave, you are so much more entertaining when your pumping Re on your blog.
Anything going on at Tea Party HQ?
What are they saying about Arnold?
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May 19th, 2011 at 11:31 am 70
@Troll:
"Who wants bet that the list sell ratio is over 100% this evening?"
Ooh, can I still bet?
"Since Tuesday’s numbers were not posted, here they are."
They were posted, this morning. See post #5, dimwit.
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May 19th, 2011 at 11:32 am 71
@paulb
Done!
Hit the music!
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May 19th, 2011 at 12:19 pm 72
Hey Best Place on Meth,
How is that March 18th collapse working out for you?
Lookee lookee the market is collapsing all around you!
Sales are strong and prices rising!
Better stay in school given your predictive abilities – the real world does not operate according to your theories…
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May 19th, 2011 at 12:34 pm 73
Hmmm very interesting. I went to deposit a cheque today, and the bank machine offered to increase my Credit Card limit by $1500. I just had to press a button to agree.
I agreed out of curiousity (don't need it as I pay it off every month). The bank machine slip thanked me for "consenting to a credit limit increase" and included a confirmation number.
Funny thing is this bank knows my income has dropped over the last couple years because I deposit all my money there. I guess that doesn't matter.
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May 19th, 2011 at 12:49 pm 74
@Special investigation:
Yes, it is obvious who Dave is;
What a sick poor , lonely man
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May 19th, 2011 at 12:54 pm 75
@Special investigation:
Ya, we have been talking about lowering some real estate taxes. Trust me on this.
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May 19th, 2011 at 1:48 pm 76
#57 @Dave: "This isn’t going to be 2008 again. I think we are in for a soft Winter market though. I think prices will be lower 9 months from now."
Oh Dave, come on. Stop feeding the bears. How about "nominal prices will never fall, therefore you can safely borrow 20 years of income now." There is no reason aside from a credit bubble for prices to be as high as they are. There is no reason they can't keep going higher either. How high is "too high" ? There is no such thing. As long as banks believe the valuations are sound, and they are willing and able to lend the amounts, that will be the price. Prices have nothing to do with fundamentals and everything to do with lending practices. Prices can and may go to infinity, rental yields can go to zero or even negative if you adjust for inflation. There is no end to it at all. I think that has been demonstrated clearly to everybody.
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May 19th, 2011 at 2:16 pm 77
@rp1:
If your proposition was true, the market would not have gotten to where it is, nor would it have recovered in 2009. Like it or not, the banks do actually check what your income is and whether it can support the mortgage. Prices are where they are because interest rates are low. You can call that artificial and manipulated and I would have trouble arguing against such a position. But, I recognize reality for what it is and rates are currently very low. Vast sums of money to the tune of billions of dollars thinks that rates are going to remain low for many many years. It really is that simple.
Let's also face reality that inflation is baked into the system. Wages go up. Rent goes up. Such is life.
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May 19th, 2011 at 2:32 pm 78
When is that tool Garth ever going to post any comments that don't agree with his little spiels?
His predictions are so 2008….
He has been banging the "interest rates will rise" drum for three years now…
Of course interest rates are in their third year of being at "emergency" low levels…
Just face it bears – you were all wrong about rates rising and only the dumbass realtors knew that they would stay low for a long time.
Dave is right – the smart money, and lots of it – is betting on rates being low.
You guys are screwed – if the going goes well, then rates may go up but so does everyone's income and ability to pay – if the economy tanks again, then rates will stay low, fueling the continued "bubble."
Don't bet against the house boys and girls – they know what they are doing.
In 5 years time you will still be beating the "rates will rise" drum.
F'ing numbnuts
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May 19th, 2011 at 2:40 pm 79
@Dave: Ah yes that is something that could be done: extend PTT relief as part of Clark's "families first" agenda, to fund all those family services.
Seriously though a change to property based HST or the PTT is almost certainly up for discussion in the back rooms in Victoria in the coming weeks. And you can trust Dave on that, but common sense would tell us the same thing. Remember most of the province ex Vancouver is at high risk of entering a severe housing recession. Remaining oblivious to this risks Clark looking like an out-of-touch west side neo liberal elitist.
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May 19th, 2011 at 2:51 pm 80
Please…
Dave is in no way connected to any backroom dealings with the government.
As a lobbyist, I can tell you that the provincial Ministers are just as oblivious to the negative impact of high housing prices as your neighbour is….because they are your "neighbour."
Just as the average joe who owns thinks that rising house prices are great, so to do your provincial ministers and senior bureaucrats.
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May 19th, 2011 at 3:07 pm 81
@Garth “the tool” Turner:
If economy tanks, low aren't aren't gonna fuel anything.
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May 19th, 2011 at 4:03 pm 82
"If economy tanks, low aren’t aren’t gonna fuel anything."
Why, because we are at all time highs with homeownership rates? Sure, bears have been saying that for 5 years now.
With over 250k immigrants coming in, there are plenty of non-native born buyers out there to soak up all of the supply. And that supply includes the pending demographic crisis where are the boomers are supposed to compete as they sell you their houses to live – lol. And yes, some of those immigrants might be the hot asian money that everyone dismissed 6 months back (including the tool Turner) but which are acknowledged as a key factor.
There are plenty of measures that can be contemplated to keep the party going – and many of those measures have been outlined on this very blog.
The party can keep going for some time – how long can you put off buying with a marriage in the works, a baby on the way, or kids looking to spend seven years in the same elementary school without buying.
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May 19th, 2011 at 6:55 pm 83
@Garth “the tool” Turner:
Well sure it can. But the only justification for buying at today's prices is if the party keeps going forever, and that's not going to happen.
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May 20th, 2011 at 7:08 am 84
>Dave Says:
May 19th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
@rp1:
> Prices are where they are because interest rates are low.
Actually, not exactly. Prices are what they are because excess liquidity gets pumped into the system. 90% of the growth in mortgage debt in the last 3 years in Canada has been fueled by securitization.
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May 21st, 2011 at 7:00 am 85
http://www.globaltvbc.com/world/Fake+health+care+…
3 guesses as to the ethnticity of 90% of these fake cards
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May 21st, 2011 at 7:27 am 86
[...] from heaven at vancouvercondo.info May 19th, 2011 at 7:03 pm- “This market would have to move down dramatically for me to afford where I want to live. My [...]
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May 21st, 2011 at 7:27 am 87
[...] from heaven at vancouvercondo.info May 19th, 2011 at 7:03 pm- “This market would have to move down dramatically for me to afford where I want to live. My [...]
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