Hey everyone, happy long weekend to you! Let’s do our regular open topic discussion thing.
– there may be stories added here later
But what are YOU seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent long weekend!
I received a realtor handbill in the mail the other day. Usually, I like a good mixed metaphor but this one makes my head hurt:
"ACCORDION EFFECT PULLING THE MARKET – What does Kitsilano real estate, an accordion and dominos have in common? Every market has a trigger, something to ignite it. Single family homes have surged ahead this year – leaving condos almost standing still. The headlines tell us that all homes in Kitsilano are too expensive. Far from true! Truth is, condo pricing has changed little in 2 years, property taxes and monthly condo fees in Vancouver are among the lowest in North America; the total cost of ownership is affordable! As single family homes accordion ahead – opportunities open as supply/demand dominos its way through the various price ranges and micro markets in Kitsilano."
@ comment 20 I have my house in Tokyo up for sale, its all realted to the earthquake etc. I found out I will face a loss of about 130,000 bucks. Knowing something and experiencing something is very different. I will never buy in a market like this where the odds of it plunging are much higher than it rising. the interest rate thingy is fleeting at best. unless you have som serious reason to buy other that rent i would stick to the numbers. you dont want to go through what i am right now.
"If you look at the numbers, deflation was never a threat in my opinion. Given the spread between 1.25% on a GIC and inflation, aren’t the savings accounts of senior citizens and the poor accommodating borrowers to help inflate essentials like shelter?"
Yes, RTP
Greenspan should be in jail, sharing a cell with the rest of the central bankers.
Flaherty, et al, should be their bitches.
Keeping An Eye On The Pimps Says:
July 30th, 2011 at 9:31 am
The low emergency rates were supposed to be used as a spare tire, while the regular tire was to get fixed.
But they couldn’t afford the repair, and could not buy a new tire as the credit card was maxed, so they ran the spare tire so long the tread is worn and can’t get any traction.
The banks were doing well for a while; they screwed savers by paying them 1.25% on GIC’s and charging 3.78% for mortgages, while deflation was a threat.
If you look at the numbers, deflation was never a threat in my opinion. Given the spread between 1.25% on a GIC and inflation, aren't the savings accounts of senior citizens and the poor accommodating borrowers to help inflate essentials like shelter?
@Victoria: Site is still working from what I can tell:
Most used word in this mornings Abbotsfords real estate review: "REDUCED"
What happened to Garth's Greater Fool?????
The low emergency rates were supposed to be used as a spare tire, while the regular tire was to get fixed.
But they couldn’t afford the repair, and could not buy a new tire as the credit card was maxed, so they ran the spare tire so long the tread is worn and can’t get any traction.
The banks were doing well for a while; they screwed savers by paying them 1.25% on GIC’s and charging 3.78% for mortgages, while deflation was a threat.
But with inflation now running at 3 to 4% it won’t be long now before
A) Investors dump bank stock
B) Stagflation get granted permanent residency in Canada
Get out of Canadian bank stock now.
In my office agents tend to find the detached market very active but the condo market is very slow. The overall Vancouver s/l ratio is still balanced.
July final numbers as per Paul B. dailies:
Listings: 5096
Daily avg: 255 (last month 262)
Sales: 2643
Avg: 132 (last month 149)
Sell/list: 52% (last month 59%)
This weeks numbers were 1107, 595, 54% compared to last weeks 1203, 777, 65%.
As always, thank you Paul.
@fricuRomeoJordan: I would assume the 80/20 rule applies pretty closely. Lots of amateur part time realtors out there, churned out by the 2 weekend shops, salivating at the prospects of a commission on a $1MM sale.
wholly shit
agent will has left the building… .www.agentwill.com…was a great source of data…I wish him well, didn't seem like a bad chap…..
I hope PaulB does well, and you know what….I'll give him my business, I hope a lot of us do….
In general, I think its gradually getting tougher for realtors out there (outside of the top crew), although for the hearty and the patient a weeding out will breed opportunity….
Market slowing? times getting tougher in some spots? pray tell..I love you all.
I just heard that prices have fallen 1% plus
I drove around the westside this afternoon.
A reasonable number of sold signs.
But I was surprised at how many for sale signs are out there, and many look recent.
Can anyone/paulb comment on trends on the westside, is moi rising….visually it looks that way to me.
Higher rates in a handful of months? i think so, once the current fear/debt crisis tapers back.
I sense price declines for this month, anyone know if my senses are picking up an accurate signal?????
"Lastly if the government is stupid enough to provide you with tons of social assistance even though you have $7M in the bank, why wouldn’t you take it? This has less to do with race and origin of money and more to do with the way the system is designed."
remember, it's ok to steal if the other party is 'stupid.'
@Aleks:
my bad…could not understand the math on why would $600,000 be put into a mortgage with only a rental value of $2000.00
Pipewrench, no he didn't. His example was intentionally extreme to show why leaving out opportunity cost skews the results.
you forgot about the $600,000 that you used to buy the property that now cannot be used to invest.
$600,000 at compunding interest of a low 4% over 10 years is $288,146.57 and if divided per month on average = $2400 per month.
its a bubble when rents cannot support a 0 down mortgage with a rate of return of 5% period.
@Troll:
LMAO!
@5 space889 Says: "But please don’t imply that I’m in support of these immigrants when I’m not. Sorry, how on earth could I have thought otherwise when you post: "Anyways, regardless of how they got the money, if you come to Vancouver with say $10M cash, intends to just live a good life instead of rejoining the rat race, why would you be going back to work? Especially when your credentials and experiences aren’t recognized by Canadian companies anyways and you have to start at the bottom, competing with fresh grads that are 20 years younger than you? You can afford to buy a $3M west side house adn live off the $7M remaining. As well if you can only get low pay entry level jobs then why how would it be possible for you to report high income? Lastly… Read more »
@kansai92: Interesting that comments are not enabled for that article… wonder why
Good lord bears, you are actually still debating how to properly do a rent/buy comparison? If you haven't figured that out after hanging out on a bear blog for 4 years then you might as well give up.
Actually, what I forgot to say was "if you buy with 25% down", because that's where the balance point usually flips in favour of buying. Factoring in opportunity cost is a more complete solution, obviously.