A continuation from yesterday's post about an article on the Straight.

http://www.straight.com/article-436861/vancouver/…

I give the Straight credit for posting both Gordo and YLTNBoomerang's comments.

Vote them both up… good Friday morning read. 🙂

7, Anonymous. Yes, that is the rumor. Can anyone substantiate this with fact?

But on top of that, it would appear the "Asian hordes" may have sensed a topping of the market. Essentially, you cannot flip if your deal flops.

I was speaking with a Richmond realtor a few weeks ago – a fairly honest guy I met through our mutual love of high-end audio gear. For what it's worth, he told me prices are off an average of 10%, and that he fully expects them to be off an additional 5 – 10% by year end.

If you go strictly by the MLS site's Map view, there are currently 2200-plus properties on the market in Richmond.

@pricedoutfornow:

"I, however, have stopped trying to convince people in Vancouver that real estate is overvalued. What’s the point? It’s not worth my effort. I find it’s much more satisfying to agree with them-they have no idea I’m being sarcastic. When they say things like “Real estate only goes up” and “Vancouver is the best place on earth!” I smile and nod “Absolutely!!” I say, all the while, laughing inside “Fools” I think."

Exactly my thoughts. Last evening, I was in a real estate conversation with my wife's family and I should win an Academy Award for my acting skills. (Lot's of nodding and smiling)

11 YLTN @ Work Says: "…these were voted down by the majority vote holder from Prompton Real Estate (Concord) who was representing a large number of offshore owners (flippers)…"

WTF? Prompton represented the majority of the votes actually showing up at a strata meeting, or of the units at this complex? If the latter this is going to be a bigger market rout than even I could have guessed.

@YLTN @ Work: "but these were voted down by the majority vote holder from Prompton Real Estate"

I've seen this too, on a complex close to Lougheed Mall. The strata was controlled by majority owners who refused to spend any money on replacement reserves or preventative maintenance. For owner-occupiers and tenants this was extremely frustrating. This was 10 years ago.

@YLTN @ Work: I'm entirely of the opinion that strata fees, even in Toronto where they're downright stratospheric compared to Vancouver, are too low and will see owners facing significant multiple special assessments down the road. If owning a house is a black hole of expenses, so is owning a condo, except you have no control over the expenses. They come when they come, and you don't have the option of patching things up with duct tape for a year while you save up the money.

@fixie guy: Only the votes that physically show up, plus the proxy votes (which I assume default to the manager/Concord) count. There will always be some occupiers that don't want to spend any money, and then it doesn't take too many absentee investors proxy voting in a block to put a halt on any increases. Eventually, the people who live there can't put up with the problems going unfixed; they've paid big money to live there, they don't want a pool that doesn't work, or an elevator that's always out of service. I don't think there is much recourse in such cases, if the manager or developer has the majority of votes.

@19 YLTN @ Work: If I want more of that kind of action I'll stick around after work! Thanks for the insights.

% of valid votes voting Yes 54.73%

% of valid votes voting No 45.27%

@jesse:

"% of valid votes voting Yes 54.73%"

Currently doing the happy dance.