Well, we’re back.
One at a time please, take turns using the site it’s fragile.
Normally on friday we do an end of the week news round up and open topic thread for the weekend. That’s what this is, but we may or may not add our regular list links here later on.
For now carry on the conversation, we hope the site is working better for everyone.
[…] “There’s a townhouse for rent in a new(ish) development near my place that is owned by a realtor and after several unsuccessful attempts to sell he gave up and is offering it for a long term lease. The place is fairly expensive to rent, but still a fraction of what it would cost to buy. Now get this – when I inquired about it, the reply I got stated that “the owner will pay property taxes, but I would be responsible for maintenance and strata fees” at around $350 a month on top of the rent. OMFG, I still cannot stop laughing…” – vanpire at VCI 2 Mar 2013 2:05pm […]
“The only specific provincial cooling measure that could have been done in the past was hiking the transfer tax to double digits.”
Wrong, the province could have increased property taxes in various ways to discourage speculation or simply imposed an income tax on speculative gains, which would be enough to prevent a bubble by it itself.
The problem is not a lack of power but a lack of will.
“while the City stupidly gave away prime RE that now sits empty with no development deadline as the earlier post suggested. ”
It was Bill Vander Zalm who gave away the Expo lands to Li Ka-Shing in 1987.
How soon we forget.
@Groundhog Says: “stick them with the blame”
LOL! Good one. Come to think of it, the feds and municipalities had the most say over RE policy. The feds loosened lending and goosed rates while the City stupidly gave away prime RE that now sits empty with no development deadline as the earlier post suggested.
The only specific provincial cooling measure that could have been done in the past was hiking the transfer tax to double digits. But no candidate or party has ever suggested that.
BC is a ticking bomb. It only remains to figure out how to get the most “bang” for the vote. LOL!
Calgary Aspen Woods Home Sells At $10.35 Million, Breaks Price Record
At least you get something for $10.35M in Calgary.
“Of course! If you want this province to go down in flames (and I think that’s what’s needed at this point), vote NDP! I will be.”
I think the province is going to go down in flames NDP or no NDP, so why not vote NDP and stick them with the blame so that they never get elected again (or until we all forget again what happens when the NDP runs things).
#174: “rp1: You got a job!”
Great! Now I can buy a house!
Wow – pretty amazing for the Chinese developer to admit on TV that there was a bubble.
I can’t see that happening here in Canada or the US – and yet we supposedly have a free press!
Which destructive policies exactly are guaranteed with NDP vs Liberal Government? For example, it would be funny if the minimum wage went up to $25/hr. That would kill all economic activity, but it’s too much to hope for. Is there anything either government could they get away with doing long enough and very shortly create a financial trainwreck that would send BC bond yields into double digits? Which party would be easier to convince by way of election voter influence to do these things? Give some concrete examples please! Let’s hear some verifiable points on which party will crash BC faster and harder and will be remembered for 100 years, not just 20 years. It’s not worthwhile if people forget after 20 years. People need to tell the story of the mistake in overpaying for a home until the day… Read more »
“If the NDP is voted in nothing will change”
Not least because the NDP has been notably silent on all things housing. Expect no incumbent government to make hard choices when it comes to weaning the province off its dependency on construction and real estate. To do so would be, to put it in terms that a politician can understand, a “vote loser”.
Re: China Bubble. Don’t forget to leave a nice comment on the 60 Mins youtube site.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxjwhk1ktNw&list=FLsN32BtMd0IoByjJRNF12cw&index=1
….Can anyone with a brain seriously be considering voting for the NDP?….
Yes all the “renters”
I hear Solo district is sold out, are they holding back any I would liketo snag one
….Can anyone with a brain seriously be considering voting for the NDP?….
Of course! If you want this province to go down in flames (and I think that’s what’s needed at this point), vote NDP! I will be.
If the NDP is voted in nothing will change. They will not raise welfare rates,or provide more subsided housing because there is no extra money and our income tax rates are already high .
A good example is people voting out the HST,they don’t want to pay more taxes (in Europe the equivalent to HST or VAT is over 20% in most countries there and people are paying it)
There seems to be a “sense of entitlement” here in Canada that the government has to provide us everything for free or at a subsidy.
I saw Amanda at the Chinatown Keefer block presale Yesterday, for reals, she was shopping for a condo with her sister Chris Lee, they are philthy rich
Re: 60 Minutes.
So the largest builder in China has the integrity to state straight up that there is a huge real estate bubble that could lead to no less than an overthrow of the national government.
Could you imagine Brad Lamb or any of the Vancouver condo developers even coming close to admitting there’s a bubble here? I take back everything I ever said about the Chinese business elite. Compared to our local shysters, those guys are saints.
@ rp1: You got a job!
“Chinese companies ‘rent’ white foreigners”
http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/29/china.rent.white.people/index.html
“Did they have a couple of fake Caucasian sisters come on camera talking about their moms and pops who are coming to buy a bunch of hip condo’s?”
I will totally do that if they pay me enough.
It seems like all the “renters” here are down voting anything negative about the NDP.
@ An Observer
No. Everybody in China knows that foreigners can’t buy real estate there.
The use of fake foreign buyers by marketers to stimulate demand is a distinction that only Vancouver has attained.
Be proud.
Did they have a couple of fake Caucasian sisters come on camera talking about their moms and pops who are coming to buy a bunch of hip condo’s?
PS on 60 Minutes show;
What? There are no Tsur Somervilles and Cam Muirs in China to come on CBS and deny the bubble?
Pretty bad investigative journalism from CBS. Global would have done a better job.
Re: CBS 60 Minutes segment on China bubble:
Here’s a ‘web extra’;
“Doomsday” scenario for China
Analyst Anne Stevenson-Yang explains how China’s real estate boom was created — and what might happen to property owners if the bottom falls out.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50142082n
“In your view can the government step in to prevent the big burst?”
“No government has ever been able to do that in the past”
Talk about a one-sided view…EVERYTHING Lesley Stahl reported 60 Minites about the housing bubble in China is equally as applicable in the USA…duh.