Canada, Open Topic, opinion, predictions, renting

Cult of ownership in trouble?

69
69 Comments

The Globe and Mail has an article about shifting perceptions on home ownership in Canada.

Based on a very small sample size, they are predicting that young people in Canada are becoming less willing and able to buy property.

“Last year, in a class of 29 students, a clear majority said they would buy,” Prof. Harris wrote me in an e-mail. “I was surprised because I had spent a lot of time speaking about the dangers of price bubbles, and about the opinion of most experts that the markets in many Canadian cities had moved, or were moving, into bubble territory.”

This year, only five of 23 said they’d buy and 18 chose to rent. “Although the assignment was the same and the content of my lectures pretty much the same, the pattern of response was very different,” Prof. Harris wrote.

Its certainly not what you’d call a wide ranging survey, so what do you think?  Are attitudes towards home ownership changing in Canada or do all the kids still want real estate?

69 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
ILoveCharts

Re @65 4SlicesofCheese: It should be noted that the satellite image in that story is completely out of date. If you visit that neighbourhood today, it is crazy how much development has occurred. I’ve hiked/bushwhacked through that area recently and so I saw the flagging for these new parcels. I’m not sure if it’s fair to say that the land is being sold to “balance the budget.” It seems to me that this is part of a longer term plan to develop the area – something that has been in works for a long time. I find this neighbourhood very interesting. Prices are high and you are far from a lot of things. At the same time, there is potential if it all comes together. No matter how you look at it, it sure debunks the “there is no more… Read more »

0
0
kabloona

#65, 4Slices – thanks for the link on Burke Mountain. I was driving around up there last Fall, looking at the mess the developers have created (I used to hike up there sometimes when I was a kid) and I was thinking to myself what a crappy location it is for suburban housing.

You would have to get in your car and drive 1/2 a mile down the hill just to find a corner store for a jug of milk…way too far to hike down unless you wanna get fit for a marathon. I don’t even think there’s any bus service up there….just ludicrous.

0
0
gokou3

“@53: “Sports analogy: Is “devaluing” the Canucks to the minor league good?”

Bogus. Correct analogy: Assuming Bellingham had an NHL franchise, dropping Canucks ticket prices to draw fans away from Bellingham.”

If thats happening, it would suck even more that the canucks would have to drop prices to compete with a nano market team for fans. I wouldnt set my analogy that harsh.

0
0
Son of Ponzi

I’ve been tracking Price reductions for this month.
We are averaging about 60 a day.
At 22 business days this adds up to about 1,400 for the month.
A lot of sellers are having sleepless nights right now.

0
0
YVR

BBB: “2% down and it doesn’t even need to be cash! lending standards are loosening. this should, at least, support prices.”

Nope, nothing to do with lending standards. The ‘down’ is a 2% deposit on a presale. The presale buyer will still have to qualify for and get financing once the place is complete. That will require more $ down at minimum. If prices decline between now and completion the presale buyer will have to come up with that amount over and above the standard downpayment in order to get financing.

0
0
mac

Detroit is the perfect city for the Chinese to buy up wholesale. They can give it its renaissance as a factory town.

Why not start a FoxConn over in Detroit? The computer industry can say their product is made in America. They can be subsidized up the yin yang and the workers will all be Chinese on special visas and super low wages. Commercial and residential real estate slowly goes up, the politicians get back on the gravy train, some locals find hand-to-mouth work and the rich get super richer. Sounds perfect.

0
0
paulb

New Listings 218
Price Changes 60
Sold Listings 87
TI:12919

http://www.paulboenisch.com

0
0
patriotz

@58: “The firm paid $9.4m (£5.7m) for the 38-storey David Stott building and $4.2m for the Detroit Free Press building.

Vow… 38-storey skyscrapper is cheaper than Vancouver teardown!”

Only to buy. Wait for the property tax bill.

0
0
patriotz

@53: “Sports analogy: Is “devaluing” the Canucks to the minor league good?”

Bogus. Correct analogy: Assuming Bellingham had an NHL franchise, dropping Canucks ticket prices to draw fans away from Bellingham.

0
0
AlmostPerfect

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25714435

While Chinese car firms might be just dipping their toes into Lake Michigan’s waters, Chinese investors have embraced Detroit wholeheartedly.

Many eyebrows were raised when Shanghai-based Dongdu International Group bought two skyscrapers here in October.

The firm paid $9.4m (£5.7m) for the 38-storey David Stott building and $4.2m for the Detroit Free Press building.

Vow… 38-storey skyscrapper is cheaper than Vancouver teardown!

0
0
patriotz

@56: “I’d argue that for the West Side detached market and much of Richmond rates don’t matter.”

If rates didn’t matter for the West Side and Richmond the rate cut of early 2009 would not have had the same effect as it had on other districts.

Guess what: it did.

0
0
Snake

LoveCharts Says:
Main and Hastings will be gentrified is out of their mind.That community and those support services already exist in the DTES and there is no way they are moving anywhere (who else would be willing to take them?
———————————————————————

1)The zoning for 955 East Hastings provides for a 12-storey mixed-use space that would include 352 residential units as well as commercial and light industrial space.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancouver-council-approves-downtown-eastside-condo-project/article4787094/

2)Housing at 395 Kingsway (former Biltmore Hotel)

http://vancouver.ca/people-programs/biltmore-hotel-395-kingsway.aspx

3)New social housing that are already built or in the the completion stages.

http://vancouver.ca/people-programs/locations-and-development-details.aspx
These are couple of examples of gentrification and moving people from DTES.

0
0
BWilson

It seems like these reports of Vancouver being one of the least affordable places on the planet has caused the media/realtors to trot out the BPOE crap, saw a story on Global news yesterday morning that basically said as much and then a realtor posted this on twitter: Connie Buna ‏@conniebuna Jan 22 The debate continues. Why is #Vancouver #realestate so expensive? How about this is one of the best places on earth http://tinyurl.com/okj6zqr How about emotional or novel explanations for what drives value is a sure sign of a bubble, like in the .com era when profit didn’t matter and it was all about “eyes on screens” First trust default in China coming next week, and a terrible Chinese PMI number last night. Risk was off big today in financial markets. So rates are lower (as part of the… Read more »

0
0
Snake

New $200 million dollar building in downtown Vancouver will help to ease office vacancy concerns

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1698119

0
0
mac

I love Charts, Unfortunately, every other location in town is GOING TO GET THEM whether they like it or not. Last night my wife was walking by a neighbouring OV building and in the door to the stairwell was a “rough” looking guy who held the door open and said to her, “Come help me, I’ve broken my leg.” Her spidey senses went off, thank god, and she said she couldn’t help. Plus she was late for classes she’s taking. She said she had a bad feeling about the guy because he was so rough and complained of being locked in the stairwell and was neither in nor out, just holding the door open. The only people locked in those stairwells are those without keys — i.e.: break ins, after following a car into the garage. So she apologized about… Read more »

0
0
gokou3

“So does average jimmy gains or not by this devaluaton of cdn $?”

Currency devaluation is just a nation’s way of saying “our goods are relatively unattractive vs. our peers so we are marking them down”.

Sports analogy: Is “devaluing” the Canucks to the minor league good? Yeah they can (probably) win the Champion, but is that really what we want?

0
0
Xi's cab driver

“I know from confidential on-the-ground sources that a significant percentage of the entire top political layer of 3rd, 4th and 5th tier cities have left China for well-padded nests in the West: Australia and Canada are popular choices, as the right to immigrate can be purchased–just bring in the requisite sum of cash looted from peasants. (The U.S. also grants special immigration status to those bringing in major capital and declaring their intent to hire Americans: easy enough with looted millions.)”

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjan14/powder-keg-Chindia1-14.html

…. easy enough with looted millions

0
0
gokou3

Re: #48

“InGastown, which is 40-per-cent sold, is taking a different tack.”

What’s wrong with Cam Good? Only 40% sold in the BPOE?

0
0
Bull! Bull! Bull!

>2% down and it doesn’t even need to be cash!

lending standards are loosening. this should, at least, support prices.

0
0
Johnny-boy

Singapore public tired of wealthy outsiders, and guess what they are not just coming from China

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/porsche-owning-uk-expat-infuriates-singapore-39-poor-113300562–sector.html

Porsche-owning UK expat infuriates Singapore with ‘poor people’ gaffes.

Those posts went viral in the city-state, where an influx of wealthy foreigners in recent years has fuelled growing public discontent among a population beset by rising costs in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

0
0
ILoveCharts

Anyone who thinks that Main and Hastings will be gentrified is out of their mind.

Gentrification pressures in surrounding areas will just result in the DTES becoming more dense around the base at Main and Hastings.

Three things are true:
1) Poverty, mental health issues, and drug use will always exist in Canada.
2) These down-and-out folks need a community and support services.
3) That community and those support services already exist in the DTES and there is no way they are moving anywhere (who else would be willing to take them?)

0
0
ILoveCharts

2% down and it doesn’t even need to be cash!

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Your+become+down+payment+Vancouver+condo/9418936/story.html

Also, you get to live in a neighbourhood where you would never let your wife or kids go out alone and where you need to be careful where you step.

0
0
patriotz

@45:

You forgot to add, average jimmy also wins because he is a CAD debtor.

0
0
N

@37

“So does average jimmy gains or not by this devaluaton of cdn $?”

In the short term, the average jimmy loses because he cannot buy goods and services outside Canada at a discount the way he could for the past few years (the prices of goods inside Canada don’t necessarily change that much).

In the long term, the average jimmy wins because the company he is working for, or a company that his company sells to, becomes more competitive on the global stage. This is part of the lost practice of making something of value to other people at a lower price than the next guy. I know, the whole “lower price” being a good thing sounds weird, right? But that used to be a popular thing, and it may be coming back.

0
0