BC, economy, opinion, predictions, renting, retirement

Gen Y not buying a lot of Vancouver houses

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153 Comments

From the obvious files: expensive homes are expensive.

The Globe and Mail has an article about changing attitudes towards real estate by Generation Y in Vancouver.

Essentially: they are more inclined to live urban and remain mobile.

They also say that Boomers are downsizing into condos.

Ben Smith, VP of sales and marketing at Rennie & Associates, says he’s already seen a major shift in the last six months. This year he’s seen a sudden surge in demand for three-bedroom condos, purchased by downsizing boomers. Those boomers are trading their homes for spacious condos. Those same boomers are helping their kids with a down payment on their own condo, which is the only way a lot of Millennials will ever afford to live in Vancouver.

“It’s exciting, because for years we’ve been talking about this, and we’re finally seeing it happen,” he says. “There is $88-billion worth of clear-title real estate tied up with boomers. In B.C. and Vancouver especially, we are all equity and no income. If you don’t have that down payment, you don’t have a home.”

Read the full article here.

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Anibal

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Aggregator

I'll say it again. The termination of the IIP was to discourage currupt and rogue officials who were probably bribing their way onto the top pile of applications. Hence why Chris Alexander stated that most of the complaints he is hearing now is from lawyers and immigration agencies who were probably stuffing good applicants at the bottom of the pile.

Now the latest SCMP headline is that discouraged IIP applicants will go to Romania because Canada doesn't want them. So Romania has a better quality of life and education system then Canada? No. But it's a great country to stash your dirty cash in.

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VMD

@144 Aggregator

There are several things money cannot buy – such as love, freedom, health. The most important of which is probably Time.

Canada is known as a country that “took back its promises” and wasted several years of 45,000 Chinese IIP applicants’ time. They now fear further actions will be taken to curtail immigration (from China) or restrict foreign RE ownership.

There are other places in the world where Hot Money can flow to now with less resistance/hassle than Canada. Those other places also offer just about everything Canada offers (Freedom of speech, procreation, property ownership, cleaner air/water).

Canada is now more and more frequently portrayed in Chinese media as leaning toward “anti-Chinese-immigration”. We’ll see in time if their Hot Money will continue to flow this way…

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mac

VMD,

Wow. Even I could never dream that up! Could u imagine?! Either a bail-in for broke citizens or a bail-out from billionaires that includes citizenship. I wonder which party will be in power to float that one.

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VMD

LOL!

Immigrant Investor Venture Capital to privatize CMHC? It Is an at-risk taxpayer investment that drove growth in our economy! night all

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mac

Aggie,

Gregor is waiting on his knees but it’s not his arms that are open.

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mac

VMD,

I wish someone would tell me what at-risk investments that drive growth in our economy could be? I have no idea. Been trying to wrack my wee brains and nothing.

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teddy bear

Wow some of the bears on here are starting to sound like bulls. But I have to admit I have lost faith in the fundamentals and fear Vancouver will remain a high priced city. I don’t understand it, but I don’t worry about it too much. I am not moving back ever. I was optimistic things would correct but sadly I have lost all faith.

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YVR

@141 “I’ll leave it to you all to speculate on what the “at-risk investments that drive growth in our economy” are. (Is Blackberry one of them?)”

My guess is something like the infamous BCRIC shares. There won’t be many takers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_Resources_Investment_Corporation

The British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation, or BCRIC (pronounced “brick”) was a holding company formed under the government of William R. Bennett. The company took over ownership of various sawmills and mines that had been bought and bailed out by the government…

…In 1995, the shares were consolidated at a ratio of 125 to 1. At that time, 5 bearer shares were worth .008 (or 0.8%) of one post-consolidation share.

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Aggregator

You guys are hilarious. There are 1.3 millionaires in China. That means 46,000 IIP applicants equates to 3.5% of total millionaires. That fact that the IIP was oversubscribed should tell you that even if 46,000 were scrapped, there will be just as many applying for the new program or finding other ways to come to Canada. And if that’s not enough, there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of willing middle class families that are getting richer by the month with all their cash savings denominated in RMB. You have to understand one thing when comparing anything between Canada and China, and that is size. When you see 10-20 Chinese newspapers writing about IIP, that is like one Canadian MSM headline. When you see Chinese microblogs or forums with hundreds of posts about IIP, that is like one comment… Read more »

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RaggedyRenter

That’s what you get with yet-to-be-elected Dipper politician.
If it moves, pander it. If it keeps moving, keep pandering. If it stops moving, don’t stop pandering.

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YVR

@139 “YVR, there are dozens of towns like Port Alberni with house prices below replacement value. Looking up flaws in any particular one misses the point.”

There are houses for sale in Vancouver priced below replacement value. Replacement value = land cost + contruction cost. In every market houses are priced at or below replacement value. Why would someone pay more than replacement value? A used house is always priced below replacement value. Here is a few for you in Vancouver priced way below replacement value.

http://yourvancouverrealestate.ca/vancouver-special/mls-listings-for-sale

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VMD

Canada.com “Rich immigrant program fizzles”

” Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, in Vancouver this week talking up Ottawa’s citizenship reforms, reports the only grousing he has heard since the Immigrant Investor program got nixed in Ottawa’s recent budget has come from self-interested immigration consultants and lawyers.”

“Alexander says the venture capital fund, being launched at the end of 2014, will require a larger investment than $800,000 – with monies raised directed toward “at-risk investments that drive growth in our economy.”

– I’ll leave it to you all to speculate on what the “at-risk investments that drive growth in our economy” are. (Is Blackberry one of them?)

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Vulture Fun

What kind of dick would down-vote Paulb for providing stats?

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VultureBoy

YVR, there are dozens of towns like Port Alberni with house prices below replacement value. Looking up flaws in any particular one misses the point.

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YVR

@135: “YVR, there is plenty of low-priced inventory in BC. eg, Port Alberni.”

In a place like Port Alberni a average house should sell for a 100K. Don’t confuse cheaper than Vancouver as low priced. Compare to a similar town in the US and you will find houses are anything but low priced. Port Alberni was ranked as one of the 10 worst places to live in Canada by Moneysense in 2011. You can rent a whole house for $1000 per month.

http://nanaimo.en.craigslist.ca/apa/4324550496.html

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Best place on meth

@Ponzi

You know, the more I think about it the more “insulted” I feel that some people are playing this vile game with us, the game where they make demands and imply racism if the their demands are resisted.

When the hospice was announced we were accused of disrespecting their culture.

When someone doesn’t get served in Mandarin, they cry racism.

Now this group bitching about the cancellation of the IIP program is pulling the same stunt.

If these instigators keep this up this behaviour it’s going to result in even more backlash against the broader community which will be awful for those who aren’t trying to manipulate our society for their personal gain.

People need to stop being so timid and call these race-baiters out without hesitation.

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VultureBoy

YVR, there is plenty of low-priced inventory in BC. eg, Port Alberni.

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Son of Ponzi

BPOM’s language is a little over top.
But I agree that immigration policy should not be dictated by ethnic minorities.
The Germans call it the “Leit Kulture”, the “”Leading Culture”, by which all immigrants should adhere too.

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YVR

@128 “I do not agree with that one. It depends a lot on the region. In many places, prices are below replacement cost.”

OK show us some examples of fairly priced housing in BC where it can cash flow.

The bubble is in the land prices. You can buy a house in Vancouver for land value if you want. That is cheaper than replacement cost is it not?

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Best place on meth

“Yiu organised a press conference in Vancouver’s Chinatown on Tuesday in which immigrants who used the scheme said the city’s Chinese community had been insulted by the lack of consultation over the decision.”

This guy is usually pretty level headed. He was against bringing in Chinese miners and took exception to the crass attitude displayed by the anti-hospice clowns so I’m surprised to hear him spouting this utter bullshit.

We don’t need to consult the “Chinese community” or any other racial group about who we let into the country.

Also, by saying they’re insulted anytime they don’t get what they want just shows how they use race and/or implied racism to get what they want.

Fuck ’em.

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minotaur3

“In many places, prices are below replacement cost.”

Once a house is built, its price has nothing to do with what it cost to build it.

If prices are below replacement cost, the only thing that will happen is far fewer houses will get built.

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Shibor this!

I read a few articles in the Chinese news about that press conference held in Chinatown. One the speakers described how he sold his business in China and opened 2 restaurants here. He also mentioned his son bought 5 houses. He was upset that the government portrayed IIP immigrants, such as himself as not paying enough tax. Now I know this is just one case, but it offers an interesting insight. I’ve often thought that many immigrants must have difficulty on arrival in Vancouver because there just aren’t enough jobs to go around. So I imagine an obvious option for the ones with some cash to spare is to start a business. Setting up a new business in a foreign country is no doubt daunting; but serving your fellow expats perhaps less so. These businesses catering to a specific ethnic… Read more »

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Troll

After a moderate start to 2014, with sales running along 2012 levels, they’ve now begun to take off, while inventory is beginning to flatten out. MOI now down to 5.5. Is this what the market is supposed to post rate hold surge?

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