BC, Budget, data, debt, economy, prices, retirement, supply

Should you just move to an island?

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144 Comments

Skook has a post over at VancouverPeak.com about an island dream gone sour.

A BC couple purchased land on Mayne island and started building their dream home only to run into a confluence of cost overruns and real estate market downturn.

Today, their house is only a wood frame shell that looks out over one of B.C.’s most dramatic views, with the Lower Mainland in the distance, and regular sightings of ferries, whales and seals. The tiered wooded lot is only a five-minute drive to the ferry.
It is the idyllic best that B.C. has to offer, and yet the Klingsats won’t even break even on the near $1-million they spent on the property and construction. They have relisted it for $539,000, after previous listings at $649,000 and $699,000 didn’t get any offers. “Everybody loves the place, but the people don’t want a house that’s not finished,” says Mr. Klingsat, who gave up on the project six months ago. “And I can’t do it. I haven’t got any more money to put into it. “The whole economy everywhere is lousy – nothing is gangbusters. There are places for rent all over here on Vancouver island.”

The original article in over at the Globe and Mail. Skook adds some extra thoughts and information.

RFM has also added some information summarizing other properties in that particular island market.  There are 113 properties for sale on an island with a population of 900.

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aruba all inclusive|

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Handsfree kits Essex

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Superstition Lessons

Besides, shi=10 si=4

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Superstition Lessons

N, not sure what you are getting at. When did I say anything about people avoiding saying 4. Tetraphobia is based on the number 4 sounding like death, that’s all there is to it. That is the explanation and reason.

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N

@Superstition Lessons

A little linguistic knowledge can be confusing. Lots of words are homophones for death in Chinese and other Asian languages like Japanese, but people don’t dislike them and don’t try to avoid saying them.

For one famous example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den

You are confounding an explanation with a reason.

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Heard Herd selling

BMO offering 2.9% is writing on the wall that sales are slowing, unless your a fool and believe buying a overpriced property at a cheap mortgage rate is good news, the reality stick will wack you upside the head in the coming year

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Charlie

“Small percentage”? There have been mulltiple thousands of SFH sold in the last 7 years. And if we don’t include SFH in the debate, then what are we talking about? condo’s have been flat for the last 6 years, so so where’s the bbble if its not SFH? And we all know that cheap credit can grab you a condo.. “Multi million range”? Nobody said that. Clouding the issue. I was talking about all SFH in the popular metro areas. the $850,000 to $1.5 million plus. How are we on $70 median getting thousands upon thousands of loans to buy these? Ist time buyers? Who said 1st? There you go again. also the median, is the median! That’s one hell of a lot of us, one huge % if you go not-too-much above the median! It aint just 1st time… Read more »

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southseacompany

Oops. Complete Shiller link;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4IihLo3wYM&feature=youtu.be

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southseacompany

Robert Shiller interviewed about Canada’s housing market.

tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4IihLo3wYM&feature=youtu.be

“It just can’t keep going up three and a half percent real every year.”

“I can say that there is always a concern if home prices are rising rapidly, and you always wonder if it makes sense, and I have to leave it at that. I can’t prove whether there is a bubble in Brazil or Canada, or not. But, I have a general perception about these markets, that they’re not always right, that the efficient market hypothesis is not very applicable to the housing market and they certainly could be in error and certainly could be in line for a correction.

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Superstition Lessons

Reality,

Which part did I say I condone it? You clearly have reading comprehension issues. They are in fact both disgusting, I didn’t say they were equal. My point was that I don’t make assumptions about Germans, because of the acts of individuals. You clearly cannot make this distinction. You are revealed as one who has no self-confidence. You come here like a cheerleader hoping for a pat on the back, and a boost to your low self esteem. I am just trying to teach you to be less ignorant, to focus on yourself, and make yourself better, rather than trying to push people down.

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Bahaha

“As for your 2nd part, well it is saying NOTHING about cheap credit or its impact. rather than a desperate claim it the same people buying and selling, one giant ponzi scheme with the same people.” Actually both. Ponzi with added credit. “Oh and the vague bit about ‘BC would be higher’. Really, how much higher than 1.63? it’d have to be about 10 times higher on our 70k median for the math to add up!” You seem to assume the small percentage of homes sold in the multi million range are bought by first time buyers with a median income. Nobody is saying that. If you use the median income then you should use the median home price. The median home price in Metro Vancouver is 474K. So the median home can be bought by a first time home… Read more »

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Charlie

Oh and the vague bit about ‘BC would be higher’. Really, how much higher than 1.63? it’d have to be about 10 times higher on our 70k median for the math to add up!

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Charlie

@130 Ha Ha Ha, I guess you didn’t read the article! From the Province article: “And factor in mortgages and Canadians’ debt-to-income ratio hit 1.63 last year, an all-time high. That means we owed $1.63, including on mortgages, for every $1 we earned. B.C.’s ratio would be higher” Key word being CANADIANS (not Vancouverites)! And even if it was Vancouverites – Q) what is our Median $70,000 income x 1.63??!! Factor in our record NON-mortgage debt from the link you provided. you know the very debt that has to go on our mortgage application, to be subtracted from our disposable measly 70k income. How does any of that explain us getting $700,000 or $million ++ mortgages??! As for your 2nd part, well it is saying NOTHING about cheap credit or its impact. rather than a desperate claim it the same… Read more »

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Interest Only

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-27/unprecedented-surge-chinese-applicants-willing-buy-us-green-cards

From Zero Hedge: A few weeks ago, Canadian authorities decide to scrap its controversial ‘investor’ visa scheme (which had allowed waves of rich Hong Kongers and Mainland Chinese to immigrate and blow the real estate bubble ever bigger). This was met with hollers of derision from the Chinese demanding retribution. What was less well known, until now, is the massive surge in interest from wealthy Chinese in a US program offering ‘investors’ green cards in exchange for cash….

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Bahaha

@128 I guess you didn’t read the article (or the others)

From the Province article: “And factor in mortgages and Canadians’ debt-to-income ratio hit 1.63 last year, an all-time high. That means we owed $1.63, including on mortgages, for every $1 we earned. B.C.’s ratio would be higher”

Simple questions for you Charlie. We know there are multi million houses being sold everyday. Who are the sellers and what are they doing with the money after they sell? If it is locals selling to foreigners debt would be dropping not increasing. Those locals who are selling are putting the money right back into to real estate usually with a larger mortgage.

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Bull! Bull! Bull!

Being tolerant doesn’t mean we should accept canabilsm (especially eating babies).

Come on people. If we can’t draw the line at an industry that sells babies for human consumption what the hell does that make us?

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Charlie

@124 So you provide a link to a story about NON-mortgage debt being $39,000? Is that the best you have?! Where does that Province piece support the fact that banks giving us huge mortgages on cheap credit to buy tens of thousands of SFH over the last 10 years – despite our Median income being one of the lowest in the country? In fact, you are arguing against your very own its all cheap very cheap credit argument! Because we have to put down every expense or current on our mortgage application. So your own link story showing we have the highest NON-mortgage debt has to be subtracted from our measly MEDIAN $70k income! Yet still, we are told, multiple thousands of us get these huge $million mortgages to buy SFH on cheap credit! All I ask is the evidence… Read more »

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Bahaha

@22 How much foreign money comes into Canada every quarter? How does that compare to 3.8 billion Canadians borrow for mortgages each quarter?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canadians-go-deeper-into-debt-to-afford-mortgages-1.1828805

“In the previous quarter, Canadians had borrowed $3.8 billion for mortgages… mortgage debt stood at just over $1.1 trillion and consumer credit debt reached $500 billion at the end of the quarter.”

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Bahaha

“now we know why Kitsilano is 96% white people….the main street is 4th, death avenue”

But I thought only Chinese could afford multi $million houses? Your average SFH in Kits is over $2 million.

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Best place on meth

168 sales today according to Chiptard.

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Bahaha

“Despite all your posts you have not provided one piece of evidence to support the claim that Vancouverites are getting huge mortgage sums from banks on cheap credit”

http://www.theprovince.com/news/residents+much+more+than+rest+Canada/9397371/story.html

Back to you Charlie

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Reality

“You have been revealed, that much is fact.”

And you have been revealed as someone who does not know the difference between something that is merely gross (urine drinking) and something that is completely horrific and inhuman (making pills of powered baby flesh for others to consume because of superstitions around the medicinal properties of human baby flesh and participating in an international industry that trades in this horror).

What other inhuman horrors do you condone?

From the article:

There is a huge demand for the pills which are thought to enhance stamina.

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Charlie

@114 Patriotz: “So what about the same rise in prices all across Canada over the same period?” You are wrong. Percentage terms there may be some similarities in some cities but in terms of actual $ Dollars and Cents there is a catastrophic difference between say a 25% rise in SFH in Halifax and 25% rise in Vancouver. (Care to explain Kelowna, Vernon or Nanaimo btw? Why haven’t they risen if its all about cheap credit?) Despite all your posts you have not provided one piece of evidence to support the claim that Vancouverites are getting huge mortgage sums from banks on cheap credit in order to buy the Single Family Houses. Especially when our Median income is lower the most other Canadian cities at $70,000. Don’t forget there has cumulatively been many many thousands of such $million SFH sales… Read more »

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Superstition Lesson

Reality,

It’s disgusting. Some Germans drink baby pee, that’s disgusting too, but I wouldn’t assume all Germans drink baby pee.

Again, only people with no self confidence need to pump their tires by looking down at others. You have been revealed, that much is fact.

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Superstition Lessons

Srsly,

There are less vowels and consonants in Asian languages, so the reuse of the same words with different tones allowed for more words. Really not that difficult to understand buddy. Only people with no self confidence need to pump their own tires by looking down at others. That much is for sure.

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