Summertime!
And the weekend is nigh!
Let’s do our regular end of the week thing – our news round up and open topic discussion thread for the weekend.
Here are a few links to kick off the chat:
–Lenders ‘concerned’ about bubble
–Rent VS. Buy in Canada
–How well managed is the CMHC?
–Canada not immune to a crash?
–
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!
@Son of Ponzi – The original skytrain tracks and trains are almost 30 years old now. How many still drives a car that’s 30 years old? Or still run 30 years computer programs? It has hit that time when major maintenance, repairs & renos are needed. Guess what? That is going to cost a lot of $$$$$$, way more than what people are willing to pay. I don’t know what happened to the 6 cars train idea. It was tested but don’t look like it’s been put into regular service. Maybe the old tracks can’t take the load. Canada Line operator say they can run a train every 2 minutes instead of 3. However a simpler solution would be to just run a shuttle train between Airport and Bridgeport and have the rest of the trains start from Richmond. Or… Read more »
@Tyaler – Yes you are right, trying to bring some sense and sensibility, not to mention basic human sympathy, decency and respect to a debate with a buffoon who loves to yell and scream at the top of his lungs while belittle everyone else who have a different view is a futile process… Enjoy pretending that you are the alpha on a moral crusade… Too bad things will only change when Canada cease to be a nice country for these TFWs. Though I guess that would be good for you to yell and rant about all the injustice you feels to anyone. Hey, since all the fast food restaurants are manned by TFW and only TFW still, maybe you should go there and give them a piece of your mind! And bring some free condoms & sex ed kits so… Read more »
Pats,
You’re getting referral fees from Garth T.? 🙂
In Toronto, Calgary: Put your money into REITs, not condos
Investors would be better off putting their money into real estate investment trusts that specialize in apartments than they would buying a condo to rent out in either Toronto or Calgary, real estate analysts at Royal Bank of Canada suggest in a new research note.
Which simply means that the properties that REIT’s buy – multi unit residential and commercial – are better investments at current prices than condos.
Clearly the case is even stronger in Vancouver.
Holy shit lots of derp this week
Hey BPOM, Burke mountain has a 7-11 so it’s all good.
Skytrain seems to be fallen apart due to overcapacity.
Good luck to people who bought condos around the stations.
The Canada Line is fairly new, but is already at capacity.
This will only get worse, once the condo developments in Richmond and the Cambie corridor come on line.
Aggregator:
Inflation data is rigged.
I see daily examples in my purchases.
And oh, our dollar has fallen about 8% vs the Euro and USD/Yuan. Yet only 1-2% inflation?? Hahaha. Is everything made in Canada from scratch and bought with Canadian Dollars.
Biggest scam going on right now. Even GT is complicit in it.
Half those 218 posts were 2 individuals bickering about citizenship. Meanwhile Paul’s stats show that inventory hasn’t budged all week, and has likely peaked already. Nobody seems to be talking about that. Apologies for interrupting the China/Gaza/TFW/weather debate – please continue….
Yellen will never disagree with Greenspan.
It’s a tribal thing.
@215
Obviously the site makes you nervous. What are you so nervous about?
218 posts in a week, and many more times that in silent readers, is anything but a ‘dead site.
Zillow is buying Trulia:
How to get Zillow into Canada?
1. Sue the government for failing to protect Canadian consumers?
2. Sue RE board of Canada for abusing public data;
3. … …?
@212 Who cares what he admits to or not. These quotes are pure gold coming from the former Fed Chair: When bubbles emerge, they take on a life of their own. It is very difficult to stop them, short of a debilitating crunch in the marketplace. All bubbles expand, and they all collapse. In other words all bubbles must end in a bust. No such thing as a soft landing. It turns out the reason why the more recent housing bubble was so dramatically different was that its toxic assets, subprime mortgages, were out there exposed with very little equity buffer. In other words bubbles that are inflated through debt (like Canadas housing bubble) can only end in a crash AND recession. MarketWatch: Some economists argue that the economy has just been bubble after bubble and that we’re doomed to… Read more »
#214
Yellen holds the same opinion as Greenspan, that is, if there's a bubble and you know it's a bubble, should you prick it? And the answer by both was NO. Video
The FFFA thread lasts all week now. Is this blog dead?
212: patriotz: you might enjoy latest New Yorker profile on Janet Yellen – quite a contrast to Greenspan. She views the past 3 decades, times of Friedman, Greenspan et al, as a dark time for economics. (Could not resist teasing you about New Yorker).
lol… Japan's core CPI just came in 3.3% and their 10YR yield is falling at 0.53%. Chart
That's where we're heading: rigged markets and rates all controlled by central banks while governments impose laws to prevent pension funds from selling bonds, and forcing them to buy at rigged rates.
@211:
Greenspan is still trying to evade responsibility for his failure to identify, let alone do something about, the US housing bubble circa 2003-2005.
He also fails to recognize (or admit) that the huge Federal role in regulating and guaranteeing the mortgage market (in the US as well as in Canada) gives the Federal government the tools to cool the housing market by restricting credit, without any collateral impact on other sectors.
Executive summary: He’s full of it, just as he was a decade ago.
Greenspan says bubbles can’t be stopped without ‘crunch’ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greenspan-worries-about-false-dawns-fed-exit-2014-07-24 MarketWatch: What was your reaction to Fed Chairwoman Yellen’s speech at the IMF, where she said the central bank would use regulation first if there were concerns about asset prices? Greenspan: There is a fundamental distinction. I happen to agree that bubbles are primarily an issue to be addressed by regulation. The Fed tried in 1994 to defuse a bubble with monetary policy alone. We called it a boom back then. The terminology has changed, but the phenomenon is the same. We increased the federal funds rate by 300 basis points, and we did indeed stop the nascent stock-market bubble expansion in its tracks. But after we stopped patting ourselves on the back for creating a successful soft landing, it became clear that we hadn’t snuffed the bubble out at all.… Read more »
According to Garth’s log today: “Mortgage debt in Canada is now growing by $2.4 billion per month, which is actually a slower pace than last year.”
That is a lot of locals mortgaging to the hilt each and every month.
@206 “However, according to some posters, he should be able to afford a 900 k house. (80*11.4).”
How about 2 x 80K income with a recent sale of a condo/townhouse that nets 200K. Then that 900K house is pretty easy to buy using your numbers (where your friend who makes 80K per year got approved for a 350K mortgage). That doesn’t even factor in the basement suite income, parents gifts and or cosigners if they net less than 200K from the condo. No HAM needed.
@206:
FTB with median incomes are not buying median priced properties. They are buying cheaper properties.
The people buying median priced properties are trading up from cheaper properties which they are selling for a good deal more than they paid for them. Or trading down, or laterally.
New Listings 202
Price Changes 110
Sold Listings 146
TI:16891
#204
of course, it’s still too high.
However, according to some posters, he should be able to afford a 900 k house. (80*11.4).
Son Of Ponzi:
This deck of cards would come crashing down if CMHC verified income with CRA, just like Pharmacare does. So whatever income docs you give are taken at face value. I think many people are vastly overstating their incomes and providing false docs.
BUT NOT ALLOWED FOR HOUSING…corrupt officials in charge.
@188
That’s 4.375 X income. That’s still too high.
Sure the interest payments are no problem now, but what’s he getting, a 5 year fixed, maybe? Maybe variable rate.
When rates finally do start to rise the giant snapping towel in the real estate locker room is really going to hurt.
