It’s that time of the week again!
Friday Free-f0r-all time!
This is our regular end of the week news round up and open topic discussion thread for the weekend. Here are a few recent links to kick off the chat:
–Some bears cash in on HCG drop
–BOC has lost its mojo
–The future of the CAD?
–Realtor vs Realtor: How stupid are you?
–Planning to leave?
–Will she or won’t she?
–
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!
You forgot to post the 1.90% variable mortgage the big banks are offering.
What a year! Sold my house in Delta and went all in U.S. Dollars a while back.
They will keep RE high at all costs. Through low rates, high immigration, Etc.
Our dollar is going to breach the 60 cent mark. Just watch. It has fallen 28 cents from 1.05…..just 17 cents to go.
Still time to short the loonie er Canada.
@prev: “Generalizations of a race and country as a personal opinion is that considered racist?”
Countries are political entities. Disliking a country’s political culture isn’t racism. Saying North Korea is a hellhole because of Communist rule isn’t racism, but saying it is a hellhole because it’s Korean is.
You may also apply that to its larger neighbours. 😉
@3
So what if I were to criticize a polyglot country like the US? (oh those damn Americans, etc.)
To me this is where your PC strawman argument falls apart: China is like 99.9% ethnic Chinese.
Just sayin’
@3: “So what if I were to criticize a polyglot country like the US?”
So what if you do? There are things about the US I don’t like myself.
“China is like 99.9% ethnic Chinese.”
Actually it’s about 95%. Hong Kong’s population is more ethnic Chinese than the PRC. I like HK a lot better than the PRC. So what’s the “PC strawman argument”?
We’re carrying over points from previous threads now? Man, we really have nothing net new to talk about 🙂
@George
Good for you for making those points. I was tempted to as well, but resisted the urge to do so late last night. My gramps fought for a bit in the war too, mostly Egypt and North Africa. He never talked about the war, and I don’t think he was ever in a POW camp, but he never smiled or laughed when people made racist jokes around him (and it was fairly common in the 80s and even 90s to hear jokes like that all over the place).
coming soon to canada, negative interest rates! your mortgage pays you!!
😀
@6 There are a hell of a lot of upvotes for locusts comments.
I guess also if you are complacent you are in some way also supporting this? Not all Germans were not involved with nazism but being complacent is not really a free pass.
Thank the racists gods for internet anonymity!
Canada’s economy – A rough ride
Growth is now dangerously dependent on consumer credit and rising house prices, both of which could swiftly drop (see chart 2). The average price of a detached house in Vancouver is C$1.4m ($1.1m); in Toronto it is C$1.1m. The central bank thinks housing is overvalued by as much as 30%; the biggest domestic risk to growth is over-borrowing by consumers, most of which is housing related, it warns.
Of course we already know this and other issues in the article, but it’s good to see it coming from this source.
@#8
Speaking if which;
“Swedish Banks Strain to Cope With Negative Interest Rate Environment”, Wall Street Journal
“Swedish banks are straining to cope with the nation’s exotic monetary policy, made of ever-lower negative interest rates.”
“Logically, in the upside-down environment of negative interest rates, instead of paying interest on deposits, banks would charge customers to hold their money.”
“Swedish lenders are cautiously applying the rationale to large corporate and institutional clients, billing them for money they leave at the bank, but are reluctant to take their household customers into negative territory.”
““They would not understand what’s going on,” says Christian Clausen, chief executive of Nordea Bank AB, Scandinavia’s biggest lender.”
“U.S. inflation, housing data bolster rate hike argument”, Reuters
http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKCN0PR1CR20150717
“U.S. consumer prices rose for a fifth straight month in June as the cost of gasoline and a range of other goods increased, further signs of firming inflation that strengthen the case for an interest rate hike this year.”
“Carney signals Bank of England rate hike decision around turn of year”, Reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/17/uk-britain-boe-idUKKCN0PQ29720150717
“Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has raised the possibility that the central bank could lift interest rates from their record low before the year is out, his strongest hint yet that the BoE is moving towards tighter policy.”
On Van West, only SFH price is up (wealth holding). Other types not much:
Duplex, 5978 Chancellor Blvd.
Assessed: $2,412,000 Asking: $1,788,000 (3 years on the market?)
Duplex, 6082 Chancellor Blvd.
Assessed: $2,342,000 Asking: $1,999,000 (2 years on the market?)
Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
I created a chart to compare U.S. and Canadian Manufacturer’s Inventory to Sales ratio:
http://www.chpc.biz/history-readings/dollar-pinching
Looks like the trend of diminishing retail sales on both sides of the border has been on since last summer. The strengthening U.S. dollar might be good for U.S. tourists at the Pan Am games, but on the street in their respective jurisdictions, North Americans are slowing their pace of consumption and “inflation” according to The Billion Prices Project @ MIT has also been dropping since last year as well.
Will the U.S. FED raise rates this year… it’s not a sure thing yet.
Too early yet to draw any meaningful conclusions, but…
I don’t get the sense that Canadians are rushing out to borrow more. They will enjoy the minute drop in interest charges on floating debt…but I think the msg that the economy is in no great shape is sinking in…
Also, is it just me, or when the cdn$ gets hammered likke this, I think cdns sense of confidence and bravado gets shaken somewhat.
I wonder if the RE market softens in the coming months, just because people realize that weakness is not strength.
WSR
I think the editors made a mistake – this belongs in the “humour” section.
Westside Realtor #16
My chart of Canadian housing in US$
http://www.chpc.biz/canadian-housing-in-usd.html
…shows that in the pit of gloom (March 2009), the USD was hitting a cyclical high (before retesting its lows in 2011).
I think you are correct, the depressed and trending lower CAD affects Canadians daily at cash registers and the prudent reassess their spending habits which in my post at #15 above is showing up since last summer when the USD started going hockey stick.
My understanding is that the strengthening USD is going to affect not just 35 million people in Canada, but a very large portion of the global fixed income market where a lot of debt is created (and must be repaid) in New York in USD.
Followed the link above to ” Some bears cash in on HCG drop” and came across Space889s post about rent vs owning…..
“Actually, based on some anecdotal evidence, it looks like a lot of OV/False Creek area, the rent is starting to be pretty close to the cost of buying now.”
Anecdotal = Cherry Picked
So based on a few cherry picked listings that are priced to high as they are still on the market, renting is on par with owning..
I’m sure the fact the the bacteria level in False creek is 10 times the allowable limit for swimming will make it all that more desirable!
Thanks for another pointless bull biased post with more
“Anectodale evidence” Space.
headline from the bears ” bacteria level in False creek is 10 times the allowable limit ” would decrease the home value of OV.
“coming soon to canada, negative interest rates! your mortgage pays you!!”
More Realtor dribble..
This will NEVER happen as much as you’d like to fantasize in your BS posts.
If Canada was in a situation where they would have to drop again, our Dollar would be in the 60 cent range, costs of everything would be through the roof…. As much as you’d like to fantasize about this being a good thing, most likely there would be a point were things would be so bad that the BOC would have to rapidly increase rates (+.5 to 1% overnight) to save our dollar and curb inflation of EVERYTHING. This would cause a housing crash guaranteed in the following months.
Good luck with your “negative Mortgage rate” BBB.
Lol, fantasy land you live in…
“headline from the bears ” bacteria level in False creek is 10 times the allowable limit ” would decrease the home value of OV.”
I said it would make it all that more desirable, nothing about value..
Realtors would agrue that it would probably more desirable to Asians though as it makes them feel more at home….more like the lovely Yangtze river… Dead pigs floating down by the 1000s and all..
@bestplaceonearth – i thought craps like that would only happen in hellhole countries like China, never in a civilized democratic country like Canada?!?!?!