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Friday Free-for-all!

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176 Comments

Another beautiful weekend is here!

Who wants gloomy housing news?

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:

–Canada’s economy: a rough ride
–Have more kids and move to BC
–Rents in vancouver high or low?
–QE in Canada?
–Fix Canada with US-made tools?
–20% overvalued in Canada
–Rennie raises funds for BC Liberals
–Secret data?
–Ghost town back on market
–

So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!

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bullwhip29

@ #166
janet yellen only has two options. either do the prudent thing and take the punch bowl away OR continue sitting on fence, send mkt mixed signals. i think many bought the US recovery story hook line and sinker and assumed option 1 was a given. I am not so sure. in fact, i believe the recovery is largely a sham and the fed’s next move will be to turn printing press back on. for obvious optics reasons, doing so now would be insane. if, however, the financial markets were turned on their heads once more (due to china, europe etc), they would have a plausible excuse to implement more QE without having to admit they’ve been lying all this time (ie. since 2008-09)

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patriotz

@170: “can I use 3 realtors to sell my house, e.g. only the winning one get commission ($300,000 ?)?”

Legally there is no obstacle to making a non-exclusive sales contract if the agents go along with it (ha ha ha), but the MLS probably has a policy of not taking listings from different agents for the same property.

Also anyone who signs any contract with a buyers agent is a fool.

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bullwhip29

@ #160
all the chatter and hot air from the chinese govt wont amt to anything now. all confidence and trust lost barring something seriously insane happening. ie. china govt prints enough cash to make everyone whole again and/or outright confiscates (a la corzine-mfg) savings accounts from “malicious” and anarchistic “non-buyers” of stocks. ultimately, i expect someone to uncover and make public the secret, backdoor selling of stocks by connected bankers, high ranking officials, friends and family etc.

guys like this never had a chance…
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000401233

@ #169
but, but wait…i was told Voda at the Creek would be the last waterfront development

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Bull! Bull! Bull!

Man becomes enraged after pet store staff tries to open car door to help his french bulldog.

https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.thi/videos/10206346874287313/

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UBC in crisis mode

It is Tuesday now, why cannot we move to a new topic?

I know you can only use one realtor to buy a house if you sign the contract, but can I use 3 realtors to sell my house, e.g. only the winning one get commission ($300,000 ?)?

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Corrupt in Canada

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/plan-to-scrap-vancouver-viaducts-sparks-traffic-concern-1.3169632

Another sellout move by our government. Whats there left to teardown for condos???

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southseacompany

“Did Joe Oliver overstep?”
“In response to question, the Finance Minister said quantitative easing is ‘not on the table.’ Should he have said that?”;
Macleans magazine

http://www.macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/did-joe-oliver-overstep/

“The comment has prompted questions about whether the territorial line between the Conservative government and the central bank has been blurred.

Technically, it’s Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz’s call whether to implement quantitative easing, where central banks buy government assets and other securities to boost the supply of money.”

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southseacompany

“Interest rates: pressure for rise as economy accelerates”, The Week UK

http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-interest-rate/64116/interest-rates-prepare-for-the-end-of-cheap-mortgages

“Pressure is continuing to mount on the Bank of England’s interest rate-setting committee to signal a move towards a first rise in six years, as official figures showed UK economic growth accelerating in the second quarter.”

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southseacompany

“What two Fed rate hikes could mean for markets”, CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/28/what-two-fed-interest-rate-hikes-could-mean-for-markets.html

“While consensus for the first U.S. Federal Reserve rate rise is leaning towards September, a growing number of market watchers are suggesting that, before the year is out, two interest rate hikes rather than just one could be on the cards.”

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George

Garth Turner is fearmongering about the prospects of an NDP government in his latest blog post. Going through the comments of what I thought was a Conservative blog, I am shocked at how much support the NDP has on there. Lots of people, even some who claim to be long-time Conservative voters, are coming to the defense of the NDP. It really feels like something has changed in terms of the electoral dynamics at the federal level. Should be an interesting fall election.

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George

Insightful comment that very much rings true with me from someone posting under the name Go-cascades under that G&M article I just posted: “A poster in this thread said that you can’t “opt out”. If you are working at all, you’re contributing to CPP (for example). That’s true. But there’s opting out… and then there’s “meh”. Heads up: “meh”, as it pertains to a consumption-based society and traditional taxable earning, is still pretty bad news. Rightly or wrongly, many young people are reaching the conclusion that the same amount of work/education will not carry them as far as it would have a generation ago. The costs of said education – and life in general – relative to attainable wages are much more challenging than they were when their parents were coming up. Quibbling over why this exists – whether it’s… Read more »

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George

I can’t believe no one has posted this already. It absolutely rings true when I think about my situation and the situation of a lot of my friends. A lot of millenials have avoided debt and have avoided mortgage debt in particular not because we are loathe to borrow or we are housing bears, but simply because we don’t qualify for loans due to our precarious employment situation. From the Globe and Mail: “Insolvency filings by consumers have started to edge higher after a long decline that began after the last recession. As has already been widely noted, the share of insolvencies accounted for by seniors is growing faster than any age group. What has not had much attention is the fact that the young-adult share is falling. Could this be a rare bit of good news for a cohort… Read more »

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patriotz

When it comes to corruption, Britain really should shut up

Here’s someone who thinks it’s just talk.

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patriotz

David Cameron vows to fight against ‘dirty money’ in UK property market

We’ll see how much he actually delivers, but the UK Conservatives are at least willing to acknowledge the problem, compared to our own (including the “BC Liberals”).

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patriotz

@154: “In China, 80% investors are individual citizens, e.g. retirees, and some of them borrowed heavily.

The government cannot allow any further drop fearing a revolution. You will see all stock trading halted if there is any 3% drop per day.”

If the government stops you from selling something, it has de facto confiscated it. This is something those living in Communist countries, including China of course, have seen plenty of already.

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patriotz

@145: “Why not just make property tax progressive like income tax?”

The last time a BC government attempted this – the NDP 20 years ago – they backed off because of opposition from middle class homeowners who believed that average prices would eventually climb past the threshold ($500K).

“This is something the city actually does have control over”

No it doesn’t. It’s a strategy of the current provincial government to make people think that local governments have power to deal with a number of issues that they don’t – and it’s quite successful.

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Shut It Down Already

Haha, BPOM just accused another poster of being rude! But his hypocrisy should really come as no surprise as he also calls those who challenge him on his repeated ignorant use of the word locust “race baiters”.

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History

Officially denied!

CK PROPERTY (01113.HK) Executive Director Justin Chiu said due to Hong Kong’s economic stability, the local property market price is unlikely to see decline. Meanwhile, the finance cost is still lower than the inflation and the capital may keep on flowing into the property market. Property owners will not easily sell at low prices.

For the stock market volatility, he sees it is a temporary factor, and long-term investors will not be affected materially.

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southseacompany

“Bank of Canada Publishes 2016 Schedule for Policy Interest Rate Announcements and Release of the Monetary Policy Report” Bank of Canada

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/2015/07/boc-2016-schedule-fad-mpr-releases/

The scheduled announcement dates from September 2015 through December 2015 are reconfirmed as follows:

Wednesday 9 September
Wednesday 21 October*
Wednesday 2 December

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southseacompany

“O’Leary: Canadian housing market nothing like U.S. in 2007”, BNN video

http://www.bnn.ca/Video/player.aspx?vid=666253

“Kevin O’Leary, Chairman of the O’Leary Financial Group joins BNN to discuss the housing bears shorting the market, why he doesn’t see a collapse in Canada’s housing market, and why millennials should keep renting for the next few years.”

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UBC in crisis mode

In China, 80% investors are individual citizens, e.g. retirees, and some of them borrowed heavily.

The government cannot allow any further drop fearing a revolution. You will see all stock trading halted if there is any 3% drop per day.

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crikey

New Zealand realty bosses now vocally back a foreign buyers register! I wonder if Vancouver’s will ever have the courage to say the same? Fer crissakes, even China’s official envoy has chided our people for doing nothing to help ourselves. What are our supposed industry and government leaders waiting for? ” Two real estate bosses have now backed a foreign buyers’ register.Barfoot & Thompson chief Peter Thompson yesterday said the register made sense.”I think there does need to be some form of establishing where these buyers are actually coming from,” Thompson said.Century 21 national manager Geoff Barnett agreed.”I would not see it as a negative,” he said. “We need statistics to help manage the country. I don’t think it would change anything. I would not be out of favour of it. There would be mixed views throughout the industry, but… Read more »

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franko

Sorry, my post was intended to respond to Post #148

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franko

@#146 Unfortunately, you’re right about the impact of Chinese stocks on the worldwide economy, and because of Canada’s reliance on export of natural resources, it will be affected more than most countries, except perhaps Australia and of course Russia, the second biggest shithole in the world. Unlike most young posters on a real estate forum who have been squeezed out of the market by corrupt foreign slime bags, I was invested on Black Monday and survived. And I will survive again because Canada and the US are mature responsible markets that will offer the confidence that the rest of the world will be looking for when the dust settles. In the meantime, the only thing I’m giddy about is the potential opportunities. The mere fact that the Shanghai exchange can drop 8.5% in a single day (after rising 150% in… Read more »

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w

Barbara Yaffe: Vancouver rent increase ‘tsunami’ expected

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/affordability/Barbara+Yaffe+Vancouver+rent+increase+tsunami/11246784/story.html

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