BC, data, economy, equity, hype, Open Topic, prices

Protect the housing bubble!

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It seem natural that most readers of this site would appreciate an MLA standing up for more data on real estate transactions in BC.

It came after Weaver had introduced a private member’s bill to amend the Land Title Act. If it is approved by a majority of MLAs, it would enable the B.C. government to determine foreign-investment flows in the real-estate market, as well as the extent of corporate buying of property.

Unfortunately in a province where everything seems to revolve around real estate and sensitivities around that topic what you end up with is wishy-washy comments that are nonsensical.

Southseacompany points out that Green MLA Andrew Weaver has asked the finance minister what is being done to prevent a Vancouver housing bubble from bursting.  Unfortunately there appears to be some logical inconsistencies in the MLAs statements:

I especially can’t figure that first sentence on Weaver’s blog;

“Today in the legislature I rose to question the Minister of Finance as to what steps, if any, government is taking to ensure that Metro Vancouver’s potential housing bubble doesn’t burst and that housing remains affordable in the region.”

Remains affordable? And that if this bubble burst and prices fell, then… it won’t be affordable??

This man’s nonsense is a waste of time.

 

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Bull! Bull! Bull!
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Bull! Bull! Bull!
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home owners are too big to fail and are the economic engine that is driving the provice. everyone knows this. deal with it.

you don’t have to like it to make money from it.

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2 years 10 months ago
flaneur
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Foreign models promoting a local f&b outfit were arrested in Beijing for disturbing public order.
Legal processions and assemblies must be filed with local authorities in advance, or else be treated as unlawful gatherings. The hiring company must have calculated on a cheap publicity stunt at the expense of the foreigners.
http://tinyurl.com/pcummd5

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2 years 10 months ago
UBC in crisis mode
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UBC in crisis mode
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Do you know any “local” bought a property listed more than $2 million? Can you point to the sale info?

The buyers could be “local”, e.g. permanent residents, but the money is very likely foreign.

The mortgage calculator would tell you that for a $1,500,000 mortgage (3.7% 3-year):

NOTES
The Household Income Required figure of $ 311,223 is the minimum amount of Gross Income to qualify for a total mortgage of $ 1,500,000 under generally accepted underwriting guidelines. To determine qualifying sources of income, contact CanadaMortgage.com. Individual lender policies may vary.

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2 years 10 months ago
Shut It Down Already
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Shut It Down Already
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Why is it always assumed that the $2m buyer is a first-timer, with minimal downpayment? They’re probably move up buyers. The “very likely foreign” conclusion is therefore flawed.

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2 years 10 months ago
UnagiDon
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UnagiDon
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@3: Yes, I know of one case. Husband and wife are both specialist doctors.

It will not be surprising to anyone that ultra-high income earners can afford bubble prices, even though the incomes are local.

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2 years 10 months ago
space889
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1 out every 5 person (men, women, and children) in Ottawa has an Ashley Madison account…. hmm….

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-22/ottawans-outed-1-5-found-be-cheating-dirtbags-who-deserve-no-discretion

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2 years 10 months ago
space889
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Most senior managers, portfolio managers, specialist doctors & lawyers, real estate brokers, skilled trades, masseuses & escorts, and likely a lot of small/mid size biz owners/partners make that much $$$ – even though the declared earned income for a lot of them might be very low.

And yes, add in things like equity from previous house purchases, it’s not that hard to believe locals can and do routinely by $2M+ houses.

Dig around a little and it’s not hard to find people who makes over $150K+/yr in undeclared cash income. Heck, just go to Craiglist’s “Theureputic” or Skilled Trades listings and likely the poster of every ad on there is making over $100K+ cash/yr in cash, with very little going to CRA.

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2 years 10 months ago
VMD
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Canada’s new millionaire migration scheme gets just six applications, in snub from rich Chinese Critics say Immigrant Investor Venture Capital scheme is too costly and risky compared to its defunct predecessor, which was swamped by thousands of mainland millionaires The new Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) scheme was touted as a replacement for the Immigrant Investor Program (IIP), long the world’s most popular wealth-determined immigration vehicle. But the IIP was shut down by the federal government last year amid a huge backlog of applications at Canada’s Hong Kong consulate, nearly all lodged by rich mainland Chinese. There were also doubts about the IIP’s economic benefits to Canada. The new scheme was branded “ridiculous” by Hong Kong immigration lawyer Jean-Francois Harvey. The IIVC requires applicants worth at least C$10 million (HK$60 million) to invest C$2 million in Canadian start-up companies in… Read more »
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2 years 10 months ago
joe
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@ VMD
From that article….

Despite the closure of the IIP and the lacklustre response to the IIVC, millionaire migrants continue to flow steadily into Canada via Quebec’s version of the IIP, which still operates. Some 6,111 certificates of permanent residency were issued under that scheme last year, CIC data provided by Kurland shows. Despite pledging to live in Quebec, about 90 per cent of such immigrants end up leaving the French-speaking province, previous data indicates, with most thought to end up in the west coast city Vancouver.

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2 years 10 months ago
vangrl
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#7

Can they have their papers taken away if they reneged on their pledge?

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2 years 10 months ago
ILoveCharts
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Re #8 vangirl:

Not really. It’s a catch-22. Once you get-in, you are protected by the charter of rights as having the freedom to move about the country (between provinces,) freely.

We can’t go after the individuals, we need to go after Quebec. They’re really f!#@!ing us over on this one.

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2 years 10 months ago
patriotz
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@8: Rights to move and gain livelihood (2) Every citizen of Canada and every person who has the status of a permanent resident of Canada has the right (a) to move to and take up residence in any province; and (b) to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province. Now I’m not a constitutional lawyer but I haven’t heard of the government trying to revoke the PR status of any such people and I think the above may have something to do with it. Simple and obvious remedy – change the law so that business immigrants don’t actually get PR status until they have been in the country 5 or 10 years or so and have paid an appropriate amount of income tax. But as we know, our government has more important immigration issues to deal with, such… Read more »
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2 years 10 months ago
Slagathor
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….“The failure to attract [more applications] despite the fact that they postponed the deadline again and again is simply [because] it is not competitive in front of the worldwide competition for investor [immigrants] from China and around the world,”….

Or, there were only six applicants who though they could convincingly fake how they earned their wealth.

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2 years 10 months ago
space889
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If I were to invest $2M in a start-up biz, I would most definitely have a say in how it is run. Giving $2M to some “VC portfolio manager” and hope to get that money back in a few years sounds more like a scam than anything legit.

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2 years 10 months ago
crikey
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““Today in the legislature I rose to question the Minister of Finance as to what steps, if any, government is taking to ensure that Metro Vancouver’s potential housing bubble doesn’t burst and that housing remains affordable in the region.” … This man’s nonsense is a waste of time.” The question is obviously dripping in thick sarcasm. The question puts Christy Clark and the BC Liberals on the spot to divulge what they are doing on the real estate front — whilst simultaneously making light of Christy Clark’s BC Liberals recent comments, not only to protect the real estate bubble, but also saying that BC real estate is “affordable” (remember that one?) Andrew Weaver is the kind of person we could only dream all of our politicians were like. Andrew Weaver is exceedingly well spoken, intelligent, and an extremely accomplished scientist.… Read more »
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2 years 10 months ago
UBC in crisis mode
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“The failure to attract [more applications] despite the fact that they postponed the deadline again and again is simply [because] it is not competitive in front of the worldwide competition for investor [immigrants] from China and around the world,”….

There is no need to apply for any of these so called “investor” programs.

You can buy any “vacation property” as you would like, then with a 10-year visitor visa, you can stay up to 180 days in Vancouver on your vacation days, or simply rent your property out. Sure, you don’t get much rental income (for your $5 million view property in West Vancouver), but the price is going up forever, way better than any Shanghai stocks

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2 years 10 months ago
patriotz
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@13:

If a politician isn’t willing to come out and say that prices should go down (as no politician is willing to do) or that prices should not go down (as we’ve heard from Christy and Tim Louis) they should just skip the Jon Stewart act and say nothing about a bursting bubbles or affordability. It just sounds clownish.

His proposals for transparency regarding foreign and corporate ownership have a lot of merit and can stand on their own.

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2 years 10 months ago
Bull! Bull! Bull!
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$2 million for a slightly better than average in richmond. this is where we are now. i think it’s time for you people to think about leaving the region. there is no hope for you. go somewhere that you can be happy.

http://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/15495587/9500-PINEWELL-CR-Richmond-British-Columbia-V7A2T9

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2 years 10 months ago
Bull! Bull! Bull!
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$1 million for a house on a small lot and on a busy road. this is what being priced out looks like. just leave and don’t look back.

http://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/15801464/10371-WILLIAMS-RD-Richmond-British-Columbia-V7A1H6

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2 years 10 months ago
Bull! Bull! Bull!
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but renters are winning right pats?

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2 years 10 months ago
space889
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Most senior managers, portfolio managers, specialist doctors & lawyers, real estate brokers, skilled trades, masseuses & escorts, and likely a lot of small/mid size biz owners/partners make that much $$$ – even though the declared earned income for a lot of them might be very low.

And yes, add in things like equity from previous house purchases, it’s not that hard to believe locals can and do routinely by $2M+ houses.

Dig around a little and it’s not hard to find people who makes over $150K+/yr in undeclared cash income. Heck, just go to Craiglist’s “Theureputic” or Skilled Trades listings and likely the poster of every ad on there is making over $100K+ cash/yr in cash, with very little going to CRA.

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2 years 10 months ago
space889
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Most senior managers, portfolio managers, specialist doctors & lawyers, real estate brokers, skilled trades, masseuse & female companions, and likely a lot of small/mid size biz owners/partners make that much $$$ – even though the declared earned income for a lot of them might be very low.

And yes, add in things like equity from previous house purchases, it’s not that hard to believe locals can and do routinely by $2M+ houses.

Dig around a little and it’s not hard to find people who makes over $150K+/yr in undeclared cash income. Heck, just go to Craiglist massage or Skilled Trades listings and likely the poster of every ad on there is making over $100K+ cash/yr in cash, with very little going to CRA.

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2 years 10 months ago
crikey
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patriotz #15 said “If a politician isn’t willing to come out and say that prices should go down”…”they should just skip the Jon Stewart act and say nothing about a bursting bubbles or affordability. It just sounds clownish.”

I agree that people that don’t know anything about Andrew Weaver, or cannot see/hear the sarcasm in his delivery, must be taking a statement like the one he made at face value. Given the idiotic statements/policies regularly made by Christy Clark and her BC Liberals (e.g., “real estate is affordable”; “we don’t dare burst the real estate bubble”), I can see the confusion.

That said, sarcasm in politics isn’t new. And yes, Andrew Weaver’s actions speak loud and clear as to what he is getting at.

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2 years 10 months ago
space889
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Most senior managers, portfolio managers, specialist doctors & lawyers, real estate brokers, skilled trades, sex trade workers, and likely a lot of small/mid size biz owners/partners make that much $$$ – even though the declared earned income for a lot of them might be very low.

And yes, add in things like equity from previous house purchases, it’s not that hard to believe locals can and do routinely by $2M+ houses.

Dig around a little and it’s not hard to find people who makes over $150K+/yr in undeclared cash income. Heck, just go to Craiglist massage or Skilled Trades listings and likely the poster of every ad on there is making over $100K+ cash/yr in cash, with very little going to CRA.

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2 years 10 months ago
space889
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space889
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Most senior managers, portfolio managers, specialist doctors & lawyers, real estate brokers, skilled trades, and likely a lot of small/mid size biz owners/partners make that much $$$ – even though the declared earned income for a lot of them might be very low.

And yes, add in things like equity from previous house purchases, it’s not that hard to believe locals can and do routinely by $2M+ houses.

Dig around a little and it’s not hard to find people who makes over $150K+/yr in undeclared cash income. Heck, just go to Craiglist “Theureputic” or Skilled Trades listings and likely the poster of every ad on there is making over $100K+ cash/yr in cash, with very little going to CRA.

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2 years 10 months ago