BC, Canada, economy, opinion, politics, prices

A city full of racists

February 11, 2016 VCI Admin

Concerned about the housing market in Vancouver and think something should be done about affordability? You probably believe foreign buyers are partly to blame for running up prices.

You’re probably a racist.

Unfortunately it seems we live in a city full of racists as more and more people express concerns about things like assignment flipping, livable teardowns and empty homes. Or at least you can call them racists in an effort to shut down the discussion.

David Fine writes in the Huffington Post:

We are both assured that foreign investment is actually not a significant issue and at the same time, by the same people, told that any restrictions on foreign property investment would cause serious damage to our home equity, the construction industry and the residential sales industry.
Guess what, it can’t be both! There really is no doubt that foreign property investment is a significant part of home sales in Vancouver and real estate companies know it. They have offices in China and appeal directly to offshore buyers through advertising in Chinese media. It’s big business and it’s fuelling rampant speculation.
This is about foreign money, not foreign people. We have duties and tariffs on all kinds of foreign goods and industries to protect our economy. Why nothing on our homes?

Read the full article here.

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Member

Ray

Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Did anyone else read this hacked thread backwards? Ignore the double-digit up-voted posts, read the double-digit down-voted posts, plus patroitz and southseacompany. This blog is as upside down as Vancouver Real Estate.

Guest

bestplaceonearth

“a city full of racist”

don’t have to look far…it’s all here from some of this blog posters, a bunch of angry people.

Member

Hyper-mega-Bull

Austrians Need Constitutional Right to Pay in Cash, Mahrer Says

do you have any undeclared income? better buy some assets with it. cashless society is coming.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-12/austrians-need-constitutional-right-to-pay-in-cash-mahrer-says

Member

space889

@Crabman:

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism

Racism consists of ideologies and practices that seek to justify, or cause, the unequal distribution of privileges or rights among groups that are conceptualized as racially or ethnically different.

Member

space889

@Crabman – Uhm…you are the one with the straw argument here. Notice racism about identifiable groups of people who are considered racially or ethnically different. And when you clump together almost 1 billion people that are culturally, historically identified as a group with similar general racial look, language, written words, etc, and claim you aren’t a racist for calling them locusts, scum, criminals, garbage, etc, and still don’t consider yourself racist? It’s you that have a problem.

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism

Racism consists of ideologies and practices that seek to justify, or cause, the unequal distribution of privileges or rights among groups that are conceptualized as racially or ethnically different.

Guest

boom

Is calling chinese “chinese” , the indians “indian” and english “english” racist ?
Is labeling people with a name based on their ethnicity, culture and history racist?

Member

southseacompany

“Federal Reserve Won’t Backpedal on Interest Rates, Janet Yellen Says”, New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/business/economy/yellen-says-fed-will-not-reverse-course-on-interest-rates.html?_r=0

“The Federal Reserve and financial markets are having a difference of opinion.The Fed expects the domestic economy to keep chugging along. Investors fear a global downturn.”

Member

space889

Talk is cheap and frankly all these politicians lie. In fact, they think it is ok and good to lie. Why anyone would take their word at face value anymore is beyond me.

Member

southseacompany

“New mortgage rule might ‘temper’ hot markets, but not for long”, CBC News

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/new-mortgage-rules-down-payment-1.3440797

“Starting Feb. 15, mortgage insurers require 10% down payment on portion of mortgages above $500K”

Member

southseacompany

“Cafe Politics: Blame demand, not shadow flipping for Vancouver’s high housing prices”, Metro news

http://www.metronews.ca/features/vancouver/vancouvering/2016/02/11/shadow-flipping-not-driving-up-vancouver-housing-prices.html

” “This little flip thing is not driving up (the cost of real estate). The fact that there’s someone willing to pay so much money for our real estate is what’s driving it up.””

Guest

history

http://www1.centadata.com/cci/cci_e.htm

Hong Kong property stats and charts
The CCL Centa City Leading Index… get to know it, the hybrid grasshopper to Vancouver.

Member

Hyper-mega-Bull

here’s a link for your firday free for all: Vancouver, a better China I walked toward my hotel on Route 3. Each side is dotted with one shopping mall after another, half of them with big Chinese signs. I counted more than 50 upper level Chinese restaurants along the way, all kinds of styles and tastes. You can easily find all other services you ever wanted: from Chinese car dealers to Chinese children’s education centers to new apartments being built by Chinese. All in all, they have built a new China right there, only a better one. Along the way, I saw many Chinese people out there enjoying the evening along the clean and broad road. Suddenly I was overcome by this tremendous ethnic pride. A local white guy put it simply: Chinese built all these. Has Canada turned into… Read more »

Guest

bullwhip29

instead of all the mindless chatter, maybe we should be refocusing on the bigger picture. in other words, the $hit is about to hit the fan for real. time to wake the eff up, pay attention and get our affairs in order asap.

you can start by reading this…
https://www.scribd.com/document_downloads/298922249?extension=pdf&from=embed&source=embed

Guest

Whistler or bust?

Interesting article but certainly not new. A lot of people have been saying this for sometime.

The only thing I care about is, will a collapse in the Chinese banking system be good or bad for Vancouver real estate prices?

Guest

Shut It Down Already

Neutral.

Guest

Diadora

I have personally seem the excess in China, ghost cities with no residence, second and third tier city downtown core which rivals major cities in the world but no occupancies, brand new 5 stars hotel with no guest except the ones on a $100 for a 7 days tour. The whole country is build on credit and the end is coming sooner than most people think and that’s why 1 trillion has left China in 2015 because the smart one are getting their money out before the system blows up. After the collapse in China, Vancouver will fall hard.

Guest

Whistler or bust?

And yet another article:

On a side note, I was at my child’s small private school in Vancouver and they noted that they expect to lose “several” teachers in the next year due to high real estate prices. They are simply packing up and moving to places with reasonable prices. This is happening way more than people think and it is becoming a crisis.

But for our mainland Chinese friends like Space, BBB and Shut it Down this is not a problem at all and we are all super jealous. Wait, I never noticed this, the only Bulls on here are first or second generation immigrants from mainland China. I wonder why this is?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/a-crisis-in-vancouver-the-lifeblood-of-the-city-is-leaving/article28730533/

Member

Hyper-mega-Bull

>But for our mainland Chinese friends like Space, BBB and Shut it Down this is not a problem at all and we are all super jealous.

i’ve been warning people about sinofication for years, telling them to wake up and smell the HAM. everything i’ve said about HAM and vancouver joining the sinosphere has been proven true. if people don’t want to listen to the truth, that’s their problem. if you want to blame someone blame yourself and the people who have lied to you for a decade about HAM (patriotz the paid shill for example).

Member

Hyper-mega-Bull

add jesse to the list. the guy who quit the blog because he thought discussion about HAM was racist.

Member

Yunak

And of course the top voted comment is spot-on… “For any Canadian (young or old) Vancouver is no longer viewed as a Canadian city. It may be a tourist destination, like New York or San Francisco or Orlando, but it isn’t a city that one could move to to work or retire. And this is the crux of the problem. Vancouver is no longer part of the circulatory system of Canada. It has arterial sclerosis. There is no way to infuse fresh blood into the city. Never mind techies, the city cannot breathe new life into the health care sector, law, rink attendants, garbage men/women, teachers, transit planners, engineers. Where will these people come from in the future Vancouver? Who in their right mind would want to carry a 3 million dollar mortgage for having the privilege of living in… Read more »

Guest

Alan

I’m a white guy who just moved to Vancouver to work. It’s the best place to live. The fact that a “rink attendant” can’t buy a house in a prime neighbourhood isn’t “treason”. The fact that people are willing to pay millions for a regular house is a huge benefit to families selling houses. Have fun wherever you move to. I won’t be anywhere but my downtown condo.

Guest

Shut It Down Already

You think I’m of Chinese descent? Your powers of deduction are about on par with your real estate analysis, then.

Member

crabman

I don’t. I think you’re an ignorant white homeowner…

Member

space889

People were leaving back in the 90s when real estate prices were only what? 1/4 to 1/3 of what it is today while salaries were only about 30% lower at worst. Heck, lots of teachers were leaving for Alberta cuz they paid more. Lots of nurses were leaving for WA because they paid more. Lots of IT people were leaving for WA/CA because they paid A LOT more. RE prices have very little to do with it. Maybe if the private schools don’t pay crap to their teachers, they get more people to stay longer. I don’t see any mass exodus of public school teachers. And there is lots of unemployed new grads from education facilities that are still here looking for a full time position. You want something done about foreign money? Stop protecting foreign criminals under the guise… Read more »

Member

southseacompany

“Toronto, Vancouver Home Prices To Turn Negative As Mortgage Rates Creep Up: TD Bank”, Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/02/11/toronto-vancouver-house-price-forecast_n_9210530.html

“Thanks to an “upward drift” in mortgage rates, home sales in Canada’s two red-hot housing markets will cool this year — albeit from very high levels seen in 2015.

“The lofty activity last year has likely left these two markets more vulnerable to even a gradual increase in interest rates and regulatory rule changes,” economist Diana Petramala wrote.”

“Mortgage rates are moving upward because of “a squeeze on bank funding costs amid tighter financial conditions,” Petramala wrote, adding some banks have already raised their mortgage rates by some 0.3 percentage points since December.”

Guest

Whistler or bust?

The problem is the 5 and 10 yr Gov’t of Canada bonds are reaching all-time lows. The 5 yr. Govt of Canada rate is 0.48% (YES THAT IS CORRECT) which means there is still a ton of juice left on a 5 yr fixed rate at 2.80%. In fact, even with the 0.30% increase the base rate has dropped from 1.00% in the last 60 days so there is plenty off room to cut. There are lots of things that will derail this market but in the medium term interest rates are not one. (which is why I left it out of my 10 reasons why I am calling a top) bit a week ago.

Guest

cat in the hit

Look at where RBC is trading at, PE <10. They just need the spread, much live a sex worker. Guess how are the banks doing on the loan to oil sand projects. Never say never.

Member

southseacompany

Hurry hurry, get in under the wire;

“New mortgage rules are about to hit first-time buyers in hot housing markets”, Global News.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2509934/new-mortgage-rules-wont-cool-hot-housing-markets-but-will-hit-first-time-buyers-hard/

“Starting Monday, house hunters will face new rules requiring larger down payments on homes that are listed above $500,000. The changes are expected to have an impact on key real estate markets, but to what extent is up for debate.”

Member

southseacompany

“What Canada can learn from Sweden about housing bubbles: Nothing”, Globe & Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/what-canada-can-learn-from-sweden-about-housing-bubbles-nothing/article28714799/

“Sweden’s central bank today cut its key rate further into negative territory, admitting that low rates are fuelling both home prices and debt, which is obvious.”

Guest

Shut It Down Already

Wow, good job admin – a total flamebait article.

It’s not racist to suggest that foreigners and foreign money are driving the market. It’s racist to say that all Chinese are “locusts” and criminals, but it’s easier to be lazy and conflate the two and say that people use the “r” word just to stifle the debate.

Absurd.

Member

vangrl

Wow, I up voted you!

Member

Best place on meth

No need to do that, the chinese hacker scumbags will do it for you.

Member

crabman

Guess we should be glad that’s all those piece of shits can do. In HK, people selling books critical of China have been disappearing.

Guest

Shut It Down Already

Confirmed — you’re a moron.

Guest

Null

How does anything you wrote contradict the admins post?

Guest

Shut It Down Already

Because the topic has been discussed at extreme length over the years and I would expect him to know better?

Member

crabman

Nice straw man.

For the 10th time, communist China is not a race — “Asian” is. Never heard any disparaging comments here about HK, Japanese, Koreans, etc.

FYI, the term “locust” originated in HK.

Member

space889

Koreans, Japanese, etc are a different race from Chinese. Almost no Korean, Japanese, or Chinese would consider themselves to be the same. Just because you can’t tell them apart doesn’t mean they are one race culturally or ethnically.

It’s like KKK member saying I’m not a racist against blacks cuz I only don’t like blacks in America.

Guest

OpenCourse

Loss of civility is not the same as racism.

http://www.richmond-news.com/news/mangoes-distributed-from-beleaguered-wellington-court-strata-1.2169671

Member

Best place on meth

I hope there isn’t a community garden anywhere near that complex.

Member

paulb

New
245
Sold
157

TI:8021

http://www.paulboenisch.com

Guest

Tiger

QUESTION FOR PAUL.B

HOW MUCH DID THIS POINT GREY HOUSE SOLD FOR EXACTLY ?

http://thekavanaghgroup.com/mylistings.html/details-54343858

Member

vangrl

100 grand over asking, touch below 2.5

Member

Hyper-mega-Bull

Chinese-only bus shelter ads in Richmond being phased out
‘Visually it should be equally English and Chinese … if not predominantly English’

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/chinese-only-bus-shelter-ads-in-richmond-being-phased-out-1.3422444?cmp=rss

Member

space889

Why not predominantly French instead English? Since the target market supposedly can’t read either language, what difference does it make?

Member

ostritch

This racist market is on fire. Just missed out on a house on the weekend that sold in a New York minute and for 300K over ask.

Member

ostritch

Test

Member

ostritch

This racist market is on fire. A house we would have liked sold in a weekend for 300K over ask. Ouch!

Member

space889

That big hope of rate hikes & bond yield increase is becoming increasing unlikely. Instead, rate cuts by FOMC and NIRP is becoming increasing likely.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-11/what-central-bank-failure-looks-part-3

But I guess there still the China crash (which is way overdue) and HAM outflow from Vancouver market hope for the bears. Maybe you can still get a 50% crash which would take the prices from impossibly unaffordable to very unaffordable?? And it would still probably be better to have bought that place in 2008/09??

Member

Best place on meth

Another worthless, race-baiting op-ed from morbidly obese boomer and self-declared champion of free markets, Gordon Clark – according to him we’re all just jealous of foreign “investors” (they’re still calling them investors – how cute). http://blogs.theprovince.com/2016/02/10/gordon-clark-is-it-ok-to-covet-your-neighbours-pricey-house/ He righteously brings up one of the 7 deadly sins, “envy” but seems to pay no never mind to the equally important “greed” and “gluttony”. Apparently he has no mirrors in his rapidly appreciating house. This quote nicely sums up the mentality of greedy boomers like Gord: “People come up with all sorts of arguments to oppose the buying habits of certain classes of real-estate investors but when you get to the bottom of it, they are really just saying, “That person has a house that I should be able to afford but can’t and I’m really angry about it.” Well, boo hoo. Welcome… Read more »

Member

space889

Like forcing owners to sell that nice West Van / Van West mansion for $0.25 on the dollar so you can afford it and live in it like you feel you deserve? Life is not fair and you already won a big lottery compared to 3 billion other people just by being born in Canada.

You are a prime example of what’s wrong with Vancouver and why you are even a worse scum than those you despise. At least those Chinese scums don’t get on a moral high horse and being pretentious ahole.

Member

Chabar

That guy is journalistic disgrace with suspiciously pervert smile. Looks like frequenter of those oriental massage parlous employing young foreign but experienced service providers. Is he in charge of Provinces Campus Scene choice as editor or something? I could see some relevance between students from “student, housewife and businessman” camp to that bullshit Ferrari, Gucci, mansions, $$$, dear neighbors and other shit he talks about.

http://www.theprovince.com/Campus+Scene+Kaitlyn/11713049/story.html

typical students btw…

Member

space889

I don’t get it, what’s the point of the Campus Scene stories??

Guest

Diadora

Like the part about Name of Film Star I’d Love to Date: Paul Walker.
Not in this lifetime!!!!

Member

Best place on meth

Ugh, that stick insect is even more repulsive than Moonbeam’s squeeze.

Guest

GreenSalad

@ BPoM
Let them go on as they wish…..as long as they don’t come crawling back to the taxpayer when it all implodes….

Guest

Bestplaceonearth

People get it. Bears deserve single detach home, big back yard, in the west side for free with no sweat. And the city has to maintain their lawn.

Vancouver Condo Info

A city full of racists

Bubble? What Bubble?