BC, debt, opinion, politics

Free money can be popular

Despite widespread criticism of the BC governments plans to make teaser loans to first time homebuyers (worst idea everrrr) Kirk Lapointe points out that not everyone thinks its a bad idea.

I would wager that for every Christmas dinner gathering of finger-wagging and tut-tutting about the fiscal irresponsibility and market impact of the Clark manoeuvre, there were a dozen families seriously discussing if this was the time – perhaps the last real window – to get the kids into a home in the same city.

Politics ain’t always about what makes the most sense.

Read the full editorial here.

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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.

Here’s some initial assessment talk. Nothing too dramatic reported so far.

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/chip-wilsons-point-grey-mansion-tops-b-c-assessment-valuations-at-75-8-million

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bullwhip29

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I love how the new “you’re richer than you think” assessment notices are in nice glossy color print with bar graphs and all sorts of eye candy. Wait til all the mooches find out they will still be able to qualify for the grant too

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Oracle

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Today we will get inventory numbers and they will go up from here. Within 90 or so days (April 1), we should get a firm idea on how this year is going to unfold.

We will see if all that hot air wasted in 2016 was for nothing. I’m of the opinion it was because nothing of substance was enacted.

Immigration remains are record levels. Temporary immigration (in name only) remains at record levels. Foreign money coming in at record levels via ‘locals’.

See you guys in a month.

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history

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immigrants save us our holy bread,
amen

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UBC in Crisis Mode

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Yeah, nobody has to sell. Just wait for a better price.

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No Money Down

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2017 (July 1, 2016)Assessments are out online.
https://evaluebc.bcassessment.ca/

Below Assessed value!

628 E 20th.
Sold December 2016 $1.1M . Assessed $1.3M. Sold 15% below 2017 assessed value.

2735 W 8th.
Sold November 2016 $1.63M . Assessed $2.24M. Sold 27% below 2017 assessed value.

465 E 18th.
Listed 95 days $0.998M . Assessed $1.23M. Listed 18% below 2017 assessed value.

1784 E 37th.
Listed 63 days $0.998M . Assessed $1.285M. Listed 23% below 2017 assessed value.

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Bag it and tag it

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Potentially game changing new capital control rules out of China effective immediately. Foreign property purchase is no longer allowed. When you convert funds or transfer, you must declare the purpose. If you get caught purchasing property overseas, you will be fined 30% of purchase price and not allowed the $50K outflow exemption for 3 years.
1st day of year is usually one of biggest for foreign conversions because of the reset, but not this year, very slow…seems to be having an impact.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-03/few-chinese-sell-yuan-first-day-new-year-after-barrage-new-capital-controls

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space889

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So what’s to prevent people from wiring 5M RMB from the branch in HK/China to a branch here, and then do the FX conversion?

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Bag it and tag it

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The fear of getting caught later and having to pay the 30% fine on the purchase of a $5m house?

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Bag it and tag it

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“Those who violate rules will be fined 30 percent of the illegal purchase amount and an additional penalty of less than 50,000 yuan (HK$55,795). Violators will also be deprived of their foreign exchange quota for the year when they break the rule and for the following two years, according to the form. “

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space889

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Uhm..that’s when you do FX transaction in China. I’m talking about doing FX transaction in Canada. I don’t think the banks / FX exchanges here are going to make a client filled out that form and submitted to the Chinese gov’t.

Many of the Chinese banks in Canada have RMB accounts as well as wire services.

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Bear Vancouverite

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This is a pretty valid question, but what % of outflows are in Yuan and then FX’d in a foreign country, vs outflows where Yuan is FX’d in China and then sent overseas? The Chinese government must have some stats that allowed them to craft this policy.

What’s more interesting to me is that you have so little confidence in the Chinese Government’s ability and resolve to stop capital outflows, yet you have such confidence in their abilities elsewhere (such as managing their debt, growth, crime, etc).

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space889

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Well, this FX thing I think is one of those things where govt knows they have a big problem but at the same time, many in govt also don’t want the door closed completely either. So you get this series of half steps as things get worse.

As for other areas like debt mgmt, I don’t have much confidence either. But I have to admit the ability of China to avoid even a soft recession for the last 30 years is amazing. I don’t know how that is possible. It is like Van RE crash, just refuse to happen.

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Newcomer

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I agree. I think the reason for avoiding crashes/recessions is simply credit. It’s like a person who always pays his credit cards on time and, rather than maxing them out, opens new accounts or requests for credit. If you are good at it, you can get five times annual income in unsecured credit (maybe more). A person can cruise along with a bad budget for decades in that way.

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southseacompany

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“Neil Mohindra: No joke — B.C. seriously just decided to actually raise housing prices in Vancouver”, Financial Post

http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/neil-mohindra-no-joke-b-c-seriously-just-decided-to-actually-raise-housing-prices-in-vancouver

“The B.C. government gave Vancouver homeowners a lovely present just before Christmas with the announcement of a new program that will use taxpayer funds to boost demand in the real estate market, raise the value of houses, and make anyone who already has one even richer.”

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space889

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And that’s a bad thing because gov’t are elected to make people poorer??

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Newcomer

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The article left out the part about making anyone who buys one even poorer.

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patriotz

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Government subsidies like this make the recipients (who are actually only the sellers) richer, but since it’s an interference in the market at taxpayer expense on average everyone is poorer.

I thought you were the guy who is always arguing for free markets?

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Just me

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I do agree: these policies are not simply a redistribution of resources towards the already rich (bad in itself, of course) but it is a net loss on balance. The distortion introduced in the market is extremely costly.

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space889

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True, but what alternatives do you see? I don’t see any alternative better democratic voting system, nor do I see realistic chances that the average voter will suddenly decides to vote based on greater society good & long term goals, instead of the what’s in it for me next year mentality.

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space889

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Yes, I argue for free market with only necessary gov’t interference. But I’m also smart enough to realize that in a democracy like Canada’s where politicians are elected by people who are either ideological diehards, or what’s in it for me voters, you don’t get elected by telling people, tough luck, deal with it, it’s your fault and gov’t isn’t going to help policies. Politicians get elected by promising voters they will get something for nothing because rich people and / or economic growth will pay for it.

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Just me

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Mate, you make no sense at all.

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Bear Vancouverite

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He’s saying that he’s all for free markets as long as they make him richer. This is exactly how a majority of other voters think too, including many bears. Any policies that help deflate the real estate bubble can only serve to enrich all who do not hold real estate by reducing how much debt we have to take on to buy real estate.

Let’s not pretend we’re not all driven at least partially by some selfish needs just because we’re bears. I do believe in community and sustainable prices for the greater good, but at the end of the day lower prices are good for me and you and that’s what will drive our votes.

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bullwhip29

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heads the RE developers win, tails the taxpayer loses

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Just me

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-03/new-year-s-money-curbs-may-prompt-more-use-of-china-outflow-pipe “On the day bank branches reopened after China imposed restrictions on citizens trying to spirit money out of the country, Wendy Chen went to her branch in Shanghai and peppered staff with questions about how to get around the new controls.” “As always with China, we will see new leaks appear in the pipe as the money finds new avenues and loopholes in order to escape,” said Keith Pogson, a Hong Kong-based managing partner at Ernst & Young. ” “While China has always maintained a tightly controlled but porous capital border, the aggressive effort to plug leaks is a clear signal that authorities are no longer in the mood to turn a blind eye to outflows, said Liao Qun, Hong Kong-based chief economist at Citic Bank International Ltd. “In the past, they were one eye closed and one eye… Read more »

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Combat roach

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For how long the rest of the world will need to put up with this fucking plague? Are those voracious vermins going to molest the rest of humans forever for the sake of their personal profit? It is mindboggling how corrupted and shortsighted politicians sit idle and watch the softcore genocide unfolding while the insatiable beast destroys lives and societies, one by one wherever they come or think a profit could be made.

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space889

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Talking about yourself again??

And really softcore genocide? Maybe you should go work for a Canadian mining company in one of those 3rd world countries as a local employee and see how you like it. Or maybe as an asbestos installer in India.

Geez…get off your high horse as if you are some kind of saint. You ain’t and frankly you aren’t much better than the vermins you despise so much. Otherwise, CRA wouldn’t be kept so busy and so profitable chasing after local tax cheats.

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Hyper-mega-Bull

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Canadian Couple arrested in China, imprisoned for years, faced daily 6 hour interrogations, threats of execution and harm to their son. All in retaliation to Richmond BC man being extradited to the US for espionage.

Sinophiles want to keep this story out of the spotlight.

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/01/world/canada/canadian-couple-china-detention.html

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Hyper-mega-Bull

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In one exchange, the interrogators described a 2009 meeting in Vancouver between the couple and an agent from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who had wanted to ensure their volunteer work in North Korea was not violating United Nations sanctions. When Ms. Garratt asked how the interrogators had known about the meeting, one of them said, “We have people in the U.S., Canada, everywhere.”

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Abdul Lahazi

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Meanwhile Turdeau, Chrispy and co. continue to cozy up to the Chinese without a care in the world as they sell out our country from under the citizens.

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CanNeverThinkOfAGoodName

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This describes the situation with great accuracy and kind of helps to show how those politicians can be so blind — they are caught up in a historical moment that is now coming to a screeching halt. Right in the middle of it, they can’t see it. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/progressive-neoliberalism-reactionary-populism-nancy-fraser

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BubbleTea

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People in the West forgot China is still an authoritarian government who still builds an army to crush the west, steals our trade secrets, bullies its neighbors, controls its people with an iron fist. And yet our JT, Krusty and Moonbeam calls China our friend and welcomes it’s dirty money. Disgusting!

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space889

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paranoid much…that’s so fing funny….

remind me again which country has invaded like 4 or 5 countries, financed terrorist groups and wars, and still maintain so many bases around the world that they lost count? All while under a living, currently serving Nobel Peace Prize winning president?

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Bear Vancouverite

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Here’s a question about paranoia. Would you dare to live in China while constantly criticizing the Chinese government? Would you dare to support the current regime openly if it is deposed by another regime? Many on this blog do that here in Canada with no fear. It is not paranoia that keeps citizens of China from enjoying those same privileges.

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Bo Xilai

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It’s called the RT syndrome… RT complains about how undemocratic the US and Ukraine are and never ever offer a peep of criticism of Russia based on those same criteria…

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CanNeverThinkOfAGoodName

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Which country do you think you’re in, Space889?

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Abdul Lahazi

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The perfect flip:
4778 Canada Way Burnaby BC
https://evaluebc.bcassessment.ca/Property.aspx?_oa=QTAwMDAzVlpYRA==
Sales history:
July28/14 $681,000 (bought at near the trough)
June28/16 $1,440,935 (sold at the very peak)
$760,000 gross profit in two years.
Good timing. Well done whoever they are…

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Just me

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http://realmoney.thestreet.com/articles/01/03/2017/china-cracks-down-currency-outflows-will-it-work China Cracks Down on Currency Outflows, but Will It Work? “Ask anyone in Hong Kong, Sydney or Vancouver who has been driving prices higher, and you’ll get the same answer — mainland Chinese. Those are, in order, the three least-affordable places in the world to buy a home, according to the statisticians at Demographia, and you have to ask how on earth that real estate is being purchased on down payments of $50K.” “”There have been leaks in China’s system of personal foreign-exchange purposes,” the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, acknowledged in a statement over the weekend. It cited as an example the way that some people and companies have characterized international investments as goods purchases, rather than investments. Some property purchases are made through companies, which can put much greater sums to work, but individual purchases… Read more »

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space889

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What makes you think that the Feds want this flow of $$ stopped? By their actions, I would say they want this flow of $$$ to continue at all costs.

Maybe China should adopt some western freedom instead? Just remove all FX / capital control instead? I bet the West would probably then complain about lack of control by China on FX cuz stupid Chinese citizens would convert everything to USD and drive RMB even lower. Would that have made you guys happy? Free flow of capital in/out of China, and hence no money laundering since there would be no need for human smurfs or other creative methods to get cash out of China.

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patriotz

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Yes I agree. I don’t why understand why people attack China’s authoritarian government but don’t support the free movement of capital out of the country, which is something enjoyed by any free society. We should be encouraging it.

The problem with the RE market here is that government policies encourage and enable buyers – both foreign and domestic – to pay excessive prices. Get rid of these policies. They are the problem.

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Newcomer

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Dude, a report on a website run by Jim Cramer doesn’t count as proof of anything.

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Shut It Down Already

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Even more so when its entire premise is based on “ask anybody on the street”.

Canadians also think real estate is the best investment class FYI.

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Bear Vancouverite

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Does anyone else find it amusing that the UK has to import more bricks from China so that buyers from China can buy more homes in the UK?

I think both UK buyers and the Chinese government would be much happier if those Chinese buyers kept their buying in China, while the UK builders kept buying bricks from China.

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Newcomer

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Have you seen the stats for the UK? It’s around 1%. We had a piece just yesterday showing that there were as many Swedish buyers as Chinese in central London. Don’t let yourself get carried away by the hype.

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paulb

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New
182
Price Change
30
Sold
60

TI:6220

New team for the new year!
http://www.clivestevepaul.com

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Newcomer

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Wow, I like the new website! Those guys a Limelight do a good job.

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Oracle

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Yikes! Awefully close to 5K party.

Inventory going to have to rise by 100 a day over next 4 months just to reach above 14,000. Very bullish sign. Especially if Liberals also win.

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look out

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200 a day would decimate the market…100 a day will drop it another 15-20%

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Shut It Down Already

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See above. 100 per day will barely get us back to normal. We’re not going to see price drops from a few days of 18K inventory.

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Shut It Down Already

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100 a day for 4 months would put us at 18,000

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Oracle

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100 a day puts us 8000 up in 4 months.

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Shut It Down Already

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Ok, you meant business day.

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fomostyle

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New website Paul ?

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oh la la

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Wow, 6K came in too quick. Wonder if it will surge during Chinese new year end of Jan. But these inventory numbers sure look the same as early 2016 – where it was followed by 30% hike in prices. With this low inventory I just don’t see prices going down much further. Libs made bears happy for 4 months and gave them 15% discounted price in case they want to get on the train. Sadly even with 15% decrease it is still 15% up from 2015 prices. Now they gotta make bulls happy for the remaining months before the election. Watch for another bullish regulation come out in Feb.

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chilled

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Once again, the ranting Chillmeister will explain why I think this housing fiasco lies squarely on the backs of the idiot Canadian;
‘Kurt LaPunt, former head propagandist with the Vancouver Sun, hater of the the working middle class, anything organized labour and decades long proponent of the housing Ponzi scheme speaks, and guess what? The idiots give him a forum and actually debate his bullshit.’
Pay attention people, pay attention, it’s all related.

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UBC in Crisis Mode

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Time to grab the tax-free capital gain after two years:
Sale Date: November 20, 2014
Sale Price: $9,000,000
Today listed for $12,380,000 (re-listed after failing to sell for $12,880,000)
5516 NW Marine Drive, UBC

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YVR

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Capital gains are only made AFTER you sell. You don’t make a capital gain off an unsold listing.

I notice you post lots of past sales of high end homes pre 15% tax. And lots of active listings of high end homes (unsold). What seems to be missing is the sales of any of these high end places in the past 5 months. Face it this market has gone no bid at the high end. Nothing is selling. Another month or two and some sellers will get desperate which lowers the bar for all future sales. Those 2014 sale prices will be a distant dream.

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Shut It Down Already

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“No bid”. Hah.

Somebody’s been reading too much ZH.

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Oracle

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Had. Conversation that turned into an argument with some multiple homeowners today. They basically said CRA on their side for Not declaring rental income and not reporting capital gains.

Happened after I mentioned that their assessments going up and they replied that they’ll just push up rents.

That folks is the new reality.

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Bear Vancouverite

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Was this posted yet?

http://vancitycondoguide.com/december-condotownhouse-market-report/

Some mixed results there. For instance, MOI and absorption rates look very bullish for condos and also fairly tight for townhouses.

Compared to SFH which has much higher MOI and lower absorption rates

http://vancitycondoguide.com/december-detached-market-report/

It’ll be interesting to see where the balance lies between the teaser loans and the downward pressure from new mortgage rules/15% foreign buyer tax.

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Newcomer

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I have a friend with a TH on the market since August. He’s had open houses every weekend and dropped the price twice (only about 15%) and has yet to get a single offer. It’s a very nice place too (great location) but nobody wants to pay the kind of money that they did last year.

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Bear Vancouverite

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In 2012 I had a friend selling his townhouse. It was listed for over 8 months and 3 price drops before it sold. Since 2012 comparables for that particular townhouse are now up ~50% in value. At the time I remember they were pretty worried it would not sell at all. Many people have posted stories of how long things go unsold but it doesn’t necessarily show the longer term direction of the market. Right now the data in Steve Saretsky’s article shows that townhouses have fairly high absorption rates between 31% to 46%, and MOI from 2.1 to 3.8 and the inventory numbers are just brutal. These are far from “end of the world is nigh” bearish stats for townhomes. I’ve also been keeping tabs of SFH in Vancouver West the past few months via Zolo and although stats… Read more »

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Bear Vancouverite

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bullwhip posted this yesterday:

BIV: Foreign-buyer tax won’t stop Chinese investment in Vancouver
https://www.biv.com/article/2017/1/foreign-buyer-tax-wont-stop-chinese-investment-van/

I think its excellent that someone in the real estate industry appears to be brushing off the foreign buyer tax. I hope this means that this realtor and others like her will support increasing that foreign investor tax to 30% and later 50% or even 100%. If foreign money truly doesn’t care how much tax they will pay then there’s no reason not to reap as much tax off of it as possible.

I might not mind foreign money buying some real estate if the BC Gov keeps increasing the tax on them and then takes the tax to help reduce our personal income taxes, which could level the playing field somewhat (along with other policies to reduce parking of money in real estate).

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space889

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Purchase tax is a one time thing, recurring revenue would be more stable for income tax reduction. But given how much prov debt has increased under BC Libs with their years of balance budget / surplus, I doubt we will have any income tax reduction, outside of re-election ploy.

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Tcg

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He is such a moron. Seriously a 12:1 ratio of lets buy vs no fucking way? No fucking way.

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southseacompany

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“More first-time home buyers used ‘bank of mom and dad,’ B.C. survey says”, 24 Hours

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2017/01/03/more-first-time-home-buyers-used-bank-of-mom-and-dad-bc-survey-says

“More first-time home buyers in B.C. received financial assistance from their parents in 2016 than in previous years, according to an informal poll of the province’s notaries public.”

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Oracle

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LS in Arbutus

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Yatter posted his update for December.

Dec 16 vs Dec 15 detached,
price +2%,
active listings + 48%
sales – 52%

Don’t read his commentary, it’s the usual realtorbabble.

http://www.yattermatters.com/2017/01/vancouver-average-price/

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bullwhip29

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B.C. government reviews homeowner grants amid rising property assessments
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/government+reviews+homeowner+grants+amid+rising+property+assessments/12638694/story.html

>>> well, that didn’t take long…

>>> float trial balloon, gauge public sentiment, make timely announcement, end panic and suffering, enable public to gorge on all of the new and improved Krusty sized pound cake (with 50% more fruit filling)

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bullwhip29

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feather ruffling time…

anyone care to speculate why sidewalks are not being shovelled?
– owners not aware of bylaw
– owners dont care about bylaw and/or their neighbor’s safety
– owners not willing to do manual labor
– owners unaware they even have sidewalks in the first place as they are chauffered door to door 24/7
– owners not living in home

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bullwhip29

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ok, so maybe THIS is a clever idea…cue the lineups, pushing and shoving, hoarding and other behavior we have become so accustomed to these days… NOTE: limit of two buckets per person

Vancouver fire halls offering residents free salt
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-fire-halls-offering-residents-free-salt-1.3920158

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bullwhip29

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i hear people from all over are hitting these locations hard (now that it is free) and that one or more locations are out of salt already. no need to shovel now, just dump buckets of salt everywhere.

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bullwhip29

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http://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-fire-halls-run-out-of-free-salt-before-start-of-promotion-1.3227108

>>> a truly sad state of affairs

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Abdul Lahazi

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I heard there are Chinese running from one fire hall to the next to load up on the free salt. And carrying away in huge buckets.

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squeak

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There seems to be no concern or thought over the environmental impact of salting. Think accumulative effect.

Perhaps a lesson can be learned regarding anything “free”. There will be certain individuals or small businesses that will abuse anything that is “free”. With the aid of IT, I think this kind of behavior can be curbed. I guess the good old times of just simply being kind to help out is gone when people used discretion and mindfulness before taking (think food banks) , an old Canadian value that made Canada a good place at one time.

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bullwhip29

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just ask any of the former patrons of Griffins seafood buffet at the Hotel Vanc why it closed down a few yrs ago. i can come with countless other examples of things that got ruined forever…

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tedo

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what happened to griffins

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space889

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Doesn’t most of the salt supposedly wash away into the sea? Is there a better way? Sand has its own issues. Not salting / sand means easier ice accumulation.

Toronto and other parts of Canada would have much worse problems with sand / salt? No?

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Newcomer

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Owners don’t own snow shovel
Owners figure it would be washed away by the rain soon
Owners old and frail
Amateur landlords didn’t know they were responsible

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fomostyle

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I’m going with either owners too old or house is empty.

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bullwhip29

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i’d also like to add that it is pretty sad how the ones that do actually comply with the bylaws and shovel do so after they have gotten the laser measuring tools out and drawn a precise line in the snow, so to speak.

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space889

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How about they just can’t get up at 6AM to do the shoveling before heading to work at 8AM?

Though I’m curious, if you shovelled at 7AM, and then 10cm more fell before 10AM, are you still liable for injury / damages cuz you didn’t shovel the snow between 7AM and 10AM?

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Newcomer

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China junkies should enjoy this measured piece.
—————–
Cities offer a glimpse of China’s economic future
Beijing’s options are narrowing and it faces stagnation or crisis unless it reforms
https://www.ft.com/content/fa16d590-d11f-11e6-b06b-680c49b4b4c0

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Hyper-mega-Bull

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Sinofication continues.

What do you do when your entire city is full of cheaters? Simply get rid of the law and making cheating legal.

City of Richmond staff urge legalizing illegal hotels

The City of Richmond wants to move ahead with new regulations that will allow for the conversion of single-family homes into legal hotels. …staff claim is a growing number of illegal house-hotels and short-term rental suites sprouting up in the city.

http://www.richmond-news.com/news/city-of-richmond-staff-urge-legalizing-illegal-hotels-1.6154283

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bullwhip29

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incredible, huh?

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Combat roach

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Must be the cultural changes being in line with traditional values of the majority?

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space889

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Let’s see how effective Van’s measure against AirBnB works first…

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Oracle

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Would the kid who votes multiple times here stop it. It’s getting kind of obvious. There are at most 15 people who vaisit this site on a daily basis and most of them don’t vote.

So kid, just stop.

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Funkeymonkey

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Time to buy according to you! Let the mass buying start.
You can start your next post with the property you recently bought.
The composite benchmark price for all home types in Metro Vancouver was $908,300 in November, down 1.2 per cent from the previous month and a drop of 20.5 per cent compared to the same month the year before.

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Oracle

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I’m sorry but prices in Surrey are not down 20%. Maybe 5% tops. Show me a same sale property down 20%.

Find just one. And that’s a average you quote so some should be down more than 20%.

This blogs getting ridiculous.

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Funkeymonkey

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I got that from the MSM.

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oncebittwiceshy

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Hey Funky monkey, here’s another site that actually helps to watch the trends in price depreciation/appreciation. They show price drops/increases via a map. Red signifies a price drop and blue an increase in price.

http://www.myrealtycheck.ca/

Oracle, I don’t believe that you’re as much as a bull as you portray. Follow the trend to make smart financial decisions. If you are in a precarious financial position with your home then you better consider getting ahead of the trend as opposed to following it down.

Good luck and Happy New Year to all.

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Oracle

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Trying to balance erroneous views purposely presented here by likes of Patriotz and Newcomer.

All this market crashing talk (when it’s not price wise) is to get Christy elected.

It’s not.

Having said that, we need to enact policies that address the root causes of high prices. Then we could have prices cut by 40-50%.

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Oracle

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And no, I’m not a homeowner. Ran with that since it was amazing the animosity shown towards me as a ‘homeowner’.

Still amazed some here still confuse most with the root causes.

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Newcomer

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Here is the problem with lying. Once you say, I was lying before, people have no way of knowing if you are lying now. All that can be know with confidence is that what you say is not trustworthy. Next time you join a social group, shy away from lying at the outset.

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Oracle

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Only applies to sheeple who believe everything they read.

Develop some critical thinking skills. That applies to you too. Too much importance given to sentence structure and grammar.

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LS in Arbutus

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/chinese-scrutiny-of-money-movers-could-slow-canadian-property-sales/article33485996/ A few things come to mind. 1) As Mark Cohodes said, the Chinese government does NOT want cash exiting China, and this policy clearly supports that statement. Borrowing money in China and shipping it directly out of the country has to be bad for their economy (and their banks.) Think of the exposure to their banks with NO local benefit. 2) Cdn banks can’t simply turn a blind eye to this. Are you going to underwrite a mortgage to a Chinese national who is not allowed to buy property with their money? Explicitly stated. And who faces a huge penalty in doing so? How do you get around this with the banks if you manage to get the cash out? I don’t think you do. 3) What about pre-sales? How will these be closed now? It’s like in Oz… Read more »

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Just me

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Canadian banks will find a way to extend credit to Chinese investors.
If you remember, a few months ago there was a scandal about ICBC and other banks extending millon dollar loans to chinese housewives and students buying on the westside of Vancouver.
Back then, banks said they would revise criteris, but everything went quiet and no more news. Even Eby stopped mentioning this in public. There must be a lot of easy money going, nobody wants to kill tge goose with the golden eggs.
Business as usual, until we force politicians to stop it for real. Vote the BC Liberals out.

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bullwhip29

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if not at the big 5, then at one of the newly formed banks that seem to sprout up by the day near No3/Westminster in Rmd and only a short walk to Intl private Vaults where you can stash your ill gotten gains anonymously

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space889

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BC Libs have no control over Fed regulated banks, only local credit unions.

Actually, you need to check if HSBC is still offering its World Premier account (or whatever it is called) and if that still allows 30K CAD daily transfer between your mainland Chinese RMB account and local CAD account.

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Mortgageslave

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You make this shit up like most of your posts. They allow money transfers but you have to prove 100% where it was made. No proof no $. Go away fear monger. BTW, HSBC now has the most strict anti money laundering due diligence of any bank, period. They are still under differed prosecution. They won’t risk any petty money transfers to lose their ability to trade is USD. That would be the result. You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about…..but that’s nothing new.