BC, data, economy, equity, opinion, politics, prices, supply

Eliminate character to avoid affordability 

309
309 Comments

There are some old homes on Vancouver and some people think we shouldn’t be tearing down 1000 of them each year.  The city has some heritage and ‘character’ protections in place, but these have the unfortunate side effects of slowing the relentless rising of house prices:

“The real data on the house next door is that it reduced the value by 15 per cent,” said Jackson, whose neighbour’s house was re-listed and sold for less money after the city determined it has “character features” on the exterior. 

Read the full article here. 

309 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Sebastien

4519 Culloden Street, Vancouver
Dec 16:$1,399,000
Feb 21: $999,000
Change: – 400000.00 -29%

Anybody found worst?

0
0
Just me

All it takes is a serious government willing to do the right thing.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-23/worst-not-over-for-singapore-developers-billionaire-kwek-says

0
0
southseacompany

“The Federal Reserve Could Raise Interest Rates ‘Fairly Soon”, Fortune

http://fortune.com/2017/02/22/federal-reserve-interest-rate-increase-fairly-soon/

“Many Federal Reserve policymakers said it may be appropriate to raise interest rates again “fairly soon” should jobs and inflation data come in line with expectations, according to the minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting released on Wednesday.”

0
0
southseacompany

“Doctors, lawyers, computer programmers and accountants can’t afford to buy a home in Vancouver”, Metro News

http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/02/22/professionals-cant-afford-to-buy-a-home-in-vancouver.html

“If you’re a doctor or a lawyer who wants to own a home in Vancouver, your salary won’t be quite enough to buy a house and live comfortably, according to an analysis done by real estate website Point2Homes.com.”

0
0
Shut It Down Already

Assumes that your first home should be a house. Pretty poor “analysis”.

0
0
bullwhip29

Food bank items being sold on the street: hidden camera probe
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/food-bank-items-being-sold-on-the-street-hidden-camera-probe-1.3297429

>>> only in Vancouver…

0
0
YVR

Another only in Vancouver.

Vancouver city councillors approved about $450,000 in mental health and addictions supports, including cash for a Drinker’s Lounge in the Downtown Eastside.

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/city-cash-will-help-fund-downtown-eastside-drinkers-lounge

0
0
YVR

Where do these ‘progressive’ political philosophies come from?

Gregor Angus Bethune Robertson (born September 18, 1964) is a Canadian politician who has been the 39th Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, since 2008. He was elected as part of the Vision Vancouver party slate. He served as an MLA for Vancouver-Fairview, as a member of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia, from 2005 until his resignation in 2008 to run for the mayoral position

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Robertson_(politician)

0
0
BubbleTea

Christy Clark under heavy fire for approving KinderMorgan pipeline after $770K in “donations”
https://blog.forthecoast.ca/https-medium-com-christy-clark-kinder-morgan-donation-scandal-2e8704a2dd2e#.wsu9382jd
She is also was also getting pay by the Real Estate industry while she is the Premier of BC. Christy is corrupt and has be locked up!

0
0
Best place on meth

Lock her up! Lock her up!

0
0
Just me

She is a shameless, deeply corrupt individual. Yet people seem to be voting her in.
I will not.
At least, if she wins and screws us all, I will not have given my consent to be screwed.

If you vote for her, you have no right to complain over the next four years.

0
0
Just me

Does anyone has fresh reliable stories from the trenches? How us the market and what is selling? Have the SUV-driving Chinese buyers resurfaced?

I reluctantly have to note that there seems to be a new vitality. Listings are selling fast again on the Westside.

0
0
Best place on meth

West side is still pretty quiet.

I think the sales are mostly Krusty’s 0% down condos.

0
0
fomostyle

San Fran up to our prices now. Same. Except for all those high paying tech jobs …

http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/san-francisco-tech-driven-real-estate-insanity-new-peak-house-prices/#more-8955

0
0
patriotz

Also except for much higher rents.

0
0
Just me

Rents are much higher than when you lived in Vancouver. Catching up fast to SF.

0
0
patriotz

I don’t think you’d get a place like this in Vancouver West Side in terms of price or price/rent:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/351-Lakeshore-Dr-San-Francisco-CA-94132/15198129_zpid/

0
0
Bear Vancouverite

SFH that are now listed at prices within a few % of their 2015 assessment:

4519 Culloden Street: recently dropped to $999k. 2015 assessment: $992k

2843 Alma Street: recently dropped to $1.668M. 2015 assessment: $1.63M

Both homes are listed 25% or more below their current assessed value.

If you see any others like this please post it and I will keep a list of them handy.

0
0
Banned Oracle

You found 3 out of a total inventory of 8000?

0
0
YVR

You only need 1 sale to set the price for the rest.

0
0
Just me

Same principle works on the way up too.

0
0
fomostyle

Critic wins case against Chinese home owner (with big love and in China)

http://app.scmp.com/scmp/mobile/index.html#/article/2073272/desktop

0
0
fomostyle

* sorry with big loans in China.

0
0
BubbleTea

“Vancouver has long been the most popular destination city in the world for Chinese millionaire migrants. Many have questioned the legitimacy of Chinese cash flowing into the city, which has helped make the city one of the most unaffordable in the world.”
Justin. Krusty. Moonbean, are you listening!

0
0
paulb

New
186
Price Change
43
Sold
165

TI:8002

http://www.clivestevepaul.com

0
0
Just me

Inventory is going the wrong way. Shrinking big time.

0
0
Banned Oracle

HAM is back in anticipation. They will buy all at once…pent up demand of illegal feds sitting on sidelines.

This will be the first year inventory goes down.

Buy anything you can right now, even a condo in chilliwack. With the refugee flood and HAM being the perfect storm.

0
0
Best place on meth

Have you bought anything lately, other than socks?

0
0
Banned Oracle

We may have a 7K party in March! No backlash from polite Canadians yet. Yet they go protest in front of Trump tower.

Brainwashed sheep. Deserve whats coming to them i guess. I’m mobile but want to stay here.

0
0
bullwhip29

the sheeple out there have no clue krusty effectively killed the FBT on chinese new years and that 100s (maybe 1000s) of recent dip buyers (retroactive to aug 2) will also be getting the 15% back

0
0
Shut It Down Already

Where were you at the Robson Sq rallies then?

0
0
Abdul Lahazi

Wanting Qu’s mother may get the death penalty:
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/1995249/chinese-corruption-prosecutors-seek-death-penalty
Scum Gregor dates scum Qu who’s scum mother ran a real estate scam that reportedly left hundreds of impoverished farm workers in appalling conditions. How did BC politicians get so dirty?

0
0
Just me

We voted for them. And some people will vote for them again. Many local voters made money from having the Chinese money-launderers buy the city.

0
0
Best place on meth

All this filthiness may be the reason for Mayor Qu suddenly rebranding the city logo.

Gotham font, FTW!

0
0
bullwhip29

no, he is just gifting maybe millions $ to some friend or associate to replace anything and everything displaying the old logo. nice work if you can get it…

0
0
realist

Dirty BC politicians? Nothing new: Robert Sommers was the Socred Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines in the 1950’s under WAC Bennett. Sommers was the first cabinet minister in the British Commonwealth to serve a term of imprisonment for accepting bribes in connection with his office. And their are many more stinkers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_scandals_in_Canada#British_Columbia

0
0
patriotz

Let us not forget the BC Rail scandal, where two political appointees copped a sweetheart plea deal without jail time so the politicians wouldn’t have to testify. That’s the difference between WAC, who was wiling to let the chips fall, and Gordo and Christy.

https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/12/27/BCRail/

0
0
Just me

Agree. Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark have been a clear step down in terms of moral compass.

It all happened when big money from China started to flow into BC.

0
0
Abdul Lahazi

From a link in the Amicus International Consulting article:
The case also illustrated how “red packets” which can often be seen being distributed by BC politicians at festivals, are used and understood in Chinese culture. Read as: bribes and kickbacks.

0
0
Just me

Wasn’t Christy Clark proudly sporting a few such red envelopes at Chinese new year’s?
She is very culturally sensitive and certainly would partake in the customs of other nationalities.

0
0
Just me

We need to put in place laws that deter investment by mainlanders in the future. Absent that, we might as well sell off the city and move the long-term residents elsewhere.

“Chinese investors’ offshore appetite still ‘huge’ despite curbs on outflows, says Guotai chairman”

http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2073084/chinese-investors-offshore-appetite-still-huge-despite-curbs

0
0
Van real estate buff

Daily review video of Vancouver Housing bubble news for Feb 22, 2017: https://youtu.be/mK-0Vq4yyfs

0
0
bullwhip29

SCMP: A Vancouver firm offers clients ‘new identities’. Its customers have included Chinese criminals
By Ian Young
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 23 February, 2017, 3:39am
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2073180/vancouver-firm-offers-clients-new-identities-its

0
0
Just me

Wow. Just wow. Vancouver has become the world capital of identity and money laundering. All aptly disguised under an appearance of legality. When will we decide to end this shameful and disturbing state of affairs by booting out the politicians who brought us to this point? When will we tell corrupt Chinese millionaire migrants that they are not welcome here any more? “The firm promises “extreme confidentiality”. But in case studies listed on its website, Amicus says its clients have included two Chinese fraudsters involved in the theft of more than US$485 million from the Bank of China, which was laundered through the Vancouver real estate markets and Las Vegas casinos between 1991 and 2004.” “Kuang Wan Fang and Yu Ying Yi, the wives of two BOC managers who were the primary participants in the fraud, were each sentenced to… Read more »

0
0
Combat roach

“Vancouver has become the world capital of identity and money laundering. All aptly disguised under an appearance of legality.”

This is the part of the cultural and social transitions in an adoption of traditional values and ancient pearls of wisdom.

0
0
Banned Oracle

Most well heeled from China have 2 passports/names. That’s why Canada in no rush to share fingerprints between Canada and China for travellers that mostly reside in those 2 countries.

0
0
Just me

“Kuang’s movements between 2011 and 2015 are unclear. In the meantime, the BC Supreme Court ruled on April 16, 2015, that Kuang should repay BOC the entire stolen sum, now valued at C$670 million, which the RCMP said had been hidden and dispersed among 14 relatives, many living in the Vancouver area, according to The Province newspaper’s account of the case.”

This is just one case, one family. Half a billion dollars! I repeat: half a billion dollars!
And some people keep banging on about locals on credit driving up Vancouver house prices.

Question: how many of these cases do not make it to the fore? How much of these money transfers are never discovered?

is this the economy that Christy Clark wants for all of us going forward?

0
0
Abdul Lahazi

When will this circus end?

0
0
Just me

It is up to us to end it. In the elections.

0
0
Banned Oracle

As soon as we have more people with balls to shut down Vancouver. Others will join.

0
0
Best place on meth

All the “available” data shows that it’s locals who blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…..

0
0
Donald T

A Bentley and 2 houses on sale, 1 Permanent Resident dead, dead man’s wife went back to china, 1 in killer jail and will send back to China after doing time.

http://www.nsnews.com/news/west-vancouver-man-gets-14-years-for-role-in-north-vancouver-extortion-killing-1.10197420

0
0
Donald T

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hL-fpCsGR8

0
0
bullwhip29

just another day in locustland…

0
0
Best place on meth

Wow, disposing of a murder victim in a white Bentley.

Locusts are total class all the way.

0
0
Just me

“Gordon Chang: “China Is Going to Go Into Free Fall” http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2225666-gordon-chang-china-is-going-to-go-into-free-fall/ Epoch Times: China managed to stabilize its economy in 2016, will the regime be able to continue in 2017? Gordon Chang: China looks strong but it’s actually weak. It has passed the point of no return…This year we have a half a decade event, the party congress in the fall of this year, where they will either announce a new leader or Xi Jinping remains in control. That is a critical one….I think they will be successful holding the line through the party congress. After that, they are going to fail. Epoch Times: What is happening beneath the superficial stability? Mr. Chang: Look at what happened last year, capital outflows were probably higher than 2015. And 2015 was unprecedented, somewhere between $900 billion and a $1 trillion dollars. The… Read more »

0
0
Bear Vancouverite

You do realize this is bad news for anyone who believes foreign investment is a problem in VanRE? The implication is that capital controls don’t work, and the more they try to make it work the more Chinese who will get their money out of China.

0
0
Just me

If things unravel in China, all bets are off. My money is on the fact that the dictatorship will enforce crazy capital controls.

Moreover, the banking sectir would collapse, money would become scarce and people could not withdraw their savings.

Sometimes you need extreme events to cleanse the system. Of course we would suffer as well. But it might be for the best. We are not doing great here lately ( correction: some people are doing great selling to the chinese, the rest are screwed).

0
0
Best place on meth

I’m still crossing my fingers for widespread passport seizures. 🙂

0
0
Just me

One can only dream!
I would treat myself to a nice bottle if that happened.

0
0
Banned Oracle

December retails sales fall for 5th consecutive year.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-22/december-has-been-the-cruelest-month-for-canadian-retail-sales

Easily explainable; HAM and the new moneyed class outside Canada during this month. The people left are drowning in debt and rent and have less and less money to spend each December.

0
0
Funkey Monkey

You should replace rent with mortgage debt.

0
0
Just me

Of course. For many households disposable income goes down as house prices go up.
Data are just starting to show up that higher house prices are becoming a net negative for the economy. Might get worse in the future.

0
0
KickThemOut

Except most stats show that monthly housing costs hasn’t gone up much since 1980s. Personal taxes / fees / fines / levy / etc meanwhile has tripled since 1980.

0
0
Just me

real mortgage costs in Vancouver have not gone up much? I would be curious to look at those data. Especially for first time buyers.
I understand interest rates have been going down. But prices should make sure the real cost of owning in the city proper a unit of constant quality over time has gone up.

0
0
Shut It Down Already

People buy what they can “afford”, by definition. This is why prices and interest rates are negatively correlated, of course.

0
0
Just me

Which people are you talking about? Julia Lau’s customers or law abiding citizens?

0
0
Shut It Down Already

All people. Including racists.

0
0
patriotz

“real mortgage costs in Vancouver have not gone up much?”

Average mortgage cost has not gone up, since most owners bought before 2008 and their payments have gone down due to much lower interest rates.

0
0
Shut It Down Already

There’s a limit to how much people can spend expressed as a percentage of their income. Nobody can physically spend 90% of their salary on housing no matter what some cute metrics might suggest.

0
0
Just me

Hence, it must be the case that we are not observing/taxing the income that pays for those hefty houses.

0
0
Shut It Down Already

Er, no, it means they have higher incomes than the average. Taxation has nothing to do with it.

0
0
Just me

Who does? Every single SFH buyer in the past 2 years must be a one-percenter. Heck, we must have 25%!of,our population that are 1-percenters…..uh, wait a minute….

0
0
Shut It Down Already

Why must they be a 1%er? Because you’re assuming that people who buy $3m houses put 5% down and that $3m houses make up the bulk of the market?

0
0
Shut It Down Already

So you’re now claiming that all the rich people leave for December? Yu-huh.

Maybe a simpler explanation is that even the current influx of rich foreign money is a drop in the ocean compared to what “locals” spend, and foreigners alone cannot support the market as a whole? Now where have we heard that before?

0
0
Just me

We have heard that before from you. And, as before, you are wrong.

0
0
Combat roach

Don’t bother, that clown is always wrong but from whatever reason keeps crapping around frequently. Guess nothing else to do while living productive and exciting life?

0
0
Shut It Down Already

Where’s the “rate this translation” button when you need it?

0
0
Shut It Down Already

That’s a strong counter argument. Well done. When are you going to acknowledge the fact that whenever new data appears it contradicts some facet of your opinion and, therefore, the probability that you’re wrong is increasing all the time?

0
0
Just me

Wrong? Every day that passes the evidence builds up about the Chinese influence on our city, our RE market and our lives.

Are you on drugs?

0
0
Best place on meth

All “available” data suggests that it’s locals who blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…..

0
0
Shut It Down Already

What evidence are you citing? The fact that you once spoke to somehow who once saw a Chinese-looking person coming out of what might have been an open house? That sort of thing?

0
0
Banned Oracle

A little defensive are we!? Why don’t you emigrate to china and make that place better so they don’t have to come here.

0
0
Shut It Down Already

I’m allergic to bullshit.

0
0
Just me

I see. So you must practice silence.

0
0
Shut It Down Already

Yet you can never refute, with evidence, a single word that I say. Funny.

0
0
Hyper-mega-Bull

Doctors, lawyers, computer programmers and accountants can’t afford to buy a home in Vancouver

http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/02/22/professionals-cant-afford-to-buy-a-home-in-vancouver.html

priced out. i seem to remember some people warning this would happen.

0
0
Banned Oracle

Doctors can. 700 K/yr not uncommon per year for specialists.

Thats why they building a new super-hospital at Main street.

0
0
Combat roach

Well… they all chose to pursue the wrong education, wrong career paths and ended up in the wrong lines of businesses. If they were students, housewives, homemakers and realtors they would be very well-off and not only be able to afford one home but few of them in Vancouver.

0
0
KickThemOut

So true, so remind me again why you aren’t switching profession?

0
0
Just me

Who is going to provide essential services to the millionaire migrants’ wives and children?

0
0
squeak

Why become a Dr or Nurse when you can earn more being a home maker or a realtor? We don’t need essential services, we need unaffordable housing, as stated by the actions of the voted in government and those that vote for them.
Oh no… your cancer pain is unbearable? Shall we give the street fentanyl a try? cheap quick easy , 🙂 Win win

0
0
Abdul Lahazi

It’s called “malinvestment” .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinvestment
In Austrian business cycle theory, malinvestments are badly allocated business investments, due to artificially low cost of credit and an unsustainable increase in money supply. Central banks are often blamed for causing malinvestments, such as the dot-com bubble, and the United States housing bubble.

0
0
KickThemOut

Why stay here when you can get a 50% to 200% salary increase going to States as a doctor, nurse, IT, accountants? Seattle is just 2 hours away, and CA is just 3hr flight away.

0
0
squeak

Bingo

0
0
Shut It Down Already

Just a 3 hour flight from your kids school? That’s convenient.

0
0
KickThemOut

The ones who are here and need to pay their mortgages or rent? Like you?

0
0
Just me

Until those very people decide to leave. Skill scarcity is very real in expensive places.

0
0
bullwhip29

Why Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Could Sink U.S. Home Prices
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-22/why-trump-s-immigration-crackdown-could-sink-u-s-home-prices

>>> perfect storm brewing for the most bubblicious of all housing markets in the world

0
0
Hyper-mega-Bull

all housing markets?

JustinTrudeau

To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada
12:20 PM – 28 Jan 2017

0
0
Banned Oracle

Cant wait until the gangs roam the street of Vancouver. HAM won’t be able to go for walks in the evening. Hahaha. An keep your women inside to protect from harassment.. middle eastern refugees keep their women inside i kid you not. Come to north surrey and all you see are groups of guys. Women locked away in apartments. Crazy.

0
0
Just me

You are confused about Canada. Any squeezing of immigrants out of the US is a net positive inflow to Canada.
However, in Vancouver the issue is not about a few thousand destitute refugees. I am all for taking them in. We should, instead, stop the flow of millionaire migrants who contribute little or nothing to our society and only spend money on RE (and perhaps a few gigantic SUVs).

Of course, limiting the inflow of millionaires is a lot tougher politically: there is a large subset of the population that benefits from having these millionaires continually buying real estate and other expensive items. There are many people in Vancouver who made megabucks servicing the money launderers from China.

0
0
Abdul Lahazi

These are just the illegal immigrants that are affected and they generally do not (cannot) buy houses if they are in the country illegally. So a non-issue.

0
0
Hyper-mega-Bull

Vancouver’s Chinese community wooed by French government

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2017/02/19/vancouvers-chinese-community-wooed-by-french-government

vancouver is part of the sino-sphere.

0
0
bullwhip29

SCMP: ‘Virtual realty’ delivers Vancouver’s property to foreign buyers
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2072956/virtual-realty-delivers-vancouvers-property-foreign

“We have so many buyers now coming from China and different places [and] they don’t even need to come here.”

0
0
Abdul Lahazi

Just more whores and traitors selling out their own countrymen for a few dollars.

0
0
bullwhip29

Canadian retail sales declined by 0.5% in December
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/retail-sales-december-1.3993794

0
0
southseacompany

“Vancouver’s Condo Market Sees A Price Increase In January”, Better Dwelling

https://betterdwelling.com/city/vancouver/vancouvers-condo-market-sees-a-price-increase-in-january/

“Despite the doom and gloom talk, the price of condos in the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) actually increased. The benchmark rose 0.4% from the month before to $512,300, which represents a year over year (YOY) increase of 15.6%. To put in perspective, it’s still higher than Toronto’s “scorching hot” 14.5% during the same period.”

0
0
Just me

January saw many condo buyers using the Christy Clark free money policy. Net result: they are no better off, same comdo, more debt.

0
0
RE Industry

Thanks Christy. We always knew who was driving our market. Greater fools.

0
0