Hey why not? It’s Saturday so let’s kick off our weekend open topic discussion thread!
Here are a few recent links to kick off the chat:
–Fraser Valley sales drop 50%
–Public input on Real Estate dirty money
–CMHC forecasts 11% drop in buying power
–Free mortgage deal in Langley
–Regulators take aim at HELOC growth
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes in the comments below and have an excellent weekend!
[…] bank that cried wolf: Housing market vulnerabilities are still […]
NY Times: China’s Tactic to Catch a Fugitive Official: Hold His Two American Children
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/25/us/politics/china-exit-ban.html
New
172
Price Change
87
Sold
70
TI:13087
ICBC woes could unravel B.C.’s financial security: finance minister
https://www.citynews1130.com/2018/11/26/icbc-financial-security-minister/
I don’t understand why the gov’t doesn’t just privatize ICBC and be done with it.
what do you imagine the sales price of a company that’s loosing a billion dollars a year is?
and would the newly private ICBC continue to have a monopoly on auto insurance? can you imagine a scenario where selling monopoly powers like that to people who’s duty is maximizing profits is a bad idea?
A good first step might be allowing online renewal. Why should I have to visit a broker in a physical office to ask for the same coverage I had last year? After that, make the whole system online. These jobs shouldn’t exist in 2018, and you could even say they should thank their lucky stars for the last decade+ of employment, too.
as much as i hate having to pay a broker a commission to essentially print out some forms, changing the system to online would be complicated in so many ways. first, it would cost the govt 100s of millions (or whatever bloated amount) to build the site and work out the kinks. so, a 2nd dumpster fire is created as a result. second, insurance products are complex and deceptive at the best of times. i can guarantee you that many policyholders don’t understand what coverage they are supposed to get (and may not be properly covered as we speak) and would cry foul should ICBC come back to bite them in the a$$ when a claim is made. terms and conditions can change on the fly and it would be up to individual policyholders to keep on top of this… Read more »
Every other insurance company can do online renewals. This includes ICBC competition for coverage over basic insurance. This is a no brainier.
Autoplan owners would want a bailout like taxi medallion owners.
yes, but my point is that ICBC and the govt would eff it up accidentally on purpose and only make the situation worse. the end result would be individual policyholders trying to operate a defective piece of machinery themselves and being blamed for the clusterf*&k that would surely ensue
You’ve never lived anywhere else, I can tell.
so says the troll that still lives in mommy’s basement rent free
An Autoplan licence is worth $1.3 million. Broker owners get $300 per renewal. Icbc refuses to release this info.
They will fight to keep icbc at all cost.
Money losing companies get sold for massive amounts all the time. All that is required is potential to make money which no other insurance company seems to have a problem doing. Of course if it was privatized you would need competition to come in at some point. There is also billions of ICBC land that could be sold off. What other insurance company has drive in claim centers? Canadian Direct does not need them and they also renew online. Is Canadian Direct losing money? Nope. The problem is NDP ideology want government to own and run everything. That is why we have ICBC.
An Autoplan licences exchanges hands on the black market for $1.3 million and no new ones have been handed out in decades.
Autobody shops make a killing with icbc.
And some of that money finds it was back to….
stop making shit up ….
they could start by charging a shit ton for insurance on vehicle over worth over $100K. Also, they should set up perpetual insurance with monthly payments where the policy never expires…and the broker only gets paid for the original sign up and for changes.
or they can just get out of the insurance business…
Buses can’t pass each other on Burnaby street choked with construction workers’ parked vehicles
“Major construction at Brentwood Town Centre draws about 700 workers from across the Lower Mainland to the Brentwood area every weekday”
>>> 700 workers just for this one area’s construction projects. So imagine how many workers are employed all over the lower mainland in construction projects and we get a sense of how important real estate construction is in metro Vancouver.
We have real data on construction employment. No need to concoct nonsense estimates.
There’s no need to be nasty.
if you don’t believe the 700 then come up with your own numbers ….
I’m not disputing the 700, I’m saying it’s pointless to extrapolate when we have actual numbers.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410009701&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.34
You’re welcome.
Realtor played ‘shell game’ in hopes of $1.8M commission on Burnaby lowrise sale: judge
there’s all kinds of shenanigans by greedy “investors” in this story…
World’s first gene-edited babies created in China, scientist claims
https://globalnews.ca/news/4698104/first-gene-edited-babies-claimed-china/
“this kind of gene editing is banned in the United States because the DNA changes can pass to future generations and it risks harming other genes. Many mainstream scientists think it’s too unsafe to try, and some denounced the Chinese report as human experimentation.”
Not sure if this sort of “editing” is new. Quite noticeable that there are many of those that appear to be altered or edited and mainly acting as such across the city. Some sort of humanoids with limitations, dull look and absent sense of space and time.
it’s bad but can you blame them for wanting to change their genes?
“It’s “unconscionable … an experiment on human beings that is not morally or ethically defensible,” said Dr. Kiran Musunuru, a University of Pennsylvania gene editing expert and editor of a genetics journal.”
Save your breath, man. The chinese have never given a fuck about morals or ethics.
Maybe some good will come of this and they’ll be able to genetically modify them to be kind, decent and respectful people.
Secret police study finds crime networks could have laundered over $1B through Vancouver homes in 2016 https://globalnews.ca/news/4658157/fentanyl-vancouver-real-estate-billion-money-laundering-police-study/ Both mansions appear on a list of more than $1-billion worth of Vancouver-area property transactions in 2016 that a confidential police intelligence study has linked to Chinese organized crime. The study of more than 1,200 luxury real estate purchases in B.C.’s Lower Mainland in 2016 found that more than 10 per cent were tied to buyers with criminal records. And 95 per cent of those transactions were believed by police intelligence to be linked to Chinese crime networks. The study findings, obtained by Global News, are a startling look at what police believe to be the massive money laundering occurring in the Vancouver-area real estate market. >>> This was in 2016 ONLY not any other years. Add into this all the BILLIONS of… Read more »
While the study only looked at property purchases in 2016, an analysis by Global News suggests the same extended crime network may have laundered about $5-billion in Vancouver-area homes since 2012.
It will be interesting to see how much Peter German’s put on the coming report on money laundering in the RE. Surely he can not say 100 millions again.
“Surely he can not say 100 millions again.”
The first report was designed to clear the casinos of wrong doing so they could renew their licence for another 20 years. It was not about stopping money laundering in casinos. That goes unabated without a charge being laid. The second RE ML report will be designed to clear RE cartel and banks. It too will minimize it with no action just like the first one.
“One expert said Canadians would be stunned to learn how many of Vancouver’s homes have been built on drug money since the 1990s, when heroin from Hong Kong and China started flooding into Vancouver and Toronto.
Across the Lower Mainland, prices began to skyrocket in late 2012. Some analysts believe a flood of money from China in recent years forced Metro Vancouver home prices to disconnect from the region’s median household wage of $72,000, which ranks among the lowest for Canadian cities, and 50th in North America.”
How so when DATA shows and experts claim that is all locals drunk on cool-aid, access to money and low interest rates? Nothing to do with Chinese and their businesses including gangsters, industrialists, financial fugitives and corrupt officials from China.
The data is only as good as what the source of said data is. Garbage in garbage out. That’s been the argument for a long time now, where the percentage of foreign owners seems too low based on empirical observation but the pumpers would always say “but just look at the data”. Data can often be wrong.
Data can be wrong but that doesn’t give you the right to replace it with unsubstantiated opinions. Even flawed data is superior to fairytales.
They’re quite welcome to put forward some evidence for their claims.
Note that we’re talking about roughly 100 properties here from a cherry-picked subsection of the market.
For the sake of argument 100 sales is about one day’s worth. It doesn’t matter how many times you capitalize BILLIONS.
A Chinese researcher claims he helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/first-gene-edited-babies-research-china-1.4920434
Chineese frankenbabies ….
An oximoron
Police investigation links dirty cash to luxury real estate in some of Vancouver’s most sought-after neighbourhoods
https://globalnews.ca/video/4696567/police-investigation-links-dirty-cash-to-luxury-real-estate/
NDP flip flopping on ALR mansions.
Hahaha. Jagrup Brar MLA says they will grandfather everyone who put in a simple application. Meaning everyone. Hahaha.
Jump up and down minions. NDP banning mansions. Puke.
Chinatown koi evacuation begins as otter rampage claims 10th fatality
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/chinatown-koi-evacuation-begins-as-otter-rampage-claims-10th-fatality
“claims 10th fatality”
Wow almost as many koi have died in the last week as people in the last 24 hours on fentanyl. Better move more people to tackle this disturbing koi tragedy before it gets out of hand.
An otter ate some fish?
Wow, that’s some serious front page shit right there.
Richmond residents call on city and police to “help” tent dwellers
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/richmond-residents-call-on-city-and-police-to-help-tent-dwellers
Farm owners push back against B.C. plan to curb mansions on ALR land
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/farm-owners-push-back-against-b-c-plan-to-curb-mansions-on-alr-land
The Bank of Canada plans buy for the first time government-backed mortgage bonds in a bid to broaden the range of high-quality assets in its operations to manage its balance sheet
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-23/bank-of-canada-expands-assets-for-balance-sheet-management
so by broaden the range of high quality assets, they want want to mix in some crap high quality assets with actual high quality assets…you know, to diversify.
Free Vacations, $100,000 Discounts: Homebuilders Get Desperate
Ram Konara, a real estate broker in suburban Dallas, is raking in freebies this year: trips to Lake Tahoe and Santa Barbara in California, Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, and a dude ranch in Wyoming. The homebuyers he represents are cashing in, too. They’re winning price cuts of more than $100,000, on top of free upgrades such as media rooms, cabinets, and blinds.
This generosity flows from increasingly desperate homebuilders. Hot markets are cooling fast as interest rates rise. In the great housing slowdown of 2018, shoppers are reclaiming the upper hand, after years of soaring prices that placed most inventory out of reach for many families. “Everybody is hungry for the buyers,” Konara says.
I guess rich Chinese suddenly stopped buying in suburban Dallas?
they all hopped on buses headed to Long Island
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/amazons-move-to-long-island-city-sparks-condo-frenzy/ar-BBPFaDm
But I thought the capital controls were working and bringing down Vancouver’s market?
Is there any consistency in these fairytales? You bozos just make it up as you go.
Will it crash? Here’s what to expect from the Canadian housing market in 2019
https://globalnews.ca/news/4688308/canada-housing-market-outlook-2019/
lots of nuggets in this article ….
The US$144 million in dirty cash that no money launderer in China would touch
Shenzhen official Li Huanan offered up to half of his haul to any underground banker willing to move his illicit fortune abroad – but found no takers.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2174752/us144-million-dirty-cash-no-money-launderer-china-would-touch
“Almost all the loopholes for capital outflows have been plugged since early this year. That’s why no one dared to help Li smuggle his 1 billion yuan abroad, even if he was willing to offer high returns for the risky operation,” the source said.
A typical wealthy Vancouver “neighbor”, with expensive mansion and few German cars. Fucking investor of “unknown background” that we gladly let in elevator first because we are nice people although they destroyed what use to be a healthy community and society.
But it sounds like the looting has stopped or at least really slowed down so maybe we’ve seen the last of them ….
To bad that laundry shit fall apart because we already had a place ready and waiting for him to hide and rest.
New
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Price Change
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TI:13099
Thanks PaulB
In the past I stated numerous times that TI of 13,000 seemed to hold some sort of important benchmark, like an iceberg below the surface….historical marks higher than this were irrelevant.
Now that we have hit 13,000 for past several weeks…seems that any raise in TI say to 14,000 would be a serious bloating that could move from status quo of attempts to stabilize prices to major haircuts.
In other words..we are near the” who blinks first ? ” zone.
With only 5 weeks left it looks like we’re going to start the new year with over 10K inventory, higher than average.
From there it wouldn’t surprise me to see 14K sometime in March, higher than this years peak with many months of rising inventory to go.
Seconded.
Thanks Paul!
This place sold on October 29 in East Van for $300,000 or 20% above assessed.
4597 WINDSOR STREET
Vancouver
Fraser VE V5V 4P8
$2,050,000
Sold October 29, 2018
5 beds • 4 baths • 2,435 sqft
MLS® R2318160
Royce: you asked me earlier why I think the referendum is going to fail if a low turnout.
As it stands right now, about 30% of the ballots have been returned and 18.9% have been screened (Nov 23).
On electionsbc website, they break down the returns based on ridings. Here’s the facts:
1) strong rate of return in the okanagan and interior favour FPTP.
2) Some riding in Surrey in the single digits. Wow! Others very low rate of return. A huge negative for Pr. Same goes for maple ridge etc. All NDP ridings.
3) HAM areas high voting.
Only bright side for PR is some areas of the island.
A quick mathematical analysis right now shows a massive defeat for PR.
Just like i predicted.
Liberal voters motivated and a significant portion of former GreeNDP voters disillusioned by delay delays delays on everything promised during the election.
Bad analysis. While returns rates are currently high in areas likely opposed to PR, this is to be expected.
Those against PR could mark their ballot and return it the instant it showed up in their mailbox. Those supportive of PR had a lot more work to do if they wanted to make informed choices for their rankings in Part 2.
I would suggest that all the hardcore anti-PR ballots were received in the first week or two (with a return rate of around 7%, right?) The vast bulk of ballots coming in between now and the close of voting will be from PR supporters or those who were undecided.
Would you bet your $ on your analysis? I would on mine.
I guess having multiple passports is a double edged sword….
China prevents dual citizenship.
These people go by 2 names.
Oracle didn’t read the article. So shocking.
What a joke. So his family says Canada has to help him because he stopped being a Chinese citizen the moment he became a Canadian citizen. OK then, so if that’s the case then why was he travelling with a Chinese passport?
It’s all moot anyway because according to the Chinese govt, one a Chinese always a Chinese….
this is the latest one of an increasing list of articles that don’t seem to get published in the print edition of the paper (for some inexplicable reason).
This “new” listing has been on the market for over a year
6088 IONA DRIVE, Vancouver
http://www.realtylink.org/prop_search/Detail.cfm?MLS=R2323819&REBoards=All&From=MLS
Date Comments
2018-Nov-19 Listed $1,490,000
2018-Sep-04 Listed for sale
2018-Sep-04 Expired $1,198,880
2018-Jul-03 Listed for sale
2018-Jul-01 Expired $1,499,000
2018-Jan-03 Listed for sale
2018-Jan-01 Expired $1,599,000
2017-Oct-25 Listed for sale
2017-Sep-01 Expired $1,499,000
2017-Jun-06 Listed for sale
2014-Nov-17 Sold $900,000
Returned referendum ballots are up to 30%, yesterday was 25%.
Also this:
“As a result of rotating strikes at Canada Post, the deadline for voters to return their voting package has been extended. Your completed voting package must be received by Elections BC by 4:30 p.m. December 7, 2018.”
That’s a 7 day extension, for now.
Want to bet it fails? Why?
Because the GreeNDP has pissed off enough of its supporters in the last year and so. Too slow in policy….dragging their feet everywhere.
It’s going to be fun to see the Greens in crisis mode. They are done.
The NDP might change its spots and actually do what they promised.
And also, many Liberals on last elections voting lists in ridings have been contacted regarding this vote and assistance is provided.
In NDP ridings, nothing. Hahaha.
BREAKING NEWS: Specialist called in to catch elusive Chinatown river otter
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/specialist-called-in-to-catch-elusive-chinatown-river-otter