Vancouver Condo Info

Readers of this blog may recall a story in July about Cube Living, an opportunity to invest in real estate 1 cubic foot at a time. This caught our attention when it stood out as a clever tongue-in-cheek submission to the city’s ReThink Housing competition.

One of the people behind the project has now launched Phase 2 by opening the CUBE Showroom where you can apparently purchase a cube of your own. Operating out of the 221a Gallery at 221 E Georgia, the showroom will be open from 1-6pm from February 19th to the 23rd. Act fast though, according to the Gallery’s website presales are hot.

There’s been unexpected volume of pre-sales over the weekend and the development is now 66% sold out—but don’t worry, we’re holding back some units to ensure there’s a reasonable supply still available when the sales centre opens on Tuesday.

You can find more information about the project at 221a’s website. There will be a talk by designer and artist Alex Grünenfelder on Wednesday, February 20th at 8pm and a closing reception on Saturday, February 23rd at 8pm.

On February 19 Grünenfelder will begin a limited release of micro-properties measuring 1 cubic foot. This innovative product addresses the stagnation and endemic unaffordability of Vancouver’s real estate market. In developing a spatial commodity that can be purchased in very small units, Cube Living is able to offer affordable properties at prices under $50! Micro-properties are an accessible solution to the inflated real estate market crisis that threatens to push Vancouver’s economy into decline.

Finally!

A bit of humour that calls out the absurdity of the ‘tough new mortgage rules’.

This is brilliant, thanks Rick Mercer.

On a side note is the ‘crantini’ joke a common one in housing markets? The only place I’ve seen it is here on dear old VCI when ‘samantha’ refers to drinking crantinis on the patio.

(at least I assume that’s a joke, sorry Sam if it’s not.)

In one fell swoop the credit rating agency Moody’s brought down the credit rating of six Canadian banks.

RBC was the only big bank to escape this downgrade cycle.

So why is Moody’s picking on us?

“High levels of consumer indebtedness and elevated housing prices leave Canadian banks more vulnerable than in the past to downside risks the Canadian economy faces,” David Beattie, vice-president at Moody’s said in a note.

Canadian consumer debt has risen to a record-high 165 per cent of disposable income in the third quarter of 2012, up from 137 per cent in mid-2007. Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney has repeatedly warned about these levels, but they remain stubbornly high.

Sure, Mark Carney has warned about this, but he’s gone now… doesn’t that mean the problem is gone too?

As always Mr. Flaherty is there to reassure us Canadas banks are the ‘soundest in the world’.

In other news… it’s not a bubble, it’s a balloon.

Image source: wreckonomics at Vancouver Peak.

According to Paulb the listings odometer just rolled over the 13,000 mark.

As of last night the inventory count hit 13,035.

Of course that means it’s time for a party.

Any one think it’s possible that we might hit 14k before the month end expiries kick in?

Crashcow points out that it could happen:

Avg daily inventory growth this month: 125
Projected month-end inventory: 14,406

Although possible doesn’t mean probably.  Historically sales pick up past the halfway point in January according to VHB:

For the quant-minded, some numbers!

period sell list percent
2011Jan1sthalf 70  216 33%
2011Jan2ndhalf 110 260 42%
2012Jan1sthalf 57  271 21%
2012Jan2ndhalf 90  277 32%
2013Jan1sthalf 54  227 24%

So, if this January follows the pattern we can expect about a 50% increase in sales in the 2nd half of the month. This would mean we should average around 80 sales/day in the 2nd half of Jan2013. Listings might tick up a bit, but not by 50%.

VMD has been busy over at the new Vancouver Peak Forum uploading new Battle of Vancouver maps.

These maps show the increase or decline in year-over-year REBGV home price index (The Benchmark or HPI).

There are maps for both the condo market and for single family homes in the lower mainland, along with a few historical maps for comparison.

Here’s the map for SFH, showing big changes in South Surrey and UBC:

And here’s the map for Condos, which looks similar but the big changes are in South Surrey but Bull forces are firmly entrenched in Guilford and Pitt Meadows.

Here’s the original discussion thread for the Condo map and for the SFH map.

You can find more great creations and analysis from VMD over at greaterfoolvancouver.

Remember when a million dollars was real money?

It’s always fun to compare what your Vancouver home dollars will get you in less fortunate countries.

A commenter by the name of mortgage posted this delightful contrast.

Here’s what $2.5 million will get you on a major street in the Cambie corridor, walking distance from the world famous ‘Oakridge Center Mall’.  This 1948 beauty is located near the vibrant heart of Vancouver, where the sun always shines:

Somewhat south of there is a place called Beverly Hills California.  If you take your $2.5 million down there you’ll find something like Dudley Moores old digs:

..but you wouldn’t be walking distance to Oakridge Mall.  They have a Zellers.

Haven’t you always wanted to see housing market data presented as an exciting battle map?

Somewhat more exciting than your average excel sheet, VMD has started a Battle of Vancouver thread over at Vancouverpeak.com where he’s got maps showing the ups and downs of the market for condos and single family homes.

It’s interesting that you really get a sense of things changing on the periphery first.

There’s a stripe of red in the centre where prices are still up year over year. Here’s the map for Single Family Homes:

There’s a similar thing happening in Condo prices, although more areas are Year over Year negative there.  Oh, and for extra excitement on this map there’s TANKS! (each tank represents a single percent point up or down):

Click here to view the full thread on Vancouverpeak.com

..And if you have stuff to share over there, here are a few more invite codes to register for a user account:

p3k0-icze-u2up
yktv-exfc-01ge
2pss-bm1u-2lhp
fpc5-sef1-42bu
vaw6-smid-p49u
30v5-2sfh-6ozj
xukn-ohyt-qkac
k3oq-6jj9-1de2
9mjt-op5r-1vwp
sknv-ook0-sqpj

Remember the 70s?

Well back in 1978 Vancouvers own Condo King was a Real Estate agent with a proven sales record, big hair and a beard.

Here’s a bit of ephemera from the Rennie Vancouver photo stream:

Let Bob Sell YOUR home!

Remember, the costume isn’t complete until you have the glasses and the striped tie.

Happy Halloween!

Joe checked the screen on his phone one more time and nervously glanced from side to side. He should be here by now. Joe needed his fix and he needed it bad.

A truck rolled by belching blue exhaust under the streetlamps and Joe spotted movement in the doorway across the street.

Could it be?

Yes!

Carney stepped out from the shadows and strolled across the road, his hands pushed deep in the pockets of his merino wool trench coat.

“Looking for something Joe?”

Joe fidgeted with the cell phone in his hand and his eyes dropped to the sidewalk. “Come on man, you know what I need”

A small smile played on the corner of Carneys mouth. “Ok Joe, this week we have a two for one deal, but don’t take too much, this stuff can be dangerous and any day now I’m going to up the potency.”

Joe eagerly held out his hand “yeah ok”

Carney raised an eyebrow “yeah ok?”

Joes hand shook. “yeah, you say that everytime”

Carney shook his head in disgust. “yeah, I guess I do but that doesn’t make it any less true. An OD on credit isn’t a pretty thing Joe”

Joe looked up with a glare “just give me the stuff man”

Carney passed the bag over and shook his head. “one of these days this stuff is gonna kill you, but there’s nothing I can do about that. All I can do is warn you. Good luck Joe.”

Vancouver, being part of the west coast, is equally criticized and applauded for its youth. Civilization as we know it barely spans two centuries in this corner of the world, and while that can generate a sense of dawning opportunity and exuberance, it also means that we sometimes lack the refinement, conscience, and depth of a European city.

This criticism is often leveled at Vancouver’s architecture. It’s true that we have yet to build our Notre Dame. The city is not without highlights, however, and I’ve spent many an evening ambulating among them. Here is a favourite from one such stroll:

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