Most Recent Comments:
- welschprincess on Business In Vancouver – “To take a job in Vancouver, Calgary-based senior information management consultant Joey Roa would have to give up living in a 3,000-square-foot house just outside the downtown core.”
- YVR Housing Analyst (@YVRHousing) on ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- Alexcanuck on ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- Alexcanuck on ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- Real Estate Tsunami on ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- YVR Housing Analyst (@YVRHousing) on ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- YVR Housing Analyst (@YVRHousing) on ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- bubbly on ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- ling on ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- Toby on “The bank encouraged her to take the equity in her home to purchase another home. She bought a 2nd home at the peak.”
- Nemesis on ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- Raspberry ketone on Commit Crime To Buy A House
Type of Anecdote
- 01. He Said, She Said (247)
- 02. Profiting from the Boom (442)
- 03. Changed my Life (103)
- 04. Changed my Career (38)
- 05. Where do Buyers get the money? (962)
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- 22. RE References In Popular Culture (41)
- 23. Jumping The Shark (1)
- 24. Policies On Housing (10)
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- 26. Premature Calls Of "Bottom" (3)
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- 29. Bubblespeak (1)
- Uncategorized (176)
Blogroll
- 01 Vancouver Condo Info
- 02 AmericaCanada [retired, no archive]
- 03 Housing Analysis
- 04 RealEstateTalks BC
- 05 Vancouver RE and then some
- 06 Whispers from the Village on the Edge of the Rainforest
- 07 Greater Fool
- 08 Canada Bubble
- 09 Rob Chipman's blog
- 10 YatterMatters
- 11 condohype [retired; archives available]
- 12 vancouver (un)real estate
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- 14 Landlord Rescue
- 15 The Economic Analyst
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- 17 Hoodsurf [retired Jun 2011]
- 18 World Housing Bubble
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Latest Anecdotes:
- ‘Doomed’? – “Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real home prices tend to be flat.”
- “The bank encouraged her to take the equity in her home to purchase another home. She bought a 2nd home at the peak.”
- “Let’s remember how we got here” – Looser and Looser CMHC Limits
- Don’t Worry, I’m Sure Somebody Will Sort This All Out – “Policymakers now know better and will be a lot more proactive in preventing a collapse.”
- “Things have changed, we are not doing that type of mortgage. We are not interested at all.”
- “We are noticing our target type of housing in price decline, albeit slow, as our money increases in value, slowly as well but outpacing housing.”
- Renter Buys In West Van – “For a few hundred more per month, you could own the place. Which is what I will be doing as my offer for a place down the street has been accepted. There is some value in staying in one place.”
- A Bed in the Bathroom, Why Not? [Let Us Count The Reasons...]
- “My husband and kids are pretty happy in our rental house within cycling distance of work that we could never have afforded otherwise. We’re doin’ pretty dang well, thank you, for median income earners in this expensive city.”
- “I Wish Them Bad Luck.” – Jim Flaherty, on those who wish to profit from Canadian RE price drops
- “We asked why he doesn’t just rent the whole house. He said he can’t, it wouldn’t cover his mortgage – he’ll get more to rent it out as two suites. These new landlords are hilarious, thinking that rent will cover their mortgage!”
- “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- Chat Thread
- Taking A Break
- “My best guess: this property is now an ‘investment hold’ and will be built ‘when prices recover’. Good luck on that!”
- Man Loses $745,000 Vancouver Condo Deposit
- Graphic – Degrees of Housing Overvaluation in Canada
- The Rare Individual With A Negative Ownership Premium
- Advice Regarding Renting In Vancouver, Please – “Unfortunately, the Vancouver rental stock is absolutely atrocious. It just seems like every landlord is looking for someone to pay 100% of their mortgage on a crappy place through rental income.”
- “I just visited Manhattan for a week, and happened to snap some real estate ads on both the Upper West and Upper East sides of the island. Compare to Vancouver. It simply doesn’t compute.”
- Ben Rabidoux In Vancouver Next Week
- “The mortgage company told me they were calling in my 40-year, 0-down mortgage. I have paid nearly sixty thousand dollars towards it, but, nearly five years in, I have yet to touch the principal.”
- ‘Vancouver City Hall: Housing Report Card 2012′; Plus Revised Version
- “My folks find themselves at 65 still owing half the value of their home and recreation property to the bank. After almost 30 years of ownership in the BPOE and a number of boom markets, they have very little to show for it.”
- “Rent for $2,200 a month or buy and have a mortgage of $4,310 per month. Why would anyone buy?”
- “They were talking about two couples they knew who had recently bought a lot and planned to each build a house on it and live as neighbours.”
- Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association Annual First-Time Buyer Seminar Attendance Plummets
- Mom and Pop Get It Wrong In All Markets, Time And Again
- The average British Columbian homeowner is not going to pay off their mortgage by the time they retire.
- “He’s sold all his properties except his current one, which is now for sale. He explained that the market’s currently in crash mode, worst that he’s ever seen.”
- “One of my old high school buddies finally got her mother to sell the family home in Kitsilano – sold for over $1M, monies realized after debt paid off $185K.”
- “I know someone who just declared bankruptcy because her condo was assessed at $150k and she bought it presale north of $250k in 2005 or 2006.”
- Sturdy, With Views – “Calling Froogle Scott!… Is Dr. Scott ‘In The House’?” [Not In This One, Certainly]
- “She said the market was dead in Victoria and that it would remain so for a very long time. I asked how she knew. Her answer was fascinating and should scare the pants off the real estate crowd.”
- Kits Notes – “I’m pretty sure that this is the first 3+ bedroom property of any type that I’ve seen in the 5 years I’ve lived here that is priced below $700K.”
- “A beautiful Belfast home, in the equivalent of 1st Shaughnessy, bought at their RE peak in 2007 for £3.5 million, has now sold for £800K, almost 80%-off. The market didn’t suffer any significant economic shocks. Rates & unemployment didn’t skyrocket. They didn’t build more land. Sentiment just changed and the prices fell and fell.”
- “Two family members of hers are trapped, underwater, in condos on the East Side.”
- “Interprovincial migration is not saying good things about BC’s economy.”
- Vancouver RE: Not As Expensive Provided You Don’t Think – “It’s clear that our perception of affordability has been coloured by living on a continent where housing is unusually inexpensive.”
- More Undisclosed RE Industry Insiders Publicized As Clients – “In 1995, Allan and Karin Hoegg were mortgage-free. But no more. Today their Vancouver home is a valuable source of income as they plan for full retirement.”
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- 'Doomed'? - "Home prices in Canada are now double what they were in the 1970s in real terms. Historically, over the very long term, real… 16 hours ago
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Scary stuff … is it just a matter of time before it happens here?
These pictures could probably easily substitute for Richmond I would think in the event of a similar disaster …
Richmond is protected by a pile of sandbags i like to call Vancouver Island.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_liquefaction
oh rickmond/south delta is done like dinner in a quake but i think the wreckage will be mostly saved from the wave
Sure Vancouver Island can block a direct Tsunami impact but I don’t think it takes a lot to bring water over the dykes around Richmond.
It’s comforting to know that all the Developers of these huge condo towers in Vancouver have spent the extra money to make sure they are safe during an earthquake!!NOT!!!!and that the “Village” will not slip into False Creek. I don’t even want to think about Richmond: jelly if there’s an earthquake and submerged if there’s a Tsunami.
I wonder how all the buildings on the reclaimed land around False Creek would do in an earthquake. I think the areas most at risk would be around Granville Island, Olympic village, City gate and Yaletown waterfront.
Richmond is particularly at risk of soil liquefaction during a severe (probably 6+) quake. Because Richmond lies on basically water–soaked soil it may, or probably will, liquefy, turning into quicksand. Buildings and infrastructure will sink in the most affected areas. Richmond is the last place you want to be if a big one strikes the Lower Mainland. But for God’s sake, keep it quiet! If the Chinese hear that they might stop coming and buying up the place. Then what?
At times like these… one cannot help but reflect upon the state [or lack thereof] of Emergency Preparedness in the Lower Mainland…
Although the following two pieces date to the period immediately preceding the Winter Olympics, there has been no follow-up/amelioration that Nemesis is aware of/or could find…
Bear in mind, that in a ‘worst case scenario’ – YVR will essentially be isolated from the world at large (Richmond and the airport will do an ‘Atlantis’ and all bridges & tunnels to metro Vancouver could be out/down)…
[CBC] – Elite Vancouver rescue team disbanded – Urban search and rescue team being restructured following city review
http://tinyurl.com/4rupr6l
[TimesColonist] – Celebrated Vancouver rescue team under review on eve of Olympics
“VANCOUVER — Less than two months before the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, about 20 members of Vancouver’s crack Urban Search and Rescue team — which won Canada kudos in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — have been relieved of their duties.”…
http://tinyurl.com/4pwqypr
According to the Vancouver USAR CAN-TF1 web page, a Mark Engler is currently shown as ‘Interim’ Task force leader. The site is otherwise static, and apparently dormant.
Hard questions need to be asked.
Proper preparation would be extremely expensive.
It’s a bit like snowfall preparation, where we seem to have ‘decided’ that it’s overall better to not spend money each year keeping up very many snowplows, and to kinda just hope we don’t have heavy snowfall most years. Then, winter of 2008-2009, large parts of the city glued up for weeks.
It seems it is easier for groups/government to decide to avoid short term expense, and simply hope that ‘the big one’ doesn’t happen (at least not on their watch).
There are short term benefits to avoiding insurance payments…
Hoarding has caused prices to spike 30 fold.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/45uy2nb
TPFKAA said: “…if the vast majority did just that, there would be no panic or euphoria.”
Cities in China reported that salt is completely sold out.
In other Japanese disaster related news… It turns out that stricken ‘Katagi’ [ordinary Japanese citizens] are far more likely to receive relief aid/comfort from sympathethic regional Yakuza than from national/governmental authorities/channels…
[NYT] – In Japan’s Danger Zone, the Stranded Await the Merciful
“YAMAGATA, Japan — Some are stuck in their homes, fearful of radiation, heeding government warnings to stay indoors, cut off without electricity or phone service. Others want to leave but have no gasoline. Still more, those whose homes were ruined, wait helplessly for evacuation at crowded shelters. All face dwindling supplies of heating fuel, food and water. A week after an earthquake and tsunami devastated their communities and set off the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, the plight of the thousands still stranded in areas near the stricken reactors — many too old or infirm to move — has underscored what residents say is a striking lack of help from the national government to assist with the evacuation of danger zones or the ferrying of supplies to those it has urged to stay inside. “…
http://tinyurl.com/4dqwyn9
[DailyBeast] – Yakuza To The Rescue
“…Hours after the first shock waves hit, two of the largest crime groups went into action, opening their offices to those stranded in Tokyo, and shipping food, water, and blankets to the devastated areas in two-ton trucks and whatever vehicles they could get moving. The day after the earthquake the Inagawa-kai (the third largest organized crime group in Japan which was founded in 1948) sent twenty-five four-ton trucks filled with paper diapers, instant ramen, batteries, flashlights, drinks, and the essentials of daily life to the Tohoku region. An executive in Sumiyoshi-kai, the second-largest crime group, even offered refuge to members of the foreign community—something unheard of in a still slightly xenophobic nation, especially amongst the right-wing yakuza. The Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest crime group, under the leadership of Tadashi Irie, has also opened its offices across the country to the public and been sending truckloads of supplies, but very quietly and without any fanfare.”…
http://tinyurl.com/4mwosp5
In stark contrast with the kindness/generosity of heretofore criminal pariahs – in these sad, ‘bizarro’ times of inverted totalitarianism is it really so surprising to discover such widespread governmental and institutional indifference/malfeasance?…
fantastic post
so you’ve also read Sheldon Wolin?
i thought i was the only one.
one of the consequences of our inverted totalitarianism is that there is no way out of it – if it’s all you’ve known it’s all you’ve known, IMO.
watching the Libya thing drives it home – why not Bahrain? why not Yemen? etc. these are rhetorical questions but still..
In answer to your rhetorical question…
Black gold. Texas T…
http://tinyurl.com/b8xn8g
Or, if you prefer (and with apologies to Paul Henning and Flat&Scruggs), substitute this more timely lyric…
The Ballad Of Muammar/’Odyssey Dawn’
Come and listen to a story about a man named Muammar
A desert autocrat, with bodacious bodyguards
One fine day he was shootin’ up the hood,
And up through the ground came a bubblin’ crude.
Oil that is
Black gold
Arabian tea.
Well the first thing you know ol Mu’s a zillionaire,
Kinfolk said “Mu, move away from there”
Said “Araby is the place you ought to be”
So they loaded up the Merc, and drove to Tripoli…
Dunes, that is.
Swimmin’ pools.
Pop stars.
Well now it’s time to say goodbye to Mu and all his kin.
And they’d like to thank Sarkozy fer kindly droppin’ in.
You’re all invited back again to this locality
To have a heapin’ helpin’ o’ NATO hospitality
CAP, Close Support, Ground Attack – that is.
Set a spell, take your armour off
Y’all squawk IFF now, y’hear?
the situations in yemen and bahrain are particularly brutal.
thanks for the song
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-sum-all-fears-5032
Sadly, locating the following citation was an earnest toss-up between this thread and ‘Hoocoodanode’ (for purely thematic purposes)…
[ZeroHedge] – Japanese Mayor, Disgusted With The Government’s Crisis Response, Appeals For Help To The Entire World
“The mayor of Minami Soma city, located 25 km away from the Fukushima plant, had decided to bypass the traditional channels in requesting assistance out of disgust and frustration with the government’s handling of the disaster, and instead is appealing to the entire world via this soon to be viral video clip which was recorded over a week ago but is only now making the rounds. In the clip, mayor Katsunobu Sakurai says: “We are left to ourselves… we risk dying of hunger.”"…
http://tinyurl.com/3cm89dp
Further to ongoing ‘developments’ at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi site… the following ‘ThisModernWorld’ penned by TruthOut cartoonist/satirist ‘Tom Tomorrow’ is simply too delicious not to share here/now…
[TruthOut/TomTomorrow] – Nuclear Safety: Explained by The Invisible Hand of the Free Market
http://tinyurl.com/4mfmlv9