Excerpts from ‘The new real estate protectionism is misguided’ by Cam Good, Vancouver Sun 21 Apr 2011. Mr Good is president of a real estate sales and marketing company. –
“In the last two months, we’ve sold over 700 condos in Toronto. Sixty per cent went to Mainland Chinese buyers. In meccas like Richmond, 98 per cent of the hundreds of homes we’ve sold are to buyers who are Chinese.” …
“Buyers from Mainland China are a driving force in our real estate market. The staggering truth is we’ve seen just the tip of the iceberg.” …
“A recent story in the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese are “stampeding to Vancouver and Toronto, two of Canada’s hottest markets.” For that, we should be grateful. Chinese have made owning real estate in Canada more rewarding than any of us expected and they have made our society distinctly richer by bringing their values and culture to Canada and sharing them with us.” …
“But instead of gratitude, I see growing fear and resentment that foreign buyers are inflating prices and pricing “us” and “our children” out of the market. I recently hosted a helicopter tour of White Rock for a select group of Chinese realtors. In response to the media coverage of that event, my office was inundated with emails from people who think this will cause a Chinese takeover.” …
“Let’s look at what this global trend is doing to benefit us: It’s driving demand and creating a real estate industry that is the envy of the entire world. Our land, homes and businesses have become more valuable and Chinese investment is a big reason we weathered the global economic storm as well as we did.” …
“If you suffer from real estate impotence, don’t blame Chinese people. Besides, getting all worked up about it will only make it worse. Have a glass of wine. Relax. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and pick up the phone to call a realtor or a mortgage broker, either of whom will be more than happy to show you how easy it can be to get your real estate groove on.
Real estate is the best investment you’ll ever make, but don’t take my word for it. Ask any of the 70 per cent of Canadians who are already owners. Or a Chinese person.”
The fact of this article, and its contents, preserved here for the record. – vreaa
Vancouver Real Estate Anecdote Archive 
Relax, get a glass of wine… Get a 800K mortgage, become a mortgage slave and buy at the top of the market and watch your variable rate mortgage go from 2% to 5% over the next 5 years… It’s all good…
Say goodbye to your impotence an get your real estate groove on… 1.5 Billion Chinese people can’t be wrong…
I can spin this even better. It’s your moral duty to keep Canada’s economy going during this recession by buying a house with an 800k mortgage. Your liability creates jobs and feeds families.
I heard in many parts of China you have to prove a history of actually living there to buy RE. Why the double standard…do they know something dumb north americans don’t know? hmmmm…..
“Ask any of the 70 per cent of Canadians who are already owners”
Yup, the masses always know best. The “owners” can’t possibly be wrong. I am suddenly starting to feel an urge to call my realtor for a tour of a $1.5 million fixer-upper starter home.
I will give Cam Good a hard time but let’s just take a step back and look at what he is claiming that is reasonably true. Foreign investment, and indeed foreign investment from China, does create local jobs. The act of turning it away, in and of itself, will have a negative impact on GDP.
Now… if locals want to “keep up with the Wangs” that’s their prerogative. Nobody’s holding guns to their heads. When we dig down and find out which group — foreigners or locals — are the primary purchasers of real estate in Vancouver, it helps to keep in mind who holds the real key to solving the problem of high prices.
I am more annoyed by his condescending tone.
“Chinese have made… our society distinctly richer by bringing their values and culture to Canada and sharing them with us.” …
All I see is ghettos being created in our city with Richmond being Chinese and Surrey Indian. If this was about sharing and values people would be mixing together.
This aint melting pot, it is failed immigration policy with entire cities becoming isolated in their foreign culture and way of life and complete disregard for our Canadian values and culture.
There is no cultural sharing going between chinese culture and north american cultures. Only mercantile exchanges.
Here’s your chance. Define for us, the internet, what you perceive to be “Canadian values and culture”.
It may be a shock but “segregation” has been alive and well in Canadian cities well before Trudeau’s immigration policies starting in the ’70s; Vancouver is more pronounced because of a more narrowly-distributed immigration demographic in the past 25 years. If you want to see much more staunch segregation on ethnic lines, go to somewhere like Indonesia or Malaysia, where there isn’t much integration at all relatively speaking. Canada mixes very well in comparison in the long-run, even if the first generation remains isolated. The reason is cynically simple: you will make way more money by branching out your network to more than one ethnic group.
You have hit the nail on the head. You must be a local like myself.
One of the commentators in the Vancouver Sun had a good point… If Cam is such an “anti-interventionist” perhaps he will also champion the abolition of the CMHC. After all, isn’t the CMHC the most blunt and obvious tool of government “intervention” in the Canadian real estate market?
C’mon guys
This is an advertisement, an infomercial from someone to who wants to serve his own interests. Why take him seriously? Does the “Sham Wow” guy elicit the same response ?, although he probably works harder and is more genuine!!
This is just entertainment stuff! People who fall for it will probably deserve it>
I love the line “get your real estate groove on”…
Thanks, Cam, but I think I will continue to rent my (crappy) $500k condo for less than what it would cost to buy, even with a variable rate mortgage (with rates going up any day now).
PS-For your own sake, please don’t tell this to my relatives in the US who bought at peak, or even my friends in the Okanagan who are sitting with empty properties and negative equity. They might just throw a pie in your face (or worse, I’d imagine).
In 2001, as the tech bubble started to deflate, Rob Carrick from the Globe and Mail had a front page article advising people worried about the very first shock-waves hitting the markets to relax, not worry, and to either “go gardening or play baseball”.
Ah, the high-tech bubble days. I remember them well, I was a student in college studying business. Even at such a young age and with little experience, I knew something didn’t smell right. Meanwhile I heard supposed experts on TV telling me that it was a “New Era”! and “Things were different!” Of course I knew it was going to crash. And it did. Too bad this one is taking so long to pop and I’m the one who looks like an idiot. Ah well, maybe my time will come around again…
Maybe it was because you were of “such a young age and with little experience” that you were able to identify it. I was also a relative “outsider” at the time and I believe that made it easier to see the speculative mania for what it was.
Regarding your modest statement “I’m the one who looks like an idiot”, here’s the link for readers who may not have yet seen this addressed:
“As frustrating as it may be” on the Wrong Side of the Bubble, the Bearish Position Remains Right [24 Jan 2011].
Speaking of bubbles… Does the YellowEmperor know something CamGood doesn’t?…. 😉
[ChinaDaily] – China banks head for fresh property stress test
“China’s banking regulator has told banks to conduct another round of stress tests to assess a possible plunge in property prices, envisioning a worst-case 50 percent fall in prices, the official China Securities Journal said on Friday. The latest directive, which cited Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Nanjing as “high-risk” areas, called for tests to begin in early April, the newspaper said, citing regulatory officials.”…
http://tinyurl.com/6gee2g6
How about this about a story in China’s Global Times (via alsosprachanalyst)
http://www.alsosprachanalyst.com/economy/china-is-ageing-and-the-rich-are-fleeing.html
The wealthy in China are looking at moving their money because of “political connections” and the vulnerability of their wealth. If you made you money through bribes, it’s a lot easier for the government to confiscate it if you ever fall on the wrong side of their favour.
From the link to Global Times, “China facing rich drain”:
“Meanwhile, Western countries are eying the rapidly growing number of China’s rich people. A new property development in Seattle’s Federal Way neighborhood was recently opened to the public, and it was specially designed for investing immigrants, local media reports said.”
The rich Chinese heading to Federal Way? That’s as laughable as HAM bidding wars in Mission.
I’m glad to see the article is now in the “opinion” section where it belongs. If all was going well, and he was selling hundreds of condos to Rich Chinese, he wouldn’t bother putting “pen to paper” like this. He is just drumming up more business, so the best response is to ignore him.
Cam Good deserves a kick in the head for writing such an obnoxious piece of crap. How dare he say the insensitive things he said in the article especially someone in greedy real estate industry who is cashing in on this Mainland Chinese buying frenzy.
Okay, Cam? Put your big mouth where your money is…where can I find a modest townhouse in Vancouver or Burnaby in decent shape for $350K and $100K down where I’m not going to be a slave to a mortgage?
Oh, I’m not being realistic you say? Dufus, I’ve lived in Vancouver all my life and pretty damn well know that this spike in real estate has just occurred over the last ten years. It is not just a normal rise in real estate prices. Don’t you dare tell us we are just being “resentful”.
Nor are Canadians being bigoted by being resentful. There are plenty of countries in the world where you cannot buy land or have title to a house unless you are citizen of that country. That’s not fair either.
Why shouldn’t we be resentful when people are treating one of the three basic necessities, shelter, like a commodity on a big Monopoly board?
We are past resentful. We are pissed off by the greedy real estate industry, and our governments for cashing in on this buying frenzy while disenfranchising Canadians – of all ethnicities and religion – from being able to buy a place in their own country of birth, or sworn citizenship. Let people buy land here…once they are Canadian citizens.
Thanks Ken, you saved me time writing the same post word for word.
Thanks Ken, you are not alone in your feelings.
Ken,
Who exactly is preventing you from buying a place in your own country of birth? There are affordable communities in plenty of places in Canada. Citizenship doesn’t entitle you to be able to own property in the most expensive market in the country, which is really what you are bitching about. Since when did basic “shelter” mean a home on the Westside of Vancouver?
Here is another recent article by Cam Good posted in the South China Morning Post out of HK:
A second home might not be high on everyone’s list of priorities in the present economic climate, but for those who are in the market, British Columbia and its largest city, Vancouver, stand out. Chinese investors, in particular, are strongly represented among foreigners buying in the westernmost province of Canada.
“The demand from Chinese investors is the strongest it’s ever been in Canada,” says Simeon Garratt, head of Asian business development at Key Marketing Group, known as The Key.
“Right now, around 80 per cent of all real estate sold in Vancouver is to Chinese/Hong Kong buyers, and it doesn’t look like it will be slowing down. It’s just a matter of what location they will buy in. Demand has been growing over the past few years, but the explosion has really come from media exposure and a sudden emphasis on this market.”
Location-wise, buyers are spoiled for choice. As noted on the website, http://www.luxuryportfolio.com, property in British Columbia spans the gamut from luxurious mountain estates in Whistler, to vibrant metropolitan condominiums in Vancouver. Just a few miles west of Whistler – home to the world’s largest ski resort – waterfront homes run up and down the northern Pacific. The capital city, Victoria, has many chic contemporary condos, and waterfront and country properties.
Garratt says it’s not surprising the top-performing real estate agents in British Columbia hail from Hong Kong and the mainland. The Key organised a helicopter tour for eight of them in February to showcase new projects.
“These realtors represent large networks of Chinese buyers and, in many cases, are the eyes and ears of Chinese buyers who cannot make it to Vancouver to see the properties for themselves,” he says.
The tour was mainly to showcase the coastline from Richmond to White Rock. “We are currently selling a brand new high-rise development and wanted to show Chinese buyers how close White Rock is to Richmond, and the scenery and location. This was the first tour of its kind.”
According to Cam Good, president of Key Marketing, the Chinese love the political and economic stability Canada offers. “We have a good education system, too, which is why so many mainland Chinese send their children to school here. We also have a large and well-established Asian community, free health care, security of investments, and offer the ability to gain permanent resident status.”
Good says that in recent months his company has sold more than 500 condos in Vancouver and Toronto to Chinese investors. He believes this latest push from the mainland is contributing to residential price increases, which rose an average 15 per cent in the 12 months to March, according to data from the British Columbia Real Estate Association.
Dean Linnell, of Dean Linnell Personal Real Estate Corporation, a Whistler specialist, adds that another draw is the absence of restrictions on foreign ownership of property in Canada. “There are certainly some tax considerations that need to be taken care of, but we have knowledgeable accountants here who keep our clients abreast of the non-resident taxation issues that need to be handled – there’s nothing out of the ordinary, though.”
He says many Hongkongers find Whistler is better value than other mountain resort locations. “If you compare the type of big mountain, outdoor experience you get here, coupled with what you get in terms of property for the dollar, there’s just no comparison to a Vail or an Aspen. There’s big perceived value here.”
Whistler properties include ski-in/ski-out condos and townhouses, chalets, land and even quarter-ownership properties. Another popular alternative is condo ownership in one of the flagship hotels in town, such as The Westin, Pan Pacific or the Four Seasons Resort, that can be rented to hotel guests when not in use.
“Much of the Hong Kong ownership here is centred around condo or townhouse ownership because it’s a pretty simple and turnkey way of getting into the market,” Linnell says. “There’s no upkeep needed as the homeowner association takes care of that. If you plan to do nightly rentals to derive some income from your investment then you also have a property manager who handles the rentals and takes care of the suite’s interior.
“It’s a worry-free investment for the most part. Having said that, though, condos are not always everyone’s cup of tea, so we also have a healthy range of Hong Kong clients who own multimillion dollar luxury chalets. It depends what your idea of a dream mountain hideaway is.” Linnell adds that prices have come down significantly from the highs of 2005/2006. “Much of the Whistler market is down by as much as 30 per cent. It does seem over the past three to four months, however, that pricing has stabilised and we just might be at the bottom of the market right now. It’s truly a great time to be a buyer here, with sellers very motivated at the moment.”
As for Chinese interest in British Columbia, Good doesn’t see demand slowing down any time soon. “Given the sheer amount of money and buyers that exist in China, I believe we’ve only seen a small portion of what is to come,” he says. “This, coupled with the fact that the Chinese government is tightening up on local real estate policies, means that more people are going to be looking at the international option.”
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=d5d5fe108c9df210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&ss=Property&s=Business
Web link for reference
““Right now, around 80 per cent of all real estate sold in Vancouver is to Chinese/Hong Kong buyers”
VREAA, this is a nice inflammatory statement for a new article. I suspect that it’s a lie, but who knows. Nothing surprises me anymore.
Its not speculation.. maybe I should clarify on my statement. “80% of new real estate sold in Vancouver is bought my HK/Chinese buyers’
So you are Simeon Garratt, “head of Asian business development at Key Marketing Group, known as The Key”?
Interesting that you admitted that the first statement is not true. Are you going to contact the magazine and ask them to remove the
liemistake?Also interesting that you are promoting the Key on this blog. How much do they pay you for spamming?
it was VREAA that posted the article by Cam Good also of The Key. So it looks like VREAA is promoting (aka spamming) for The Key – and likely doing it for free…LMAO
They don’t pay me anything, and since when is it spamming? The magazines write what they want to write, I’ve been misquoted many times and you should always take anything published with a grain of salt. This blog started a discussion and I joined in. I’m just as affected by this price inflation as any of you, I can’t afford to buy a house myself at this time. Doesn’t mean it’s bad for the economy.
Just another greedy Chinese apologist, whom I’m sure made the article available to all his Asian clients. We neither need nor want Chinese values in this country. Spent a decade in China..one of the most racist, selfish cultures on the planet. Time for us to take back out city.