- Photo of ‘BC Homes Magazine’, Aug/Sep 2011 cover, gratefully received via e-mail, from Aldus Huxtable, who sensibly adds:
“Is Vancouver becoming the next New York City? These ludicrous comparisons have to stop…..”
Most Recent Comments:
- LadyInWaiting on “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.”
- Nemesis on “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.”
- terminalcitygirl on “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.”
- Xyz on “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.”
- rod_jonsson on “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.”
- terminalcitygirl on “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.”
- Nemesis on “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.”
- Bally on “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.”
- kagurazakaman on “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.”
- Alexcanuck on “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.”
- Loon on “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.”
- buffates on “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.”
Type of Anecdote
- 01. He Said, She Said (247)
- 02. Profiting from the Boom (441)
- 03. Changed my Life (103)
- 04. Changed my Career (38)
- 05. Where do Buyers get the money? (958)
- 06. Held my Nose and Leapt (96)
- 07. Avoiding Vancouver (375)
- 08. Overextended Buyers (1183)
- 09. Delaying Buying (315)
- 10. Demoralized Renters? (362)
- 11. Regrets about Investing in RE (417)
- 12. Effects of Development (274)
- 13. 2010 Olympics Related (74)
- 14. Social Effects of the Boom (1256)
- 15. Misallocation of Resources (958)
- 16. Missed The Boat? (236)
- 17. The Froogle Scott Chronicles (27)
- 18. Spot The Speculator (171)
- 19. BlastRadiusPostCards (17)
- 20. The Limitless Demand Argument For Ongoing Market Strength (70)
- 21. Vancouver RE-Verse [Found Poems] (8)
- 22. RE References In Popular Culture (41)
- 23. Jumping The Shark (1)
- 24. Policies On Housing (10)
- 25. Epigrams For The Bubble (1)
- 26. Premature Calls Of "Bottom" (3)
- 27. Seller Panic (3)
- 28. Erroneous Causation Theories For Falling Prices (7)
- 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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- 18 World Housing Bubble
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- 20 North American Economics
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Latest Anecdotes:
- “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.”
- Rumor that some OV units will be reduced by 20%.
- Downside Weights On The Vancouver RE Market – “One of the older guys (over 60) mention to the guy beside him that he and his wife were thinking about selling their family home, and renting, in order to get some of the money that was locked up in the house.”
- “My buddy was looking to upgrade to a house in the Coquitlam area. With 200k extra for a home, that’s half of lifetime saving between him and his wife.”
- “I was walking in the Fraser neighborhood yesterday, I noticed that the population, on average, seem to be composed of workers. I belong to the top 5 percent in terms of income. Nevertheless, I cannot afford any of the houses for sale in that neighbourhood.”
- “Vancouver is an urban resort whose value mostly resides in its real estate and not much else.”
- “Rogers Communications is expanding into RE; aiming to relaunch website; providing critical data that can help potential buyers assess the value of a property from the comfort of their home computer.”
- I’m only 50 and I can just about retire if I want to, all because of a single simple decision – “When prices rebounded to their former highs, then rocketed another 30% higher to what I considered to be totally unsustainable levels, I decided that only a fool would pass up a second opportunity to harvest such a massive non-taxable capital gain, and in 2011 I sold my place.”
- The Vacant Lot of Versailles, Richmond.
- “I don’t think that most people think things are going to crash, just that there is going to be a slight correction, but it was amazing to me how sentiment has changed, and the fact Vancouver RE is too high was just understood.”
- “The ‘investor’ who purchased our house put it up for sale two months later, in January 1981, but the bubble had burst.”
- For A City To Have That Kind Of Vacancy, It’s Like Cancer – “Downtown, the vacant unit rate is so high that it’s as though there were 35 towers at 20 storeys apiece – all empty.”
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High prices make New York City. Who knew?
OK vreaa very funny.
Wait what? That’s the actual cover? Oh my…
this is hilarious. Of course Vancouver is a much better place to raise your family than NY, and has a much brighter future. But I give kudos for the attempt at a comparison
The604. I hope you’re being facetious. My family misses NYC and the life it afforded our family of five. We lived there for 3 glorious years. Vancouver is really, really dull in comparison.
I wonder – if you’re in Chicago, do you hear the constant refrain, “Is Chicago the next New York?” In SFO, do you hear, “Is San Francisco the next Paris?” Is Tokyo the next London? Etc, etc. I somehow don’t think so.
That is hilarious.
Seriously, how insecure and unsure of ourselves could we possibly be. Whoever edited that cover has obviously never been to NYC.
As someone who has worked in 10 cities and been to over 60 countries, this really shows how delusional the city is. When the $$$ stops from abroad (due to some shock or change in market) – the move will be swift and fast . . .
Oh lord, how absurd.
Vancouver is a perfectly nice, if horridly dull, city. That is sufficient. The bragging and comparisons really need to stop.
“I wonder – if you’re in Chicago, do you hear the constant refrain, “Is Chicago the next New York?””
Nope – New York is New York. We like Chicago and root for the Cubs. Why would we want to be the Yankees?
The heart just confuses me… first off it looks more like an ‘O’, which would make it Vanhotten, and second of all, what is it implying? We love NY? We love Van?
Vancouver is a great place. But seriously, it’s a village compared to NYC. This is just silly.
My cousin lived in New York for many years. I can tell you Vancouver wasn’t even on her radar when she decided to move away. There’s no comparison, not even close. It’s just high real estate prices, it’s not like we have many of those high paying jobs like they do in NYC. She routinely had friends who received annual bonuses of $100k-$200k in the finance world. Where are these in Vancouver?? If that was the case, I might believe it. Vancouver doesn’t even come close (oh, except if you’re into real estate, hehe)
“She routinely had friends who received annual bonuses of $100k-$200k”
I have friends who receive “bonuses” too, often tax-free! Go-go Gadget speculative bubble!
shark = jumped
Plus100
Indeed 100+. vreaa, this is probably a good time to construct the “Jumping the Shark” anecdote class.
Will do.
this magazine cover marks the top of the vancouver real estate bubble. we are a laughing stock- this city has nothing aside from a nice view. we have no real industry, no culture whatsoever, no soul , no arts,no jobs support the house prices. jsut because chinese money is being washed through our housing market in no way means we are even 1 100th of NYC. some guy flies in for a day from china and buys 17 houses then leaves and they all sit empty- doesnt mean we are NYC-hahahahahahahahaha…..sell your houses before you are crying to the gov’t to bail you out.
For those of you who didn’t read the article, my favorite part is under the subheading, Chinese influx. When asked about the investor class of Chinese citizens who are buying up houses in Vancouver, Andrew Ramio, demographer and the Director of Urban Futures Institute had this to say; “The challenge with dealing with this issue and to put it to bed is there are no real data on this….We have heard a lot of anecdotes, but when you ask, ‘Can I actually get the name of the investor?’, they say, well, it’s someone else in office who made the sale.”
That’s pretty consistent with my experience. Everyone I know who has bought or sold in this market has bought from or sold to a local, often a builder, and never someone from mainland China. Incongruously, nearly all of them claim the prices are a function of mainland Chinese buyers. I love the smell of a giant Ponzi scheme in the morning.
Having never been to New York, the best way I can think to test this is to check Pollstar for listings of live music, theatre and the like.
Vancouver: 263 listings
NYC: 2,199 listings
and just for kicks
Seattle: 672 listings
Also known as “touring the west coast but it’s not worth our time/money to play one show in Vancouver”
Nice, thanks.
—
Ian Faith: “The Boston gig has been cancelled…”
David St. Hubbins: “What?”
Ian Faith: “Yeah. I wouldn’t worry about it though, it’s not a big college town.”
the ceremonies for 9/11 reminded me just why Vancouver is a better place than Manhattan. I don’t know anyone who would choose to live there over Vancouver. Why is this even a topic for discussion?
NYC has more life, culture and things to do on a given night in the equivalent land mass of downtown than Canada west of Ontario has on the event calendar for the next year. Now add that to the fact that just Manhattan island is roughly the size of Vancouver and Burnaby, which completely excludes the other 4 boroughs of NYC and long island, and you might start to grasp why people want to live there.
Todd -> Exactly.
amusement parks are fun too, but I don’t want to live in or near one.
Pingback: Bull Hubris?… Or Appropriate Owner Confidence?: “Fundamentals don’t apply to Vancouver. Real estate has detached itself from economic reality long ago. It has reached escape velocity to break away from economic gravity. It is a beautiful case study.