“Finding actual Whistler stats is as rare as Yeti sightings. The local firms are all in cahoots running the private WLS. I will see what I can find. Sales are a dismal 6-15 per week. Some jaw dropping recent sales, single family home in Alpine for $550K, a ski in/out condo at the Aspens for $300K. These examples are 50% off the 2002 high. This market is starting to tank I fully expect more price pain for 2012. We need the U.S buyers back.” – Lady Luck at RETalks 2 Jan 2012 9:19pm
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- 01 Vancouver Condo Info
- 02 AmericaCanada [retired, no archive]
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Latest Anecdotes:
- 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.”
- “What’s the worst that can happen? You can’t pay your mortgage, so sell your house! No fear.”
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And I would say, this is just the beginning. In crisis times, the toys are the first things to go.
I just got back from Whistler a few days ago. It looks as busy as usual. Parking lots were full, long line-ups at the condos. You can’t really see something’s wrong with the RE market there. 50 more percent down and I’ll consider buying there
(I love Whistler!)
“long line-ups at the condos”. I meant at the gondolas! I should read my comments before posting!
Makaya -> Normally, I’d simply edit and repair, but i think we should leave up your beautiful ‘slip’ as another testimony to how the bubble has permeated our psyches.
Agree?
@ vreaa, yes that’s actually pretty funny!
I was wondering at that myself
Pretty much ditto everything Makaya just said. Was just up there for the holiday break, it was packed. All the bars we went to were at or near capacity, and it was a weekday. My friends were all really considering splitting a little condo up there, considering we paid almost 500 for 2 nights in a 1 bed condo we could probably almost make it worth it. If it wasnt for the feeling there is still a lot further to drop I would strongly consider it.
Damn, either there is something wrong with some of the buildings (big assessment coming) or Whistler has gotten a lot cheaper than I thought. 225K buys a suite slightly better than the one we rented in the same building. It looks to me like you can rent the place out through them if you arent using it (they have maid service and a front desk) which could probably help with a bit of the mortgage and strata fees, though I wouldnt count on it for too much.
Dammit if I’m not giving it a lot more thought in the next couple years. I love mountain biking in the summer and boarding in the winter, and I find the town to be a lot of fun, even if only on a superficial level.
Sure as hell isnt easy to find out what the strata fees are on these places though.
@davers
one big detractor is maintenance fees on some of the buildings, esp in the village. I looked into buying a Whistler condo or townhome in the summer, and was shocked by how high fees could be on a simple 1-bed condo – upwards of $700/month! Hotels were even worse… Couple that with high property taxes, and you have a pretty hefty cost of ownership.
That being said, if prices continue to drop I too will buy something up there – love Whistler, I’m up there 5-10 nights a year already…
Nuxfan,
Thats what I’m worried about. I think if I got a place it would be hotel style so it can be rented out with minimal effort from me to hopefully cover the strata costs. I will have to do my research to find some unbiased (or close enough) sources to see if that plan holds any water or not. 700 is getting close to what I pay for rent in Van.
it may have been crowded but that is way off where whistler was circa 1996 through 2002, when i was working up there driving taxi. At Christmas holidays, the town would cease to function because it was too crowded. 45 minute wait to get a cab to go from IGA in the marketplace to the benchlands….i used to tell people waiting that if they can walk they should.
Was up there week before Christmas. Taxi drivers say it is the worst ever even in 20 years. The taxi drivers are a good barometer and can always tell you the straight goods. Many groups of people that have historically come are not – especially Americans because of the passport requirement.
One more comment was also that Whistler is not well setup to attract the “uber” high-end clientele. It does not have the caliber of shopping that these people expect. When you go to Whistler – where is the street with all the global luxury brands? It’s a bit like going down Robson street compared to 5th avenue in New York – - it really has no comparison.
“Whistler is not well setup to attract the “uber” high-end clientele.”
I would say it depends. It’s true that luxury brands are not there, but Whistler as some amazing accommodations that would suit them.
Little anecdote. On the way back from Whistler, I stopped at one of the view point on the Sea to Sky highway. Gene Simmons (the guy from the Kiss band and from the reality TV show), his plastic-surgery-refurbished wife and daughter just parked next to us and too some pictures. I would assume they are not the only “uber high-end” clientele going to Whistler.
GET TO THE CHOPPA!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16405253