“I met a friend’s friend who is a new immigrant. He bought two old houses, each at $700K – $800K, in Burnaby recently, and is going to tear them down, and build new. He asked me if I can help him to find one more.”

Thompson at RE Talks 28 Nov 2010 5:05pm – “A few days ago I met a friend’s friend who is a new immigrant. He bought two old houses, each at $700K – $800K, in Burnaby recently, and going to tear them down, and build new. One will be a home for his family, and one is the vacation house for his friends (still in China). And he ask me if I can help him to find one more in Coquitlam West as his “holding property”. So, I gave him a realtor’s name who I know well. On the way home, I can’t help but wondering: “Oh Lord, is it the beginning for Burnaby and Coquitlam NOW? ”

Opinion – “Vancouver bears better realize that there has been, and continues to be, a demographic and cultural shift. If you don’t want to buy into this new normative order, time to leave.”

“The New Normative Order” sounds a little Orwellian, but we’ll give this poster their due. In Vancouver, sales are in the bottom 30%-ile when compared with the last 10 years. The spring should be revealing, yes, but, until then, bears such as us have to admit that the fall market is showing more resilience than we’d anticipated. Prices are rather flat, but sales have bounced more than we’d have guessed since the summer. Is this noise? We’re not sure.
The chart above is adapted from those at agentwill.com (thanks Will). It deals with sales by week in the area that realtor Will follows, but it is pretty representative of what’s gone on in Vancouver as a whole.
Here follows a laying-out of the current ‘stick-it-to-the-bears’ case. It’s yet more of the ‘overwhelming-(Asian)-demand’ argument for Vancouver RE.
We archive it here to show that, at this point, it is still being yelled from various roof-tops. -vreaa

‘Flip Flop Vancouver’ at greaterfool.ca 1 Dec 2010 4:44am (! -ed.) –

“In Vancouver, aka crash ground zero, we have had over 100 percent list sell days for the past month, and its only November. We are back to multiple offers and over ask sales. Spring is going to be on fire.
The market has come back with a resurgence, and we are on track for a sales month that will be similar to the rest of the Novembers during the bull years.
Wow, Vancouver bears have been wrong for so long it must really hurt.
As for the Asian factor, yes, everyone with two eyes and half a brain can see that the offshore investment factor is real.
When 78% of the over 2 million dollar homes are being sold to asians, it is pretty clear that they are supporting the market (and yes, that is a real number, albeit from remax).
Gee, its hardly a surprise as Vancouver prices have gone pretty much up since the mid 80s, which correlates nicely with the beginning, and continuation, of the asian influx into Vancouver.
As long as offshore asian money, and asian immigrants come to Vancouver, prices are not going down.
While the rest of the bears patiently rent, and squirrel away the meagre difference between renting and buying, asians in Vancouver are easily amassing their down payments.

Keep in mind that renting is HUGELY stigmatized within the asian community. Asian children stay at home, with no costs, until they are married. Asian children DO NOT rent, preferring not to waste their money on rent, all the while amassing their down payments. It is not rocket science – even when earning average pay, the stay at home potential first time asian buyer can get a much bigger down payment much faster then those renting.
Also, extended family immigrants all pool their resources to buy real estate with the asian community. Four individuals working average jobs can pay off a home much faster than a high income couple. They are more prone to buy investment properties with little down payments as well.

Sorry bears, but the norms, values and traditions of the soon to be dominant group in Vancouver trump those of the soon to be minority group in Vancouver. This demographic does not share in the traditional idea of going out on one’s own, renting a crappy apartment, deferring gratification, and struggling to amass a down payment. Instead, it is much smarter to live at home, not have any bills, and amass a massive DP that allows you to pay off your mortgage faster, and leverage your equity quicker for another property.
But hey, its not like I am pontificating the effect of asian buyers in a local market 3000 miles away from the action. Lol.

Vancouver bears better realize that there has been, and continues to be, a demographic and cultural shift. If you don’t want to buy into this new normative order, time to leave.”