Ottawa Perspective – “People in Vancouver are so delusional that they can see a house for sale at double what one would pay elsewhere and feel that it’s a bargain.”

“I was out in Ottawa a few weeks ago visiting with family. It was interesting speaking with family friends who were absolutely aghast at the neighbour who had just listed their house. Can you believe it was listed at $375k??? I just laughed and said it was just a matter of perspective.
People out here in Vancouver are so delusional that they can see a house for sale at double [what one would pay elsewhere] and feel that it’s a bargain. All sense of reality is gone as it appears that many have lost sight of what the value of house actually is. It’s really sad.”
– Not much of a name… at vancouvercondo.info 8 Nov 2011

Poster ‘patriotz’ at VCI has revealed that they have moved from Vancouver to Ottawa, and posted [VCI 8 Nov 2011]:
“Another warm sunny day in Ottawa. Here’s what I get for having given up on the “best place on earth”:
– more cultural activities
– people who are polite and say hi to you on the street
– neighbourhoods that feel like neighbourhoods
– ethnic diversity but not segregation
– no homeless people outside of downtown
– breakins are regarded as newsworthy
– much better job opportunities”

Modest Ottawa Example – “I bought my house 18 years ago and paid $178,00 – now I am being told it it worth $375,000. This is crazy. My old job is only paying $3,000 a year more.”

“I bought my house 18 years ago and paid $178,000 – now I am being told it it worth $375,000. This is crazy. My wage has only gone up because I switched jobs. My old job is only paying $3,000 a year more. The only way I will realize a profit is if I sell and purchase a home outside the Ottawa market – hmm I still need to work. The house price is more driven by the cost of land so when we looked around for a smaller home – the price difference would only cover the cost of moving – no more. The only one who gained was the bank – we have paid them a lot of interest over the years.”
– DeborahS, comment at cbc.ca 12 Aug 2011 9:26am

This Ottawa example is extremely modest by Vancouver standards. That’s an annual compound growth rate of just 4.5%, but still more than twice the Canadian inflation rate over the same period (1993-2011 CPI averaged about 2%). -ed.

Federal Cabinet Minister Buys Ottawa House – 0% Downpayment; Price:Income 4:1

For Vancouver readers, perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this story is not that a Cabinet Minister is capable of hilarious indiscretions, or somehow has access to a 0%-down mortgage, but that a 2,800 sqft SFH in a “ritzy area” of our nation’s capital can sell for a mere $880K! Now THAT’S newsworthy. -vreaa

This extracted from the Ottawa Citizen, 2 Apr 2010, 10:32 am –

Embattled Status of Women Minister Helena Guergis may have one potential reason to resist calls for her resignation – a large mortgage on a new Ottawa home she recently purchased.

[2,800 sqft two storey home; Rockcliffe; Sale price $880K; Mortgage $880K]

The transaction was financed through a Bank of Nova Scotia branch in Edmonton, where Guergis’s husband, former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, held a seat until the last federal election. It is unclear if Guergis bought the house with no money down, or whether the bank rolled an additional line of credit or other loan onto the mortgage to bring it up to the full purchase price of the house.

Most home-buyers make a down-payment of 5 per cent or more of the purchase price of home to qualify for a government-insured mortgage, but there is nothing to stop a bank from lending the full amount of the property.

As a minister of state, Guergis earns $56,637 on top of her MP salary of $157,731.