Friday free-for-all

You know what day it is and what that means .. Here's your open topic for Friday March 30th. Whats going on out there?

- March numbers due out soon
- US Mortgage fraud investigation
- ARM fallout sad stories in Newsweek
- Purchase + improvement mortgages.
- Canadian 1st quarter sales still going strong.
- Bank of Canada concerned about US housing troubles

What are you seeing? Post your links, news & Anectdotes here!

Raising kids in a condo.

There's an interesting article in the Financial Post about a recent survey of Condo buyers in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal Calgary and Halifax. Amongst other things, the TD Canada Trust survey found that an increasing number of buyers are willing to raise a family in a condo:

The proportion who would consider raising a family in a condominium has increased significantly to 30 per cent from 20 per cent a year ago, TD Canada Trust said in releasing the results Wednesday.

However, it noted that 46 per cent also said too many children in a building would cause them not to buy a condo unit in it, while just five per cent said not enough children would be a reason not to buy.

While the vast majority of potential buyers also said living in an environmentally friendly building is an important factor, the results suggest having parking is even more important.

I think it's been fairly common for people to raise families in the downtown core here for a while - perhaps those other cities are just catching up? Are you raising a family in a condo? What are some of the pros and cons of living with children in a condo?

Lumber prices dropping.

It looks like we may not be totally immune to the housing market woes in the US - In the previous thread Freako posted this link: Lumber prices are down almost 25% from a year ago. How much of the BC economy is based on wood trade with the US?

Who wants to live in luxury?

..So who wants to live in luxury?

Everyone apparently. Just take a look around Vancouver at the thousands of new condo units currently under construction - its getting harder and harder to find housing that isn't marketed as
'luxurious'. From 'luxury' basement suites to 400 square foot 'luxury' condos in the downtown core, we must live in the most luxurious city on earth!

Friday free-for-all

Here's the open topic for Friday March 23rd. Some recent links of interest:

-First time buyers refuse to get priced out
-Maybe they're buying flipped houses
-Some realtors change the asking price after closing
-Sales up prices down in the USA

What are you seeing in your neighborhood / city / country? This is the place to post ideas, opinions, and links.

Long term boom style.

I've been thinking recently about how boom-times affect the 'personality' of a city. It seems to me that Vancouver is a very 'eighties' style city, likely due in part to the Expo 86 construction boom. All over this city you see eighties style glass roofs held up with powder coat trusses, lots of white and turquoise, and stylistic renovations that combine the architectural styles of multiple eras.

A couple of specific examples of this amalgam can be found at city square mall (12 & cambie) or Sinclair Center at Waterfront center. Both of these examples combine old stone architecture from the early twentieth century with the 'modern' style of the eighties.

I wonder about the long term mark that a boom puts on a city. I'm sure we all have our favorite type of architecture and can't agree on whats 'good' or 'bad' aesthetically, but what about construction standards? There are a large number of condominiums built in the eighties that had water ingress issues leading to the 'leaky condo crisis' of the nineties. Have we got that problem solved? Are the huge number of condo towers currently under construction being built to a solid reliable standard, or are we cutting corners and setting ourselves up for another construction quality crisis?

And when it comes to aesthetics, which new buildings will we look back on in twenty years and be proud of, and which ones will be the equivalent of blue eyeshadow, parachute pants and super high wall-o-bangs?

Vancouver just got more affordable!

According to this article in friday's Province, housing affordability just improved across canada, even right here in the GVRD! Won't this be good news for first time buyers!

In Greater Vancouver, the percentage of household income needed to service mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes actually improved in the fourth quarter of 2006. For a detached two-storey home, the measure dipped slightly from 74.9 per cent of median family income of about $58,000 in the third quarter to 73.5 in the fourth.

Vancouver's affordability metrics are in a sharp contrast to other Canadian cities. That same two-storey home requires 48.8 per cent in Toronto, 43.1 per cent in Calgary and 35.2 per cent in Ottawa.

The down-tick in Vancouver is hardly going to trigger a stampede of buyers to the detached-home market, said RBC assistant chief economists Derek Holt.

"In terms of one quarter's worth of evidence, this isn't going to make any material difference [in sales]," said Holt. "You almost have to get out the microscope to see the affordability improvements. But our view is this is the start of a trend that will unfold throughout the course of the year and will start to attract first-time buyers."

The condo and townhouse markets are still looking attractive to Vancouver first-time buyers. A townhouse required 51.6 per cent of household income, while a condo demanded 35.4 per cent.

Friday free-for-all

The end of the week is here again! Congratulations! You made it! Here's your open topic post to discuss whatever's on your mind. Here's a few things I noticed this week:

-Vancouver police want easier access to Condo buildings
-Scotiabank: Canadian economy will slow for 3rd year in a row.
-BC government wants expats to return.
-RBC says BC housing getting more affordable.
-US subprime mess keeps getting messier.

Whats the word on the street? The nitty-gritty? Post your links, news and anectdotes here!

owner / developer standoff.

Looking for a nice hill-top home? How about this one that stands alone in the middle of a 30 foot deep pit in Chongqing City China? The owner wants the equivalent of just under 3 million dollars CAD$ or he'll 'stay until the end of the world'.

The developer is using the time-tested 'dig a giant hole around your house' bargaining technique to encourage the owner to accept a lower price.

Open Question: Realtor pitches to sellers.

In the spirit of 'ask VHB' I'm posting an open question received via email regarding what realtors are saying to potential sellers in Vancouver these days:

We've all heard the realtor mantra 'Buy now or be priced out forever' but what are realtors saying to those that are on the fence about selling?Is there anyone out there that has sold recently that can enlighten us on what the sales pitch is on the other side of the market? The upsurge in listings recently in conjunction with the now obvious bad news in the United States suggests that they might be pushing for sellers to enter the market now in an effort to maximize revenue and commissions before the bottom falls out of the market.

I don't know if 'buy now or be priced out' is a realtor mantra, I think its more of a general fear amongst potential first time buyers, but I'd be interested in all angles of this question: if you're a realtor are you finding it easier or harder to find sellers? If you're looking to buy or sell what are you hearing from realtors? Is there any discussion about the US market popping up amongst local realtors?

My stocks stink.

Thats it! I'm cashing out all my stock and buying pre-sale condos in downtown Vancouver. US and Canadian markets had another stumble today on more bad news from the home-lending sector and fears of a wilting economy. Gold mining stocks lost their glitter today and sub-prime lender New Century Financial isn't looking so shiny either. Just how the hell is a fella s'posed to get rich these days?

The Mortgage Bankers Association said delinquencies among all borrowers reached the highest since the second quarter of 2003. Government data also showed February retail sales rose less than economists forecast, spurring concern department stores and discount retailers will be hurt by the fallout from the home-lending market.

``I would be very surprised if it didn't spread,'' said Alex Motola, who manages the $2 billion Thornburg Core Growth Fund in Santa Fe, New Mexico. ``The consumer is at risk again.''

Priced out forever!

The guys behind seattlebubble.com and socalbubble.com have put together a new site that addresses housing market issues, particularly the fear-inducing 'Priced Out Forever!' myth.

have you ever thought through what it would really mean if across the country, hundreds of thousands of people just like you really were being priced out forever? Who would buy homes? What would happen to the housing market as a whole? These are questions that are frequently ignored.
...
The absolute worst reason to buy a home is "I'm afraid that if I don't buy now I'll be priced out forever! The biggest financial decision in your life should be based on reason, logic, and sound financial planning, not fear.

Check it out at the easy to remember URL: pricedoutforever.com

friday free for all!

This is your open-topic for the weekend. I normally post this in the morning, but I was busy saving the world, hence the delay.

Some things I've noticed:
-Our Property taxes are going up to pay for a bigger translink.
-Denver Colorado lost four years of price gains in the last year.
-US housing continues to tank, D.R.Horton CEO says 07 will suck.
-Subprime lender New Century Financial halts all loan applications.
-People still lining up for condos in Vancouver, price spike in Nov.

What are you seeing around you on the housing front today? Share your links, anectdotes, news and opinions here!

Jurock: 'Make sure you want what you own'

Cecil posted a link to this video in the prior thread and I thought it was worth posting on its own - David Ingram & Ozzie Jurock discuss the real estate market. Ozzie say's he wouldn't buy a pre-sale in vacouver even if his 'life depended on it', calling the Vancouver market pure speculation, and suggests some better options for investment include Kamloops & Prince George.

US seeks stronger mortgage regulation

Meanwhile in America... Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is looking for stronger regulation of Mortgage markets in the US for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac going so far as to suggest today that their holdings should be linked to a “measurable public purpose, such as the promotion of affordable housing.”

His remarks come as worries about risky mortgages are making investors jittery. Those fears contributed to last week’s worldwide stock meltdown, where the Dow Jones industrials suffered a gut-wrenching 416-point plunge.

Lenders to subprime borrowers — people with blemished credit histories — have been battered. Rising interest rates and weak home prices have made it increasingly difficult for these borrowers — especially those with adjustable-rate mortgages — to keep up with their mortgage payments. Delinquencies and foreclosures in the subprime mortgage market are spiking.

Meanwhile his predecessor Alan Greenspan says today that there's only a 1/3rd chance of the US falling into recession this year:

“We are in the sixth year of a recovery; imbalances can emerge as a result,” Bloomberg quoted Greenspan as saying. “Ten-year recoveries have been part of a much broader global phenomenon”

..and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says not to worry, the housing credit worries are 'largely contained' and shouldn't pose a huge risk to the rest of the US economy:

“The global economy is more than sound,” Paulson said. ”It’s as strong in the last couple of years as I’ve seen in a lifetime."

..so there you go, problem solved.

Bubble Bucks

Hey, you never know..

Who owns your 'winter' in '2010'?

In order to protect our economy from an invasion of parasitic small family-owned businesses hitching a free ride on the Olympics 'brand', Industry minister Maxime Bernier has introduced bill C-47 which grants Vancouver Olympic organizers ownership over public use of exotic words like winter, gold, silver, bronze, sponsor, Vancouver, Whistler, 2010, tenth, medals, and games.

So if you had plans to run a seniors hockey tournament in 2010 and branding it 'the Vancouver 2010 silver winter games', just don't. ok?

Just to be safe, refrain from using any of the words listed above until 2011 and you should be ok. The last thing we want to do is infringe upon the fragile rights of the I.O.C.

Friday free-for-all

It's Friday and here's your open thread to discuss whatever's on your mind when it comes to the housing market and Vancouver. Post your links, anectdotes, numbers & news here.

Whats been going on this week?

-global stock market wobbles
-end of the month stats coming out soon
-rsp deadlines

Whats happening in your neck o' the woods?

Yaletown comes to surrey.

Asun sent in this shot of a skytrain ad he found on flickr.

Hows that boom working out for you?

We live in a time of unbridled prosperity, a boom time filled with opportunity and lots of chances to get filthy stinking rich... Unless you happen to be one of those Canadians that aren't already rich.

Marco sent in this story about a report released by the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives. Apparently the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer, we now have the widest wage gap we've seen in 30 years. From the Globe and Mail version of the story:

The rewards of Canada's booming economy are going disproportionately to a select few while the majority of Canadian families either falling behind or treading water, a new study suggests.

The report, released Thursday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says that the lion's share of Canada's economic growth is going to the richest 10 per cent of families, even as Canadian families put in more time at work.

“Canada's gap is growing at a time when Canadian families are playing by all the rules – working harder, contributing to a growing economy – but most aren't getting payback,” study author Armine Yalnizyan said in Thursday's report.

So how's that boom working out for you? Do you feel like you're getting ahead or falling behind? Can this disparity be pushed further or does 'something have to give'?

Heres the original report.