Canada's 'housing bubble' deemed close to bursting

[whatnext]

The Globe & Mail has done another great job of investigative reporting, revealing that developers essentially collude with realtors and other insiders to drive up condo prices through speculation.

Forcing developers to make preconstruction condo units available to all potential buyers at the same time and the same price is something B.C.’s Finance Minister says she is open to trying in order to help make real estate more affordable in and around Vancouver...

...Ms. James’s reaction comes after a Globe and Mail investigation found select realtors and speculators who buy multiple condos have preferential first access to the most sought-after units in Vancouver, through private deals with developers.

The probe also discovered a significant number of industry insiders − particularly realtors − are buying then flipping condos themselves, for six-figure profit, further squeezing tight supply and driving up prices for ordinary buyers...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/b...-to-exclusive-access-for-condo-presales/

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Nothing like trying to insult someone's intelligence and stumbling into a Rickyism

[giallo]

My wife just saw Kelowna pop up for the first time in a very popular Wechat real estate blog.

The article's focus was about Vancouver's unaffordability for Chinese investors, and how Kelowna is now the top place to invest in BC.

Brace yourself, Okanagan Valley.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Typical uninformed, "throw jello at the wall" approach of DoFo.

Rather than "throw jello" it's more like "fling feces".

[Docere]

The Whistler market has sure taken off. Rich getting richer I guess:

https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2018/0...canadas-craziest-real-estate-market.html

(Though I guess if anywhere in Canada is "supposed to" be a playground for the rich, it's there.)

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by giallo

My wife just saw Kelowna pop up for the first time in a very popular Wechat real estate blog.

The article's focus was about Vancouver's unaffordability for Chinese investors, and how Kelowna is now the top place to invest in BC.

Brace yourself, Okanagan Valley.

...with Kelowna and Vancouver people now moving/investing here.

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by Docere

The Whistler market has sure taken off. Rich getting richer I guess:

https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2018/0...canadas-craziest-real-estate-market.html

(Though I guess if anywhere in Canada is "supposed to" be a playground for the rich, it's there.)

Well it depends on who the Whistler Blackcomb marketing department is talking to and what image they want to present - they'll sometimes pretend it's a genuine ski bum snowy paradise, when really as you say it's just a playground for the rich. Which wouldn't be so bad if we had more options for skiing in Canada.

[MolsonExport]

what happened to Mr. "Learning Curb"?

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

what happened to Mr. "Learning Curb"?

It's 6am in Beijing. All People's Republic online bots are downloading trolling instructions until business hours kick in.

[ssiguy]

It really is a sad reflection of the power of the real estate cartels when they have such huge control over the Vancouver and BC media. Nearly all the investigations into the plethora of corruption and money laundering in the Vancouver real estate sector has come from the Globe and Mail.

You NEVER see any kind of investigative reporting from the Vancouver Sun, Province, and little from Global, or CTV until the news is reported by the G&M or CBC Toronto and then are forced to report and follow up.. Media in Vancouver has become so reliant, like everything else in the city, on the real estate sector that MSM refuses to investigate or report wrongdoings and civic politicians whip out the race card to shut down conversation.

Thankfully with the NDP in power, the BCLiberals no longer being able to bribe thre media, and investigative reports from Toronto, and a populace that has had with the denial, this is finally starting to change.

[logan5]

What is the NDP doing? Anything other than a drastic land use policy change is a band-aid solution. The reason why developers, realtors, investors can exploit this city is because our policy makers are too scared to make bold moves.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by milomilo

Well it depends on who the Whistler Blackcomb marketing department is talking to and what image they want to present - they'll sometimes pretend it's a genuine ski bum snowy paradise, when really as you say it's just a playground for the rich. Which wouldn't be so bad if we had more options for skiing in Canada.

Even the pathetic ski hills in Collingwood, Ontario are mostly closed off to everyone except very rich Torontonians.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by logan5

What is the NDP doing? Anything other than a drastic land use policy change is a band-aid solution. The reason why developers, realtors, investors can exploit this city is because our policy makers are too scared to make bold moves.

I think anything other than a drastic foreign ownership policy change is a band-aid solution. To me, building more suppply because too much of it is being bought by people who don't live here is akin to stocking your store with extra goods because people steal so much you don't have enough for shoppers to buy. The cynic in me thinks the supply-side people only believe this because they want to see the city become denser, for the sake of being more dense.

[MonkeyRonin]

The GTA housing market gradually returning to something a little more normal... (though condo prices are still on the rise)

GTA Home Sales and Prices Down in Latest TREB Report
May 3, 2018 11:30 am | by Jack Landau

The latest monthly market report issued by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) shows that the recent decline in new home sales is continuing in the Greater Toronto Area. A total of 7,792 sales were recorded in April 2018, marking the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. April’s figures represent a 32.1% decline over April 2017’s sales numbers. Among the various home type sales recorded, detached home sales priced at $2 million or higher saw a pronounced drop, only accounting for 5.5% of detached home sales versus the 10% recorded a year earlier.

The decline in sales levels is accompanied by a drop in the average selling price, down by 12.4% year-over-year and now sitting at an average of $804,584. Contrasting the year-over-year figures, the changes measured from March 2018 to April 2018 were less drastic, with sales only declining by 1.6% and selling prices by just 0.2%. When factoring year-over-year changes in the type of home sales, the MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark price declined only 5.2% versus the 12.4% overall decline in prices.

http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/05/gta-home-sales-and-prices-down-latest-treb-report

[Docere]

Gary Mason:

Unsurprisingly, we are already beginning to hear the cries of outrage from people, rich by any definition, who have been impacted by some of the tax measures the NDP government in Victoria has introduced to deal with a housing mess that developed under the previous Liberal administration. People seem to be particularly incensed with the 0.2-per-cent rate increase in the province’s school tax, applied to that portion of a property assessed above $3-million. (So, for a home valued at $3.5-million, for instance, the extra tax would amount to $1,000.)

Many people, including seniors on fixed incomes, complain that they don’t have the money to pay the increase in their tax bills. They do have the option of deferring property taxes until they sell their homes but many don’t want to do that. In that case, I’m not sure how they can still complain.

Opposition to the school tax is centred, in particular, on the west side of Vancouver, where there are many homes valued at $3-million or more. Attorney-General David Eby is the MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey, a west side area largely comprised of those extremely pricey properties. Mr. Eby recently cancelled a town-hall meeting in his constituency organized to allow people to voice their concerns about various issues.

Mr. Eby said that he could no longer guarantee the safety of the town-hall organizers and attendees after learning the event was going to be crashed by protesters upset about the school tax. Personally, I think he wanted to avoid being at the centre of an angry scene that would have dominated the news cycle in Metro Vancouver. It’s too bad he did.

There isn’t much sympathy for the west-side millionaires who believe they are being unfairly targeted. That is, outside the B.C. Liberal caucus and Leader Andrew Wilkinson, who has expressed great concern for their plight. Mr. Wilkinson lives on Vancouver’s west side himself. I’m not sure defending rich people upset over policies brought in, in part, to deal with a housing emergency his party refused to do anything about is a good look for the Liberals or Mr. Wilkinson.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/b...eting-in-value-and-i-couldnt-be-happier/

[travis3000]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

The GTA housing market gradually returning to something a little more normal... (though condo prices are still on the rise)






http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/05/gta-home-sales-and-prices-down-latest-treb-report

Last April was the peak of the frenzy. I'd expect less crazy year over year comparisons as we get into the summer months.

[osmo]

Originally Posted by Docere

Gary Mason:



https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/b...eting-in-value-and-i-couldnt-be-happier/

Classic case of the the house rich but cash poor seniors that have mansions but still have to buy frozen dinners. I don't feel sorry for them. Lots of equity burned away to keep on enjoying that West Vancouver lifestyle versus trying to be strategic and live within their means.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by osmo

Classic case of the the house rich but cash poor seniors that have mansions but still have to buy frozen dinners.

And you even forgot to use the most powerful argument - they can defer those taxes if they're too cash-poor to afford them while living (in that multi-million dollar house).

They're still going to be paying less than their fair share even after this tax increase, so there's no reason to feel sorry for them.

Actually I'd be hard-pressed to find a more extreme case of a Canadian paying less than their fair share than a low-education, low-income Vancouver resident who, thanks to a mortgage, managed to buy a well-located cheap bungalow in the 1970s, never paid much if any taxes on their minimal wage income during their lifetime, and is now retired, costing a fortune in healthcare in their old age, living modestly on pension income without paying any income tax, in a multi-million dollar free-and-clear home that costs nearly nothing in property taxes (and they don't even pay them until they die!)

[Denscity]

Next month is this thread's 7th anniversary congratulations everyone!

[someone123]

Originally Posted by lio45

Actually I'd be hard-pressed to find a more extreme case of a Canadian paying less than their fair share than a low-education, low-income Vancouver resident who, thanks to a mortgage, managed to buy a well-located cheap bungalow in the 1970s, never paid much if any taxes on their minimal wage income during their lifetime, and is now retired, costing a fortune in healthcare in their old age, living modestly on pension income without paying any income tax, in a multi-million dollar free-and-clear home that costs nearly nothing in property taxes (and they don't even pay them until they die!)

Also there are HELOCs. You don't have to move out of your multi-million dollar house to get cash to live off of. If you have a $2M house you can borrow $1.3M. Or you could of course sell your $2M house and buy a $1M condo and still be better off than most seniors out there, some of whom are living off of only CPP/OAS and struggle to afford any place to live.

This is one of the silliest sob stories going around today. Often what it is really about is preserving an inheritance for children, which is a much less compelling reason to give seniors special tax breaks. This amounts to taxing all of the children so certain lucky one with rich parents can get extra money!