The BC Real Estate Discussion Thread

[Chicken.]

1 hour ago, kingofsurrey said:

BROKEN BC

 

http://www.theprovince.com/news/local+news/average+vancouver+rental+price+bedroom+apartment+2c950/13450146/story.html

 

 

 

Median average June rental price of a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver is now $1,950 

 

The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom unit in Vancouver is $3,150, compared to $2,300 in Toronto.

Wow I knew (thought) rent was high in Coquitlam, but that is really eye-popping

[Lancaster]

2 hours ago, Harvey Spector said:

So condos in New West have broken $900 per foot. And the new Bosa towers on the Fraser River will hit $1000 per foot or more when they are pre-sold. 

 

Condos in Port Moody are going to hit $900 per foot as well. Burnaby has already hit $1000 per foot.  The new JOYCE project at Kingsway and Vanness in East Van. is at $1100 per foot. Don't even wanna talk about Downtown. 

 

Basically if you bought a condo last year in the suburbs you can flip it right now for between a $100-$150k profit. 

 

God help us all...

Someone is offering me like $700k for my 2br condo in East Van which I got 2 years back at originally $475k (which I thought was already way overpriced).  

 

Part of me just feel like taking the money and run..... or maybe just HELOC that place, withdraw $100k from my investments and then just purchase another property and help contribute into the buying frenzy....

[Harvey Spector]

First there was shadow flipping, now there is shadow banking...  

 

Risky mortgages, shadow bankers threaten Vancouver housing market's stability

SAM COOPER
More from Sam Cooper

Published on: June 17, 2017 | Last Updated: June 17, 2017 1:37 PM PDT

 

First in a two-part series.

 

Massive and risky home loans are increasing in number across Metro Vancouver, while mortgage fraud cases are also on the rise, connected to the growth of so-called “shadow banking,” a Postmedia investigation shows.

 

The trend of increasingly risky loans underlying Metro Vancouver’s high home prices is illustrated by Bank of Canada figures that show the rapid growth since 2014 of large mortgages made to people with relatively low incomes.

 

This is a growing danger for Vancouver’s real estate market, because under new tighter lending standards introduced for banks in fall 2016, the Bank of Canada says that many of these big mortgages can no longer be insured, and won’t be issued again by federally regulated lenders. 

 

As a result of the tighter federal lending rules, borrowers trying to buy million-dollar-plus properties in Vancouver’s market are increasingly taking out dangerous loans from shadow bankers in a fast-growing and poorly regulated financial market. 

 

There is also evidence of growing links between shadow banks and traditional banks, according to the Bank of Canada’s June 2017 report, as people borrow large amounts from shadow lenders to use as down payments in order to qualify for lower-interest loans from federally regulated banks.

 

“Price increases in Vancouver and Toronto have an element of speculation to them,” Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said last week, while issuing the bank’s biannual financial system review. The review showed “riskier characteristics are increasingly evident” in new mortgages.

 

A December 2016 Bank of Canada report estimates shadow lenders now account for $1.1 trillion in debt — about half as much as the traditional banking sector — and that over the past decade “these new players have become more important and have changed the face of the Canadian mortgage market … (as) tightening bank regulation can lead to migration of activity from the traditional banking sector to the shadow banking sector.”

 

Shadow lenders are non-bank lenders that increase the supply of credit in Canada’s financial system, without facing the regulatory oversight of banks. Critics say shadow banking is vulnerable to loose lending standards, mortgage fraud, money laundering, and collateral that is overly leveraged (also called re-hypothecated) — meaning debt backed by property assets is used over and over again by related lenders to issue more home loans, in ever riskier chains of debt.

 

Shadow lenders identified by Postmedia through a review of B.C. civil court filings, lending documents and regulatory filings, include mortgage investment corporations, hedge funds, and private lenders such as realtors, crowdfunding companies, real estate lawyers and mortgage brokers.

 

A number of cases involving these lenders contain allegations with characteristics similar to the fraudulent loans exposed in the aftermath of the U.S. subprime lending crisis of 2008. Postmedia’s review of over 30 regulatory or civil court cases shows a trend of allegations that home buyers and real estate professionals are involved in deceptive mortgage applications that include exaggerating the incomes of borrowers, forged documents of home ownership used by multiple borrowers to obtain mortgages, phoney claims of offshore assets used to back home loans, falsely inflated collateral accepted by subprime lenders to fund real estate development loans, and falsified CRA tax return documents.

 

For Hilliard MacBeth, an Alberta-based author and wealth manager, the Bank of Canada loan risk statistics and the related growth of shadow banking in Vancouver and Toronto herald a crisis.

 

“These properties in Vancouver are so expensive that you need people either laundering money or loan fraud or people borrowing such large amounts of money that should never be allowed, in order to keep it going,” MacBeth said. “If everyone is reporting their incomes honestly in Vancouver, there is no way that housing prices can stay where they are.”

 

In B.C., the provincial regulator B.C. Financial Institutions Commission, known as Ficom, is in charge of monitoring the growing shadow banking sector.

 

Postmedia’s review of Ficom enforcement hearings shows an increase in the number of alleged mortgage fraud cases in B.C., mostly linked to private mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers.

 

“We have experienced an increase in mortgage broker complaints in the last few years,” Chris Carter, acting registrar of mortgage brokers, confirmed. “About a third of our investigations relate to application fraud.”

 

The Bank of Canada warns of two key risks in Canada’s housing market. 

The first is that property prices and household debt have reached such extremes in Vancouver and Toronto, that “just about anything” could trigger a correction, Poloz said last week. Highly indebted borrowers could be forced to sell in a correction, the Bank of Canada says, leading to further selling, tighter lending, and a potential domino effect on banks and shadow banks. 

 

The other elevated risk is the potential for a shock from China’s volatile economy. China has its own shadow banking problems, the Bank of Canada says.

 

In China, “linkages between the banking and shadow banking systems are also becoming more complex and opaque, increasing the underlying credit risk,” the Bank of Canada’s December 2016 risk report says. “The experience of the 2007-09 global financial crisis showed that financial stability can be threatened by vulnerabilities originating in the shadow banking sector.”

 

As a result of the flood of money pouring from Mainland China into Vancouver real estate in recent years, some financial experts say they believe Canadian banks are directly exposed to shadow lending in China and the risks of so-called “ghost collateral” — meaning collateral that may not exist or is used continuously to secure loans for multiple borrowers.

Postmedia confirmed that Canadian banks are allowed by the federal regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, to accept collateral from China to secure real estate mortgages in B.C.

 

“OSFI does not dictate what type of collateral (federally regulated banks) can accept,” spokeswoman Annik Faucher said. “Whether the borrower is foreign or domestic, OSFI (allows) financial institutions to compete effectively and take reasonable risks.”

 

One U.S. hedge fund manager, who did not want to be identified, said: “We all know that the ghost collateral is a huge deal, and we all know that the shadow banking and other Chinese influence in Vancouver is profound. The issue it that the ghost collateral ends up re-hypothecated and laundered. So by the time it shows up in Vancouver, it will likely just look like a rich Chinese cash buyer with a suitcase of money. “

 

RISKY LOANS SPREAD

 

The spread of high risk loans in Metro Vancouver can be seen in Bank of Canada maps that show where new ‘high-ratio’ loans — meaning the buyer makes less than a 20 per cent down payment on a home purchase and borrows the rest — have been issued. If the value of the loan is 450 per cent of annual income or more, the borrower is considered particularly vulnerable. The Bank of Canada will not reveal the number of high-ratio loans issued in Metro Vancouver, but says they are concerned with the rapid growth in these loans. In 2014, across Metro Vancouver, 31 per cent of new high-ratio mortgages were at least 450 per cent of the borrower’s income. In the second half of 2015, this figure rose to 37 per cent. By late 2016, it was 39 per cent.

 

The Bank of Canada says that under the new tighter federal rules, about 43 per cent of the high-ratio loans issued in Vancouver between September 2015 and September 2016 would have been rejected. This means either that an increasing portion of buyers in Metro Vancouver will be unable to get loans in the future or that the shadow lenders will fill the void.

 

There are four areas across Metro Vancouver in which more than 50 per cent of new high ratio loans are above 450 per cent loan to income. In an indication of rapid price rises or extreme speculation, South Vancouver, a neighbourhood bordering Granville Street and just north of Richmond, had an explosion in high ratio loans in 2016, from very few in 2015. The other three areas at the top of Bank of Canada’s risk scale, at over 450 per cent loan-to-income, are Burnaby’s South Slope neighbourhood, a northern part of Richmond, and a northern part of Delta. 

 

GROWTH OF SHADOW BANKING AND GHOST COLLATERAL

 

Shadow lending can be as simple as a mortgage loan provided by one person to another in need of financing, or as Byzantine as the complex processes through which credit is created and exchanged and repackaged between various lenders to fund mortgages.

For example, the director of a Surrey lumber and real estate investment company explained to Postmedia that his group’s business model consists of pooling the real estate assets of an extended group of family and shareholders, and using these homes as collateral to borrow money from financial institutions. The borrowed capital is then issued in mortgages to home buyers that can’t obtain financing from chartered banks.

 

In another example researched by Postmedia, lending documents show that controversial “crowdfunding” developers are using single-family homes owned by investors in Vancouver to secure loans from subprime lenders that are active in B.C. in order to fund condo developments in Vancouver and Burnaby.

 

Ben Rabidoux, a Canadian analyst who provides housing research to investors, said that his research with on-the-ground mortgage brokers suggests that loan fraud is a systemic concern in Ontario and B.C.

 

“The shadow market is absolutely booming,” Rabidoux said. “Of course B.C. has a mortgage fraud problem, but you won’t really see it until there is a problem with collateral in the system.”

Ghost collateral is explained in a recent investigation from Reuters that concludes that China’s financial system faces a potential collapse similar to the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, due to “massive credit expansion,” and “collateral risks” connected to $17.2 trillion in outstanding loans as of April, up from $5.8 trillion in 2009.

 

The report says that 60 per cent of all loans issued in China’s system are backed by property, and that China’s property values are “wildly misleading” — which is part of the reason that China’s credit rating was recently downgraded. Reuters reported that Chinese lenders are prone to fraud “with loan officers turning a blind eye to the quality of collateral and knowingly accepting dubious and even fraudulent documents.”

 

In Part 2 of this story on Monday, Postmedia News will look at a growing number of loan fraud cases in Metro Vancouver’s red hot real estate market, and criticism that the provincial government has too few fraud investigators.

 

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/vancouver-real-estate-in-the-red

[-DLC-]

http://www.theprovince.com/News/13456427/story.html

 

Part two of two

A review of B.C. regulatory filings points to a growing number of mortgage fraud cases involving fake incomes, phoney offshore collateral, and false tax information in schemes allegedly connected to real estate professionals operating in B.C.’s growing shadow banking sector.

Postmedia reported Saturday that shadow lenders — non-banks that are not federally regulated — have rapidly increased their share of Canada’s mortgage market in recent years, as Ottawa has tightened lending standards for Canadian banks. Many of the big loans issued in Vancouver prior to 2017 won’t be insured again, a Bank of Canada risk report says. As a result, according to a number of experts, an increasing number of borrowers are turning to shadow banks for loans in Vancouver’s hot market, and the private lenders in this growing sector are more prone to fraud and careless lending. 

Chris Carter, B.C. registrar of mortgage brokers at B.C.’s Financial Institutions Commission, or Ficom, said the agency is experiencing an increase in mortgage fraud complaints, and “recently recruited dedicated staff to implement a more ambitious program of risk-based examinations.”

Ficom’s stats show complaints roughly doubled from 109 in 2013 to about 200 in 2016, and about a third of complaints allege loan application fraud.

Canadian housing analysts Hilliard MacBeth, Ben Rabidoux and Vancouver short-seller David LePoidevin say mortgage fraud cases they are seeing in B.C. are similar to the dodgy loans that were exposed after the U.S. subprime meltdown of 2008. All three analysts said they expect B.C.’s fraud problems will be exposed when prices correct and the real estate collateral that backs loans is reduced in value, which could trigger a domino-like drop in the market.

“I’m selling my home in West Vancouver,” LePoidevin said. “I think we could see a disaster in B.C.”

A number of cases reviewed in Postmedia’s investigation illustrate the creative documentation and methods that some borrowers and brokers appear to be using to get home loans in Metro Vancouver.

In a March 2017 notice of hearing, Ficom alleges that a sub-mortgage broker from Surrey named Dennis Rego, of the company Shank Capital Systems, provided fabricated home purchase and sale contracts, and faked income and offshore collateral information, for numerous mortgage applications made for several closely related borrowers. The borrowers included two families who were seeking financing for three multi-million-dollar homes in Vancouver’s South Granville area.

Since about 2010, this area of Vancouver has become synonymous with speculation and offshore investment, veteran realtors say.

For one of the borrowers, Ficom alleges, Rego submitted at least seven misleading mortgage applications. At first, the unidentified borrower was reported to be a “cook” with a $50,000 annual income and Canadian savings of $85,000. Next, the borrower was said to be a mechanical engineer, then an “assistant chef.” In yet another application, the borrower was reported to be a “real estate investor” who had Canadian savings of $800,000, foreign savings of $500,000, and offshore real estate investments worth $5 million. Finally, the borrower was reported to be the part-owner of a related borrower’s company, and reportedly possessed “foreign liquid assets” worth $400,000, and offshore real estate worth $1.5 million.

Rego’s company is now closed, a number he was listed at is out of service, and he could not be reached. None of the allegations has been proven and no defence has been called yet.

In another Ficom notice of hearing, posted in March, staff accused sub-mortgage broker Anil Kumar Singh of submitting false financial information for at least six different borrowers, including a self-employed nail salon worker, a personal maid, a self-employed construction worker, a fish filleter, and a self-employed landscaper. Singh failed to confirm the accuracy of documents for another 22 mortgage applications, and submitted altered Canada Revenue Agency documents, according to the Ficom allegations. 

In an interview with Postmedia, Singh said he strongly denies the allegations, and that he believes fraud is widespread in B.C.’s mortgage lending industry because brokers are poorly trained to verify loan application information, and speculative buyers are gaming the system.

“The market in the Lower Mainland is like a wildfire, because people are borrowing in a huge way,” said Singh. “And foreign buyers have impacted the market, because of the loopholes in the lending system. How can people buy a $2.5-million home when they have hardly any income?”

Singh said that Ficom is unfairly cracking down on him because of a half-dozen erroneous notice of tax assessment documents that he believes borrowers submitted to him, knowing they were false, when he was an inexperienced broker.

“I don’t want to hide anything because I’m not guilty. The training for mortgage brokers is almost zero,” Singh said. “It is the clients that are doing wrong, because they don’t have any fear. I think it is a big gang operating in the market.”

Singh believes lenders are often complicit in accepting fraudulent loan applications. 

“They have well-trained staff. How can they miss all these cases?”

In another case, involving tax documents, an agreed statement of facts in a 2016 Ficom consent order states that while working for Dominion Lending Centres Gold Financial Services, Jorawar Gosal “altered” borrowers’ Canada Revenue Agency documents in order to inflate incomes for mortgage applications. Gosal was reached at the phone number listed in an online ad that says he is a real estate agent in Surrey. In a brief call, Gosal said that he is not a real estate agent, and that he has no comment on Ficom’s consent order. 

Details of a Ficom cease and desist order, which Ficom filings say was issued without a hearing due to the seriousness of the allegations, indicate Ficom staff investigated Rani Kaur Gill, an unregistered broker. Calls by Postmedia to Gill’s listed number have not been returned.

Gill placed an ad with an unidentified realtor, the investigation showed, which said: “When everyone says ‘No’ call Rani and get your mortgage done.”

Gill’s clients did not speak English, and included new immigrants, first-time home buyers, and those with low income and bad credit, according to the investigation. Ficom employed undercover investigators to do a sting, the order says, and an investigator posed as a property buyer. Ficom alleges that Gill told the undercover investigator that she would falsely tell lenders that he lived in a property that he planned to rent out, and this would get him a better deal with the bank, and save him money on taxes when he sold the property. And if he needed to borrow money to meet a loan’s downpayment requirements, Gill said, “then we make a gift letter. Then we tell them my parents, or whatever, they’re going to give us a gift.”

None of the allegations has been proven and no defence has been called yet.

Other Ficom investigations involve mortgage investment corporations, which are a growing portion of B.C.’s shadow banking market, but are not always visible to Ficom.

“We don’t have statistics on mortgage investment corporations (as) most are not publicly traded,” Carter said. “But we monitor that sector very closely.”

On Friday, the executive director of the B.C. Securities Commission issued a notice of hearing alleging three men and two mortgage investment corporations “committed fraud.”

From 2011 into 2013, respondents Donald Bruce Wilson, David Scott Wright, and Patrick Prinster, “raised approximately $1.1 million from 40 investors,” and told investors their money would be invested “in mortgages secured by real estate,” the notice of hearing alleged. Instead of investing in mortgages, the mortgage investment corporations put “the majority of the investors’ money to other companies related to the respondents, business expenses, and commissions to finders,” the notice alleged.

None of the allegations has been proven and no defence has been called yet.

In an April 2017 notice of hearing, Ficom alleged that Dominion Lending Centres submortgage broker Gordon Lemon altered a bank draft, misappropriated investor funds, and was guilty of misconduct in relation to three registered mortgage investment corporations, and one unregistered mortgage investment corporation. Postmedia’s efforts to reach Lemon were not successful. None of the allegations has been proven and no defence has been called yet.

In another Ficom case, an April 2017 notice of hearing alleges that Kevin Bownick of Port Moody failed to answer a summons and either “withheld, destroyed, concealed or refused to produce records” requested by Ficom investigators. Ficom investigators are trying to determine whether Bownick’s company, Como Lake Ventures Ltd., “is carrying on a business of lending money secured in whole or in part by mortgages,” with the proper registrations, or not.

An online ad for Kevin Bownick’s services says that “Kevin specializes in helping to match clients needing private second mortgages with investors willing to fund them … (he) understands how difficult it is sometimes for people to find bank financing.”

The ad says that services of brokers in the company include: “High-ratio Mortgages up to 100% financing on either a purchase or refinance; offshore investor mortgages; rental/investment Mortgages; 2nd mortgages.”

Calls to Bownick at Como Lake Ventures were not returned. None of the allegations has been proven and no defence has been called yet.

In an interview, NDP MLA David Eby said he was concerned by the findings in Postmedia’s investigation. He said he believes Ficom hasn’t kept up with risks from the growth of shadow banking and loan fraud because the B.C. Liberal government understaffed Ficom. He said millions in fees from regulated industries, money that was intended to fund Ficom auditors, was instead put into general provincial revenues by the Ministry of Finance. A new NDP-Green government would make sure these fees go to staffing, Eby said, to “make sure we have sufficient auditors in place at Ficom, to make sure B.C. citizens are protected from a shock related to shoddy lending or fuzzy collateral.” 

Eby pointed to the July 2016 report by B.C. auditor general Carol Bellringer, which noted Ficom’s lack of investigators for B.C. credit unions and pointed to understaffing concerns for other regulated entities. Bellringer said Ficom received adequate funding to hire staff via fees from regulated industries but the government did not “green-light” the needed hires.

“It’s like having a smoke detector in your house, but not buying the batteries,” Bellringer said in her report. “No batteries, no early warning system.”

Eby also points to a statement that he received from Ficom head Carolyn Rogers in 2016.

Rogers said the Bellringer report “reflects problems that I have been warning government about for the past three years. A regulator that draws funding from fees paid by the entities it regulates requires the freedom to spend those fees appropriately and for the sole purpose of regulation.”

In response to Eby’s criticism, a spokesperson for Finance Minister Mike de Jong told Postmedia that understaffing at Ficom was limited to staff overseeing credit unions.

“Regulatory staffing at Ficom on the mortgage broker and real estate side has not experienced the retention issues that the financial institutions division has,” a Ministry response says. “And enforcement regarding mortgage broker misconduct continues to be proactive.” 

scooper@postmedia.com

 

 

 

Supply and demand my behind...it's these games that are being played that are impacting things here.  Despite some assertions in the past that it's all just part of doing business.  Shady business, that needs to be addressed.  Love how people in this story plead innocent based on lack of training.  Sure.  So, basically, admitting that he doesn't know his job...that should give people confidence in dealing with him.

[Harvey Spector]

The government has failed us.  The real estate industry has been shady for decades, nothing has ever been done about it.  Only last year when all the shadow flipping evidence came out did the real estate industry actually hire an arms length Superintendent of Real Estate to oversee all the shady dealings of realtors and get some of them suspended as well as their offices and managing brokers.  Then the government finally steps in with a foreign buyers tax after prices are already through the roof to try and curb the market.

 

Now we find out the lending side of the market is just as shady as the real estate side.  And they admit to a lack of enforcement in their industry and allow brokers to basically falsify documents to get mortgages approved.  It looks like the mortgage industry also needs an overhaul and needs to get rid of these shady brokers.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with the market moving forward.  If this condo market craziness that is happening right now is indeed the result in part because of shadow mortgage brokers getting deals done by faking documents and approving people who would otherwise be declined by a bank, then there could very well be a correction in the market sooner rather than later.  The condo market is completely out of control at the moment. I wrote an offer on the weekend for a one bedroom in New West, list price was $388,000 and my client wrote $440,000.  Yes we got the deal and won the bidding war, my client is happy.  But when I looked at the price I put on the contract I pretty much became numb.  This condo would have sold in the $350's last summer.  Unbelievable. Like I said before I just write the contracts now, I don't even look at the prices.  Too depressing.  Our City has been ruined and is completely unaffordable for the average Vancouverite.  Maybe the end of this madness is near.  Who knows.  I'm not holding my breath.  Let's see what happens this fall.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Harvey Spector

[apollo]

1 minute ago, Harvey Spector said:

The government has failed us.  The real estate industry has been shady for decades, nothing has ever been done about it.  Only last year when all the shadow flipping evidence came out did the real estate industry actually hire an arms length Superintendent of Real Estate to oversee all the shady dealings of realtors and get some of them suspended as well as their offices and managing brokers.  Then the government finally steps in with a foreign buyers tax after prices are already through the roof to try and curb the market.

 

Now we find out the lending side of the market is just as shady as the real estate side.  And they admit to a lack of enforcement in their industry and allow brokers to basically falsify documents to get mortgages approved.  It looks like the mortgage industry also needs an overhaul and needs to get rid of these shady brokers.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with the market moving forward.  If this condo market craziness that is happening right now is indeed the result in part of shadow mortgage brokers getting deals done by faking documents and approving people who would otherwise be declined by a bank, then there could very well be a correction in the market sooner rather than later.  The condo market is completely out of control at the moment.  I wrote an offer on the weekend for a one bedroom in New West, list price was $388,000 and my client wrote $440,000.  Yes we got the deal, my client is happy.  But when I looked at the price I put on the contract I pretty much became numb.  this condo would have sold in the $350's last summer.  Unbelievable.  Like I said before I just write the contracts now, I don't even look at the prices.  Too depressing.  Our City has been ruined and is completely unaffordable for the average Vancouverite.  Maybe the end of this madness is near.  Who knows.  I'm not holding my breath.  Let's see what happens this fall.

Man... that's what I keep hearing from my realtor friends too. I've been on the market like a hawk hoping to break in... compared to 18 months ago, all I've seen is my price range getting more and more un-affordable. Things going 30-50% over last years assessments and now this year still 10-30% over their current assessments.  I really don't know what I have to do now... but at this point, I think the prices have gone up so much that I'm better of continuing to pay cheap rent and save up hoping for a small crash. 

 

My alternative is to strike at a 500sqft'ish condo DT at just under 500k to live in as low end of a condo as possible dt or get something slightly larger in kits that's a low rise. 

 

Just not worth the stress.

[Harvey Spector]

Documentary “Vancouver: No Fixed Address” explores the city’s housing crisis

 

A new documentary says Vancouver is experiencing a housing crisis so severe that many of its residents have been forced out into the streets. Some live in tents, others in vehicles. It’s not entirely surprising in a city where the average house price is $1.7 million and the minimum wage is $11 an hour.

The many causes of the crisis and how people are dealing with it are explored in the documentary, Vancouver: No Fixed Address, which had its world premiere at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto in May. We caught up with Vancouver-based director and producer Charles Wilkinson to discuss his latest work. The following has been edited for length.

 

Why did you make this film?

 

In my city, Vancouver, and in many of the cities around the world, inequality is growing at an astounding pace. We now often see homeless people sprawled on the sidewalk as cars drive by that cost as much as a house. In Vancouver, the engine that’s driving the growing disparity between the haves and have-nots is housing. Landowners’ wealth increases daily. The lot of renters diminishes daily. As well, there are a number of significant societal changes taking place – for example millennials who choose not to take on 30-year mortgages and are searching for alternatives. Amidst all of this we hear a debate raging that is often characterized by misinformation, anger, racism and misdirection. This is a story that involves all of us.

It’s one worth telling.

 

Some of the contributing causes of the current housing crisis – lack of housing supply, government inaction, greed, foreign ownership, the fact that some of the biggest donors to political parties are real estate developers, loopholes in rent control, the arrival of Airbnb – have previously been documented in the media. What new information do you feel you uncovered?

 

There are multiple facts in the film that are pretty mind blowing. Like that 90 per cent of the condos built in the city are purchased by speculators. Like the fact that this housing issue is merely a symptom of a far greater problem – namely that successive business-first governments have encouraged the looting of our natural world such that our economy’s former staples – timber, fish and minerals – are largely gone and with them all those jobs and taxes. So our governments have created a flurry of economic activity around real estate speculation. It’s one of the last things of value that we have to sell in order to facilitate the continued lavish, unsustainable lifestyle to which we’ve all grown accustomed.

 

One of the residents featured in the film is a pensioner who lives in his van. Are there others like him?

 

Yes, hundreds. There are side streets in downtown Vancouver where every second parked vehicle is someone’s abode.

 

During a Q&A after the film’s screening at Hot Docs, you mentioned that even wealthy people are being negatively affected. How so?

 

What we have found really surprising is that almost no one we talked to is happy with the situation. People who are doing really well, whose houses are assessed for a lot more money, are concerned that our communities are disintegrating because they’re filled with vacant houses. Even the kids of wealthy people can’t afford to have children, that means we don’t get grandchildren. So it’s cutting across all economic lines.

 

Aside from real estate marketer and “Condo King” Bob Rennie, you didn’t feature any real estate agents in the film.

 

No, no agents per se, although we did consult with a number of them. For obvious reasons, few Realtors are in a position to speak freely. Many who spoke off the record expressed fear and frustration that the runaway market is destroying their communities. We did include Bob Rennie, whose point of view can be condensed as “we need to build more”. It’s an argument that many disagree with.

 

You say Vancouver house prices are the highest in the country. How high are they?

 

The price of detached houses sold in Greater Vancouver in April averaged $1.76-million, down 3.2 per cent compared with $1.82-million in February 2016. By contrast, average condo prices in the area over the past year have jumped 13.7 per cent to $603,737, while average townhome prices have risen 10.8 per cent to $827,893. This in a city where minimum wage is $11 an hour.

 

Any final thoughts?

 

A previous film of mine was Oil Sands Karaoke. It was made at the height of the oil boom with prices well over $100/barrel. In the oil patch, in Ft. Mac you couldn’t find a single person who thought it would ever end. Sustained high oil prices were invincible. Just like today sustained high housing prices are invincible. We know what happened to the oil patch.

Vancouver is not unique in this. International money, much of it anonymous and of questionable origin is sloshing around the globe looking for a return. We could, as do some other jurisdictions, make speculation less attractive. But we don’t. The amount of cash at play is just too tempting.

Unfortunately, as always happens, at the end of the day the profits will be taken away, the Porsches will rust, the motorboats will sink, the expensive wine will be drunk and the hangover will commence. It’s going to be a doozy.

 

http://www.remonline.com/documentary-vancouver-no-fixed-address-explores-citys-housing-crisis/

 

 

[BaiNongMin]

I have some issues with this documentary film maker. Firstly, we need to stop appealing to min wage workers as if they have the means to buy houses. They don't that's why they work for min wage, theyre literally not worth anything more than what they get paid. Many of these min wage workers are immigrants whom the government seems dead set on importing on a large scale, which is painfully stupid seeing is how automation will slowly/ pretty quickly take the majority of these min wage service jobs. Infuriatingly enough the new arrivals are gobbling up a huge portion of our welfare system and will only continue to do so after the min wage jobs disappear. Secondly, our industries are not "gone", the government simply put a halt on them due to green energy concepts and government subsidies to those projects. Of course businesses don't want to invest in BC its too risky, they would much rather go to Saskatchewan. Especially since they are taxing those businesses to death with all this CO2 taxes and commercial taxes that kill jobs. Ive also hard of a movement tax soon to be implemented by the government that will tax people based on the amount of KMs you drive, ridiculous. Lastly, racism is the most ridiculous argument I have ever heard. Its not racist to realize the majority of the buyers market is money coming from a communist nation with money that they aren't able to trace all the way back to its origin. Somehow single mothers are the principle buyer with no income of multi million dollar homes? obviously there is corruption, just look at the amount of Chinese only real estate agents that have flooded the market, they only deal with their own. Failure to see this and shutting down the conversation with shouts of racism is counter productive.

 

Thoughts?

[PhillipBlunt]

29 minutes ago, BaiNongMin said:

I have some issues with this documentary film maker. Firstly, we need to stop appealing to min wage workers as if they have the means to buy houses. They don't that's why they work for min wage, theyre literally not worth anything more than what they get paid. Many of these min wage workers are immigrants whom the government seems dead set on importing on a large scale, which is painfully stupid seeing is how automation will slowly/ pretty quickly take the majority of these min wage service jobs. Infuriatingly enough the new arrivals are gobbling up a huge portion of our welfare system and will only continue to do so after the min wage jobs disappear. Secondly, our industries are not "gone", the government simply put a halt on them due to green energy concepts and government subsidies to those projects. Of course businesses don't want to invest in BC its too risky, they would much rather go to Saskatchewan. Especially since they are taxing those businesses to death with all this CO2 taxes and commercial taxes that kill jobs. Ive also hard of a movement tax soon to be implemented by the government that will tax people based on the amount of KMs you drive, ridiculous. Lastly, racism is the most ridiculous argument I have ever heard. Its not racist to realize the majority of the buyers market is money coming from a communist nation with money that they aren't able to trace all the way back to its origin. Somehow single mothers are the principle buyer with no income of multi million dollar homes? obviously there is corruption, just look at the amount of Chinese only real estate agents that have flooded the market, they only deal with their own. Failure to see this and shutting down the conversation with shouts of racism is counter productive.

 

Thoughts?

Break it into two paragraphs.

[PhillipBlunt]

19 hours ago, Harvey Spector said:

The government has failed us.  The real estate industry has been shady for decades, nothing has ever been done about it.  Only last year when all the shadow flipping evidence came out did the real estate industry actually hire an arms length Superintendent of Real Estate to oversee all the shady dealings of realtors and get some of them suspended as well as their offices and managing brokers.  Then the government finally steps in with a foreign buyers tax after prices are already through the roof to try and curb the market.

 

Now we find out the lending side of the market is just as shady as the real estate side.  And they admit to a lack of enforcement in their industry and allow brokers to basically falsify documents to get mortgages approved.  It looks like the mortgage industry also needs an overhaul and needs to get rid of these shady brokers.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with the market moving forward.  If this condo market craziness that is happening right now is indeed the result in part because of shadow mortgage brokers getting deals done by faking documents and approving people who would otherwise be declined by a bank, then there could very well be a correction in the market sooner rather than later.  The condo market is completely out of control at the moment. I wrote an offer on the weekend for a one bedroom in New West, list price was $388,000 and my client wrote $440,000.  Yes we got the deal and won the bidding war, my client is happy.  But when I looked at the price I put on the contract I pretty much became numb.  This condo would have sold in the $350's last summer.  Unbelievable. Like I said before I just write the contracts now, I don't even look at the prices.  Too depressing.  Our City has been ruined and is completely unaffordable for the average Vancouverite.  Maybe the end of this madness is near.  Who knows.  I'm not holding my breath.  Let's see what happens this fall.

While we may not agree on everything, Harvey, your posts on this thread are refreshing in that you don't ever attempt to sugarcoat the truth, rather choosing to realistically present the dire picture that this province is in.

 

It is appreciated.

 

Just curious though, what would the main fallout be from an end to the unsustainable rise in housing prices look like, outside of quite a few "stretched beyond their means" buyers losing everything?

Edited June 20, 2017 by PhillipBlunt

[Harvey Spector]

6 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

While we may not agree on everything, Harvey, your posts on this thread are refreshing in that you don't ever attempt to sugarcoat the truth, rather choosing to realistically present the dire picture that this province is in.

 

It is appreciated.

 

Just curious though, what would the main fallout be from an end to the unsustainable rise in housing prices look like, outside of quite a few "stretched beyond their means" buyers losing everything?

Thanks for the feedback Phillip.  This is my job and career so I take it much more seriously than my posts in other threads...  

 

As to your question the fallout would be huge.  Unprecedented really.  The magnitude that would shake this City to its core.  I've spoken to many lenders and brokers and what these private lenders and non bank financial entities like MIC's and so on are doing is they are using "borrowed" monies to give to these people who can't get regular financing at a bank and in turn these buyers are using these borrowed funds to make their purchases.  So for example if Phiilip owns a $3 million house and he wants to be a private lender, he will take out $300,000 equity from his home via a line of credit, i.e. he would be borrowing the money, at let's say 3%, and he would in turn give these funds to a buyer at 12% and put a second mortgage on the property being purchased.  As you can see ALL the money, including the private lender's funds, is borrowed money from the equity of real estate.  If the market were to crash then you can imagine the domino effect that would have on everyone including the private lender.

 

The other thing to look at is the CPI index and inflation.  If we were to get into a situation where the Bank of Canada needs to raise rates to curb inflation, which may very well happen as early as next year, then that would compound the problem 10 fold.  Once interest rates rise then all these private lenders will be paying more on their borrowed money, and people who are looking to buy a home will have a more difficult time getting approved with the higher interest rates.

 

If the government cracks down on these shadow bankers, if interest rates rise 1-2% next year, if the Chinese money stops flowing into the City, then there could be a recession like we've never seen before.  Not only would the real estate market tank, but because the real estate industry accounts for over 20% of the total BC economy, we could very well have the worst recession since the Great Depression.  It could get ugly.  

 

I just can't fathom these prices going any higher.  We may have hit a plateau this year.  I don't know for sure.  They are pre-selling condos in Port Moody at $800 per foot.  I just can't see how that is sustainable.  Downtown is starting at $1200 per foot for new construction.  If you take the foreign money away then who will be buying these condos? I would say foreign money accounts for at least 80% of all pre-sales sold.  It could be 90%, who knows.  If the foreign money dries up we are in bog trouble.  I heard they are cracking down on illegal activity in China.  It may be harder for the Chinese to get their money out moving forward.  If our government actually cracks down on the illegal laundered money coming in to the City, then it could spell the end of this crazy market.

 

I need to see what happens in the fall before I can make any more predictions.  I wanna see how this market goes over the next 6 months before I make another judgement on what's gonna happen.

[PhillipBlunt]

1 minute ago, Harvey Spector said:

Thanks for the feedback Phillip.  This is my job and career so I take it much more seriously than my posts in other threads...  

Thank you for telling it like it is, and being honest.

1 minute ago, Harvey Spector said:

As to your question the fallout would be huge.  Unprecedented really.  The magnitude that would shake this City to its core.

I guess that's bound to happen when the city essentially sold it's core to the highest bidder.

1 minute ago, Harvey Spector said:

I've spoken to many lenders and brokers and what these private lenders and non bank financial entities like MIC's and so on are doing is they are using "borrowed" monies to give to these people who can't get regular financing at a bank and in turn these buyers are using these borrowed funds to make their purchases.  So for example if Phiilip owns a $3 million house and he wants to be a private lender, he will take out $300,000 equity from his home via a line of credit, i.e. he would be borrowing the money, at let's say 3%, and he would in turn give these funds to a buyer at 12% and put a second mortgage on the property being purchased.  As you can see ALL the money, including the private lender's funds, is borrowed money from the equity of real estate.  If the market were to crash then you can imagine the domino effect that would have on everyone including the private lender.

Unreal

1 minute ago, Harvey Spector said:

The other thing to look at is the CPI index and inflation.  If we were to get into a situation where the Bank of Canada needs to raise rates to curb inflation, which may very well happen as early as next year, then that would compound the problem 10 fold.  Once interest rates rise then all these private lenders will be paying more on their borrowed money, and people who are looking to buy a home will have a more difficult time getting approved with the higher interest rates.

Which I assume would also be accompanied by a larger down payment required to purchase.

1 minute ago, Harvey Spector said:

If the government cracks down on these shadow bankers, if interest rates rise 1-2% next year, if the Chinese money stops flowing into the City, then there could be a recession like we've never seen before.  Not only would the real estate market tank, but because the real estate industry accounts for over 20% of the total BC economy, we could very well have the worst recession since the Great Depression.  It could get ugly.

Ugly, but expected.

1 minute ago, Harvey Spector said:

I just can't fathom these prices going any higher.  We may have hit a plateau this year.  I don't know for sure.  They are pre-selling condos in Port Moody at $800 per foot.  I just can't see how that is sustainable.  Downtown is starting at $1200 per foot for new construction.  If you take the foreign money away then who will be buying these condos? I would say foreign money accounts for at least 80% of all pre-sales sold.  It could be 90%, who knows.  If the foreign money dries up we are in bog trouble.  I heard they are cracking down on illegal activity in China.  It may be harder for the Chinese to get their money out moving forward.  If our government actually cracks down on the illegal laundered money coming in to the City, then it could spell the end of this crazy market.

 

I need to see what happens in the fall before I can make any more predictions.  I wanna see how this market goes over the next 6 months before I make another judgement on what's gonna happen.

Once again, thank you for the real goods when it comes to the overall picture. It's refreshing to hear your take as you have insight that many don't, and offering it to everyone as you do, is invaluable.

[Harvey Spector]

9 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Thank you for telling it like it is, and being honest.

I guess that's bound to happen when the city essentially sold it's core to the highest bidder.

Unreal

Which I assume would also be accompanied by a larger down payment required to purchase.

Ugly, but expected.

Once again, thank you for the real goods when it comes to the overall picture. It's refreshing to hear your take as you have insight that many don't, and offering it to everyone as you do, is invaluable.

I started this thread last year for the sole purpose of giving my fellow CDC posters insider insight into the real workings of the real estate industry.  I hope these 34 pages and counting have helped people to understand what is going on.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna make alot of money this year, and the big reason for that is I am playing this market and working with people who have the ability to pay these crazy prices and I'm closing alot of deals because of it.  However, nothing lasts forever and I know that.  If the market were to tank it would be alot harder for me to make money.  I would still have a good career but I wouldn't be making the easy money anymore.  

 

I could easily say I want this party to last forever, but money isn't everything.  If the City you were born and grew up in becomes a tourist destination for the ultra rich and the people you went to school with have all moved out of the City including friends and family, then that would really be a shame and it would affect the quality of my life.  I can make money in any market, you just have to work harder that's all.  I'd rather put in the extra work then watch my City get completely destroyed by foreign entities.

[Harvey Spector]

1 hour ago, BaiNongMin said:

I have some issues with this documentary film maker. Firstly, we need to stop appealing to min wage workers as if they have the means to buy houses. They don't that's why they work for min wage, theyre literally not worth anything more than what they get paid. Many of these min wage workers are immigrants whom the government seems dead set on importing on a large scale, which is painfully stupid seeing is how automation will slowly/ pretty quickly take the majority of these min wage service jobs. Infuriatingly enough the new arrivals are gobbling up a huge portion of our welfare system and will only continue to do so after the min wage jobs disappear. Secondly, our industries are not "gone", the government simply put a halt on them due to green energy concepts and government subsidies to those projects. Of course businesses don't want to invest in BC its too risky, they would much rather go to Saskatchewan. Especially since they are taxing those businesses to death with all this CO2 taxes and commercial taxes that kill jobs. Ive also hard of a movement tax soon to be implemented by the government that will tax people based on the amount of KMs you drive, ridiculous. Lastly, racism is the most ridiculous argument I have ever heard. Its not racist to realize the majority of the buyers market is money coming from a communist nation with money that they aren't able to trace all the way back to its origin. Somehow single mothers are the principle buyer with no income of multi million dollar homes? obviously there is corruption, just look at the amount of Chinese only real estate agents that have flooded the market, they only deal with their own. Failure to see this and shutting down the conversation with shouts of racism is counter productive.

 

Thoughts?

Nobody expects people on minimum wage to be able to buy a condo or any property.  But at the very least they should be allowed to rent a place in the City at an affordable rate so they don't need to live in their cars.  These prices have a positive correlation on rents.  The higher the prices the higher people will raise their rents to offset their borrowing costs on their mortgage.  Right now it costs $1800 just to rent a one bedroom condo in downtown.  If you want a basement suite it is $800-$900.  People on minimum wage can't afford that.  The City needs to step in and build more affordable housing so these people don't need to live in their cars.  So far the City has only cared about selling their land to billionaire real estate developers so they can sell multi million dollar condos to foreign entities.  The City needs to start using some of its land and resources to build more affordable housing, specifically in the downtown core and surrounding areas.  So far Christy and her cronies have not done that.  Maybe the NDP and Greens will change that.  We will see.

[taxi]

29 minutes ago, Harvey Spector said:

Nobody expects people on minimum wage to be able to buy a condo or any property.  But at the very least they should be allowed to rent a place in the City at an affordable rate so they don't need to live in their cars.  These prices have a positive correlation on rents.  The higher the prices the higher people will raise their rents to offset their borrowing costs on their mortgage.  Right now it costs $1800 just to rent a one bedroom condo in downtown.  If you want a basement suite it is $800-$900.  People on minimum wage can't afford that.  The City needs to step in and build more affordable housing so these people don't need to live in their cars.  So far the City has only cared about selling their land to billionaire real estate developers so they can sell multi million dollar condos to foreign entities.  The City needs to start using some of its land and resources to build more affordable housing, specifically in the downtown core and surrounding areas.  So far Christy and her cronies have not done that.  Maybe the NDP and Greens will change that.  We will see.

 

The problems have more to do with the city and its bylaws than the Provincial Government. Until the city allows the proper high density building, what you're talking about will never happen. The city is set up to slowly trickle out condos, so demand remains high. 

 

Building X amount of low income units or banning non-rental units is useless as long as the market conditions haven't been fixed locally. 

Edited June 20, 2017 by taxi

[PhillipBlunt]

16 minutes ago, Harvey Spector said:

I started this thread last year for the sole purpose of giving my fellow CDC posters insider insight into the real workings of the real estate industry.

And it has, tenfold.

16 minutes ago, Harvey Spector said:

I hope these 34 pages and counting have helped people to understand what is going on.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna make alot of money this year, and the big reason for that is I am playing this market and working with people who have the ability to pay these crazy prices and I'm closing alot of deals because of it.

If opportunity knocks, one has to answer. To not do so is insane. As the Joker said "If you're good at something, never do it for free."

 

I've noticed that some folks out there want to vilify the real estate agents, and find some way to level blame on them for this crisis. That line of thinking couldn't be further from reality. The agent only responds to the market (I know I'm preaching to the preacher, but I need to say this), and don't actually set any rules or codes of practice. You put in the work to get your licence to practice and the hard work to get to where you are, you deserve to flourish.

 

The blame needs to be leveled primarily at all three levels of  government for being complicit with the laundering and underhanded business, and at foreign investors who have skirted this country's, province's, and city's unbelievably weak and pathetic laws.

16 minutes ago, Harvey Spector said:

 However, nothing lasts forever and I know that.  If the market were to tank it would be alot harder for me to make money.  I would still have a good career but I wouldn't be making the easy money anymore.

Totally.

16 minutes ago, Harvey Spector said:

I could easily say I want this party to last forever, but money isn't everything.  If the City you were born and grew up in becomes a tourist destination for the ultra rich and the people you went to school with have all moved out of the City including friends and family, then that would really be a shame and it would affect the quality of my life.  I can make money in any market, you just have to work harder that's all.  I'd rather put in the extra work then watch my City get completely destroyed by foreign entities.

That's really it, isn't it? Vancouver has become such a superficial husk of it's former self, it's tragic. It has become nothing more than a tourist stop dressed up as a city. Whored out by mayors, premiers, and ministers to the wealthiest johns, meanwhile the people who invested their lives and taxes into the city, and all cities in the Lower Mainland and BC for that matter, are forgotten in the mix.

 

I'd like to think that some form of justice will be meted out against this vermin, but this is Canada, where cannibals who cut peoples heads off on Greyhound buses go free, so I'm not holding my breath.

 

Once again Harvey, thank you for the facts and the honesty. These days, they're hard to come by.

[Harvey Spector]

6 minutes ago, taxi said:

 

The problems have more to do with the city and its bylaws than the Provincial Government. Until the city allows the proper high density building, what you're talking about will never happen. The city is set up to slowly trickle out condos, so demand remains high. 

This is true.  The bylaws are draconian.  It takes 6 years to get a building from conception to completion.  However, I still stand by my statement that the government hasn't done enough to fix the housing crisis in Vancouver.  More should have been done years ago.  But now it's too late as land is too expensive now.  To use up City owned land in high density areas such as downtown Vancouver wouldn't be financially viable in today's market.  I'm not sure where the NDP thinks they are gonna build all this affordable housing.  I don't think these people on minimum wage or welfare are gonna wanna live out in the Fraser Valley.

[taxi]

5 minutes ago, Harvey Spector said:

This is true.  The bylaws are draconian.  It takes 6 years to get a building from conception to completion.  However, I still stand by my statement that the government hasn't done enough to fix the housing crisis in Vancouver.  More should have been done years ago.  But now it's too late as land is too expensive now.  To use up City owned land in high density areas such as downtown Vancouver wouldn't be financially viable in today's market.  I'm not sure where the NDP thinks they are gonna build all this affordable housing.  I don't think these people on minimum wage or welfare are gonna wanna live out in the Fraser Valley.

My biggest issue with the NDP initiative is that unless city by-laws are changed to allow for more building, you're just further drying up the supply by making homes that not everyone can purchase. 

 

There are entire areas of the city that remained underdeveloped, for example the are along Terminal, the cambie corridor, the Sunrise area, etc... all of which would be prime area for higher density. Instead the cities zoning, heritage, permit, etc... laws all stop development. It reeks of corruption to me, as the same small set of developers seem to be the ones profiting. 

[wiseupsucker]

as ive said before and i will say again. the money our provincial government(weather it be liberal/ndp/green) they will get will be to inciting for them not to do anything about it.

[Harvey Spector]

Nine Things the Real Estate Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know

Key takeaways from a six-month Tyee investigation.

You’ve heard it a million times. The reason so few of us can afford Vancouver is because there aren’t enough new homes being built. This is the version of reality that real estate industry leaders and their political allies want us to believe.

 

But an investigation of the industry by The Tyee has revealed reality to be much more complex. Over the past six months I spoke at length with financial analysts, economists, industry consultants, realtors and many others to learn the true causes of Vancouver’s housing crisis and who is profiting from it. They were in broad agreement that real estate is at the centre of a massive realignment between our society’s rich and poor — and one that few leaders in the industry seem willing to publicly acknowledge. Here are the key takeaways from those conversations.

 

1. The industry no longer sells homes — it sells investments

 

Real estate has historically been a local industry. The people who buy and sell a city’s homes tended to live in that city. Yet that all began to change a decade or so ago. And one of the major reasons for it is a big shift in our global financial system. It’s a complicated subject. But what you need to know is that the global capital investors use to invest in things is growing much faster than the actual economy. There is so much capital, investors don’t know what to do with it all. Desperate for quick financial returns, many investors are pouring this capital into real estate, turning local markets into global investment opportunities. One of the results, according to trackers such as Bain & Company, is “skyrocketing home prices.”

 

2. Wealthy people are profiting from the housing crisis

 

The explosion of global capital coincided with an explosion of global wealth.

Worldwide, the number of people worth $30 million or more has grown 60 per cent in the last 10 years. These elites have a different relationship to real estate than regular people. High housing prices aren’t a hindrance to the ultra-rich. The pricier homes become, the more desirable they are as a marker of social status. That’s why one top investor not long ago compared Vancouver condos to contemporary art. Rich people are less likely than the rest of us to live in the homes they purchase. A poll done by the group Knight Frank suggested the most popular reason rich people acquire real estate “is as an investment to sell in the future.” Which means they profit when prices rise.

 

3. Rapidly rising house prices are deepening class divides

 

Unaffordable homes are not just a drag on people’s incomes. The housing crisis is doing lasting damage to social mobility.

If you are hoping to improve your income, your best bet these days is to live in — or relocate to — a large, globally connected city. Over 90 per cent of new jobs in Canada over the past several years were created in just three such cities: Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. And of those, Vancouver has Canada’s fastest growing economy. But housing is so pricey that those opportunities are denied to many people. One real estate economist worriesthat “we are driving a very large wedge between the lowest income earners and the highest income earners.”

 

4. Industry leaders are convinced the middle class is dying

 

The real estate industry is aware social mobility is declining. Its leaders know there is huge demand for cheaper homes. But they prefer to profit from income inequality rather than doing anything about it. That’s one takeaway from a major real estate industry trends report produced by PwC and the Urban Land Institute. “The middle class has been hollowing out,” it concluded. With land prices going up in big cities, the industry is increasingly focused on building luxury homes for wealthy people. Not everyone thinks it’s a wise strategy. “Time will tell if that’s going to come back to haunt us,” said one CEO. “Not everybody makes $75,000 to $100,000 a year.”

 

5. Your intimate data is being used to drive home sales

 

Even if you don’t earn much money, you can still be valuable to the real estate industry as a source of data. It’s likely not news to you that almost everything you do online — and off — is tracked and sold to advertisers. But what is new is that the real estate industry is now trying to get in on the action. Companies are creating technology that mines public records and notifies realtors when a potential client gives birth, declares bankruptcy or files for divorce. Industry forecaster Swanepoel predicts “this technology will be huge.” But at what cost to privacy? Or our right to control our identities? “I don’t think anybody has the answer,” said one observer.

 

6. Political leaders aren’t telling the full story about housing

 

What we can be certain of is that politicians aren’t telling the full story about the true causes of unaffordability. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has argued “the only way to really solve” the housing crisis is to build more condos. And during the provincial election, her BC Liberals took any chance they could to blame the red tape and protesters they claim are standing in the way. Yet the majority of new condo units are sold to speculators. More supply isn’t helping locals. The market does what it knows best: maximizing profits. Which is why industry insiders like Richard Wozny argue the “only group at fault are politicians” — those who know what the problem is but refuse to fix it.

 

7. Local speculators are cashing in while we blame foreigners

 

The most substantial step the BC Liberals took towards fixing Vancouver’s housing crisis was the 15 per cent Foreign Buyers Tax. At first the tax seemed to work: home sales and prices fell. But prices are once again rising. And this time transactions involving overseas buyers are at relative lows. “Everything we see suggests that there is a whole lot more domestic investment activity in the real estate sector than foreign investment,” said the head of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Foreign money is a big cause of crazy home prices. But so are Canada’s historically low interest rates, which make it “almost stupid to not buy property,” argued the site Better Dwelling.

 

8. Income inequality is causing a boom in luxury retail

 

Real estate has become a zero-sum game in Vancouver. Those at the top are doing better than ever, while everyone else struggles. It’s a fair assessment of our wider economy. Recent data from Stats Canada showed that average Canadian incomes have stopped increasing. Yet the ranks of the ultra-rich in Canada are growing faster than in the U.S. — between 2006 and 2016, the number of people worth over $30 million rose 50 per cent in this country. These elites want to flaunt their wealth. And the boom of luxury retailersacross the country is happy to oblige them. “High-end retail will prosper as the high-end population does well,” noted one real estate analyst.

 

9. People within the industry want serious solutions

 

What the May provincial election showed is that people across the province, but particularly in urban regions, want serious change. They are sick of being priced out of their cities. They’re fed up with an economy that privileges the wealthy. And they’re tired of being lied to. The NDP-Green coalition now has an opportunity to make things better. Leaders of the two parties promised housing policies that “will have an impact,” local realtor Steve Saretsky told The Tyee. He is one of many people within the real estate industry who supports solutions to our current housing crisis. “A lot of realtors I’ve spoken with want some sanity to the market,” he noted. “They know it isn’t sustainable.” 

 

https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/06/19/Nine-Real-Estate-Secrets/?utm_source=weekly