MattJVD Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 (edited) My first time visiting this thread (I usually stay in Canucks talk and Prospects). Wow, thanks for all the informative posts Harvey! How long have you been in the Real Estate business? Edited December 11, 2017 by MattJVD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
two drink minimum Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 On 11/21/2017 at 4:59 PM, apollo said: Man... I'm in a pretty tough spot right now... was really content with my rental but some things have happened and I need to get out ASAP. Was hoping to wait until January-February and see if new laws will cool the condo market in around 500k purchase but I'm really being forced out... I can't believe what slim pickings there are downtown for 500k... it's crazy... I'm contemplating offering on this, it's the least miserable studio I've found and pretty good floor plan. Sadly, I have a feeling it'll go for over asking at like 550K https://www.locatehomes.ca/bc-real-estate-listings/vancouver/mls-R2223339/904-1221-Bidwell-Street-Vancouver-V6G1B1?id=262244966 The market surely has to cool when all the laws kick in in the new year no?! What's everyone's advice? Should I just move into a new rental for a few months? The one thing to remember with regards to real estate is this; The best time to purchase is always last year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Spector Posted December 11, 2017 Author Share Posted December 11, 2017 11 hours ago, MattJVD said: My first time visiting this thread (I usually stay in Canucks talk and Prospects). Wow, thanks for all the informativd posts Harvey! How long have in the Real Estate business? Hey thanks for visiting the thread!! I've been in the Real Estate industry for 17 years now. I've also been involved in the financial services industry for several years prior to entering Real Estate. Things have changed drastically over these last 17 years. I never would have thought that we would get to the point where the average person would have to move out to places like Maple Ridge, Abbotsford or even Chilliwack to buy an actual detached house under $700,000. We are in crazy times and I feel sorry for the younger generation of today. Because unless they are getting money from their parents they will not be able to even afford a condo in the City core. Imagine if you are in your 20's and want to buy a one bedroom condo downtown. You will need a minimum $200,000 downpayment in order to qualify for the mortgage IF you have a well paying job, i.e. you make $70,000+ per year. Where is someone in their 20's going to get $200,000?? Crazy times... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJVD Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, Harvey Spector said: Hey thanks for visiting the thread!! I've been in the Real Estate industry for 17 years now. I've also been involved in the financial services industry for several years prior to entering Real Estate. Things have changed drastically over these last 17 years. I never would have thought that we would get to the point where the average person would have to move out to places like Maple Ridge, Abbotsford or even Chilliwack to buy an actual detached house under $700,000. We are in crazy times and I feel sorry for the younger generation of today. Because unless they are getting money from their parents they will not be able to even afford a condo in the City core. Imagine if you are in your 20's and want to buy a one bedroom condo downtown. You will need a minimum $200,000 downpayment in order to qualify for the mortgage IF you have a well paying job, i.e. you make $70,000+ per year. Where is someone in their 20's going to get $200,000?? Crazy times... Thanks for the reply, they certainly are crazy times. Things are a bit more affordable in Victoria, where I live. Most new build condos are still under $1000 per square foot downtown, though high-end units are up to $1300. Detached homes in the core (Victoria, Oak Bay, and the Victoria end of Saanich) are pretty out of reach, but there are still some reasonable prices in Esquimalt, Langford, and Colwood. I'm in my mid 20s myself, and not quite ready to enter the market yet. I'm doing a pretty big career change, I left the Army in 2016 and am finishing my Accounting degree and pursuing a CPA. My Wife is nearly finished her PhD and has some jobs lined up, so our household income will be reasonably high in the near future. That said: I'm watching prices rise so fast I'm afraid by the time we've eliminated student debt and saved a nice down payment, those reasonable prices in Langford and Colwood will be gone. Edited December 11, 2017 by MattJVD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Spector Posted December 11, 2017 Author Share Posted December 11, 2017 New Immigration Targets Set to “Add to Housing Shortage” All levels of government are urged to “act quickly” in order to prevent Metro Vancouver’s housing shortage from worsening, in the latest quarterly State of the Market report issued December 5 by the Urban Development Institute. The development industry group reported that an acute housing supply shortage continues, with just one new, move-in-ready townhome available for sale in Vancouver proper, and only 14 available across the whole Metro region, as of the end of 2017’s third quarter. At a total of 1,813 units, new and unsold multifamily homes for purchase in Metro Vancouver, at all stages of construction, are down 84% from the peak of 11,090 units in Q1 2013. Anne McMullin, UDI president and CEO, said, “Our industry wants to build more multi-family homes for all budgets across Metro Vancouver. The biggest obstacles are still municipal permitting delays, which can take years, and single-family zoning, restricting 85% of residential land. “While we’ve seen an encouraging 10-year strategy to provide more multi-family options in the City of Vancouver, on a regional scale, a combined housing/transit investment action plan is needed now, or this will never be enough to meet local demand, around 97% of buyers.” The UDI said the local population growth likely to come from the new federal immigration target increase of 13% a year by 2020, “will only add to our housing shortage and keep prices high, if local governments don’t act quickly.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJVD Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 3 hours ago, Harvey Spector said: New Immigration Targets Set to “Add to Housing Shortage” All levels of government are urged to “act quickly” in order to prevent Metro Vancouver’s housing shortage from worsening, in the latest quarterly State of the Market report issued December 5 by the Urban Development Institute. The development industry group reported that an acute housing supply shortage continues, with just one new, move-in-ready townhome available for sale in Vancouver proper, and only 14 available across the whole Metro region, as of the end of 2017’s third quarter. At a total of 1,813 units, new and unsold multifamily homes for purchase in Metro Vancouver, at all stages of construction, are down 84% from the peak of 11,090 units in Q1 2013. Anne McMullin, UDI president and CEO, said, “Our industry wants to build more multi-family homes for all budgets across Metro Vancouver. The biggest obstacles are still municipal permitting delays, which can take years, and single-family zoning, restricting 85% of residential land. “While we’ve seen an encouraging 10-year strategy to provide more multi-family options in the City of Vancouver, on a regional scale, a combined housing/transit investment action plan is needed now, or this will never be enough to meet local demand, around 97% of buyers.” The UDI said the local population growth likely to come from the new federal immigration target increase of 13% a year by 2020, “will only add to our housing shortage and keep prices high, if local governments don’t act quickly.” Building permit and rezoning application wait times are probably the largest contributor to supply shortages. Victoria has ridiculous height restrictions, it seems every plan submitted to city council comes back 6 months late and several stories shorter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Spector Posted December 12, 2017 Author Share Posted December 12, 2017 For immediate release Strong Economy Supporting Elevated Housing Demand Vancouver, BC – December 12, 2017. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,731 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in November, an increase of 20.4 per cent from the same period last year. Total sales dollar volume was $5.59 billion, up 39.1 per cent from November 2016. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $723,112, up 15.5 per cent from November 2016. “November was the third consecutive month that BC home sales were above 9,000 units, on a seasonally adjusted basis," said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. "Elevated consumer demand is being supported by strong employment growth, rising wages and favourable demographics." BC employment increased 3.8 per cent over the last 12 months, totaling over 90,000 jobs. Over the same period, average hourly wages in the province climbed 5.7 per cent to $26.82. Against this backdrop, a large cohort of millennials is entering their household-forming life stage. In addition, some buyers are likely completing purchases now in advance of tighter conventional mortgage qualifications, scheduled for the new year. Year to date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 6.8 per cent to $69.4 billion, when compared with the same period in 2016. Residential unit sales declined 8.8 per cent to 98,024 units, while the average MLS® residential price increased 2.2 per cent to $708,150. BCREA is the professional association for more than 20,000 REALTORS® in BC, focusing on provincial issues that impact real estate. Working with the province’s 11 real estate boards, BCREA provides continuing professional education, advocacy, economic research and standard forms to help REALTORS® provide value for their clients. To demonstrate the profession's commitment to improving Quality of Life in BC communities, BCREA supports policies that help ensure economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, preserve the environment, protect property owners and build better communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods. For detailed statistical information, contact your local real estate board. MLS® is a cooperative marketing system used only by Canada's real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Spector Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 #BrokenBC Housing Prices / Rent so high - BC youth can not afford to live in their province. Lowest Wages in Canada Failed LNG Stuck with SiteC that the youth of BC will overpaying for all their lives. Worst commute traffic in Canada - Highway 1 still looks like it did in 1950 Rapid Transit only designed to help those in Vancouver Fishing and Forestry Crisis due to mismanagement Any young person in BC should seriously consider if this province is worth staying in...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Here is a start. It may mean reduced cheap labour in BC.... but it would help... Therefore, the only federal policy with any chance of dealing successfully with the housing crisis is to reduce immigration levels to perhaps 50,000 or 100,000 a year for a limited time. Once the private supply of housing has eliminated the backlog and prices have stabilized, immigrant numbers can be raised again to levels reflecting the economy’s absorptive capacity and their contribution to the well-being of Canadians. Herbert Grubel is an emeritus professor of economics at Simon Fraser University. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Spector Posted December 16, 2017 Author Share Posted December 16, 2017 B.C. will lead provincial economic growth in 2018 Wednesday, November 29, 2017 While Alberta’s economy is set to lead the country this year, with robust economic growth of 6.7 per cent, British Columbia will once again take over in 2018 as the provincial growth leader, according to The Conference Board of Canada’s Provincial Outlook: Autumn 2017. “Thanks to rising oil production and a swift turnaround in drilling levels, Alberta surged out of recession this year. But, the rebound has been unsustainably fast, implying the pace of recovery will moderate in 2018,” said Marie-Christine Bernard, director, provincial forecast, The Conference Board of Canada. “Next year, with strength in many sectors, British Columbia’s economy is poised to outpace all other provinces and will be one of only three provinces with growth above 2 per cent.” Several sectors in Alberta came out of recession in 2017, but it was the swift pickup in drilling and solid oil production that led economic growth. The domestic economy also performed well, as consumer demand picked up, boosting retail sales and housing construction. But the booming growth is not expected to last, with Alberta’s economy forecast to grow at a more sustainable 2.1 per cent in 2018. However, recent strength in oil prices could help maintain the momentum in drilling and push economic growth higher over the near term. The report notes that British Columbia is forecast to enjoy real GDP growth of 3.2 per cent this year. And, while slightly weaker growth of 2.7 per cent is anticipated for 2018, B.C. will still outpace all other provinces in economic growth. One of the factors behind the slowdown next year is the cooling off in the housing sector. Measures implemented to cool demand and continued challenges related to housing affordability have led to a small decline in housing starts this year and they are forecast to remain virtually flat next year. The cooling off in the housing sector will trickle down through the economy and lead to slower growth in employment, income, and, most significant of all, consumer spending. Meanwhile, the province’s forestry sector is expected to be either flat or negative over the next five years due to ongoing problems with the mountain pine beetle infestations and duties imposed by the U.S. on Canadian softwood lumber imports. https://www.reminetwork.com/articles/bc-lead-provincial-economic-growth-2018/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 bc growth is not being shared with the ever disappearing bc middle class Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down by the River Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 On 12/11/2017 at 12:56 PM, MattJVD said: Thanks for the reply, they certainly are crazy times. Things are a bit more affordable in Victoria, where I live. Most new build condos are still under $1000 per square foot downtown, though high-end units are up to $1300. Detached homes in the core (Victoria, Oak Bay, and the Victoria end of Saanich) are pretty out of reach, but there are still some reasonable prices in Esquimalt, Langford, and Colwood. I'm in my mid 20s myself, and not quite ready to enter the market yet. I'm doing a pretty big career change, I left the Army in 2016 and am finishing my Accounting degree and pursuing a CPA. My Wife is nearly finished her PhD and has some jobs lined up, so our household income will be reasonably high in the near future. That said: I'm watching prices rise so fast I'm afraid by the time we've eliminated student debt and saved a nice down payment, those reasonable prices in Langford and Colwood will be gone. Maybe you already know this, but in case you don't, here is a head's up.... I finished my PhD in 2016 and my wife is in the third year of her PhD. Over my PhD I received close to $150,000 in scholarship money. My wife received about $100,000. However, none of this is taxable, which means it doesn't show up on your T4, which means you can't get your mortgage approved from CMHC unless you can hit 20% down. I now have a F/T job but because I just started, my average income per my T4 is still not where it needs to be to get approved for the type of mortgage that we need. So, even if your wife has a job lined up and made money over her PhD via scholarships, unless you can come up with a 20% downpayment, CMHC is likely to approve you for a mortgage lower than what you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Bad time to buy real estate right now in bc wait 3-4 months and pick it up for 10 % less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBH1926 Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 On December 11, 2017 at 12:22 PM, Harvey Spector said: Hey thanks for visiting the thread!! I've been in the Real Estate industry for 17 years now. I've also been involved in the financial services industry for several years prior to entering Real Estate. Things have changed drastically over these last 17 years. I never would have thought that we would get to the point where the average person would have to move out to places like Maple Ridge, Abbotsford or even Chilliwack to buy an actual detached house under $700,000. We are in crazy times and I feel sorry for the younger generation of today. Because unless they are getting money from their parents they will not be able to even afford a condo in the City core. Imagine if you are in your 20's and want to buy a one bedroom condo downtown. You will need a minimum $200,000 downpayment in order to qualify for the mortgage IF you have a well paying job, i.e. you make $70,000+ per year. Where is someone in their 20's going to get $200,000?? Crazy times... Young people will rent, live with parents or move to boonies. Vancouver market will never get back where it used to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 27 minutes ago, CBH1926 said: Young people will rent, live with parents or move to boonies. Vancouver market will never get back where it used to be. Houses in Abbotsford staring in the 800,000's and many of these are so run down they would need major 100,000.00 reno's. Good luck young kids. #BrokenBC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Spector Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 3 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said: Houses in Abbotsford staring in the 800,000's and many of these are so run down they would need major 100,000.00 reno's. Good luck young kids. #BrokenBC You can get a decent house in Maple Ridge under $800k. You can literally buy a brand new house in Abbotsford under $800k. You must have your areas mixed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Harvey Spector said: You can get a decent house in Maple Ridge under $800k. You can literally buy a brand new house in Abbotsford under $800k. You must have your areas mixed up. Brand new detached home in Abby under 800 . Good luck with that. Most new homes in Abby are closer to 900 k to 1 mil plus. More and more of the new houses are super high priced like this one... https://www.rew.ca/properties/R2210519/35657-eagle-view-place-abbotsford-bc Edited December 17, 2017 by kingofsurrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Spector Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 52 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said: Brand new detached home in Abby under 800 . Good luck with that. Most new homes in Abby are closer to 900 k to 1 mil plus. More and more of the new houses are super high priced like this one... https://www.rew.ca/properties/R2210519/35657-eagle-view-place-abbotsford-bc That place is on Eagle Mountain. That is literally the British Properties of Abbotsford!! There are several newer homes under $800k in Abbotsford in normal average areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 4 hours ago, Harvey Spector said: That place is on Eagle Mountain. That is literally the British Properties of Abbotsford!! There are several newer homes under $800k in Abbotsford in normal average areas. Yes i agree with you. but for under 800 k in abby you are looking at a bc box in a quesionalble neighbbourhood. Reality in Abby right now. it 800 + for any kind of a liveable detached home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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