Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

[GRG55]

Pigs CAN fly...

Stop the presses! Wonder of wonders...one of Canada's largest national real estate brokerage outfits, Royal LePage, uses the word "irrational" to describe parts of the Canadian housing market...

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE BOLSTERS HOUSING MARKET BUT RECOVERY UNEVEN ACROSS CANADA

Markets in some cities are overheated while others show modest growth


TORONTO, April 8, 2010 – After a buoyant, if geographically uneven start to the year, Canada’s housing market is poised to moderate as 2010 unfolds, according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey...

"Poised to moderate" is about as negative as a real estate broker usually gets.

...“The first quarter of 2010 continued where 2009 left off...

...House prices were up across all key housing types surveyed by Royal LePage, with the average price of a detached bungalow in Canada rising almost 11 per cent to $329,209 in the first quarter year-over-year, while standard two-storey homes rose 10.3 per cent to $365,141 and standard condominiums increased 10.9 per cent to $228,963...

...“National averages from our first quarter report are not particularly useful in painting a picture of the country’s neighbourhood real estate stories. House sale data from the past two year period shows tremendous variances in terms of how different cities reacted to the recession,” Soper said. “In Vancouver and Toronto, for instance, the dramatic unit sales fluctuations exhibit a significant degree of market irrationality: inordinately fearful when faced with poorer markets; and overly enthusiastic when the tables turned...

But of course they simply cannot bring themselves to contemplate any possibility that prices may actually...horrors...decline.

...“Even in our most frenzied pockets of market activity, the inevitable rise in interest rates coupled with home price appreciation will rein in demand as affordability erodes. Expect house prices to continue to rise, but the rate of appreciation should ebb steadily, month by month, throughout the remainder of the year, as balance returns to the industry,” concluded Soper.

"Balancing" the US budget might be easier than balancing the Vancouver housing market...:rolleyes:

[GRG55]

Re: Pigs CAN fly...

Stop the presses! Wonder of wonders...one of Canada's largest national real estate brokerage outfits, Royal LePage, uses the word "irrational" to describe parts of the Canadian housing market...

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE BOLSTERS HOUSING MARKET BUT RECOVERY UNEVEN ACROSS CANADA

Markets in some cities are overheated while others show modest growth

...

And from the always entertaining Brian Ripley the colourful 6-City chart of Canadian home prices...with Vancouver showing particularly Olympian characteristics. Even Greenspan and Bernanke should be able to spot this bubble...well, maybe not...

[ViC78]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

Why is Montreal the red headed stepsister?

[zoog]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

Why is Montreal the red headed stepsister?

Maybe there's some French Rationalism still lingering in Quebec bloodlines.;)

From that graphic: "In Vancouver it takes 3.2 average wage earners to buy an average SFD."

Houston we have a problem...

[touchring]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

Vancouver has a lot to go before it will reach Asian city prices. You should realize that to the Asian buyer, the detaches in Vancouver are darn cheap.

A small 4000 square feet detach house in Singapore or Shanghai will cost upwards of $3 million, twice for prime districts, and the prices in HK .....

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...86elW580dq2V5w

[Starving Steve]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

Why not open-up a few hundred thousand acres of farmland in the Fraser Valley, just east of Vancouver, to urban development???????????????

Why not invest a few dollars of tax-payer money in extending trunk water lines and sewer lines, eastward??????????????

Why not demolish some of the slums in East Vancouver and build public high-rise housing????????????????????

Who would be opposed to doing this? The Hell's Angels? Billionaire farmers? The corrupt city planning departments? The eco-frauds?

Maybe I should run for office in BC because we need to discuss these important issues frankly; i.e, issues such as, "Why does it cost a million dollars for a slum house in Vancouver now?":rolleyes:

[zoog]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

Vancouver has a lot to go before it will reach Asian city prices. You should realize that to the Asian buyer, the detaches in Vancouver are darn cheap.

A small 4000 square feet detach house in Singapore or Shanghai will cost upwards of $3 million, twice for prime districts, and the prices in HK .....

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...86elW580dq2V5w

I think this is the main reason why Vancouver has managed to stay aloft. If/when the Chinese economy were to stumble, the "tidal wave" could reach Vancouver after it hits Hong Kong. It is bad enough competing for housing with the more wealthy people in your own city. Even worse to compete with, in comparison, fabulously wealthy outsiders.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

Why not open-up a few hundred thousand acres of farmland in the Fraser Valley, just east of Vancouver, to urban development???????????????

Why not invest a few dollars of tax-payer money in extending trunk water lines and sewer lines, eastward??????????????

Why not demolish some of the slums in East Vancouver and build public high-rise housing????????????????????

Who would be opposed to doing this? The Hell's Angels? Billionaire farmers? The corrupt city planning departments? The eco-frauds?

Maybe I should run for office in BC because we need to discuss these important issues frankly; i.e, issues such as, "Why does it cost a million dollars for a slum house in Vancouver now?":rolleyes:

Starving Steve for Mayor of Vancouver!
"The new candidate, widely quoted on a leading economics website, has annouced a hard line against marijuana smokers...":p:p

[Spartacus]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

Vancouver has a lot to go before it will reach Asian city prices. You should realize that to the Asian buyer, the detaches in Vancouver are darn cheap.

A small 4000 square feet detach house in Singapore or Shanghai will cost upwards of $3 million, twice for prime districts, and the prices in HK .....

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...86elW580dq2V5w

Has there ever been proof that Chinese (HK or mainland) are a major force in Vancouver real estate? I think there are some, they're not the famous beast called "the nonesuch" but my skeptical side shouts at me "the imputed volume must be a chimera".

And why would they single out Vancouver city proper? Is the social life of the downtown that much of a draw to foreigners? ... the entire coast is there for the buying/investing.

And there are probably more Chinese expats in the Toronto area than in the Vancouver area, and unlike many other ethnic or racial groups, I'm led to believe expat Chinese like to maintain cultural and business ties back home, so the incentive to buy Toronto (Richmond Hill and Markham area, just north of Toronto) looks higher than Vancouver.

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

Has there ever been proof that Chinese (HK or mainland) are a major force in Vancouver real estate? I think there are some, they're not the famous beast called "the nonesuch" but my skeptical side shouts at me "the imputed volume must be a chimera".

And why would they single out Vancouver city proper? Is the social life of the downtown that much of a draw to foreigners? ... the entire coast is there for the buying/investing.

And there are probably more Chinese expats in the Toronto area than in the Vancouver area, and unlike many other ethnic or racial groups, I'm led to believe expat Chinese like to maintain cultural and business ties back home, so the incentive to buy Toronto (Richmond Hill and Markham area, just north of Toronto) looks higher than Vancouver.

On a per capita basis, Vancouver is double what Toronto has in terms of Chinese.

Education is the #1 reason why Chinese live in the West side of vancouver, where the schools are among the best in Canada.

Easy immigration policies draw the Chinese to Canada and Vancouver in particular.

Throw in restrictive land use policies, a commodity based currency, low low rates courtesy of the CMHC, and fear of being priced out .. it isn't too surprising what's happening.

The question is how it's going to land. A year ago I would have said it would have been a soft landing .. but now? Who knows. Things have gotten crazy.

[Spartacus]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

Education is the #1 reason why Chinese live in the West side of vancouver, where the schools are among the best in Canada.

How do you mean, primary & secondary for the kids(and if so are most of these private?), or post-secondary / professional (law & med) schools?

[Spartacus]

Re: Home prices in Vancouver hit million-dollar mark

some data on Vancouver real estate, if you want to delve deeper
https://www.landcor.com/market/repor...010_Report.pdf

page 17: Foreign Ownership in Metro Vancouver by Global Region
Asia: 977
North America (US & Mexico): 2545

So there are not many actual Asian foreigners owning Vancouver real estate. This must mean if there are lots of actual Chinese nationals buying Vancouver houses, the house is registered in the name of a Canadian relative or some such trick that doesn't show up in this company's data.

quote:
In those countries that register ownership of over 50 Metro Vancouver
properties, the highest average value is held by Taiwan, whose per property
average value is more than $1 million

more:
• Americans own a total of 2,532 properties.
• The highest valued residential property held by an American is $7.17 million.
• The lowest valued residential property held by an American is $105,500.
• Mexicans own a total of 13 properties