Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Gululu]

I use 6 infrared heat lamps to keep myself warm in the winters.

[Hondaracer]

that seems convenient..

my grandparents had a large house my grandpa built back in like.. 79/80? had the full hot water heating system, pretty sure they never once had a problem with it right up until they moved in 2006.. and my grandma still touts the effectiveness and value of it lol

but yea.. i guess these days the initial installation costs are what makes it prohibitive

[punkwax]

I had hot water heat in my last place. Effective and efficient for sure, but I had plumbers out every year to fix something.. house was built in 1991.

[heleu]

You're going to feel the same whether it's an electric baseboard or hot water baseboard. If you feel cold, it's probably undersized (unlikely) or there's something wrong with thermostat. Or your envelope (windows) are failing, which is very likely if your building is built in the 90s.

For sure there's way more to go wrong in a hot water system - there's just more components (pump, boiler, expansion tank, valves, piping, etc).

Forced air gas furnaces are cheap to operate...for now. Gas is probably half the price of electricity when you factor in the loss in efficiency. I don't like furnaces because they blow around dust and are noisy; it sucks for allergy sufferers.

Personally, I like inslab radiant heating the best; your feet feel warm, no noise, no drafts, and you feel warmer even if the temperature is lower - the slab heats your body, not the air. Downsides are upfront cost and slow response time.

[GLOW]

i have in floor radiant heat. the tile portion is awesome. hard wood feels nothing. i haven't tested it on my laminate floor.

i like electric heat mat but you have to ensure your flooring guy doesn't fuck up the mat and can't cheap out and get cold spots. went to an open house on a fully reno'd upstairs. looked great, big kitchen all big tiles and used heat mats. it was running to keep everyone's toes warm and fuzzy so i start looking for cold spots, sure enough i found them, so disappointing.

personally i prefer electric base boards over radiant. like you said, more can go wrong. with electric it's just 2 wire BX back to the panel, no water leaks or pipes bursting or anything. electrical issues i can deal with...water/leaks/pipe issues always cause me grief and money.

[Harvey Specter]

Canadian Bank Chiefs Put Mansions On Sale After Warnings...

Full article here;

Canadian Bank Chiefs Put Mansions On Sale After Warnings

[dvst8]

Originally Posted by Harvey Specter

Canadian Bank Chiefs Put Mansions On Sale After Warnings...

Full article here;

Canadian Bank Chiefs Put Mansions On Sale After Warnings

Doubt they are selling because they're expecting a market downturn any time soon. Just sounds like the chief is scaling out on his investments with a 400k profit.

"Porter is reportedly asking $3.95 million for the home he paid $3.586 million for just six months ago"

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by dvst8

Doubt they are selling because they're expecting a market downturn any time soon. Just sounds like the chief is scaling out on his investments with a 400k profit.

"Porter is reportedly asking $3.95 million for the home he paid $3.586 million for just six months ago"

Why sell now for 400k profit when he can get 1M+ next year?

[JDMStyo]

Originally Posted by lilaznviper

anyone hear about the development by concord pacific for units under 500k they will pay some of your mortgage and must be age 19-35? any info on that price range on what you will get?

Only 50 buyers by draw. Helps to know insiders.
Also, it's only portion of the first year's mortgage...when completion is done in 2020

[westopher]

Its going to be super weird when all of those people that "win" the draw are all real estate agents, developer employees, and owners of multiple other units by the developer.

[SkunkWorks]

Originally Posted by Gululu

I use 6 infrared heat lamps to keep myself warm in the winters.

Peasant. Get a villa in Belize like the rest of us.

[westopher]

Originally Posted by SkunkWorks

Pheasant.

Fixed.
Sounds more like he's an incubating bird egg.

[Hondaracer]

how many units could possibly be under 500k in that development anyways?

[GLOW]

depends how many utility storage rooms can they retrofit in to a "bachelor" unit?

[GabAlmighty]

None of you know the true pain of expensive heating... haha

[Timpo]

Tax foreign investors who buy Vancouver real estate: CIBC economist
Bejamin Tal says foreign investment not the only problem, but proper taxation would fix worst aspects
By Matt Meuse, CBC News Posted: Jun 20, 2016 10:59 AM PT Last Updated: Jun 20, 2016 2:24 PM PT

Tax foreign investors who buy Vancouver real estate: CIBC economist - British Columbia - CBC News


Benjamin Tal, CIBC's deputy chief economist, says taxing speculative behaviour on the part of foreign investors would help cool down Vancouver's housing market. (CIBC)

The deputy chief economist at one of Canada's largest banks is calling for the taxation of foreign real estate speculators, saying it's the best way to cool down Vancouver's red-hot market without causing a collapse.

CIBC's Benjamin Tal cautioned against stopping foreign investment entirely, saying it's only one of the drivers of high prices.

Instead, he said properly designed taxes could stop the most problematic types of market behaviour — specifically, the purchase of real estate with no intention of living or working in Canada, but instead as a profit-generating investment.

"We don't want to say that Canada is not accepting foreign investment — absolutely not," Tal told Early Edition host Stephen Quinn. "But some of them are doing it just to make quick money."

"This is basically speculative activity. Therefore, let's tax this activity."

Demand solutions for a supply problem

Tal pointed to New Zealand and Australia as jurisdictions with similar housing problems that have successfully implemented foreign ownership taxes. Australia, for example, only allows foreign investors to purchase brand new developments.

"Basically they say, if you build something new, at least you create some GDP — you create some economic momentum, you are employing people, you are adding something to the economy," Tal said.

"If you are playing the resale market, then you're really not adding anything to the economy."

But ultimately, Tal said Vancouver faces a fundamental supply problem, as do many other large cities such as Toronto, so solutions like taxation are limited in how effective they can be.

"Vancouver is an island ... from a real estate perspective," Tal said. "In Vancouver, you cannot deal with the supply, but you can deal with speculative aspect that the supply issue create."

"We are trying to fight supply issues with demand solutions."

[ImportPsycho]

Originally Posted by JDMStyo

Only 50 buyers by draw. Helps to know insiders.
Also, it's only portion of the first year's mortgage...when completion is done in 2020

Link?

[Timpo]

Study finds foreign buyers impact Vancouver real estate but likely can't account for sky-high prices
A new research paper provides what is arguably the most precise data yet pointing to an impact of foreign money, but can’t account for the extent to which real-estate prices have increased in recent years

by Travis Lupick on June 17th, 2016 at 12:12 PM

Study finds foreign buyers impact Vancouver real estate but likely can't account for sky-high prices | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly


The benchmark price for all residential properties in the region covered by the Real Estate Board of Great Vancouver increased by 48.3 percent over the last three years.
MAX LINDENTHALER / ISTOCK

A forthcoming study of Vancouver real estate provides clear evidence that foreign money does impact home prices. However, the effect may be far less significant than many believe.

SFU’s Andrey Pavlov and UBC’s Tsur Somerville examined how prices changed in neighbourhoods favoured by Chinese immigrants during a three-month period following the July 2012 closure of the federal immigrant investors program (IIP).

From 1986 to its termination in 2014, the IIP served as an express lane for wealthy immigrants, allowing them to move to Canada in exchange for a five-year loan to the federal government of $800,000. An estimated 120,000 people used the IIP to relocate to British Columbia, according to one calculation by the South China Morning Post.

Pavlov and Somerville found that when the program was closed to new applicants in 2012, property prices in neighbourhoods preferred by Chinese immigrants declined by an average of 2.5 percent relative to non-Chinese neighbourhoods. (Such areas were identified with data from the 2011 census.)

Over the past three years, the benchmark price for all residential properties in the region covered by the Real Estate Board of Great Vancouver (REBGV) increased by 48.3 percent.

In a telephone interview, Pavlov, a professor of finance who specializes in real estate, said that although it is generally assumed that foreign money is driving Vancouver markets, there’s little data that definitely proves that’s the case.

“The whole study is trying to answer the question, is there any effect that we can measure, or not?” he told the Straight. “The answer is, overwhelmingly, yes, absolutely, there is an effect.”

However, while the research paper provides what is arguably the most precise data yet pointing to an impact of foreign buyers, it does not show that foreign money accounts for the extent to which prices have increased through 2015 and 2016.

Pavlov described the 2.5-percent figure as a “lower bound” estimate and acknowledged that the immigrant-investors program is only one source of foreign money. But he noted even a multiple of 2.5 percent still leaves a large divide between that number and the 50-percent change in prices the region has experienced over the past three years.

“Maybe it wasn’t 2.5 percent,” he said. “Maybe it was five, maybe it was even 10 percent. That’s still a lot lower than the 30 or 50 percent we’ve seen.

“There are many other factors that are contributing to this market,” Pavlov continued. “It is not just foreign investors. The big point here is [that] it is not just the Chinese. Yes, our paper finds that the suspension of the [investors] program had an impact; therefore, foreign investors in general have an impact on the market in Vancouver. But that is not the only explanation. Of course it is not.”

The study also found that although the closure of the IIP had a quantifiable effect on neighbourhoods where Chinese immigrants settled, the elimination of this source of foreign capital had little impact on the region’s real-estate market as a whole.

Pavlov listed a number of other factors he suggested are contributing to Metro Vancouver’s hot market. He said those forces include low mortgage rates, low property taxes, burdensome development-permit processes, and infrastructure shortcomings that slow the construction of housing throughout the larger region. He also did not discount the impact of foreign money, stating that it certainly has an effect, though exactly how great remains unknown. (On June 15, the Straight reported that speculative buyers also likely have an increasingly strong hand in the Vancouver market.)

The paper is still a work in progress but near completion. Pavlov said it will likely be sent to academic journals for publication next month.

Its findings are sure to prompt debate, given it’s a widespread assumption that foreign money is playing a significant role in Metro Vancouver real estate.

There are studies that suggest many homes are being sold to foreign buyers or immigrants new to Canada, though most of that data pertains to homes on the high end of the market. For example, a November 2015 study by UBC’s Andy Yan found that two-thirds of properties worth more than $1.25 million in three West Side neighbourhoods sold during one six-month period went to buyers with non-Anglicized Chinese names.

However, there is also research that suggests the impact of foreign money is less significant than has come to be commonly assumed.

A March 2016 study commissioned by the City of Vancouver found that single-family and duplex homes have a vacancy rate of just one percent, suggesting that foreigners living abroad are not buying homes and leaving them empty, as some reports have suggested.

There’s also a May 2015 briefing note drafted by the B.C. Ministry of Finance that states: “foreign buyers likely make up less than five percent of home sales activity in Greater Vancouver”. It cites an estimate supplied by the B.C. Real Estate Association.

The Straight has repeatedly reported on REBGV surveys that found agents reported less than five percent of sales involved foreign buyers.

All four of those studies have been criticized for imperfect methodology.

On June 8, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the federal government was conducting its own research into Canada’s housing markets. “We’re making sure that we have a deep dive into the information to ensure that any considerations we have for change are evidence-based,” he said.

Today (June 17), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Vancouver attending a roundtable on housing affordability, one where the Globe and Mail has reported that the issue of foreign money is being discussed.

[hypediss]

^ note the data has not been peer reviewed yet and tsur has strong ties with developers

[GLOW]

there'll be a plain white envelope attached to every study sent to peers

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

how many units could possibly be under 500k in that development anyways?

Concord Pacific discount leaves some home buyers disappointed | CTV Vancouver News

Guess it is too late to go there to try to get a unit.

[jing]

I thought hundreds, if not thousands of would-be buyers already threw down $5000 weeks ago at their appointment only thing they had going on in Surrey. I don't think any special relationships were needed with realtor or developer. All I did was sign up for their mailing list and I got word of it a few days before it happened. I posted the info package I received from Concord a few pages back.

[Alpine]

I dont doubt that there are thousands of people who have already reserved a unit. Technically they only took a picture of the bank draft so no one needed to actually put any money down. When i was there the sales lady said that they will roll over reservations from the first tower to the fourth tower instead of having people line up or reserve again. This whole 1yr mortgage assistance program just sounds like a publicity stunt.

[sonick]

Originally Posted by hypediss

^ note the data has not been peer reviewed yet and tsur has strong ties with developers

Anything that comes out of Tsur's mouth in regards to real estate is garbage. He has multiple developers' arms elbows deep up his ass using him as a puppet for the local media.

[JDMStyo]

Originally Posted by jing

I thought hundreds, if not thousands of would-be buyers already threw down $5000 weeks ago at their appointment only thing they had going on in Surrey. I don't think any special relationships were needed with realtor or developer. All I did was sign up for their mailing list and I got word of it a few days before it happened. I posted the info package I received from Concord a few pages back.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/conc...e-easy-program

It seems developers are starting to take Vancouver’s housing crisis into their own hands. A new Burnaby development will pay half your mortgage for a full year if you’re one of 50 young people chosen as part of a new initiative.

Concord Pacific launched the “Home Ownership Made Easy” program Wednesday, which would not only cover half of your mortgage for the first year if you buy a home in their Brentwood Community development, but also reduce the initial down payment from 25% to 15%.

“On a $360,000 home you come up with a $54,000 down payment instead of $90,000, it’s much less daunting for the buyer. We hope this pilot is a success and can be built on,” says Grant Murray, Concord Pacific’s Senior Vice-President of Sales.

Concord PacificConcord Pacific
In order to qualify for the initiative, you must prove that you’ve lived in BC for at least two years, be buying your first home, be between the ages of 19 and 35, be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and you need to be registered at concordbrentwood.com. You also need to visit the presentation centre to prove you qualify.

Draw took place already last weekend. 50 were picked - given the there are not 1BR + Den the 1BR plans are about 520sq ft, it's easily $700/sqft. No parking, those are likely not an option for 1BR units ($35K each).

Words on streets is there's 1300+ requests forms for only about 400~ units for Tower 1. Demand will likely spill to Tower 2.

Disclosure: I have unit request in myself so am familiar with project. Also am related to staff there.