Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[CivicBlues]

This entire 300 page thread can be summed up in 4 or 5 lines:

4444: Market's going to crash!
Carl Johnson: No fuck you, it's going to keep going going going going to the moon!
random poster 1: Should I buy an overpriced condo/townhouse in <insert name of development x in the boonies>?
random poster 2: No you should buy an overpriced condo/townhouse <insert name of development y in the boonies> instead!
gululululu: China #1!

/thread

[hud 91gt]

What's considered metro Vancouver? How far out does this tax cover?

[Ch28]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Is your friend's townhouse by the Pitt River Bridge and the Mary Hill? If so, that's Fremont Village.

Townhouses at Fremont haven't been 320K in several years. When Mosaic built the first phase in 2010/2011, I believe they were priced from the 330s. They are now pushing into the 600s.

The area is slowly developing, but if you rely on the highway for your commute, it's not bad at all.

Yeah, he was one of the first people to move in, so I guess he locked into a really good rate at the time.

[fliptuner]

Originally Posted by lowside67

I think it will sell for dramatically higher than that. We were looking at those specific units when we bought in Port Moody and they were already mid 400s last year in terms of actual sale price.

Mark

Did you note the sqft and layout? It's pretty bad.

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

What's considered metro Vancouver? How far out does this tax cover?

I've always considered anything West of 264th, the GVRD.

[6o4__boi]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

Here's one:
https://www.locatehomes.ca/bc-real-e...5?id=262116013

LOLOLOLOL

A unit like this makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever, unless you love stairs.

we looked at those units a couple years ago
they were $350k at the time and felt pretty damn cramped

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

Did you note the sqft and layout? It's pretty bad.

Jesus, I did not. I assumed we were talking about the generic 1300-1400sqft units that are most common. Agree - 1BR townhouse WTF.

Mark

[Verdasco]

anyone have experiences with west coast realty / nustream realty? the asian bunched group of realtors?

Might be interesting to join their group in the future, know a few realtors in their division

edit: 300k tax on 2 million house isn't going to do shit, its too late, people are still buying

[fliptuner]

850sqft, minus stairs, split into 3 floors hahahaha

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

850sqft, minus stairs, split into 3 floors hahahaha

And I thought 1000 sq ft duplex with 2 floors and 4 bedrooms was bad.

[MarkyMark]

It seems with townhouses these days, people would rather have that side by side two car garage instead of a designated parking space outside and a shitload of extra room indoors.

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

It seems with townhouses these days, people would rather have that side by side two car garage instead of a designated parking space outside and a shitload of extra room indoors.

You mean front and back tandem parking spots.

Anything that is side by side is going to have decent sq footage.

[fliptuner]

As some one who wrenches, I'd rather have a double (wide) garage.

For the masses, a single garage with an office/flex room behind it, plus a designated stall, makes more sense than a tandem garage.

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

You mean front and back tandem parking spots.

Anything that is side by side is going to have decent sq footage.

Yeah they'll be 1300+sq feet, but even then when you consider the two spare bedrooms are tiny that space that the garage takes up is huge.

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

Yeah they'll be 1300+sq feet, but even then when you consider the two spare bedrooms are tiny that space that the garage takes up is huge.

Garage space isn't part of the Sq ft calculations.
So 1300 sq ft is 1300 sq ft of living space.

[Tapioca]

About stairs...

Most people who grew up in the City of Vancouver in your typical Vancouver special are used to having to go up stairs to the main level. We never rented the basement like most immigrant families, but the majority of immigrant families did, so the basement was never actually lived in. I personally have no issue with going up stairs. Maybe it's because I take public transit to work and I'm used to it.

Speaking from experience, condos are good when you are DINKs. IMHO, when you have kids, you appreciate having a garage and front door.

Garage space isn't part of the Sq ft calculations.
So 1300 sq ft is 1300 sq ft of living space.

A lot of people convert the workshop space of a tandem garage into an extra room. Some developers even rough-in the plumbing, so you just have to find a way to vent air into the garage. If your garage is 40+ feet, you could still theoretically have room for 2 cars if you build an extra room in the back. Just gotta watch the survey to make sure your garage is actually part of the rest of the strata lot, as opposed to limited common property.

Parking 2 cars in a tandem garage isn't really practical, so it's best to have a legal driveway spot (e.g. strata approved or surveyed) outside the garage.

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

Garage space isn't part of the Sq ft calculations.
So 1300 sq ft is 1300 sq ft of living space.

The point I'm trying to make is what it there was no garage, and that space was used for living space and added to the square footage like the 80s townhouse I'm renting right now. The place is huge.

Do they do this so parking doesn't take up space that they could build more units on? I'm assuming that's it.

[Hondaracer]

I find the problem with a lot of townhomes is the "cheaper" ones don't even have a powder room on the main floor. So guests etc are having to go up and use the main bath or the ensuite when you have parties etc. (yea parties with those party walls? Lol jk)

Also most Vancouver specials had the living space at ground level no? Or at the very least a split level, not actually like the "second" floor?

lol @ the dinks thing though, my fiancés cousins call us that all the time, thought they had been clever and made somthing up lol

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

The point I'm trying to make is what it there was no garage, and that space was used for living space and added to the square footage like the 80s townhouse I'm renting right now. The place is huge.

Do they do this so parking doesn't take up space that they could build more units on? I'm assuming that's it.

Yep, tandem garages reduce the footprint of the complex so developers can build more units on the lot. I see a lot of newer townhome complexes being built with no driveways (no parking spot outside) which sucks.

I find the problem with a lot of townhomes is the "cheaper" ones don't even have a powder room on the main floor. So guests etc are having to go up and use the main bath or the ensuite when you have parties etc. (yea parties with those party walls? Lol jk)

Also most Vancouver specials had the living space at ground level no? Or at the very least a split level, not actually like the "second" floor?

When we were house hunting, we found that townhouses with powder rooms came at the expense of kitchen space. Our townhouse, which was built 15 years ago, doesn't have a powder room but it has a larger nook, an island, and a pantry closet which were big pluses for the wife. At least if we want to add another ensuite bathroom, we have full plumbing roughed in the garage.

Most Vancouver specials were really two full suites in one house meaning if you rented the basement, you would never use it and you would be forced to go up the stairs to your half of the house.

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Yep, tandem garages reduce the footprint of the complex so developers can build more units on the lot. I see a lot of newer townhome complexes being built with no driveways (no parking spot outside) which sucks.

My favorite are the driveways that are big enough to maybe parallel park a mini on them.

[fliptuner]

In a 1300-1400, 3 level, th, I prefer the bathrooms be on the top and bottom. Larger kitchen/lr and the last thing I want is to hear people using the bathroom while I'm watching TV or entertaining, let alone dropping a deuce.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

In a 1300-1400, 3 level, th, I prefer the bathrooms be on the top and bottom. Larger kitchen/lr and the last thing I want is to hear people using the bathroom while I'm watching TV or entertaining, let alone dropping a deuce.

Later on i'll upload some pics of the most recent units my old company built, they are quite a bit larger than the standard townhouse, but they designed them well in that the powder room was situated behind the pantry as opposed to right next to the kitchen.

Even with that said, i'd prefer a powder room for guests and hearing them crank a shit while we're sitting down to say a prayer as opposed to them constantly using the main bath

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

In a 1300-1400, 3 level, th, I prefer the bathrooms be on the top and bottom. Larger kitchen/lr and the last thing I want is to hear people using the bathroom while I'm watching TV or entertaining, let alone dropping a deuce.

That's another thing about powder rooms in a typical 1300 square foot townhouse - there's nowhere to put one, so they're put right in the kitchen where a pantry closet would go. Some are so poorly placed that the door opens right into a counter/prep area.

[Timpo]

Be Warned Canada: Australia Introduces a New Tax Rule that Slaps Chinese Investors
By Abdoulie - June 28, 2016

Be Warned Canada: Australia Introduces a New Tax Rule that Slaps Chinese Investors



Canada, and any other country which is the end-target of Chinese hot money laundering) is being urged to evaluate their options and adopt the system that benefits them the most. This week, Sydney announced that a new taxing system is being imposed on foreign investors in an attempt to resolve the over-flooded market dominated by mostly Chinese speculators. With the city’s prices ever increasing, Sydney is ranked to be the only second to the Chinese Hong Kong, and other big cities with the world’s most expensive housing.

Nonetheless, China’s notorious offshore money laundering nexus of Vancouver- a hot housing market facing major problems as prices continue to sky-high, did not make the list simply due to the fact that some Chinese oligarch paid a hefty sum of money to ensure that that city name disappears. However, Sydney’s crackdown on oligarchs is long overdue

Michelle Bennett, indirect tax specialist of KPMG Australia reported that “the governments want to respond to a perception about housing affordability and the impact of foreign investment on that,”. Bennet added that “(Politicians) are raising money from people who aren’t voting, so superficially you can understand that it’s possibly not bad politics,” but also said that the solution to resolve the problem could be a “blunt instrument” which might negatively affect the market.

Harry Triguboff, Australia’s richest man and head of prominent developer had an interview with Australian Financial Review last week and said “It is very bad. Without the Chinese nothing would ever get built,”. Trigudov went further on and said “Never mind the nonsense stories, sales volumes have already dropped and prices are coming down steadily. The Chinese buyers are already disappearing.”

According to Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board, it was reported that China invested Aus$4.2BN in 2011, which puts them on top of the list as the largest overseas buyer. However, the country’s foreign investment policies are becoming stricter as some offshore investors were forced by the government to sell their properties.

These policies, however, will discourage foreign investors, especially Chinese speculators and many are starting to predict a housing bubble burst similar to Canada’s impending one: “with housing prices appearing to be coming off the boil and the economy transitioning away from a mining boom” said some analysts suggesting that the tax could backfire.

“It’ll have ramifications down the track when the market goes through a pretty significant downturn in terms of construction and developers are finding it hard to get projects going,” BIS Shrapnel’s managing director Robert Mellor said.

Cameron Kusher of CoreLogic’s Australia, which is the country’s leading property data provider said that it’s quite obvious that the housing market is softening and might also be the main reason why some states are attempting “grab some revenue while it’s on offer”

“The people that are buying for the long-term… maybe at some point to migrate to Australia, I don’t think it would act as too much of a deterrent for them,” Kusher added.

[Timpo]

House Price Horrors: Who You Gonna Call? Not Christy Clark
Premier’s latest step won’t bust ghostly killers of home affordability.
By Bill Tieleman, Today

House Price Horrors: Who You Gonna Call? Not Christy Clark | The Tyee


Running scared? BC Premier Christy Clark, behind Housing Minister Mike de Jong, reversed BC Liberals’ deregulation of realtors. Yesterday, again reversing its position, the BC Liberal government announced an extra 15 per cent tax on foreign nationals buying real estate in Metro Vancouver.

Dr. Peter Venkman: “This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.” – Ghostbusters, 1984

Call Premier Christy Clark? You gotta be kidding. She’s afraid of those ghosts.

But nonetheless, Clark is holding a paranormal summer session of the BC Legislature because she is even more afraid of something else -- that she’ll be slimed by angry voters for not taking action to stop house prices from skyrocketing to completely unaffordable levels.

And what spooks Clark is the thought of losing the May 2017 provincial election as a result.

So on Monday the BC Liberals announced a surprise extra 15 per cent property tax on foreign nationals buying Metro Vancouver housing.

It’s a complete flip-flop from what Clark said just back in May: “By moving foreign owners out of the market housing prices will drop.”

It’s amazing how quickly a premier can change her mind after seeing a ghost – or more likely a series of deadly internal polls.

But this 15 per cent tax comes way, way too late. Prices already jumped 32 per cent in the past year alone and this 15 per cent property tax may not deter many foreign buyers who are fueling the rise. After all, it still leaves a 17 per cent profit every year!

And this 15 per cent property tax may not deter many foreign buyers. After all, it still leaves a 17 per cent profit every year!

Clark’s delay, and the price we pay

Horrendous housing prices are not surprising, given that the BC Liberals have steadfastly refused to deal with foreign nationals buying up billions in Metro Vancouver homes as a speculative investment, with no plans to actually live here – thereby driving prices up to astonishing levels, with detached houses in Metro Vancouver now at $1.4 million on average.

Those insane prices have resulted in a windfall revenue surplus for the province, with the property transfer tax adding an extra $605 million more than budgeted – a 44 per cent boost to $1.53 billion.

[fliptuner]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Even with that said, i'd prefer a powder room for guests and hearing them crank a shit while we're sitting down to say a prayer as opposed to them constantly using the main bath

Luckily, I have a full bath attached to my office/flex, downstairs. Fire away. Lol