Let's say by Christmas it's back up to business as usual and the tax made no difference whatsoever, what's next?

Does the government try taking things a step further, or throw their hands up in the air and let Jesus take the wheel? I think this election in May will be determined by the price of housing.

people lining up still for 700k row homes in the terrible willoughby area of langley.. lol fuck that shit

That area is pumping out 500-750k townhouses right now, and a lot of them are selling too. That area is getting quite expensive.

What's with all the hate on that area? I picked up something from there a couple of months ago and it seemed like a good area for young families. I don't see how it's any worse than Burke Mountain or Morgan Crossing. I think most people would rather live in Langley than Maple Ridge.

The good thing about Willoughby is that there are attached homes that are freehold. It's very hard to come by townhouses or rowhouses that are non-strata.

I don't hate the area either, maybe the infrastructure isn't there yet to support all the people, but that will change over time.

the city planning was just brutal there as far as i can tell, it's going to turn into the next clayton heights etc.

No parking, 3-4 cars per home that can fit 1 car in their garage, terrible traffic and congestion, super overcrowded schools etc. the density is such there that it just seems the infrastructure expansions will never keep up to the increase in density.

The traffic was fucking BRUTAL when it was just that one development at 208th and the freeway there, forget the name.

Now you've got like 7-8 new developments all within a 3-4 block radius of those on 208th with many more coming down the pipe

i typically avoid Langley like the plague these days, but try driving down 208th to 62nd on a weekday afternoon between 4-6, if you thought 200th was bad, wait till you're on 208th lol

The area between 200th and 208 isn't bad, where Yorkson and Willoughby meet. You're super close to the highway, and once you take the 200th exit you're turning off before you have to deal with much traffic.

That being said, pretty much everything coming out there now is 500k+.

everything in hindsight obviously but what a complete fuck-up i pulled 2 years ago when i was offered a townhouse we built from a developer at 152nd and 24th for 360k

at the time i kinda scoffed at it and said it wouldnt be a unit i'd even want to rent, now it's probably worth 650+ considering what these are going for... fuuuuuuu

If prices do tank, and people stop buying these ridiculously priced new builds, what do the developers do then? Sit on them or lower the price until they sell?

When I was out in Willoughby, I could see the issues around traffic and infrastructure (ie. Lack of schools). Despite these issues, I can see why someone would want to buy there. It's where regular working people are living with their kids. Sure there are other neighbourhoods that are less dense, but if you don't see kids around and don't know your neighbours, what's the point?

You know which city is doing planning poorly? The City of Burnaby. 70 story towers with no road infrastructure to support them. Lougheed Mall is next.

Any new neighbourhood is going to be built like Clayton Heights or Willoughby - density is the way of the future. If you want less density, it's going to be reflected in the price.

Personally, if had a budget of 600k, I would buy a townhouse in a mature community like Heritage Woods in Port Moody.

Better case in point
http://www.revscene.net/forums/71007...-disabled.html

Depends on how the developer is financing the project. If they cannot proceed on construction because of insufficient presales or deposits, they may have to refund the deposits and stop the development. As long as they can pay the taxes and other costs to keep the land, the development will be idle unil the market picks up to a point where it becomes profitable.

If the developer has already secured enough presales to start construction, but can't sell the last 10-20% of the units, then they'll probably offer incentives like free upgrades to move the last units. It would also depend on the profit margin of the developer.

Hard to say, as every developer is different.

Say for example, during the late 2000's, some developers were offering huge discounts to sell units.
Look at the Olympic Village just after the Olympics. For the early part of 2011/12 they were having a tough time selling units.

A couple of the developers even closed the show homes and stopped the pre-sales till the market turned around and got better.

But then again, there were a couple of buildings that ran out of funds and sat partially built for quite a few years.
The lot next to the Hydro building on Georgia and a small build on Pender st. near the botanical gardens come to mind.

I know one developer was offering 20k discounts on the few remaining units in the Yorkson area, but that was for units going for over 700k. The markup must be pretty high there right now that the area is booming.

But seriously, who the fuck spends 700k on a townhouse in Langley??

Usually its someone who doesn't want to spend a million+ in Burnaby..

People who want a house, but can't buy one in Langley and don't want to buy in Abbostsford or Chilliwack. People who want to buy because buying provides stability for their families in a uncertain rental market. FOMO. Just to name a few.

Are there actually million dollar townhouses in Burnaby?

There are by the Deer Lake area. There was also a lot of activity around the Lougheed Mall area with some getting into the high 900s.

7-5201 Oakmount Crescent, Burnaby, BC, Townhouse For Sale | REW.ca

4715 Village Drive, Burnaby, BC, Townhouse For Sale | REW.ca


Edit:
Built in 96/97
:fuckthatshit:

Lots.

However, even within the last 3-5 months I've seen older (15-30 year old) townhouses in north Van going for 700-800

I'll take Nvan over willoughby

Wow if I had 1.3 mil to blow a townhouse would be so far off my radar.

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems risky spending high amounts of cash on anything that isn't a detached home. Outside of the Vancouver area of course.

Have to look at the Sq ft.
If things are $700 per sq, 1700 and up sq ft TH's will be $1M.

$1.3M is only going to buy you a 1300 sq ft duplex in vancouver right now.
Burnaby is right next to Vancouver, so it's not like it is THAT far of a drive.
I am up on SFU, 20-30 mins gets me downtown.
30-45 mins gets me to Richmond.
I am 15-20 mins from the 3 ice rinks that I play hockey at.

You bet it's risky. On the other hand, think about the potential buyers of such homes.
- Retirees who have cashed out of their house. They would rather live in a house-like home instead of a condo, but don't want to do the maintenance that a house requires. They have sold their home in Montecito for 3 million and have bought a townhouse for 1.3 and pocketed 1.5 million tax free.
- Mainlanders who don't have enough for a detached house in Burnaby but want to buy in Burnaby because there's a healthy Chinese Mainland community.

Maybe I'm just underestimating the amount of old people who cashed out. If I was retired and just sold my 3 million dollar house, I'd probably be more inclined to rent something nice and keep my money in the bank than spend 1.3 on a townhouse that may or may not keep its value over 10 years.