BC boosts homeowner grant to 1.65M as assessed value of homes rises again - NEWS 1130

Kind of hard to believe that a $1.65M dollar amount would cover 91% of BC homes. Given how crazy prices are in the LM, I'd like to know what the percentage of coverage is for homes in the Lower Mainland. My (uneducated wild) guess is, it'd be lower than 75%.

Case in point -- my parents' 50+ yrs old bungalow in East Van where we have been living for the past 30 years has an assessment value that just exceeds the $1.65M amount. I certainly don't think it is a particularly fancy or luxurious house. It is hardly anything more than your typical middle class family home in a typical middle class neighbourhood. But apparently it is somehow part of the top 9% now.

Well while Vancouver obviously has the most expensive single family homes, cross boundary and I’d wager to say 90% of the homes east of boundary fall below the threshold. That’s a pretty sizable portion.

Also Richmond probably has a lot of house over that mark but they are all on big lots

The Asian kid at https: //youtu.be/fxoUNzrt26Q?t=15m50s has the funniest expression on his face when he realizes that the girl is talking about his people

Edit: I can't get the auto-embed to respect the timestamp :(

^
hahaha, I knew what you meant to post.
He's all like "yeah, yeah, I agree....." then "wtf did she just say?!"

:fullofwin:


Wow.
Goes to show that Vancouver's biggest industry since Expo86 has been real estate.
I took advantage of the market in 1999 buying my house when the prices were at their lowest point. It seems like back then, Hong Kong investors were looking at buying homes in the Vancouver area in an effort to protect themselves for the 1998 China takeover. Once they realized it wasn't that bad, the sales dried up and the value of homes dropped significantly. At the time our house was originally listed for $425k. We got it for $360k after over a year on the market.

https://shawglobalnews.files.wordpre...0&h=480&crop=1

From a historic standpoint, it looks like 2008 saw a huge drop in value based on the market at the time. A drop of almost $100k in the span of a year. Granted, this only took us back to 2006 levels. If this trend continues, those who say the drop won't be significant could almost be right.

Perfect storm with 2008 market crash and 2010 olympics imo

Even with the influx of Hong Kong money prior to 1997, prices were relatively stable and "reasonable" until: July 2, 2003. We did a good job of advertising our world class city to more than just tourists it seems. You reap what you sow.

Can someone explain the reasoning behind a homeowner's grant and, especially, why it's granted to people who have $1M plus in assets?

This popped up in the related vids

Australian show

"they're knocking down all the trees" ...looks at asian kid with 4Head:troll: expression

You got me, but the amount of homeowners who were bitching about $570 last year because their house was over 1.2 million was staggering.

This is a great video because it shows that the influx of new money does not only impact "white canadians" but also asian immigrants that have been here for generations.

I remember in the early and mid 90s about folks complaining about prices. How it was absurd to buy a town home for more than 200k. And that you can buy a West Van Style mansion in Langley/Abby for 500k.

Then again, I was just 10, wtf did I really know.

Going back to the 5%, it's probably important to note where that 5% has that money parked. On the higher end of the scale property. That 5% is a large portion of the backbone of Vancouver real estate.

A One-Point Plan to tackle Vancouver?s housing affordability crisis: kill Quebec?s millionaire migration scam | South China Morning Post
A very interesting article on the QIIP. Basically the selling out of affordability by the government.
Feds won't dare go up against Quebec. And really why would they harm that golden goose? Trudeau's plan doesn't address this issue. In fact I don't see how Trudeau's plan addresses affordability as a whole at all.

I think the issue is common in many of the hot spots. Same policies, different names. LA, NY, SF, TO..

That's because Trudeau doesn't have a backbone. In fact so far I don't feel he have done a single thing.

While I don't disagree, I don't think any candidates would step on Quebec's toes. It would be political suicide.
But you can't throw money at the problem when money is the problem.
Like trying to fight a flood with water.
It treats the symptom but not the cause. And actually makes it more sustainable for the problem to grow. Meanwhile spending billions to do so

Latest REBGV stats are out:
Steady sales and diminished listings characterize 2017 for the Metro Vancouver housing market | Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver

The cost difference between townhomes and houses seems to be diminishing slowly. I'm still hoping to upgrade to a house sometime this year.

I got a mortgage pre approval that was enough to buy a house, but it would be nice to buy something slightly nicer. If my townhouses can continue to hike in value while houses stay stagnant, it should work out.

Similar memories, when my family moved here in 1989 I remember my dad saying who in their right mind would spend $100,000 on a house?

We had moved from Sask. I think my parents sold there home there for $25,000 at that time.

My family also moved to Metro Van in 1989. Came from Edmonton. I remember the real estate agent was showing my dad houses in Vancouver for 250k and he was saying it was wayyyy too much. Parents had just sold their house for $75k in Edmonton...

Mid 1990 parents bought their house in Coq for 250k. Sold it in early 2000 for 350k. Purchase a house in Burnaby for 440k. Sold it last year to my sister for a discount at 1.44m....

Seems like the housing market have been pretty steady till about 10 years ago?

Dumb question time again -- what does it mean when the (land) "Title" field in MLS / Realtor.ca says "Strata"?

I have only seen "freehold" and "leasehold" in the past, and I know what those are. But "strata" is new to me. This unit seems to be part of a small apartment complex, so it would only make sense if there is a strata council associated with the building. But the title actually saying "strata"... :confused:

It makes me wish that Quebec had voted for sovereignty back in 1980 or 1995. Having lived in Montreal, it was a unique society. But no different than the many cultured areas that we have in our province.

I've been forced to take a provincially mandated french language test. It was administered in my office by a provincial official, followed by two Sur de Quebec police officers. It was a bit uncomfortable, although I passed with flying colors.

:ahwow:

Freehold = Your land
Lease Hold = Not your land (It's leased land)
Strata = Your strata as a whole owns the land. You nailed it. It's a complex, with a strata.

I'm keeping an eye on inventory this Spring because if inventory stays low don't expect prices to come crashing down. In fact you'll probably see a spike.

Are you referring to inventory in general? or specifically only on:

1) apartment/condo
2) townhomes
3) duplex / single detached

?