Funny you mention that.
We bought a pre-sale TH in 2016 and took possession in 2018. We sold our condo just before the market went dead.
It took almost 3 years but now the value of that unit is back to where it was when we sold.

As for the TH, yeah we paid a premium for it in 2016 and on paper lost money in 2018/2019 but when we sold in 2021, it sold for more than the 2016 price.

In the 5 months since we sold, that place has gone up another $100K but our new place has gone up $300K on paper.

Still house poor though. No fancy P cars in my stable.

Re: Tricities

Having grown up all my life in Richmond, it was quite a move to do house shopping out in the Tri Cities, and ending up in Coquitlam. That said, having lived here for about 2 months now, it's been great.

- Westcoast Express is super fast, comfortable, and convenient to commute downtown
- Really convenient grocery options with Walmart, T&T, Superstore, Kins, Assi Market, IGA, Save On within less than 10 min drive from each other
- Decent selection of international foods, particularly persian and mexican that was barely existent in Richmond
- Great views and comfortable neighborhoods.

In shopping in Port Moody, I found the only developed areas were further North near Rocky Point/Ioco. Things get pretty old and grungy as you go further south in PoMo.

Also since its a smaller population, I hear property taxes are pretty pricey in PoMo.

https://www.canadianmortgagetrends.c...oming-meeting/

Table at the bottom shows what each bank is forecasting as the end of 2022 rate - right now it's .25% so most banks are predicting between a .75% and 1.25% increase in rates in 2022 (3-5 hikes).

Port Moody has services that are disproportionate to its size: the city has its own police force and full municipal waste collection/recycling (unlike Coquitlam which contracts out to GFL).

People often forget that much of the land near Sasamat Lake is under Port Moody's jurisdiction as well. The Flavelle Mill is no longer in operation, and neither is the BC Hydro Burrard Thermal electricity generation site. These things, combined with a council that is reluctant to approve the density required to maintain municipal services, result in higher than typical property taxes. But considering that the average household income is significantly higher in areas that are development-resisitant, such as Heritage Mountain, higher taxes are what people are willing to pay to retain "quality of life".

It's essentially the District of North Vancouver in the Tri-Cities politically and demographically. Green NIMBYism is probably the best way to describe it. As a result, the city is both desirable and insufferable. Yet the irony is that for all of the love of dogs, breweries, and Bert Flinn Park and "quality of life", Heritage Mountain wouldn't have opened up for development if the city wasn't on the verge of insolvency in the 1980s.

Grew up in the Tri-cities and live in East Vancouver now.

I like Coquitlam and Port Moody quite a lot. I could see moving back out there when we have a family. The green spaces and recreation facilities are great, schools are solid, and the suburb vibe is nice. I have a lot of great childhood memories around Mundy Park, Town Centre, at pools/summer camps etc. Nothing but great things to say about the Coquitlam library system too.

That said, even with Evergreen Line, getting to Vancouver is not the greatest. In my 20's I was pretty car-reliant. If you need to go occasionally, it's fine, but if you need to go semi-regularly, or outside regular working hours, it's a serious consideration. My dad commuted from West Coquitlam to QE Park area his entire life and saw his commute go from 25 minutes to 45-50 minutes over the decades.

I would never, ever want to live in the Tri-cities and have to commute to Richmond. I had one rotation in Richmond and 6 weeks of commuting via Columbia <> Queensborough <> 91A was the worst thing ever.

There are pros and cons. The availability of transit, walkability, etc. is improving in certain areas of Coquitlam/Port Moody but is nothing compared to where I'm at in E Van now (and that's Renfrew Heights - one of the sleepier/less trendy areas of Vancouver) and at this stage in life we're enjoying the more urban setting in spite of COVID.

Damn. So much love for Port Moody now. Not use to hearing it :lol Gonna take my mom out for more dinners for working so hard to keep the house. Paid around 50k in 1980 with a 3k rebate because no one wanted to live out here. She walked 1.5km everyday from Noons Creek to the only bus stop which was infront of the Esso / Westwood Honda.

^
I was neighbours with the brew master at Parkside Brewery for several years and saw, over time, how that business became an anchor for Murray Street and cemented Port Moody as a destination for the under-30 crowd.

If anyone wants to see what Port Moody is really like on the ground, instead of the images of dogs and beers, check out the "I Love Port Moody" group on Facebook.

Gabi and Jules ftw !!! https://gabiandjules.com/

And Omega Cafe, never had a bad meal there !! https://omegacafeportmoody.com/ Try their Avocado smoothie!

Been hearing about the "people on the sidelines with cash" for 20 years. Reality is, when prices start softening, people seem to think they'll go down forever and keep waiting for the right time. Before you know it, market turns back around

Yeah it's crazy. A lot of assessments jumping up this year but a lot of people that bought condos in 2018-2019 wouldn't make a profit selling today. I was reading old posts in this thread from 2019 and it's crazy how different the general mood was. Was common to see people losing $500k-$1m on houses they bought in 2016 when they sold in 2019.

But with inflation and other pandemic factors, who knows what can happen

On a side note, anyone have recommendations for central A/Cs? Got a quote from BC Furnace to install around $7k for 2100 square foot home

Could you breakdown the costs on what makes up the $7000? I got my hot water tank converted to a tankless system, hydronic furnace, and central AC for $7000 and change. But mind you, I am in Toronto. My place is about 1500sqft. I recommend shopping around to get some quotes.

What I've seen over the years is that for the most part, bears remain bears and will mostly find a justification to stay out of the market.

Detached housing in Metro Vancouver is an endangered species. Supply of it decreases every year and the majority of homeowners under the age of 50 would prefer to own it, rather than other forms of housing. I don't see how one can lose with detached housing, unless Canada ceases to be the country that we currently understand it to be.

Other forms of housing may have slight dips, and flat lines, but I don't believe that there is enough housing to satisfy demand. Households are much smaller than they were 30-40 years ago (e.g. forever alone). Households are also forming/disbanding more quickly than in the past. Therefore, we need more individual homes to accommodate singles and the set of households that are in constant flux.

A new high-efficiency furnace and AC combo would run in the $12K range, so it's not completely ridiculous.

The price is largely dependent on the heating set up in your home - whether you need to install a new air exchanger (?), the length of the run you need for the unit ducting, etc.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...-street-surrey

Friend of mine just sent me this. His colleague just sold their house this week.
Listed at $1.5M
Sold for $1.8M (no subjects) and 14 offers total. No offers under, most offers around $1.55-1.6M and a few above $1.6M

Absolute craziness. It's a nice looking house at least. That cloverdale area is bumping, but i'm pretty sure the parking situation in that area is really bad.

3600 square foot of land at $1.8M. The price gap between Clayton and say, East Vancouver/Burnaby Heights is awfully close nowadays.

Sounds about right. My sister paid that for her house as well

I think with the whole pandemic still in full effect, and many jobs allowing either WFH or less visit to the office, the trend is going outward for that less congested and more private space lifestyle.

It's always a cycle. Expensive areas would go up by a larger margin, making less expensive areas seem more attractive, they would go up. And then when things gets more balanced, it'd go back to expensive areas such as Van proper/West.

If you take a look at the newest assessment, outer areas such as Surrey/Langley went up for a whopping 30%+ while Van West is moderate at 1x%. Some places in downtown/Yaletown even went down a little.

Thus, until the outer area's craze cools off or reach a point that makes Van West seems cheap, we'd see more and more outward movement. And the trend is showing as such given Vancouver proper actually had a net outflow of population in recent years.

You’re outa your mind paying 1.8 for that Clayton place.. lol what in the fuck

So a former colleague at my old company bought a place in Abottsford, was like 680k 5 years ago pretty nice rancher style with a decent lot. Sold last month ina bidding war for 1.4 and now he bought 15 acres in Nova Scotia with a log home and massive shop for 500k

He said that the second you move to an area where there isn’t broadband internet, those same properties are half that price

Is there a non-realtor website that lists up and coming presales for GVRD? Or what is a good resource to look for that kind of thing?

Whereabouts in NS out of curiousity? I've looked at Halifax and the immediate area before and it was almost as expensive as the lower mainland a couple years ago.

Not sure this was just hearsay through my dad who is still in contact with the guy. They did buy in a place with high speed internet though so I don’t think it’s completely rural

Clayton is as dense as the typical neighbourhood in East Vancouver, but with less services and shops and transit connections.

Buyers seem to be placing a high value on move-in ready properties with legal basement suites.

Poking holes in the myth that there are over a million homes held by investors that are sitting empty which is completely NOT TRUE.

The density is wayyyyy worse on Clayton than anywhere in EV. Areas that have new builds with a main and 2 suites in EV have no where near the congestion or lack of infrastructure that Clayton does.

My grandma lived right around the corner from that 1.8 hours for 7-8 years and she, at one point, was the last house on that street. The parking was absolutely insane then (5-6 years ago) and since they’ve probably added 10,000+ homes

EV will become worse as they tear down old commercial and build dual purpose retail/rental housing. But for now I’d say there isn’t a single street In EV that compares to that Clayton neighborhood

So house poor too, when would you guys considering buying a p car like a used GT4? Around what net worth or income?

Always thought it was possible once you made like $120,000ish and had your own place but feels like you have to double that to do it reasonably comfortably.

Well he's not wrong, I did a quick search on 10+ acre properties under $600,000 with a house... look how lovely this place is on 27 acres with fruit trees etc.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...e-clementsvale

Beautiful... $578,000 for all that...

Price history it sold for $80k back in 2004 too lol

It's not exactly in the middle of nowhere either, I google mapped it and there's 13 restaurants within 25km of the place.