Vancity: Vancouver cost of living could trigger mass exodus

[pengu]

The rising cost of home ownership in Metro Vancouver could see a migration of highly mobile millennials away from the region, a report released by Vancity credit union suggests.

The report argues that the continued rise in the area's housing market is not being mitigated by salaries, leaving a growing affordability gap for the majority of professions.

Identifying owning their own home as a goal for up to 93 per cent of millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000), Vancity predicts a mass migration away from Metro Vancouver, and a subsequent labour crisis for the area.

$78K salary now required

Currently, on average, a family household income needs to be $123,000 (in a dual-income household, a salary of $78,088 each) to maintain the average Metro Vancouver mortgage, far higher than many professionals in much-needed occupations make.

And, with house prices projected to rise 4.87 per cent year-on-year, and salaries growing between 0.6 and 3.2 per cent year-on-year, the majority of those working in what Vancity regards as 'in-demand' jobs, will be priced out of the housing market, with even the best-paying jobs unable to keep up.

Letting go of the dream?

"By 2025, 85 of 88 in-demand jobs will be unable to afford to live in Metro Vancouver," the report predicts.

"Only those individuals working as senior business managers, senior construction managers and engineering managers will be able to maintain affordable housing."

That effectively leaves those in other "in-demand' and essential professions — health workers, emergency service workers, educators and even lawyers — unable to afford the average mortgage.

Vancouver real estate prices pushing millennials to leave city: report - British Columbia - CBC News

Impressive..

[meowjinboo]

no shit? I already had an exit plan when I was 25.

[murd0c]

I honestly hope that happens... Serve's the city right for not doing a thing with all of the mainlanders fucking up the housing market

[pengu]

I'm thinking Ontario is going to be the place to be, now that the oil and gas sector in bust mode and B.C. is way to fucking expensive to live in.

[Hehe]

Van's economy cannot sustain a RE fuelled economy. Its density is too low and service industry can only pay so much.

I moved back because I had the luxury of choices and I see living in Van as a luxury I can afford down the road and better for my family. Although with wife and son now in SoCal most of the time and wife considering a great paying job offer there as well as green card, we are really considering leaving Canada behind us.

Furthermore, the brain drain of Vancouver is incredible. Out of all the great (as in being very good at what they do in their work) people I've met during my 10+years in BC, I think only 1 remained there since he's in the film industry. But he's being poached constantly of moving to LA. So much so that he told me that let's just all move to LA so we'd have company.

Vancouver is nice and all, but there is little future for people who really wants to make it big in their career. Finance? Toronto. IT? Silicon Valley, Seattle or Waterloo, ON. Industrial? Definitely Ontario. Gov't? Ottawa. and so on...

There is no industry in Vancouver that can keep the brilliant minds in town or they would have to settle for lesser offers. (with exception to RE I guess) So instead, we have some hippie bike-riding lover mayor that's always testing the limit of its residents on their tolerance of being exploited.

I have said it before and I will say it again... if you want to make it big, leave Vancouver and don't look back.

[buhdeh]

Yup, I already left. Got a job at a professional services firm in Toronto and they pay me 15k more than I made in Vancouver while opening doors I never would have seen in Vancouver. The local government seems to have no issues with the direction the city's heading so too bad. Like I said in the Vancouver RE thread, hope you guys enjoy being a city that hinges its economy on restaurants and clothing stores targeted to mainlanders while the "smart" guys end up working at satellite offices in Vancouver doing reject work that head offices don't want to waste their time with.

[GS8]

To be blunt...

I don't get this city. What exactly is its identity? To me, it just feels like a tryhard world class city. One that seems to rely more on lifestyle and trend chasing than legitimate identity.

So we have mountains, trees, some water. Ok, now what? Thank you nature? Thank you geography? Now I just see greenspace being eliminated for generic plazas / strip malls and a race for who can build the tallest tower in Downtown. Also, does every career path chosen in post-secondary inevitably lead to a service job?

Where's the heart of this city? I'm not fucking seeing it.

Sometimes I wonder who in this city is a wealthy immigrant and who is racking up surreal amounts of debt to keep up with the ethnic Joneses...

Or maybe I'm completely wrong in my observations

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by pengu

I'm thinking Ontario is going to be the place to be, now that the oil and gas sector in bust mode and B.C. is way to fucking expensive to live in.

B.C. is not to expensive to live in just Vancouver and other parts of the mainland are.

[Akinari]

Growing up in Vancouver, I witnessed the whole transition (growth?) of the city, mostly the infinite increase of immigration from mainland China and how it pretty much entirely destroyed any chance of locals (millennials) from being able to afford anything feasible. I myself am eyeing the U.S. in hopes of future employment once finished with school in a year or two. Vancouver just really has nothing to offer aside from ridiculous housing prices driven up by unstoppable mainland China bidding wars and other foreigners looking to park their money in a safe haven such as Vancouver. It's hopeless. I like this city but it's really got no future for most.

[Jmac]

Originally Posted by Manic!

B.C. is not to expensive to live in just Vancouver and other parts of the mainland are.

So ... the part where 75% of BC's residents live?

Also note, Greater Victoria (10% of BC's population) isn't exactly cheap, either, and is a complete fucking mess when it comes to local governments.

[hypediss]

in other news sky is blue and canada, bc, vancouver is still run by a bunch of half wits

[vudooca]

I already left like 2 months ago... Now Vancouver has turned into just a vacation destination.

[Tone Loc]

Well, duh.

That's kinda what happens when you, as a spineless government, bend over and worship the Holy Trinity of real estate agents, foreign investors, and housing developers without giving a single fuck to the middle class and the future generation of young people.

Did anyone REALLY think that an average housing price of $1 million dollars was sustainable in the long run? Especially considering Vancouver is no Silicon Valley in terms of industry, most of the jobs out here are in the service sector which pays nowhere near what is required to make a living (something like $22/hour, I heard this on the radio the other day) in the city.

Absolutely fucking not. Everyone KNEW, they just didn't CARE. Exemplified by none other than Krusty Clark, who manages to cover both her eyes and ears and ignore what many countries (such as Australia, Singapore, the US, etc.) are doing in order to curb excessive foreign ownership.

And now the price will be paid very dearly, as the next generation of people who actually have the skillset and credentials to afford Vancouver living realize they can have a much better lifestyle literally anywhere else in the country. Basically, the only people left - and obviously this is an extreme case - will be low-pay, low-skill service industry workers and wealthy foreign investors...

[zilley]

can we please send all the mainlanders back.

[Hondaracer]

What exactly are people looking for?

4000 sq foot houses for 125k? move to florida.

Honestly, like every single fucking world class city in the world is expensive, this isnt exclusive to Vancouver, people just like to beat this topic into the grave. When I was in florence last year you were looking at 300,000 EURO's for a fucking 900 sq foot 45 year old apartment within the "core" of the city. In a place where there is litterally no work for anyone prices are still "high"

In terms of the brain drain and career progression, sure. But you've got your head in the clouds if you think there are other options in major cities that are "more affordable" than here.

Watch house hunters, and other home buying shows. 680-900,000K is getting you a 2600sq foot in fucking Sacramento.

Want to live in a shit place? cool, go move there and pay "affordable prices"

I'll stick around here and live the life I enjoy, buy a residence i can afford, and make my moves accordingly. Dont go on the fucking news with your 3 kids in hand and shitty 45k/year job and cry that you cant afford to live in East Van, because you cant.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by Jmac

So ... the part where 75% of BC's residents live?

Also note, Greater Victoria (10% of BC's population) isn't exactly cheap, either, and is a complete fucking mess when it comes to local governments.

Where are you getting 75? It's more like 50-60.

Either way, as I'm from Kelowna all I can say is thanks for making us look less overpriced than we are.

[Jmac]

Originally Posted by underscore

Where are you getting 75? It's more like 50-60.

Either way, as I'm from Kelowna all I can say is thanks for making us look less overpriced than we are.

I admit it was just a number I pulled out of my ass figuring the lower mainland population was around 3 million (actually 2.6 million) and the population of BC was around 4 million (actually 4.4 million). Not really that far off.

You're right, though, it's just shy of 60%. Still a substantial number.

Greater Victoria is 8% while I'm actually looking up numbers on Statistics Canada.

[Harvey Specter]

No idea what you're going to get in Vancouver even if you make $123,000 combined. You still need a huge down payment and most "average" homes are well over a million. Hell, tear downs in some areas are going for $1.3 million+. Unless you have wealthy parents or have a side business, no way you're going to be able to live in this city by working 9-5. because those days are gone.

[iEatClams]

Originally Posted by FunkyColdMedina

Absolutely fucking not. Everyone KNEW, they just didn't CARE. Exemplified by none other than Krusty Clark, who manages to cover both her eyes and ears and ignore what many countries (such as Australia, Singapore, the US, etc.) are doing in order to curb excessive foreign ownership.

well - she doesn't even want to collect the data on how many are here, and has flat out said no to taxing foreigners. Then again, property transfer tax collected stands at around $800 million a year and the tax is projected to be close to $1 Billion dollars a year going forward for the BC government.

It's a have and have not city. You bought a detached house 5+ years ago in Vancouver, great! you won the lottery - your house will appreciate and will get $1-5 million dollars, what a regular person would make their WHOLE LIFETIME! Bring on those foreigners!

While the rest of us are screwed.

[iEatClams]

here's the cheapest house in vancouver for sale . Only $628,000



PatsyHui.com: Your Real Estate Expert

Has a huge right of way which means they really can't build much if it ever burns down.
Also, I believe it's a sewer line underneath.

It will probably sell for above asking. LOL

Not many other houses under $1 million right now. Mostly tear downs on busy streets.

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

What exactly are people looking for?

....fucking Sacramento...

FYI, the metro Sacramento has 2.2M in population, just slightly under GVR of 2.5M.

I think what people are looking is what does all this lead us, the residents to?

Lower mainland has no planning to attract any industry, while "shit" places like Dallas, Houston are all pushing hard to get all sort of industries (IT, automaker, batteries... etc) to invest there by granting incentives.

Those future planings attract not just people, but more and more investments to their cities.

Vancouver, OTOH, thinks it is ok to just have crazy RE prices with nothing much else going on. The first thing that comes to people mind when I told them that I came from Vancouver in Toronto was "RE prices are crazy there". And that's it. They don't see it as anything else.

And why is the gov't not doing anything? Well, gov't has incentive to keep the RE inflated. After all, the major contribution to their budget comes from property taxes, which, the higher they are valued, the higher the taxes. And current homeowners in Van of course have their best interest to keep their home value high so they can basically have a fucking ATM that loads itself up of money.

So, what do all these bring us? We have all the talented professionals leaving the cities, with no investments for industries to actually bring value to its residents and sky-high RE prices that drive even more people away as it's simply impossible to afford. The day the RE bubble burst, it's going to be a disaster for locals where they would only have 2 choices: suck it up and pay or leave.

Think Vancouver as Detroit, but substituting RE with auto-making, and you can see what can happen when a place is too overly dependent on a single industry.

So they key is to DIVERSIFY your economy, when our gov't is doing the opposite since it relies on it too much and residents would never vote to anyone that want to jeopardize their current lifestyle, even if it's for a greater future.

[adambomb]

We're Canadian!

Our "affordable" major metropolis' will be cities like Regina, Thunder Bay or Gatineau

[punkwax]

Vancouver is late to the party, but foreign money pushing locals out of great places to live is nothing new. This has happened in every single major city since the dawn of time. As a result, there are a lot more expensive places to live than here.

Vancouver is an appealing place to live. Healthcare, best weather in Canada, ocean, mountains, sports, dining, entertainment.. the list goes on and on.

Can't afford Vancouver proper? Try the burbs. I love my area. Just know that no matter where you go, you'll find something to bitch about there. You're a Vancouverite afterall

[rsx]

Vancouver isn't that expensive to live in. I left 3 years ago for more money, but my cost of living is insane. Especially in Asia. Cars are more expensive, condos, electricity, even food.
"Cheap food" in Vancouver is decent, "cheap food" in a 3rd world country is hepatitis and toe-nail clippings.
Enjoy where you guys are at, it's not that bad. If you can't afford the core, push out further. The traffic isn't bad either. If I were to go back I'd live in a large tract of land and just commute. An hour and a half commute is a cake walk nowadays.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by adambomb

Our "affordable" major metropolis' will be cities like Regina, Thunder Bay or Gatineau

Gatineau?

Don't get me wrong. I love Gatineau Park, and I love Ottawa. But there is no way in hell I'd be living on the Quebec side of Ottawa...