Albertans start moving to BC
 

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Hmmm. Schadenfreude is always tempting, but I'm not sure why the author of that piece thinks it's a good thing that Vancouver property prices are becoming even more ludicrous.

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

so that's why we're seeing so many cars with Alberta license plates :lol:

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

I have no schadenfreude about what's happening in AB. I've been laid off before, it's not fun.

Agree about property prices IN Vancouver but outside it's not so bad.

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

It's actually caused by HISTORICALLY low inventory - the inventory is almost half of this time last year.

Agents have used this as THEIR perfect opportunity to build on this flash situation by increasing prices, citing high prices as the norm and generally forcing competition through the devil's whispering.

Signed,
Dishwashing

PS And consumers who seem both stupid and desperate - aided by a BOC rate cut and presumably estimate their 30 year loans on the current low rates. Perfect confluence of stupidity and feeding the hands of the realtor industry

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Mouths*

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

We see large numbers here - predominantly during the Summer months in their badly driven trucks, when they have traditionally been ripping up and down the lakes in their fluorescent lime green and orange $110k wakeboard boats playing Hotel California or effing Taylor Swift at 700db. They own a lot of the lakeside real estate and disappear after Labour Day. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that numbers will be down this year. Lots of " toys" being sold I gather :rofl:

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

the prices are increasing due to demand. I see all the sold signs in my neighbourhood and get leaflet pleas from realtors regularly (we are looking for houses in your neighbourhood! we have buyers! we have cash no subjects buyers! etc). I went past an open house on Sunday - on a busy street, backing onto commercial. Saw a constant stream of people going in - I hear around 200 all in. The price was actually quite low, not high: sometimes that's a tactic to create a bidding war. My realtor friends are doing well, which I'm ok with because when it's quiet, they can't feed their kids/have financial problems.

Honestly I look at this market and I am glad I'm out of it all now. Couldn't handle the stress of it all.

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Exkiwilass - demand - of course. My post above failed to state the obvious point I should have made. It is historically LOW inventory combined with the normally high demand for a small city. The Real Estate stats show this - in some parts of Vancouver, inventory is HALF that of last year.

Ergo, this confluence - equals complete craziness. The BOC rate didn't help, in fact it seemed to exacerbate it all.

That said, once inventory levels stabilize things, and BOC doesn't keep their loosening of policy, some of that craziness should abate. (caveat is consumers who get too desperate)

Cheers :)

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

yeah I know. I know a family, the daughter is friends with mine, who are hoping to buy in our area. I'm not feeling that hopeful for them.

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

The situation with low stock and relatively high demand is making sellers in Maple Ridge expect offers over their asking price right now.

We've got an offer in on one house (second counter-offer) and hopefully they will accept this time...

The problem sellers in Maple Ridge are having is those of them that bought new-build houses in 2008 bought at a peak and are only seeing prices back at those levels now, so they are struggling to achieve their original purchase price + the GST they paid, once they have paid out the Realtor's fees...

We have looked at some real crap though, such as 15-20 year old homes that have had ZERO maintenance since new - and the sellers think they can demand top dollar!!

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Is inventory also low in MR?

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Yes, it seems to be. Our Realtor hasn't seen such low stock in the popular areas in the 550-650k range. There are plenty of new builds selling off-plan, but the re-sales are going quickly except where the sellers are asking way too much or the yards are too small or the houses un-maintained.

We've managed to find one with 6000sqft almost level plot, 3100sq ft over 3 floors and a view all the way to Vancouver Island. The yard area and the view add to the price, of course...

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

sounds like a great house!

Yeah, it would appear the houses in my 'hood are now going for over $1 million, even for a 40 year old Vancouver Special. now the 800K-and under 1 mill- buyers are heading to Coquitlam/Poco, which pushes out the 600k buyers to MR/Pitt Meadows/Surrey I guess.

Good luck!

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

there seem to be more houses for sale in my area of Vancouver ..................

mind you, the Council did accept a new Zoning Plan for this area last year which is going to allow 6- to 8- storey high rises on main transit routes where there are currently single family houses

Their intent was to increase the population of this area by 10,000 in 10 years. There are so many developments currently going on, that the increase will be closer to 50,000 in 5 years :(



PLUS, the City's stated plan of concentrating development around transit hubs .............. hence the massive building at the corner of Cambie and Marine Drive, at Cambie and 49th etc etc


and all the house owners being signed up by realtors amassing "blocks" for sale for development, as along Granville around 42/43rd, on Cambie, etc etc

One realtor amassed a block of about 6 or 7 houses on Granville that she had amassed and advertised it last month for sale to "developers" for over $32 million :eek:



Our house is not affected by any change in zoning, although it will probably be demolished and a huge 2 storey + basement house built in its place ....... when we do eventually sell.


I will say that I am currently getting almost as many realtors phoning and asking if I wish to sell my house, or if I need to maximize my income, as we did in the late 1970s and early 1980s

That was leading up to the big crash in the 1980s


That was also when interest rates on mortgages went as high as 20% interest ............ we were lucky, we locked in for 2 years at 13% and missed the extreme highs as it had dropped back down to 12% by the time we had to renew



that is also when people were walking away from houses that they had bought 1 year before the crash, at 18 or 19% interest ............. and then the house dropped about 50% in value within the year.

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Keeping the thread slightly off-topic...

Offer was accepted with our preferred dates, home inspection booked and mortgage application is under way.

I was expecting mortgage broker to come up with some obscure lender as having the lowest 5 year fixed rate, but the computer said Scotiabank. I'm sure there will have been slightly lower ones, The sceptic in me says that will be more to do with who pays the biggest commission, but its a good rate and its who I bank with anyway.

Fingers crossed!

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Good luck!

On a COMPLETELY SEPARATE NOTE - Canadians are really loaded up it seems -

Canadians take on even more debt, says new report calling for vigilance - The Globe and Mail

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Unsecured and secured debt are too easy to get and over too long periods here, that's for sure.

Even my mortgage is being taken over 30 years (I would be 76...back in the UK I was going to be mortgage-free by about 55), but in my case that was just to keep the payments down so that I can enjoy Canada, keep some capital free as a hedge to invest (once I've sold an inherited UK property) to hopefully get a return that beats my mortgage rate and also as a reserve in case things do go wrong in the economy.

That's the plan anyway!

I see a house as primarily a home and if it goes up in value then that's an added benefit.

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Even though it is for 30 years, surely it comes up for renegotiation at least every 5 years?

Hopefully, you have clause that allows you to put in an extra amount once every year?



Every time we renegotiated except once in the 1980s, we opted for an open mortgage, which allowed us to pay extra every month ..... so we paid the monthly stated amount plus at least $50


it cut our original 25 year mortgage down by about 5 years ............... even though we had re-mortgaged after 4 years in order to do a major renovation.


I'm assuming here, of course, that Open Mortgages are still available, and that you might be willing to have the interest rate change during the time of the mortgage

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Most fixed mortgages have some early repayment options.

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

having been mortgage less for more than 20 years ...... I wasn't sure about the regulations now.


Mortgage taken out 1972

Renegotiated 1976

Paid off 1992


:thumbsup:



I know I was dismayed when my daughter said their mortgage was up for renewal next month after 5 years, and they still have almost no equity in the house ..........

........ I guess the fact that she got unexpectedly (although very welcome) pregnant 2 months after taking out the mortgage, had 9 months maternity leave, and there was a downturn in work between 2009 and 2012 accounted for the fact that they hadn't been able to put any extra in.

She leaves it up to her husband to do all the research on mortgages. Just hoping he does better this year.

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

Stock levels are going up anyway, some house prices are changing downwards on the watchlist I have

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

The real estate agents where my other half works, are pretty busy at the moment, the housing market is a tad on fire right now, not much being built yet, so supply is short although some new smaller developments seem to be starting soon for town houses, but not affordable starting at 400,000.

The agents are seeing people who really shouldn't be buying as they can barely afford it and will sink if anything goes wrong in the future with interest rates and such, but they can't find rental housing, so don't have much choice to risk it and buy something they can barely afford.

Rental market is really bad right now, vacancy rate is near 0% and rent's have pushed up to idiotically high levels in the past 16 months, 1 bedroom's renting for 800 18 months ago are 1,600-1,800 a month now.

Even where we live, last March the size unit we live in were 700 a month, now they are 850-900 a month when a vacancy comes up.

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

I hope they don't take all the housing talk with them when they go. There's nothing more exciting than that :(

Re: Albertans start moving to BC
 

People would be even less able to own a home if mortgages were only 20 years, already near impossible to own in several Canadian city's without an income well above average, looking at you Metro Vancouver.

Same with cars, people wouldn't be able to buy them without 5 or 6 year loans.