rahul_singh

I dont fully agree with your assessment

The demand for housing is increasing in the Lower Mainland each day.
The population is increasing as well. People from other provinces as well as new immigrants contribute to the increased demand and prices of housing.

Two years ago, single family homes were increasing in value far faster than townhomes or condos. Now I have seen a strong value increase in townhomes as houses are less affordable for first time buyers and newcomers.

Im not a real estate professional however this is my understanding of BC"s housing boom. Every acre of land seems to be prime and condos/townhouses are often bought up before they are even built !

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~ Morning rain

Only ans is let wait and see. On Vancouver Craiglist so many condos/homes are listed everyday. Price can not go up all time as salaries are not increasing as that rate. July month 2006, max house on sale from last 2-3 yrs.

General, in Vancouver area a family needs atleast 100K salary for buying single family house in nice location. I don’t think people make so much here. This is not NY, SFO or DC/VA. But you meet realtor for buying he will convince that market is hot. But when you meet same realtor for sale he will convince you that market is going down. These are people who play games just to get own commission. Northing wrong that is their business.

I am no expert in real estate market, but the rate at which condos are being built in most major cities,.... is surely riding on the real estate bubble of the past few years.

Many realtors say there is no such bubble and the housing/condo prices will keep going up ...but isin't this their job to keep the speculation ripe ?....come to think of it.... the realtors are the first ones who benefit from high property prices. so why would they say otherwise?

when inflation is 2.5% to 3% and earning capacity of the working class is increasing at no more than 5% ( if even that much) .... then how can a market sustain 10 to 15% growth over an extended period of time?.....and if such high growth continues for a few years ...then a correction in property prices is bound to set in ... if not now, then later ,....it is only a matter of time . And whenever that happens, condo prices should come tumbling down first because of the huge glut and speculative buying in the market ....realtors may argue that all condos that are being built get sold even before it is constructed ....but they wont tell the fact that over 50% of those buying it are speculative buyers who will try to sell it at the first sign on market crash ...

i feel that a crash in condo prices is only a matter of time....just my opinion.

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What can be imagined, can be achieved.

I agree with Mishtar India.
Here in Vancouver couple of months back there is one building in downtown sold all condos in 2 hrs after opening sale office. All condos start from 500K.
This is really-2 wired to me how can a person buy condo just in 5-10 mins like putting gas in car and forget.

Correction started already in condo market. Matter of time when realtor and media will agree that it's time for correction or bubble burst.


Any update/news from Toronto/Calgary market? Mostly people on this site are from Toronto area that is reason I am asking.

My friend who is a real estate agent and also investor in Real Estate showed us some of his investment properties. The prices are around $ 500 k. He buys property that is modelled for investment i.e. a single family house that is already converted into say 3 units, one in the basement, one on the main floor and one on the first floor. All the 3 units have independant entrances. The houses are 50 to 100 yrs old. I was not impressed. The units looked very very old with parquet floor looking black. However, he said he makes around 200 to 300 dollars after paying mortgage and utlities and repairs. He bought the property with 0 down. So he says tenant pays my mortgage and over a period of time I will own the property. He says he buys properties in area where he has few tenants lined up when a unit becomes vacant. His properties are in good expensive areas and close to subway.

Personally, i am not impressed with properties but his proposition is very interesting. I may wait for some time to see if the prices come down but really finding it difficult to sign up for mortageg of $ 500k for properties that old.

One thing I have noticed here is that people who have bought recently keep believing and telling that the price will still go higher, while people who missed the boat say that the market is due for a crash! Wishful thinking both!

My thinking is that in Vancouver (or even Burnaby for that matter) it may not go much higher than it is already, but there is potential for increase in the burbs. Especially in places where some major transportation lines, highway expansion, bridges etc are planned for.

That means in the lower mainland, some projects such as these (planned to be ready by around 2010) can have a positive impact in the real estate prices in the surrounding areas:

- RAV line from Richmond to downtown Vancouver
- Twinning of the Port Mann bridge connecting Surrey to GVRD (prices in Surrey can go up if it loses its reputation for crime, and something is done for the traffic congestion)
- Evergreen line connecting Coquitlam to Lougheed Centre
- Golden Ears bridge from Maple Ridge to Langley
- Sea-to-Sky-highway expansion in Squamish

Many predict an upward trend in the prices in Squamish in particular. I would love to live in Squamish (mountains, lakes, ocean, so many provincial parks and all kinds of nature opportunities at your doorstep), but hate a 1.5 hour drive to work during rush hour one way every day. If I had the money to buy a holiday home, I would probably invest there!