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Interesting article:

Nine students own $57M worth of Vancouver property

Nine students own $57M worth of Vancouver property - NEWS 1130

Quote:

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Nine homes in Vancouver’s exclusive Point Grey neighbourhood worth a combined $57-million have been bought by students, according to new documents shared by the NDP.

A total of $40-million worth of that property involved securing a mortgage.

“And when we looked into it, we realized that one of the students who was on title for one of the properties had actually bought and sold another home during the period making $1.15-million in the process, and raising questions for us, for how that was possible,” says NDP housing critic David Eby.

Eby feels the provincial government needs to take a more keen interest in how students were able to convince banks to give them a mortgage in the first place.

“Not just the students,” says Eby. “But the homemakers and the housewives, self-described, who put that on the land title as their professions — where is the money coming from? The fact that the provincial government has so little interest in asking those questions allows the Canadian banks to have a totally different set of rules for international investors than they have for locals.”

This follows a Globe and Mail exclusive revealing a number of Canadian banks don’t require foreign buyers to prove the source of their income when applying for a mortgage.

Fundamentally, Eby is concerned this lax lending approach by some Canadian banks may be contributing to real estate speculation and the rapid price increases we’ve seen in our real estate market in recent times.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6o4__boi (Post 8788544)

lol GG Seattle

Seattle housing market white hot with Chinese demand as Vancouver's market freezes

So is the market slowing down or still going strong? The papers make it sound like it's slowing but then every other day someone here posts about another place going over asking price lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by Presto (Post 8788527)

OMG. The suite below my sister's suite in Yaletown just sold for 30k over asking for 730k. This is a 720sqft 1bd/1br/den condo with 1 parking spot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkyMark (Post 8788548)

So is the market slowing down or still going strong? The papers make it sound like it's slowing but then every other day someone here posts about another place going over asking price lol

You're going to get the occasional place go for well over asking because the buyer really wants the place (layout, location, amenities etc) but I think the market as a whole seems to be slowing down compared to before.

^ your first problem is trusting what the newspapers write

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkyMark (Post 8788548)

So is the market slowing down or still going strong? The papers make it sound like it's slowing but then every other day someone here posts about another place going over asking price lol

The only way to truly know is to talk to a realtor and get him/her to feed you sales data. Maybe start going to open houses too to get a feel for the prospective buyers and what the listing agents are saying.

Lots of realtors are probably looking for prospective clients. It doesn't cost you a thing to reach out to one and get on a email list.

The price of drywall is going up around 100% over night due to a new tariff that just came in on Sept 6th, not sure how it will affect prices if at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ch28 (Post 8788550)

I think the market as a whole seems to be slowing down compared to before.

I know that construction of new builds has slowed dramatically. My sales of new build products have dropped, along with both of my neighbours at work. They're both in the flooring industry and I've seen their numbers drop too.

My realtor friends are still talking big about the market. Time will tell though.....

"Realtor friends"

There a 2 diff realtors out there imo
Part time/full time

The part time who jumped into the market trying to make quick money,
They'll probably think is slow
Full timers who built an actual business like Winnie lam...
I'm sure the top 20% realtors are quite busy

In the end as a realtor
You 1. Have clients with money to buy
Or 2. Clients with houses to sell
If you got neither, you're in the wrong business

Prices have peaked in the lower mainland
Like ch28 said, the rare over asking are property dependent

I put in 3 offers on 3 diff listings for a 2 bed condo in the same complex
2/3 only dropped their price by $5-10k
1 I managed to get $25k off... My buyer took it
Majority of sellers still won't budge on price

Prices have peaked
Sellers are unwilling to lowering their asking prices
But there are gems out there if both the buyers and realtors are willing to work for it

Quote:

Originally Posted by roopi (Post 8788543)

This isn't Calgary. Take a look at some of the listings. The photos are shit (if there are any photos other then 1 exterior shot).

If they even have photos... so many listings I look at on MLS here have a generic description and that is it

Had one of the bigger Burnaby realtors over today to look at our place, prices for aprtmenrs and multi family stuff are still off the charts and rising.

I've got a bunch of graphs and stuff I'll post when I get home

Edit*

Historical data: obviously detached took a plunge but she said the drops in attached and apartments is minuscule and prices in September are still up to 20% or more than in January

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...psfkesdttz.jpg

Value increase for my area:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...psqyiulx87.jpg

I have two listings from my building within the year both were essentially unrenovatwd with original finishings

Unit 207, 923 sq feet 2 bed 2 bath sold for 278 January 3rd

Unit 302, a similar layout but 888 sq ft sold for 340 August 17th

That's a pretty good blow-off top correction for detached from that chart. I doubt it will drop more barring further government restriction.

By the way, why is the top number 1.4mil but the $ scale on the y axis doesn't match.

The value displayed looks like it refers to current pricing not the peak?

Which is kinda confusing

Quote:

Originally Posted by Presto (Post 8788527)

OMG. The suite below my sister's suite in Yaletown just sold for 30k over asking for 730k. This is a 720sqft 1bd/1br/den condo with 1 parking spot.

Sounds about right. it's $1000 per sqft now in DT.
Any new presale builds will start at $1100 per sqft but the problem is there's barely anything being developed.

three listings sold over asking in August: (after the 15% tax was put in place)

(im not just hand picking over asking sales, these are just ones i'm sent)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...6.jpg~original

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...f.jpg~original

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...r.jpg~original

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hondaracer (Post 8788601)

Historical data: obviously detached took a plunge but she said the drops in attached and apartments is minuscule and prices in September are still up to 20% or more than in January

Maybe i'm reading the chart wrong, but it looks like both detached and attached dropped roughly 9% while apartments dropped 8% compared to the peak

I would say that drops were pretty much relative across the board, with apartments slightly less affected

As a whole, yes.

However, in Vancouver, Burnaby, etc. she said prices in August and Sept are still for the most part, higher than they were in May and June of this year.

especially in desirable buildings, i would think the same unit now, is selling for more than it was 2 months ago.

I'm not trying to "prop up" the RE industry and keep saying it's not gonna burst etc. I'll be honest and say my current situation has me feeling like walking on a knifes edge if things change before i can take advantage.

However, these realtors who are feeding me this info are like BIG TIME realtors, these people are individuals who have 150+ sales per year over the last 10-15 years. They arent just "my realtor friend" who sells 5 homes a year and is pushing everyone to sell their home so he can get through another month on commission. They are heavily invested in the market themselves and i feel have a far better grasp on the overall situation than most. They've already made their money and could probably retire easily tomorrow, they have no obligation to try and squeak out a few more deals

How about outside of Van and Burnaby? I feel like Van will always be hotter than the rest of the lower mainland, but it would be nice if things fell off in the burbs a bit.

Quote:

Goodbye Vancouver: Foreign buyers now flooding Seattle and Toronto real estate markets

Foreign buyers are leaving Vancouver en masse, instead heading to cities like Seattle and Toronto to invest in real estate, according to numbers provided to Global News from Chinese realty website Juwai.com.

Juwai.com is “where Chinese find international property” according to their website. They claim to have over 2.4 million real estate listings across 58 countries and have for a long time, marketed Vancouver to their clientele as an attractive place to purchase homes.

But the allure of Vancouver may be fading, according to numbers from the company that suggest there was an 81 per cent drop in buying inquiries in Vancouver in August compared to August 2015.

The recorded drop comes the month after a 15 per cent foreign buyers tax was introduced in Metro Vancouver to thwart off the foreign demand that has helped to fuel an unprecedented rise in home prices across the region.

READ MORE: Real estate sales help boost B.C. budget surplus

The demand may have shifted south of the border and to other cities across the country, according to Juwai.

Seattle property searches on the site grew by 143 per cent year-over-year in August, making it the third busiest month in the last three years for number of inquiries in the city.

In Seattle’s King County, the median home price increased 11 per cent to just under $500,000 in August, according to Northwest MLS.

Juwai said Seattle is the number one city in North America for Chinese buyer inquiries. The U.S. National Association of Realtors reports Chinese buyers bought $1.6 billion worth of real estate in Washington state in 2015. That’s out of $27 billion spent across the country that year.

In comparison, data from the B.C. government found that international buyers invested $1 billion into B.C. real estate over five weeks from June to July.

READ MORE: $57 million in Vancouver’s Point Grey real estate owned by ‘students’: NDP housing critic

Foreigners hoping to purchase in Canada are now looking at Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa.

Toronto saw a 142 per cent increase in property inquiries in August compared to 2015, according to Juwai.

“Vancouver has been losing local and overseas buyers all year,” Matthew Moore, president of the Americas for Juwai.com, said. “The shift is towards cities with similar appeal but lower entry prices.”

He added that August was the single-highest ranked month for searches in Toronto in the last three years.

Tom Gradecak of Vancouver’s Westside Realty has multiple properties on the market listed for over $20 million. A foreigner purchasing a home at that price would incur a $3 million tax on top of the existing Property Transfer Tax.

READ MORE: Vancouver empty homes tax to go into effect in 2017

Prior to the tax, he said the majority of interest for a home at that price came from foreign buyers.

“We definitely noticed the slowdown, there’s no question,” Gradecak said.

He suspected that the proportion of foreign buyers on the Westside was as high as 25 per cent, much higher than the data provided by the provincial government.

He now says his wife has an American client who wants to sell his downtown penthouse because “he doesn’t feel welcome.”

“He brought a tech company up here from Silicon Valley… and moved a bunch of employees up here, and he’s basically saying that he’s out of here. He wants to sell his penthouse and likely move his business back down south.”

West Vancouver realtor Brent Eilers says he too has witnessed a “dramatic drop.”

According to Eilers, he has a waterfront property currently listed that has seen a little interest from offshore buyers. Had it been listed in May, he said, buyers would be bidding at over the asking price. Now, they’re asking how much under the asking price they could get it for.

“Foreign buyers are pissed off right now.”

MLS sales data obtained by Global News for a selection of homes sold under asking across Burnaby, Richmond, and Vancouver over the last 10 days show price drops between 3.5 and 20 per cent.

READ MORE: Two-thirds of B.C. residents say foreign ownership tax won’t cool real estate market: poll

Sotheby’s International Realty Canada reported this week that Toronto is set to lead Canada in the number of $1 million-plus residential sales this fall.

The city experienced the greatest year-over-year gains in sales over $1 million during the first half of 2016 with a 65 per cent increase in sales volume. Vancouver grew by 26 per cent.

“The two cities that have been at the forefront of the Canadian real estate market have been Toronto and Vancouver, and we are going to see a clear divergence between their performance this fall,” Brad Henderson, president and CEO of Sotheby’s Canada, said in a statement.

“Vancouver’s record-setting sprint will return to a more moderate pace, but Toronto’s market cadence is set to accelerate.”

While the long-term effect of the foreign buyers tax remains to be seen, evidence shows offshore money may be on the move elsewhere, but even Moore admits Juwai’s data may be premature.

“There can be big variations in the data from month to month, so trends sometimes aren’t truly apparent until after six, 12 or even 18 months. Looking at a short period like this may not give us an accurate view of long-term trends,” Moore said.

The B.C. government is expected to release more data on the impact of the foreign buyer tax on Metro Vancouver real estate next week.

Goodbye Vancouver: Foreign buyers now flooding Seattle and Toronto real estate markets | Globalnews.ca

I don't believe a thing the gov't releases when it comes to real estate.....FailFish

Quote:

Originally Posted by superdennis (Post 8788576)

"Realtor friends"

There a 2 diff realtors out there imo
Part time/full time

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hondaracer (Post 8788734)

these realtors who are feeding me this info are like BIG TIME realtors, these people are individuals who have 150+ sales per year over the last 10-15 years. They arent just "my realtor friend" who sells 5 homes a year

Ouch!

Quote:

"This just in, wealthy guy associates with losers. News at 11!"

:lol

lol well lets face it, the vast majority of realtors out there arent that top 1% mover and shakers, they sell 8-10 homes a year, and as in the porn industry, a huge portion are out of the business in 2-3 years. Even back before the RE boom, so many new "realtors" business was just convincing family and friends to sell their homes lol.. people completely ignorant to the value of their property get thrown a number and cash out moving to abby and beyond.

especially now a days, guaranteed the # of realtors has gone up 500%+ in the last 5 years.

not to say your realtor friend aint a good realtor, but numbers are numbers

*edit, i'm sure Hypa knows a good realtor or two! lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkyMark (Post 8788758)

How about outside of Van and Burnaby? I feel like Van will always be hotter than the rest of the lower mainland, but it would be nice if things fell off in the burbs a bit.

I dont have any tangible evidence as to the valley etc. but i've always kind of felt its the trickle down/wave effect when it comes to moving east. Price increase is experienced first closest to the epicenter (Van obviously) then the ripples spread outward.

I have a friend who bought in the "harvest" project of town homes on 64th near 176th in surrey/cloverdale. He told me since buying his place 8 months ago the list price on the same unit is now 100k more. I havent investigated this myself, and the guy is kinda known to exaggerate, but i wouldn't think it's that far fetched.

it's nice to have that equity buffer, but your gains are never realized till you sell obviously. If i was him, as a young single guy, i probably would have just flipped the assignment and taken that 100k elsewhere.

a big reason why i dont see detached single family homes dropping big time are the price increases places in the Valley have seen over the last year. My buddy who bought in Langley at 670 near fraser hwy and 224th 2 years ago place is now worth a million +, and the houses around him are still going for a million +

i dont see a crash or bubble busting until these outlieing homes take a substantial hit in value. a Detached home in Vancouver isnt going to drop from 1.4 to 900k if a house in langley is still worth a million. Regardless of property size imo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkyMark (Post 8788758)

How about outside of Van and Burnaby? I feel like Van will always be hotter than the rest of the lower mainland, but it would be nice if things fell off in the burbs a bit.

107 300 Panorama Place - r2101296 : Port Moody Townhouses, Port Moody Townhomes : Portmoodytownhouse.com

This townhouse has been on the market for at least 2 weeks. The asking price dropped by 50k a couple of days ago. Yes, this is what attached stata propeties now cost in the Tri-Cities.

It's happening...

^^
Holy crap all this is making my townhouse purchase 6 months ago look like complete steal. How fast things change even in 6 months time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by winson604 (Post 8788777)

^^
Holy crap all this is making my townhouse purchase 6 months ago look like complete steal. How fast things change even in 6 months time.

Part of the reason for the high price is that it has commercial zoning, which is very unique in the area. The current owner is running a physiotherapist practice.

We built a very similar unit in panorama in surrey like 152nd and 62nd. Townhomes with commercial space below. They all went around 900k 5 months ago. Very similar layout and design.

I'd much prefer to have the Port Moody one than the surrey one though