We moved into our condo 3 months ago, but purchased presale exactly 1 year before move in date so its a ways back.
The market seems to have cooled a bit, but places in our complex are still selling for about 20% more than the purchase price a year and a bit ago.

yes a duplex

It's buried in the thread, but yes.

Made the offer in March and closed in May. What would you like to know?

Yep, townhouses in the Tri-Cities have gone up about 25-30% since last year. They're still moving, but they're sitting on the market a bit longer now.

Detached houses are finally coming down in the City of Vancouver, but strata properties are holding steady. Eventually they'll have to come down too, but by how much, who knows?

People with detached homes who's seeing a drop (ie. my parents) are not panicking because of the gains that they're still up by and I sense that with a lot of other home owners who'll just weather out the storm.

I'm fairly current on presale condos. Station Square at metro town almost sold out and expect city of lougheed at lougheed mall to do well.

City of Lougheed sale started last Fri and its going for north of $650.

Hate it when devs bump up price and use cheapest units as doorcrashers and set people's expectations so low...

If you can't afford to live in Vancouver, maybe move to Victoria?

There are two houses around the corner from me that have been sitting on the market for no lie, probably two months now. They keep holding open houses every few weeks. Owners refuse to come down from prices the could have potentially obtained six months ago. Will be interesting to see who blinks first.

if anyone interested in a 2 bed/2 bath 900 sq ft unit near lougheed mall, we are having an open house for my unit on Saturday, 2-4pm

it's a 30 year old building but great depreciation report, strata, etc. tonnes of amenities and very reasonable strata considering ($277 a month)

comes with 1 parking spot and storage locker, extra spots are only $25 a month.

We had to lower our price to 399 as we have a mortgage setup for our new place dependent on selling this one, and the mortgage terms expire in January.

PM me if interested and i can send the link.

90% of the time, it's the sellers.

Too many home owners and developers think it's 2015. The good times are long over and if you purchased at the peak which most people did especially in Vancouver you're looking to lose a minimum of $200k-$300k as of today, bigger loss if you purchased on the westside and even more if it's a new house.

Looking at what's happening in the US with Trump who's going deregulate the financial sector and with the rates going up I think the worst is yet to come.

You mean Trump will decrease the value of BC Real Estate?

I'm confused now, a lot of people and media have been saying that Trump will increase the value of BC Real Estate because so many Americans will move to Canada.

Thats where your confused.
Only the broke asz SJW whiney fucks will actually attempt to move to BC.
Upon realizing there are no jobs here they quickly tuck their tails and go home.

That's the trend for the past 6 years or so. Live close to a mall with shopping centers, public transit, grocery store, restaurants. When you want to travel far then you drive. When you are just going to and from work take transit. Since everything is so close it cuts driving to other places. But here is the thing the public transit is not ready for the massive of population relying on it. So during rush hours you can see people have to wait 2 to 4 skytrains before getting on. I was lucky and work early morning but even then I am seeing more and more people on skytrain. I expect there will be a lot more people once the evergreen line is in operation.

Also mall traffic is getting worse as well. Just trying going to Metro town on weekends. Is pack. Don't even bother going grocery shopping on weekends unless you go before 10am or after 8pm.

Even with price drops, they can't afford Vancouver real estate prices anyways. :p

But before 10am, many shelves have not been re-stocked yet, and after 8pm, many shelves, and esp the fruits and veggies section, have been raided clean (or only the crappiest and beat up produce / fruits remain). So it is still a no go.

I buy my fruits and vegetables from the smaller shops and not from the large chains. There's less ppl and it's the same shit anyways.

Despite living close to Metrotown, I almost never go anymore because of the crowds, and construction of the skytrain station has made the bad traffic even worse. After getting stuck on Central Blvd twice for 30 mins, I'm never doing that again unless I absolutely have to.

yeah but that won't decrease the price of real estate in Vancouver though, it would probably stay the same.

yeah so the price will stay the same regardless of Trump

Trump and the Republicans will most likely make America business friendly again by reducing taxes and deregulating the financial sector. It'll make America that much more desirable hence more foreign capital heading down south compared to Canada.

And it speaks volumes about our RE market when people are pinning hopes on foreigners to maintain our house prices and not locals. Like I said before, the good times are over and you'll see prices fall even more once rates start going up. The only positive is it'll probably be a good time to buy if you have the cash and if you can qualify which is another topic.

falling price of RE can be a good thing though.

So many young people can't even afford to think about buying a house. That might change.

Clients of convicted immigration consultant facing deportation for lying
500 more people under investigation for falsely obtaining permanent residency and Canadian citizenship
By Eric Rankin, CBC News Posted: Nov 25, 2016 9:10 PM ET Last Updated: Nov 25, 2016 9:39 PM ET

Clients of convicted immigration consultant facing deportation for lying - CBC News | Investigates

https://i.cbc.ca/1.3868820.148011869...pei-jia-li.jpg
Pei Jia Li peeks through the doors after his hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board this week in Vancouver. He was ruled 'inadmissible to Canada' for having fraudulent entry and exit stamps in his passport. (Harold Dupuis/CBC )

One by one, many of the 1,200 former clients of an unlicensed Richmond, B.C., immigration consultant are getting the bad news — they're no longer welcome in Canada because they lied.

CBC News has learned 320 immigrants, who each paid thousands of dollars to New Can Consulting and owner Xun (Sunny) Wang, are now facing deportation to China.

One year ago, Wang, 47, was convicted of one of the biggest immigration scams in Canadian history — making $10 million by filing fraudulent immigration applications for his clients.

In one of his ploys, Wang falsely used his own home in Richmond as an address for 114 of his clients who didn't live in Canada.

https://i.cbc.ca/1.3868961.148011813...mond-house.jpg
Convicted immigration fraudster Xun (Sunny) Wang used his own home in Richmond as a fake address for at least 114 of his clients. (Mike Zimmer/CBC )

His appeal of his seven-year prison term and $900,000 fine was rejected last month.

Three of his former employees will be sentenced in January and three more are awaiting trial. At least three others have warrants out for their arrest.

Now the Canada Border Services Agency says of Wang's 320 ex-clients facing review of their immigration status, approximately 200 could be stripped of their citizenship and 120 could lose their permanent residency status.

Hundreds of other former New Can clients could also be in trouble.

500 more cases being investigated

In an email to CBC News, the border agency said it is continuing efforts to "uncover fraud on approximately 500 cases remaining to be investigated".

That means out of the 1,200 clients of New Can, over 800 could ultimately be sent back to China.

Guo Liang Lin is one of them.

At his recent hearing before the Immigration Refugee Board (IRB), the clean-cut man in his late 40s was ruled "inadmissible to Canada due to misrepresentation."

https://i.cbc.ca/1.3868927.148012019...-liang-lin.jpg
Immigration consultant Eric Leung, left, and client Guo Liang Lin. Lin admits he signed documents that said he lived in Canada three times longer than he actually had to obtain permanent residency. Lin was working with a different immigration company at the time, which he blames for falsifying records. (Manjula Dufresne/CBC )

Lin was issued an exclusion order, banning him from re-entry into Canada for five years unless he gets permission from immigration officials to come back sooner — something an immigration and refugee spokesperson says rarely happens.

Lin immediately launched an appeal on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, a move that will allow him to remain in Canada for nine to 12 months until his case is reviewed by the Immigration Appeal Division.

Passport 'falsified'

To obtain details of Lin's case, CBC News attended his IRB hearing on Nov. 23.

The board adjudicator heard that Lin, who received permanent resident status in 2010, had spent just seven months in Canada over five years — not the minimum two years required by law.

This allowed him to live and work in China, while keeping his wife, son and daughter in B.C.

But his passport was altered by New Can Consulting, his IRB hearing heard, with entry and exit stamps falsified to make it appear Lin had spent 980 days, or just over 2½ years, in Canada.

Permanent residents are entitled to most social benefits in Canada, including health care.

https://i.cbc.ca/1.3868873.148012539...d-passport.jpg
A page of a passport showing entry and exit stamps that were falsified to meet residency requirements to maintain permanent residence in Canada. (CBSA)

Despite his prolonged absences in the past, Lin says being forced to return to China will unfairly separate him from his wife and children.

"[My] family members are all in Canada," he told CBC News outside his hearing, "So me alone in China, this is a hardship".

https://i.cbc.ca/1.3868890.148012542...rt-new-can.jpg
Seized passports and stamps used in the immigration scam by New Can Consulting are displayed by the Canada Border Services Agency. (CBSA)

Lin's new immigration consultant, Eric Leung, who is helping Lin with his IRB case, blames the deceptive practices of New Can consulting, saying Lin was an innocent victim who signed documents that were in English, not his native Mandarin.

"My client did not understand English, so they trusted the agent. The agent asked [him] to sign, and [he] signed."

$7-million home

CBC News attended an IRB hearing for another former client of New Can Consulting, Pei Jia Li.

Li, 51, lives in a $7-million Kerrisdale home and drives a luxury SUV.

A permanent resident, he also had fraudulent entry and exit stamps in his passport, his IRB hearing heard — and he, too, was quickly ruled inadmissible to Canada on grounds of misrepresentation.

https://i.cbc.ca/1.3868907.148011905...li-s-house.jpg
Pei Jia Li, a permanent resident who has fraudulent entry and exit stamps in his passport, lives in this $7-million home in Kerrisdale, an affluent neighbourhood in Vancouver. (Harold Dupuis/CBC )

Like Lin, Li has filed an appeal.

Li pulled a hoodie over his head and later roared off in his SUV when approached by CBC News.

But his lawyer, Andrew Wlodyka, also blames New Can Consulting for the possible deportation orders now facing 800 of the company's former clients.

"The consultants were absolutely dealing with people who are totally ignorant. They didn't even realize that the consultant was not even licensed," says Wlodyka.

https://i.cbc.ca/1.3868896.148011570...ew-wlodyka.jpg
Lawyer Andrew Wlodyka, who represented Pei Jia Li at his admissibility hearing, says the clients of the convicted consultant are victims and should be allowed to stay in Canada. (Harold Dupuis/CBC)

"A lot of these people have actually made a significant contribution to Canadian society. They laid roots here, they've bought property, they've established businesses. So it's a really tragic situation."

"All of the circumstances have to be looked at to determine whether booting them out of Canada is the right thing."

Both Li and Lin have indicated they will argue they weren't responsible for the fraudulent tactics of New Can Consulting. But they could face an uphill battle.

The federal court has ruled that misrepresentation in immigration cases can be direct or indirect. If a consultant misrepresents a client, the client is ultimately responsible for that misrepresentation, since the immigrant has a duty to ensure their information is complete and accurate.

More needed to stop 'ghost consultants'

Still, Lin's immigration consultant Eric Leung maintains his client isn't at fault.

He says the Canadian government hasn't been keeping other immigration consultants honest.

"The problem is there must be somebody doing something to manage those we call ghost consultants or those licensed consultants doing something not right," he says.

Leung believes that while New Can has been shut down and owner (Sunny) Wang thrown in prison, other dishonest consultants are still busy filing fraudulent claims on behalf of clients.

"We should not stop the investigation. We have to find all of them. I personally do think there are always non-stop cheating issues around our country, around B.C. province. Definitely."

If Leung's suspicion is followed up by Canadian immigration officials, it could mean many more permanent residents and Canadian citizens who obtained their status through dubious consultants could be looking over their shoulders in the months to come.

I agree. Prices will probably fall to "normal" levels which will allow people to get into the market.

The bad of course is the trickle down effect on our economy. This would include businesses which are heavily dependent on RE and all the people who have RE related jobs. I would say majority of our local economy is intertwined in RE in someway or another. That to me is my biggest fear because it'll take a long time for not only our local economy but Canada as a whole too recover if we're heading down the road the US headed down in 2008.

yeah but people have been trying to lower RE prices, including politicians. (ie. 15% tax for Chinese buyers)

Pretty sad reading that article. Maybe I always try and see the good in people, but it would be pretty shitty to have your citizenship stripped if indeed you were just signing on the dotted line thinking everything was legal.

Ah well, easy come easy go. I'm sure they can buy themselves into one of those other countries that are so much better then Vancouver anyhow (Where were they again?).


I myself have my bank account ready to jump into my 3 bedroom bungalow with extra large double garage in Point Grey. I can dream right?

LOL they had no idea what they were signing cuz it was in english? Its your job to know

Im glad that this is happening, I hope the CBSA probe even further and deport even more people who falsify their records in attempts to gain citizenship or PR status