"Interest rates are also holding, but should they increase by as little as 1%, that would negate a 10% drop in purchase price. People shouldn't wait for prices to drop, because we never know when interest rates will be increased to stimulate the economy." VREB
I don't hold the outgoing Victoria Real Estate Board president accountable for the gaff in this month's market update press release even though it appeared in her voice. I know how these things work and while it's likely she approved the use of the quote it's highly unlikely she was its author. Never-the-less, it was a priceless gem that should live on in infamy so I've added it to the header of this site so we can have a little laugh every time we find ourselves visiting.
225 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 225 of 225Kooz - you are the king/queen of listings. Those are some very high prices for a "townhouse".
Just Jack: You are bang on about the price reductions of older retirement condos having age restrictions. MLS 312891 in the prime Cook Street Village area has just been reduced to $214,500. It was originally listed at $399K. They were dreaming at that price, but six months ago when it first went on the market they might well have gotten $339,000. A pity.
Totoro Victoria might want to grab this one before its gone!
Foreclosure opportunity with suite
Yes, I will get my shopping cart out.
Lots of Oak Bay lovers on this blog. This could be your chance to be hap pychucky's neighbour.
Bring us an offer, seller is ready to move on!!!
that house is in a strange place in Oak Bay. Overpriced.
I didn't know Hap lived in OB? Maybe we are neighbours!
Why not move to Gordon Head and get help from Introvert with the repairs.
Way under assessment - Only 589K after two price reductions
Vanishing home equity and/or hugely rising interest rates equals a tightening noose for many people. It is my idea of hell.
I watched this happen twice. First to my parents and their generation in the early eighties. Second to my sister and her husband in the States 2.5 years ago.
In the first instance it was interest rates and in the second it was vanishing equity.
A noose is a noose is a noose. I don't care which method is used to hang me, I don't want anything to do with either one.
If I can see the tree in front of me and I can begin to make out the outline of a noose hanging from one of the branches I'm heading the other way.
I always ask myself - what would Dirty Harry do?
Dirty Harry rents.
"The following sequels show that Harry lives within the city limits in a small studio apartment on Jackson St. in the Nob Hill area."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Callahan_(character)
The money it would take to pay off the mortgage and hence eliminate "45% interest" generates a lot more than $300 after tax based in dividends alone.
Sure, but you'd do even better if you put all your money into dividend paying stocks and rented. Like me.
Stocks never go down.
On another note, could we please have a new blog post? 200 comments or so ought to be the cut-off.
"Don't buy a condo when you can have a townhouse!"
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12473486&PidKey=217320502
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12473488&PidKey=1191970480
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12473487&PidKey=73080091
"Sacrifice Sale, Never Occupied!!...Take advantage of this opportunity while confidence is returning & investors are strategizing"
Very interesting assessment of our current situation.
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12420063&PidKey=110326159
@Koozdra
Hmmm ... 517-1400 Lynburne Pl (MLS: 305340) that you linked to went up for tax sale auction just a few weeks ago: http://www.cityoflangford.ca/assets/Documents~Library/Notices/Tax Sale.pdf. I wonder how much it sold for?
@DavidL
Interesting find. Thanks for the info.
HHV,
You might want to use this for your next post....
A prominent local real estate agent was on CFAX today and was telling it like it is. I went to his Website click here and was shocked to see this...
Ron’s candid thoughts on today’s market in Victoria:
Following is our Victoria Real Estate Board News Release which in my opinion gives a sugar coated outlook of reality. The market is anything but steady with sales numbers down significantly and prices too, driven down buy distressed sellers competing for the few predatory buyers who are seizing the opportunity. Statistics are misleading and the 64 average days on market does not include the prior listings of the same properties or those that have not sold. By my estimate the average days on market is closer to 180 days including just the successful sales. Furthermore, the average sale price reported as 96% of list is based on the final listing price, not reflecting the original price or prior listing attempts. My quick review of the numbers shows more like a 85% of list price on average based on the original asking price.
Wow! This is quite a slam against VREB and I bet they aren't too happy about it.
I would also like to remind my fellow posters that Marko was the first RE agent to break ranks and tell it like it is on TV. He has been on a couple of times and was a real counterbalance to Carol Crabb and the spin machine.
Keep it up Marko! Maybe you should have drinks with Ron Neal :>)
From time to time I read the posts by a Salt Spring Island agent Scott Simmons. He calls it as he sees it and is really down on the re-listing "trick". Here is his latest post on overpriced listings.
How long will Salt Spring re market stay depressed? ...why are so many Salt Spring homes so bad? Viewed 8 homes today and do not think I would let my dog sleep in any of them. Tear down homes at twice the lot value. My old home in Calgary has a lot value of 1 mil or so if you took out the lot price the structure is worth approx 250k. If a Salt Spring lot is worth 200k why do people think junk homes are worth 250k plus price of lot? This is going to be a long slow winter of so many sellers hanging on to prices that are unattainable in this market. I really have not seen anything like Salt Spring RE. It still shocks me. It is so hard to find the real deals.
and it begins.
Kudos to Ron Neal and the Neal estate team, as well as Marko, who so often remains silent when people repeated spell his name wrongly as "Marco". Polo.
I like Marko's philosophy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLa2vlTY-nY&feature=plcp
Stopped by Garth Turner's blog tonight. The Victoria market was being featured. Carol Crabb and Ron Neal got national exposure.
Greater Fool Blog
Documents obtained by The Globe and Mail detailing confidential statements from banks, appraisers and mortgage insurers show rising worry over the use of a database operated by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The documents suggest the data are flawed and help push home prices up.
...
Because the database does not evaluate a specific property, but uses generalities to determine the risk level of a mortgage, “CMHC insured loans are often granted without truly taking into account the property’s market value,” the respondent says. “This poses a real danger of altering housing market data.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/potentially-flawed-data-used-by-banks-and-lenders-bump-up-house-prices/article4603237/?cmpid=rss1
"Housing prices have doubled across Canada over the last 10 years, despite broadly-flat wages. While higher prices in markets such as Calgary, Edmonton or Fort McMurray could, perhaps, be explained by an influx of workers tied to the energy industry (and a shortage of housing in place), it's harder to explain why housing prices in Toronto and Vancouver should be about three and four times higher than average prices in the United States and more than double their historical average price ratios."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/mortgages/is-canada-immune-from-a-housing-bubble/article4585963/
It's refreshing to see a high profile local realtor like Ron Neal speak the truth about the misleading statistics used by the VREB.
I think Ron Neal would agree with me that this quote could equally be applied to the VREB:
"He (VREB) uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts; for support rather than illumination." -Andrew Lang
I love that Ron addresses my pet peeve - the %age of asking stat - that and the average DOM. he says the average DOM is more like 180 and houses selling closer to 85% of asking.
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