tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post7662770128619066857..comments2023-12-02T00:38:46.467-08:00Comments on House Hunt Victoria: Demand?HouseHuntVictoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07456914359088891317noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-31348359185699050612010-11-26T12:30:44.992-08:002010-11-26T12:30:44.992-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Introverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03333045260631104757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-73084219477107334742010-11-22T13:38:48.490-08:002010-11-22T13:38:48.490-08:00Marko - I know it has been said before but, thank ...Marko - I know it has been said before but, thank so much for providing this data to us. I particularly appreciate the new way you are reporting with the original and eventual sales averages. I know it is more for you to calculate and I appreciate the efforts.a simple manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054677016369304449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-38207877997124219412010-11-22T12:36:04.608-08:002010-11-22T12:36:04.608-08:00SFH as of right now -
Price Original: $719,434
Pr...SFH as of right now -<br /><br />Price Original: $719,434<br />Price List: $704,202<br />Price Sold: $675,041<br /><br />Condos<br /><br />Price Original: $342,954<br />Price List: $335,389<br />Price Sold: $324,168<br /><br />"thanks Marko - still predicting 500 sales for Nov?"<br /><br />Still a possibility. If we have 120 this week, Monday's usually bring in 30 to 40 so possible + the Tuesday.<br /><br />But I am changing my prediction to 480Markohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08315282480144281935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-87194267050309950722010-11-22T12:26:19.555-08:002010-11-22T12:26:19.555-08:00Are those people selling the meadow house insane -...Are those people selling the meadow house insane - that is so obnoxious, wow! Ha ha! Going to be entertaining to see if there is a big enought sucker out there...thinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04527051722420253429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-42425607026812115112010-11-22T12:03:13.546-08:002010-11-22T12:03:13.546-08:00I saw that one. Are they fishing for suckers or w...I saw that one. Are they fishing for suckers or what. People do seem to fall for the "new listing" lies.<br /><br />BTW<br /><br />That lot on Windsor park isn't the one I was thinking about. There is another one that comes and goes on the market across the park from that one. It is the equal to the lot I was thinking about.omchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11570216584047858772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-66294534160454949672010-11-22T11:20:42.296-08:002010-11-22T11:20:42.296-08:00in other news, the house on Meadow Ave that droppe...in other news, the house on Meadow Ave that dropped through the summer form an initial asking price of $750K and ended on $630K before being delisted a month ago was just relisted today - for $700K.<br /><br />I hope they put in $70K worth of improvements in that month!a simple manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054677016369304449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-48481910245673561872010-11-22T11:16:17.563-08:002010-11-22T11:16:17.563-08:00thanks Marko - still predicting 500 sales for Nov?...thanks Marko - still predicting 500 sales for Nov? <br /><br />This weather may keep buyers indoors...be safe out there everyone!a simple manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054677016369304449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-68500717173561210682010-11-22T10:44:38.678-08:002010-11-22T10:44:38.678-08:00Month-to-Date Market Statistics
Posted by
Nov 22 ...Month-to-Date Market Statistics<br />Posted by <br />Nov 22 2010<br />Monday, November 22, 2010 8:30am:<br /><br /> MTD November <br /> 2010 2009 <br />Net Unconditional Sales: 333 604 <br />New Listings: 552<br /> 796 <br />Active Listings: 3,737 2,973 <br /><br />Please Note<br /><br />•Left Column: stats so far this month<br />•Right Column: stats for the entire month from last yearMarkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08315282480144281935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-19985068257958316882010-11-22T09:31:05.062-08:002010-11-22T09:31:05.062-08:00@msr
I was looking for November 1. Maybe there ar...@msr<br /><br />I was looking for November 1. Maybe there are fewer places on the rental market at that time of year and so less selection/fewer good deals? In any case, there's no way I could have rented a descent place with a view and underground parking for $900/month. The typical Victoria apartment buildings that are 3-4 stories tall, built in the 60s/70s with covered parking but not underground often go for $900-1000 for a 1 bedroom in downtown or in Fairfield/Cook St. Village (which is where I was looking). Any taller buildings with underground parking tend to be more expensive. That's probably not always true and I'm sure you can find a deal here or there, but I think they're getting harder and harder to come by given that you're often paying off someone else's big mortgage. This place that's currently on craiglist strikes me as being exceptionally cheap and it's on the 3rd floor and likely face Yates or looks right into another building:<br />http://victoria.en.craigslist.ca/apa/2069167352.htmlhappy renterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00797801196399164312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-42871265610802885872010-11-21T22:30:46.612-08:002010-11-21T22:30:46.612-08:00@happy renter
What time of year were you looking?...@happy renter<br /><br />What time of year were you looking? If it was July onward then you probably got caught up in the Student Storm. Prices appear to spike up because students will rent anything for $500/room/month. Once prospective landlords see what students do to housing and what they're paying for crap it makes sense they'd up the price. <br /><br />As a comparison, I moved into an apartment in June. I pay $1300/mo for a 2br, top floor, corner unit, ocean view. The building also has a pool/hot tub/games room and a small gym.msrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06989899694357655485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-82265968383368215272010-11-21T19:38:47.999-08:002010-11-21T19:38:47.999-08:00Good for you, Phillip.
I rent a 4 bedroom house...Good for you, Phillip. <br /><br />I rent a 4 bedroom house with a huge yard near Willows Beach with a weekly gardener and peace of mind. Our downpayment is in the most conservative accounts and return about quarter of the rent to us. With home office write offs, cheaper insurance, no maintenance costs (there have been numerous recently), no mortgage interest, etc I am way ahead. <br /><br />And with the 6 hours a months the gardener is here and I don't have the wrestle the shrubs and lawn, I consult, which puts us in an even better spot, saving money for the future while the houses around us lose value.<br /><br />Not a bad place to be.a simple manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054677016369304449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-40115492307880413522010-11-21T19:26:41.660-08:002010-11-21T19:26:41.660-08:00I too was surprised by that $900/month rent. Since...I too was surprised by that $900/month rent. Since I just sold a condo and then had to look for another to rent, I have a pretty good sense of what things are going for right now. If I could have found that deal, I would have been so, so lucky. The places with views and parking downtown that I saw started at $1100/month, and that was for a very, very crappy place with stained carpets, kitchen counters that had huge holes in them, etc.. $1200-1400 one bedrooms are, sadly, the new norm.happy renterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00797801196399164312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-48206054239144668062010-11-21T19:07:38.882-08:002010-11-21T19:07:38.882-08:00Marko, I thought my 0% assumption in rent and pric...Marko, I thought my 0% assumption in rent and price appreciation was fair considering some of the demographic, interest rate, credit-tightening, affordability, unemployment, household debt, etc headwinds facing us this coming decade. I recall running decade scenarios of -20% and +20% for price appreciation as well, but it hardly tips the scale at all towards ownership in the +20% case. In case you were curious, I only used a 4% annual yield for missed opportunity costs (even though our fixed income & equity portfolios have been far outperforming that - although I admit, it took me a while to find a good manager). I also used very conservative figures for buying/selling costs, any suite renovation/maintenance costs and strata/property tax increases. Finally, didn’t include anything extra for homeowner insurance. If there was a way i could attach a picture, especially the view. It surprises me too at times, we can rent this cheap. But, I won’t be mentioning that to the owner.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00550264432110709714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-31471575136452269712010-11-21T18:26:50.296-08:002010-11-21T18:26:50.296-08:00left a bunch of costs out on the other side as wel...<i> left a bunch of costs out on the other side as well such as Landlord gives you notice and you have to incur moving costs and time, etc. </i><br /><br />I don't think you want to get into an argument on unexpected expenses. There are obviously far more of them when owning than renting.Leo Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02951281972056927807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-6199906527784387832010-11-21T16:51:46.755-08:002010-11-21T16:51:46.755-08:00"Marko, you must have left out a bunch of cos..."Marko, you must have left out a bunch of costs on your condominium calculation."<br /><br />I left a bunch of costs out on the other side as well such as Landlord gives you notice and you have to incur moving costs and time, etc. <br /><br />"Note: the assumption is we'd be able to sell it in ten years for the exact same $340,000 less commission."<br /><br />That is quite a stretch as far as assumptions go. <br /><br />PS. What building do you live in where the cost of the unit is $340,000 and the rent is $900?<br /><br />I have heard this arguement before about renting in the Falls - rent is only $1,500/month for a two bedroom and unit is worth 600k. True, rent is $1,500/month but the unit actally sold for 399k ;)Markohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08315282480144281935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-58391649829538703432010-11-21T16:38:28.258-08:002010-11-21T16:38:28.258-08:00From CBC news:
Housing bubble a danger: expert
1...From CBC news:<br /><br />Housing bubble a danger: expert<br /><br />17/11/2010 3:50:39 PM<br /><br />CBC News <br />One of the first economists to predict the U.S. mortgage crisis warned Wednesday that Canada's housing sector could be headed for a sharp correction.<br /><br />Dean Baker of the Washington-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research said he sees no reason why average home prices in Canada should be about 50 per cent higher than in the U.S.<br /><br />Baker said if interest rates rise by two per cent, Canadians could see house prices collapse by 25 to 30 per cent.<br /><br />Given the potential damage, Baker said the federal government should consider regulations to further tighten mortgage lending and the Bank of Canada should consider raising rates.<br /><br />Ottawa has already moved once, in February, to tighten lending requirements.<br /><br />And on Oct. 19, the Bank of Canada left its key interest rate unchanged at one per cent after three consecutive quarter-percentage-point increases, saying that the Canadian outlook had changed and that it expected full recovery to take a year longer than it had earlier predicted.<br /><br />After that, many economists predicted the central bank would avoid raising rates further for a matter of months.<br /><br />Baker was recently given the Revere Award along with two others for being the first to sound the alarm on the U.S. housing bubble five years before it burst.thinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04527051722420253429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-70070820758771837512010-11-21T15:24:01.870-08:002010-11-21T15:24:01.870-08:00Whoops,,,,I meant the $600 per month strata costs....Whoops,,,,I meant the $600 per month strata costs. Also, the taxes will have to go down as well for most of these units as well.Alexandraherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13100843258061373047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-74171447802352606592010-11-21T15:21:55.579-08:002010-11-21T15:21:55.579-08:00Marko and all: Actually the $600K a month for tha...Marko and all: Actually the $600K a month for that Townhouse at the Bayview is steep but if that also includes the heat and hot water as stated, then that isn't quite as bad. All of those larger condos in say the Ocean Park Towers in the Songhees pay for their own base board electricity and their own hot water....and with all those windows the electricity bill is a fortune during the winter. I think eventually that particular townhouse will make a tidy profit for the purchaser down the road. One of the better buys I would say in that area.Alexandraherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13100843258061373047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-56288846186692697702010-11-21T15:15:19.038-08:002010-11-21T15:15:19.038-08:00Marko, you must have left out a bunch of costs on ...Marko, you must have left out a bunch of costs on your condominium calculation.<br />For comparison, I thought i’d give our rent versus buy calculations. They were based on the average of 7 properties we looked at shortly after we moved here that were comparable to our rental. Our calculations are over a ten year period and include opportunity costs (even on our $450 rental deposit). The assumptions are 25% down, 5.0% interest rate, and a $340,000 purchase price (we rent a 7th floor, 630 square foot 1 bdrm, 180 degree southwest ocean view, secure underground parking, between ocean & downtown for $900 per month)<br />Based on these numbers we will save $23,547 per year over the next ten years or $1962.25 per month by renting our place rather than purchasing it at today’s price. Note: the assumption is we'd be able to sell it in ten years for the exact same $340,000 less commission. Sure the 5.0% interest rate is a wild card, but rates could easily end up being closer to 10% five years from now too, just as several western European countries are nearing at present.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00550264432110709714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-45759505181985707452010-11-21T13:43:34.093-08:002010-11-21T13:43:34.093-08:00OMC,
I'm reading a bit of a contradiction re ...OMC,<br /><br />I'm reading a bit of a contradiction re out of town buyers in your last two posts.<br /><br />I agree with the second statement though: the action of selling a Victoria home to buy another Victoria home would be considered a "local" in my system of logic. The two are effectively a wash and do not add up to a new player in the local market. Where they earned their money is completely irrelevant. If I'm a consultant who telecommutes from Victoria for companies in the US am I an out of towner? <br /><br />When I say locals drive up the price, I mean first time home buyers with fat wads of borrowed cash willing to over pay for properties and the move-ups who in a drunk on the fat wads of borrowed cash tossed at them for their fixer uppers in Tillicum go barreling into GH to get into a bidding war on a 30 year old hasn't seen an update since the beginning BC box that also requires them to up the limit on their HELOC to fix up. <br /><br />I stand by my assertion that in order to understand the out of town "wealthy boomer" market you have to look at what out of town wealthy boomers are buying. Yes, some may indeed be purchasing homes in Broadmead, Fairfield and Oak Bay, but the homes that are specifically being built for this market (Bear Mtn, Songhees etc) are not doing well sales wise. <br /><br />Reid in a comment above hit the nail on the head IMO, it's availability of credit and interest rates, now more than anything, that is keeping this market from falling more than it is. For anyone who thinks the market is heading up, why? Where are the indicators? And please don't point to a single sale that went for over asking in GH as your evidence.HouseHuntVictoriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07456914359088891317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-62178041953623780372010-11-21T13:38:17.326-08:002010-11-21T13:38:17.326-08:00Alexandrahere;
Thanks for that information - sale...Alexandrahere;<br /><br />Thanks for that information - sales like that Bayview townhouse really show what is happening. <br /><br />Sold for roughly half of what the developer initially wanted. That would make even the most hardened developer think twice going forward.<br /><br />The RE climate is changing. If someone told you a year ago that a new Bayview property would fetch half its asking price no one would believe you; yet, here we are.a simple manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054677016369304449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-37372457658748352552010-11-21T13:30:46.513-08:002010-11-21T13:30:46.513-08:00omc,
Our old house (bought here in 2004) sold in ...omc,<br /><br />Our old house (bought here in 2004) sold in Oct 2009 for about 55% more than we paid for (with 2 evaluations and 6 offers, don't think we sold low). With chunk of the gain went to CRA, it is not exactly a windfall. <br /><br />We didn't buy a house in 2004 for vacation at all, we bought it thinking that we would move into it. In todays condition, we probably wouldn't buy before we move, but we will buy after we move as we did last year (in Feb just by luck), with most funds from our Ottawa house sale.freedom_2008https://www.blogger.com/profile/16017963228192114898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-16579873620171249692010-11-21T12:43:29.838-08:002010-11-21T12:43:29.838-08:00I showed this Bayview townhome to another client a...I showed this Bayview townhome to another client and the value is there. If strata fees were like $300-$400/month my client would have bought one.<br /><br />No baseboards, all townhomes have a heatpump + gas fireplace.<br /><br />A 1700 sq/ft townhome in Langford goes for 400k or so; therefore, these are a relative bargain given the finishing + concrete structure + location + heating/ventilation system + underground parking + new bridge coming. <br /><br />Strata fees are a killer thought at $674/month for this unit. That is small mortgage payment. <br /><br />However, for a single professional because all the rooms have their ensuite it wouldn't be that bad I guess. You could probably rent out the other two rooms for $600 to $700 each to help with strata and mortgage. I know, not ideal, but feasible.Markohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08315282480144281935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-84461362181577181942010-11-21T12:40:29.775-08:002010-11-21T12:40:29.775-08:00Pressure on the market for price increases is caus...Pressure on the market for price increases is caused by people entering the market, or of course investment. Selling your house to buy another doesn't really change anything. one on the market, one off the market.omchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11570216584047858772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7123542260692860177.post-85985872196449577802010-11-21T12:23:06.879-08:002010-11-21T12:23:06.879-08:00Incredible!! Another Bayview unit has sold!! This...Incredible!! Another Bayview unit has sold!! This one is TH#3. It wnet for $515K!! I believe they were originally asking over 1M for this one. It is the largest townhouse out of the 6 there and it has 1725 Sq Ft. There are three bedrooms and a den plus four baths. Each bedroom has an ensuite. <br /><br />Marko? Once again in the monthly strata fees (of over $600), it says it includes the hot water and heat. I thought these units were heated via electric baseboards. Do you recall?Alexandraherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13100843258061373047noreply@blogger.com