January 2013 month to date (previous weeks in brackets)
Net Unconditional Sales: 177 (87, 32)
New Listings: 701 (407, 161)
Active Listings: 3759 (3681, 3574)
Sales to new listings ratio: 25% (21%, 20%)
January 2012
Net Unconditional Sales: 372
New Listings: 1088
Active Listings: 3715
Sales to new listings ratio: 34%
Sales to active listings ratio: 10% or 10.0 MOI
Sales are starting to pick up a bit, but last January at this point we were at about 220 sales and 665 listings. So not only are sales way behind last year, we are now outpacing on listings as well.
The low sales volumes in January put a proviso on any percentage comparisons, but this doesn't appear to be business as usual like we've seen in the past year.
Sales are starting to pick up a bit, but last January at this point we were at about 220 sales and 665 listings. So not only are sales way behind last year, we are now outpacing on listings as well.
The low sales volumes in January put a proviso on any percentage comparisons, but this doesn't appear to be business as usual like we've seen in the past year.
235 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 235 of 235Finally, am I the only one that thinks giving kids an ipad is not the best thing to do?
I completely agree, totoro. I'm against plunking kids in front of screens all day, which I'm afraid is the norm nowadays.
Patriotz - the benefit can only be estimated going forward but it is also an objective fact that a mortgage is time-limited.
You will have a paid-off asset that should be inflation adjusted at the end of the day - and you have to live somewhere. You might make more by renting and investing elsewhere - but I'm quite confident I will make more long-term by renting out owned properties. I might not feel the same way relying on appreciation and equity paydown alone.
Owning still looks good to me long-term. Short-term it is not a windfall situation anymore. If you want to wait for a drop you might be better off, who cares? You do. Everyone rows their own boat here.
Leo - so skill/qualifications are not part of it?
I work as a pt but it does not reduce my professionalism.
I would characterize my reno skill set as amateur (if that) but my landlord skill set is not.
It is a job you need to manage well and with skill to avoid pitfalls and have happy tenants. It is not hard to master, but you'd better have some knowledge of res ten, contracts, be responsive to issues, and have people skills.
I would say if you are a ft landlord you have loads of time because you probably are at the point where you hire a property management company and retire.
Leo - so skill/qualifications are not part of it?
Relax, that's just the athletics tie-in. "Professional landlord" doesn't have a definition or a governing body, so it really doesn't matter what you call yourself.
iPads and kids - I was solidly in the no category until I watched my two year old twin nieces swipe their little fingers over the screens with authority. They do puzzles, games and 'read' on them as well.
Changed my mind in an instant.
As with everything else - it's the intent behind the thought. For babysitting purposes a la TV's, I'm still in the no category. For using a new technological tool to expand learning and fun horizons for bright young minds - yes!
Half million dollar "fixer upper". A log cabin in the boonies.
"**NOTE - occupancy permit not in place and BC Assessment does not reflect current structure**"
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12764445&PidKey=-1965014124
Charging higher interest rates to people with bad credit scores. What a novel idea.
"Selectively and quietly, the big banks have been cranking rates higher for credit line and credit card customers with a less than sterling record in managing their debts. It’s all part of a growing trend to tie the interest rates charged on loans more closely to the client’s credit history."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/household-finances/banks-are-raising-rates---for-those-who-cant-manage-their-debt/article7724326/
My wife and I don't dwell on the differences between renting and owning with our kids, so they barely notice. As far as they are concerned, this is our house, our home. We have never had anyone look down on us, openly at least, for renting. And we are in OB. We have had numerous people say that we are smart to be doing so right now.
We own two ipads - but they belong to my wife and I and the kids have to get permission before using them. When they do have them, they are limited to what they can do on them - they are not video game consoles.
Our kids are so active outside of the house that 15 minutes exploring and iPad seems fine.
And in all the places I have every rented - likely more than 15 (I was a student for a lot of years) - I have never been asked to leave a rental.
My philosophy is to treat the rental as you would treat your own home, be respectful to the landlord and let them know when minor maintenance needs to be done that saves them from major bills later. Take 2 minutes to do a simple task for the house (tighten a doorknob, scrape some moss off a foundation wall, etc), and tell the landlord about the things you have done when you talk. Makes it a nicer place for you to like in as well, for about 15 minutes a month of "maintenance".
Being a good tenant goes a long way. If you are kicked out of a rental it is most often due to the renter's behaviour, which is in your control. If you treat the rental disrespectfully, don't complain when you are asked to move along.
Life is like that.
Charging higher interest rates to people with bad credit scores. What a novel idea.
And why not charge lower rates to people with the highest credit scores?
Punish bad behaviour and reward good behaviour.
@Introvert - I like that idea!
"Punish bad behaviour and reward good behaviour."
Agree completely.
I'm pretty sure this is already happening. http://www.myvirtualmortgagebroker.com/News/Stories/2006-12-14_Your_Beacon_Score.html
Weirdness: a simple man and koozdra both agree with me. Mark it on the calendar.
Actually, introvert, I agree with you on most things. Just not everything.
Recently, at one of the big five banks in Surrey, a customer applying for a mortgage was short $10,000 for the 5% down payment. What happened next is shocking.
"Helpful personal banking loans officer suggests that he take out a 10k line of credit, give it to his father, so his father can give it back to him with a gift letter."
We all know that "house buyers needing 95% financing are not allowed to borrow the last 5%, or their loans won’t be eligible for CMHC mortgage insurance. So what the boy witnessed was illegal", as Garth Turner explains.
How much is this illegal maneuver being employed by loans officers across Canada? One really has to wonder. It seems 0 down mortgages are still available in Canada, one illegal way or another.
Being a good tenant goes a long way. If you are kicked out of a rental it is most often due to the renter's behaviour, which is in your control. If you treat the rental disrespectfully, don't complain when you are asked to move along.
Bingo. I recently sealed all the ducts in our rental to improve the efficiency of the furnace. So I spent an hour and $10 because I like optimising things and I don't care that I don't own the place. Mutual respect means you don't have problems with landlords.
"Low rates are GOOD for homeowners"
In the overall, big picture, the fact that the BoC has kept rates at emergency levels in Canada, for over 4 years, points to the fact that the economy has been weak and fragile for a long time. That is bad for house prices, as we have seen in other countries, including Japan, where house prices declined, despite the presence of emergency level rates for over 20 years running. That makes more than two "lost decades" for Japan.
Extreme, emergency rates in Canada might keep mortgage payments low in the short term, however, as long as the economy is in emergency mode, house prices will sink. This is true, in general, unless there is enough housing market stimulus to keep prices from tanking, which is what we saw in Canada over the last 6-7 years.
Canadian real estate, over the next long while, will not have the stimulus of declining interest rates as has been the case over the past 30 years. The age of deleveraging has started. That is also bad for homeowners. Let's not get too deep into this, as there is plenty more that could be brought up at this point, such as the fact that boomers will be downsizing over the next number of years...
And why not charge lower rates to people with the highest credit scores
Not really possible. The rates people are getting are already based on almost zero risk because the lender passed off the risk to CMHC.
As that becomes less available only the people with good credit will get anywhere close to today's standard rates. Paradoxically the risk from a qualified but uninsured borrower is higher than a first timer with 5% down so the market is going to get more distorted before it ets better
Recently, at one of the big five banks in Surrey, a customer applying for a mortgage was short $10,000 for the 5% down payment. What happened next is shocking.
Looks like that greatest of fools, Garth Turner, has resorted to reporting gossip.
Truly the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Hey, Leo: time for a new thread? This place is cookin'.
@mrmike
"And We're never selling.
We cancelled that listing and had the best night of our lives!
We had a good offer, and I think about it everyday.
I made the right choice."
That is exactly what people in California, Phoenix, Miami, Las Vegas... were saying in 2005, 2006, etc. in the US. We all know what happened there.
Keep your head in the sand and deny all you can. Hey, at least you live with less stress, for now, until the realization hits you that you turned down an offer that would have prevented all of the financial damage that happened after you rejected the offer.
That is exactly what people in California, Phoenix, Miami, Las Vegas... were saying in 2005, 2006, etc. in the US. We all know what happened there.
What? Some people "said" something at some time, somewhere?
That line of argumentation is too damn persuasive!
I've been asked to leave a rental at least 4 times because the owner was selling the house and the new owners wanted to move in. This was late 90's to 2005. That's when we said screw it, let's buy a condo. And we did, and it was fine, until I got tired of being on the strata council and not having a yard of my own. So I'm in a rental again, where I have done a ton of improvement to the yard and spent a great deal of my own money to do so. I take refuge in knowing that despite the improvements I've made (which should increase property values, since the 1/2 acre lot is no longer covered in scrub and blackberry bushes), they're probably not going to sell the house out from under me in this market.
I've been asked to leave a rental at least 4 times because the owner was selling the house and the new owners wanted to move in.
It does happen. It happened once to me, too.
Hey, Leo: time for a new thread? This place is cookin'.
Yep I'll try to post something tonight.
I've been asked to leave a rental at least 4 times because the owner was selling the house and the new owners wanted to move in.
I'm curious, did you ask about the owners' plans before you moved in? That's one of the first things I ask is what their plans are for the place in the long term. If they give a wishy washy answer I don't rent it. And I prefer leases as extra incentive. If they want to pay me a month's rent to move me out then fine.
it is also an objective fact that a mortgage is time-limited.
So is the term - to a lesser duration than the mortgage, which means the interest rate isn't.
Even if the interest rate is locked in over the whole duration of the mortgage, like in the US, that's not a guarantee against losing money. Like in the US.
@Leo
I'm curious, did you ask about the owners' plans before you moved in? That's one of the first things I ask is what their plans are for the place in the long term. If they give a wishy washy answer I don't rent it. And I prefer leases as extra incentive. If they want to pay me a month's rent to move me out then fine.
We had leases, but they tended to be one year leases that went month to month after that. The first time it happened, we hadn't asked about selling plans, but we never spoke to the owner either - it was managed through an agency. While we were there, the sewer backed up into the downstairs shower. We discovered it didn't have a proper trap in there. We complained, owner was required to reno it, but then it turned out that there was a problem further down the sewer line, just before it connected with the city line. The work and cost associated with digging up the lawn and fixing that was probably why the house was sold a few months after it was fixed.
The 2nd time was similar - some maintenance was deferred until it had to be fixed (and at our insistence when it began to inconvenience us), and the owners decided that being a landlord was more work than it was worth.
The 3rd time it happened, we had asked and were assured that they were landlords for the long run. But then 2001 happened and someone made an offer and they took it.
Then we ended up in a house that changed hands 3 times while we were in it. Each time we were safe; they didn't inform us that we had two months to move. Until the last time; there was a lot of friction between us and the last owners. Some university kids were lucky and their parents bought them a house, they moved in upstairs and proceeded to party their brains out and disturb all the neighbours up and down the block. We started looking for our own place when we suddenly got an eviction notice telling us to get the hell out because the brother was going to move in downstairs. They tried to tell us we had to leave in 10 days - we had to take them to tenancy to make sure we had the proper amount of time (2 months) so that we could buy the right place and do a few renos before moving in. (We slept there from the moment we got the keys, even though are furniture wasn't there yet. Despite the reno mess and dust, it was much better than the rental.)
So I guess that was just 4 times. That last time was stressful enough it ought to count for more though.
Oh, I should note: the first three times we were a group of people renting full houses. Hard to convince people that we weren't big partiers, but it was just because in those days you could get a 5 or 6 bdrm house for 1200 a month, and we were all students or people with other low incomes, so sharing was a great way for us to have an excellent place for less per month.
"Even if the interest rate is locked in over the whole duration of the mortgage, like in the US, that's not a guarantee against losing money. Like in the US."
There is no guarantee with any investment. Your strategy might work for you because you are a cash buyer. Risks/rewards change for those who are not and much consider interest rates. They change again for those who hedge with rental income.
I am finding it a weird market out there. Some of my sellers, lucky enough to receive offers, are receiving low balls and even when we do reach accepted terms every deal is a struggle with me at the center trying to mitigate problems.
Due to my cash back program I am always working with a lot of buyers. I have about 8 right now and three have cash and can't find anything! A few have referred to the term "slim pickings."
Feels like listings are tough to sell but when you work with a buyer you don't see any crazy deals nor a great deal of quality listings either. A bit of a stalemate?
"A bit of a stalemate?"
Aren't we still in "winter" mode.
I think it is being on the cusp of a bit of a drop.
Sellers are not wanting to list or sell for less unless they can get a good price - and buyers are not willing to pay without a discount for the uncertainty and recent news articles on the housing market.
Following on info's comment about downpayment gifts, here is what happened with a friend who has good work but a spotty credit history, little downpayment and not yet financially savvy:
- Mortgage broker "friend" got her excited about real estate
- She found a place she liked and got emotionally attached to it
- Asked him about how to get a mortgage
- He suggested getting a bank mortgage with 20% down, getting a friend to short-term loan her the downpayment and give her a gift letter. Then she would get a loan from a private lender at 8% under the pretenses the money was the gift
- After I and several others said this sounded like fraud on the part of multiple parties, she decided to go 100% bank mortgage
- Put an offer in on a condo, didn't go through (not sure why, likely financing, also listing realtor would have double-ended the deal)
- Now has decided to wait, put money away for downpayment and buy when she is ready
This is Victoria, January 2013. Likely advice to commit fraud by a mortgage professional.
Hopefully next time she works with an independent financial professional prior to deciding to buy.
... and for the bankers and regulators who read this blog, yes there is likely a lot of 'gift' downpayment fraud out there .....
totoro - you state you are a pt -- most pts make max 35K if working full time - good work getting the investment properties on that income.
@Animal Spirit
I'm glad that you friend listened to your (and other) advice and avoided getting a fraudulent loan. Sounds like some lenders are getting desperate!
yes, i make more but i also went to post-sec for more than ten years which i paid for and these are ten years of income foregone for tuition/expenses.
as i've stated before, i likely would have been financially better off working a couple jobs and buying a house right out of high school.
someone who decides that buying what they want to do could work ft and a second job. i've got very little sympathy for folks who are not willing to work hard and save for a long-term goal.
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