sure just dont build that high density stuff near my house I like my neighborhood how it is now. same goes for halfway houses and other stuff we need. unless of course you rezone my personaly property multi family so I can cash in, in that case go ahead
The Decline of Vancouver.
Just because prices are high in those major cities doesnt mean they've taken the correct course of action.
The course of action for Vancouver should be: density where density makes sense (along transit lines, close to downtown, etc) and then creating the correct infrastructure to accompany the growth (i.e. continuously improving transit). The market needs supply to decrease price. Its also going to take simultaneous policies to control renting prices (so that people that people that want to live in the city without buying, can. Understanding that this comes with trade-offs).
"Correct" is a matter of perspective.
Current course of action has been a raging success from the perspective of the people voting in Vision. Chip and his neighbors have got a sweet little private road, and Rennie is making mad cash.
Businesses have to stop concentrating in the downtown core. Access is terrible. Nearby housing is very expensive. Poor people doing the servicing have to commute from afar, and then get blamed for congestion. No reason to have congestion twice a day that is only in one direction.
It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.
- Josiah Stamp
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
- H.G. Wells
How much is a single family detached home close to downtown London or Manhattan or Toronto?
Outside of the price of housing, there aren't many comparisons between London, Manhattan, and Vancouver. Vancouver wealth and income statistics are more on par with Seattle. Actually, it's this sort of statement that makes me think the worst is likely ahead.
In all the talk about the problem not many solutions tabled.
If things are truly being driven by foreign money, then the shutdown of the immigrant investor program might have some impact. I also don't think a foreign ownership tax is beyond the scope of possibility.
Canada is a huge country but most of it is wasteland. People want to live in the desirable urban centers such as Van and TO.
With the huge foothold the Chinese already have here, there is no stopping more of them coming over. Canada doesn't have the balls to enact any sort of foreign tax, we're pretty well f*cked.
Canadian investment into RRSPs, TFFS's, general investments have pretty well fallen off a cliff. Everyone is dumping huge dollars into their mortgage, make the banks and baby boomers richer yay!
People think real estate is a no-brainer, slam-dunk. Anytime the masses think this, its dangerous. Like the unsinkable titanic.
How much is a single family detached home close to downtown London or Manhattan or Toronto?
In all the talk about the problem not many solutions tabled.
As Rat pointed out, good luck getting anyone with equity in real estate to support some measure to bring prices down.
Those comparisons should even be on the table, the fact it gets brought up is a little silly.
Our cities GDP is a rounding error compared to the likes of NY or London, even Toronto. Further to that, our incomes are just as lagging.
Part of the reason our incomes are lagging is because we have little industry to support high paying jobs. Part of the reason we don't have industry to support high paying jobs is because most people only "visit" Vancouver, but open up shop where costs are less prohibitive.
Its important to note that this isn't just about prices of homes to live in. Our commercial rents are equally intimidating to those looking for space.
To tackle your points from a completely different angle, there should also be no question of how much a house 5 minutes from DT costs, because there should no longer be houses 5 minutes from downtown.
The fact we allow such zoning is silly. And it only reinforces my opinion that the Vision council is doing it to pad the pockets of developers that benefit from high rise construction.
A soft density approach in Vancouver has been studied before, and its pretty obvious that with our population we could easily create much more affordable and desirable housing options for a fraction of the cost.
But I agree, we all seems to agree there is a problem.
I was hoping that we could possibly stumble upon a sliver of hope for a solution?
I mean, are any of you actually excited to have your kids grow up here if the trends continue over the next 10-20 years?
what we need is the boomers to start dying and opening up houses. C'mon already!
what we need is the boomers to start dying and opening up houses. C'mon already!
God bless my parents, but thats what I was thinking too. Not just about Vancouver housing, but most global issues would be much easier without the twisted and dated ideologies of the boomer generation.
Time to retire, let the new generation pay and clean up your mess. Sooner we start sooner we can get back to enjoying life.
Average viewer age for Fox News = 66. Imagine what happens when they're gone!?
One can only hope they take Fox News with them.
2-3 years ago i used to think i might be bale to get back into a house again in the area i want. now however, i've pretty much given up on that unless i win the lottery. i could buy a home if i went out to surrey, poco, langley, etc, but i don't want to live that far out of the city so it means i'm stuck with at best getting a townhouse. missed opportunites from the past are what kill me the most - i had an opportunity to buy a house when i was in my early 20's.
When I lived in surrey, I had dreams of home ownership. What I could afford, for what I needed, was east of Langley. That was even a worse drive to work than I had. With only one income paying the mortgage, I refuse to stretch myself too thin.
I moved to Vancouver, and now I have a 15 minute drive into work. I pay outrageous rent and I have also lost my dreams of home ownership. That is unless the ol' lottery starts paying off.
Or I move somewhere more affordable.
its amazing how low mortgage payments are at 2.2%. You feel lucky they will stay low?
the shutdown of the immigrant investor program might have some impact. .
Seen a immigration lawyer type on the tv say ah forgeddiboutit there's a wack of other similar type programs can be gamed by immigrants with money eh?
snort snort gimme another maple glazed dounut, eh?
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
what we need is the boomers to start dying and opening up houses. C'mon already!
Dunno' 'bout that as it seems it's booomers* can only afford to buy here in my neck of east van as the aging Italians die off.
The front unit of our duplex sold last year for a cool $800,000. 1200 sq ft.
- or lesbians. There's more lesbians living on this street than you can shake a stick at. I know, I tryed.
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
When I lived in surrey, I had dreams of home ownership. What I could afford, for what I needed, was east of Langley. That was even a worse drive to work than I had. With only one income paying the mortgage, I refuse to stretch myself too thin.
I moved to Vancouver, and now I have a 15 minute drive into work. I pay outrageous rent and I have also lost my dreams of home ownership. That is unless the ol' lottery starts paying off.
Or I move somewhere more affordable.
pm tacklebox, eh?
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
it's not sour grapes at all, it's reality. as prices on the westside have risen uproariously fast that has put pressure on all home markets east of there. the people that used to be able to just afford westside properties are squeezed ouot and buying east side. those who used to buy east side are now squeezed out and possibly having to go as far out as coquitlam/poco/surrey to be able to afford a detached home.
for those who have been following the market for the past 15 or so years it's easy to see. high demande, limited supply and cash buyers willing to pay full price before the first open house or buyers willing and able to overbid are driving the market away from the often qualified buyer. when the avg price of an east side detached home is at or near $1 million there is someting seriously wrong with the vancouver r/e market. the avg salaries in metro simply do not support these sorts of home prices.
question for you, when did you get in and at what price did you buy in? would you be capable of buying the same home at it's current market value. the avg van price has DOUBLED in the past 10 years.
Bought our place in Lynn valley in 2000 for less than half of what it is worth now. My salary has gone up by maybe 15 percent over the same period. Like I said, good luck and good timing.
Bought our place in Lynn valley in 2000 for less than half of what it is worth now. My salary has gone up by maybe 15 percent over the same period. Like I said, good luck and good timing.
so if not for foreign buyers, to what would you account for your home's value more than doubling in a less than 15 year period?
We don't know what our limits are, so to start something with the idea of being limited actually ends up limiting us.
Ellen Langer
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