The Decline of Vancouver.

So Vancouver becoming an expensive playground for the rich is a decline for the culture of Vancouver but an incline for Vancouver overall….? So 10 years down the road when all the families, young people, etc. leave Vancouver and 90% of the residents are rich foreigners who only live here for a portion of the year, don't work here, etc. Vancouver is somehow going to be better off? I don't get it…

ummm whos going to work in the service industry in this hyper rich city ??

i guess all those rich fuckers will pump their own gas and cook their own food to…

any city that caters to rich people ALSO has to have people living there who WORK aswell..

people tend to forget that part of the equation

Anyone been to Monaco?

I'm guessing the people that work in Monaco live in France and take the train or bus in every day.

I thought Monaco was bigger than that. Thanks to wiki now I know….

Considering Vancouver is an extreme situation, look at Detroit as the flip side. Would you consider Detroit to be better off? Housing is affordable right?

ummm whos going to work in the service industry in this hyper rich city ??

i guess all those rich fuckers will pump their own gas and cook their own food to…

any city that caters to rich people ALSO has to have people living there who WORK aswell..

people tend to forget that part of the equation

Vancouver is not the only expensive city in the world where there is service industry that caters to rich people. Dubai, Shanghai, New York are only a few to name. It's been done and I can't see why Vancouver can't follow suite. The low income workers will either have to live further out in the burbs, or rent.

I just visited the new Price Smart at Metrotown. Guess what. 40% of the stock there are Asian goods.

Vancouver will naturally sustain itself - it has to. It will either attract a new breed of high-paying talent, or capitalism will take its course of actions.

Being part of the owning class I support any and everything that continues to crank up RE prices.

:martini:

Being part of the owning class I support any and everything that continues to crank up RE prices.

:martini:

pitchforks and torches at shirk's house tonight.

pm me for the address/directions.

I thought Monaco was bigger than that. Thanks to wiki now I know….

It along with Luxembourg are tiny, old city states based on places to store money with low taxes.

I don't think I've ever been somewhere with so much old money as Monaco.

^this. Monaco is France tax haven

But is it a good time to buy RE here? Even after all this madness will prices continue to crank up?

Being part of the owning class I support any and everything that continues to crank up RE prices.

:martini:

Although it is sweet to be in your situation, rising real estate prices will probably eventually be the reason you leave Vancouver as well. As a hypothetical example… say you bought your place for $500k and in 10 years you've fully paid it off and it's worth $2.5M. Would you:
A) continue to live in it because you like living in Vancouver and just live off your regular employment income, or
B) sell your place, and move to Chilliwack, Nanaimo, anywhere else, etc. and buy a $500k place and stick $2M in the bank

Because even though you own your house and your net worth is rising by continuing to hold it, there is still an "opportunity cost" of living there [which is the $2M you could have in the bank and spend on whatever you please]. This is sort of an extreme example (i.e. maybe not realistic) but just trying to make the point that rising real estate prices will likely also eventually cause current homeowners to leave Vancouver, not just people who are trying to get into the market.

The best time to buy was yesterday. The second best time is today. Just don't buy something you can't afford.

I had the exact same stress in 2003 - buying a 20 year old townhouse for twice the price of the brand new house we had built in Ontario - seemed ridiculously stupid at the time, but 13 years later, no regrets!

The only opportunity cost an owner has is the difference in growth rate and risk compared to alternatives. Spending his 2 mill is not an opportunity.

The only opportunity cost an owner has is the difference in growth rate and risk compared to alternatives. Spending his 2 mill is not an opportunity.

True… I guess a major assumption to add to my original post is that it assumes that the $2.5M value of the house is the peak value and will not continue to grow after that. And based on the history of the market, perhaps this is a false assumption.

Gotta top out eventually though… but I guess people have been saying that for like 15 years now.

A lot of people will want to "monetize" the gains on their houses eventually though. No sense slaving away at your crappy job when you are sitting on a goldmine.