I see that discussion has already started on
April's sales numbers, as published by the VREB. Listings are up, sales numbers are down. I think that the average sales price for this past month is a moot point. As long as inventory rises and quantity of sales decreases, we move into, if we aren't already there, a buyer's market. Prices
then start to decrease. Sellers are still holding out at this point because they see their neighbour sell their house for near asking price, yet they don't see the five other neighbours that aren't selling their homes.
What I don't understand is this - I see sales prices via a realtor's PCS. Why are people buying homes for the asking price? If you are in the market for buying - start lowballing!!!
I'm also quite surprised at the number of $1+ million sales. I thought that the smart money was those who had money. Obviously not.
Anyways, here are my charts. More to follow.
59 comments:
Allow me to cherry pick a statistic, because its one I care about:
The median price for condominiums in Victoria is up less than 1% from last April.
That, my friends, is a sign of market weakness, plain and simple. Meanwhile, the Months of Inventory according to VREB stats:
5.02 months (all property types)
On the average sales day, less than 1% of the properties for sale are moving. For condos, it's even smaller.
Buy? Why?
As long as inventory rises and quantity of sales decreases, we move into, if we aren't already there, a buyer's market.
It's not a buyer's market unless the buyer is making a smarter decision than the seller, and that's not until prices stop falling.
Try 2011 or 2012.
The stats for condominiums year- over-year prices are misleading.
The stat covers both new and re-sale condominiums. If you separate these you would find that the new condominium market is in the toilet, but the re-sale condominium is still showing a double digit increase.
Siobhan
Continuing from the previous thread...
I said
Put it this way, if the 2008 median curve remains above the 2007 curve for every month in the year, will you be claiming that the market crashed in 2008?
Roger said
No, but I don't believe that will happen and many others think the same way. I guess we'll just have to see what happens over the coming months.
Yes, we'll just have to wait and see.
SP - Do you think real estate should be analysed in this way or by looking only in the rear view mirror at year-over-year data??
Any analysis of RE data--including yours--is looking in the rear view mirror. You are trying to spin two or three months of figures into a trend, while I am looking at the year after year position of the median curves, which PB has kindly shown here for Victoria. The curves for Saanich and Langford tell the same story.
By the way, averages are easily skewed. Median prices are much more representative of what's happening in the market. A single $2M sale will move the average visibly, while it will hardly affect the median.
"You are trying to spin two or three months of figures into a trend"
you are completely wrong as usual,all trends are established with in smaller periods then a year. In the US crash/correction the obvious signs like a 4 month median decline were the indicator of whats to come while the media played it up the balanced market BS.
How come they aren't lining up for condos anymore ? how come there are price reductions on a regular basis when none were seen the past year til this past 2 months ? wake up sleeping pretty,the writing is all over the wall and you are in denial,this is 2008 and 2007 is long gone. The 2008 trend is DOWN.
Siobhan
"If you separate these you would find that the new condominium market is in the toilet, but the re-sale condominium is still showing a double digit increase."
--thats hair splitting.
What I suppose you are saying is that affordable ones are selling and unaffordable ones arent.
Im not even sure your statement is correct as Im seeing more affordable resale listings this spring than last summer when I was also looking. However I dont have the statistics to back this up --do you have stats for your comment?
Awum said:
The median price for condominiums in Victoria is up less than 1% from last April.
Greater Victoria prices:
Condo median in April 2008 - 294,950
Condo median in April 2007 - 272,500
Median up by 8.2% YOY
Average up by 2.6% YOY
BTW - Here is a graph showing YOY of the median and average condo prices over the last few years. No "smoothing" was used in this graph.
sitting pretty said:
By the way, averages are easily skewed. Median prices are much more representative of what's happening in the market. A single $2M sale will move the average visibly, while it will hardly affect the median.
I fully agree with you. Too bad VREB has only recently come around to this viewpoint. All their graphs, like the one in today's TC, are using average sales price. Their YOY and trend analysis also uses average sale prices.
What I am saying Boomer, is the market for condominiums has shifted away from new condominiums and is now in the older re-sale market.
The problem with looking at overall stats is that it may cause you to misjudge markets.
As is in this case. A 1 percent increase in YOY prices might cause you to think that the entire condominium market is in trouble which is not the case. Its not "cherry picking" what it is analysing the market.
The best type of anaylsis is to follow a group of condominiums. Such as condominiums in the urban core built between 1980 to 2000 that have between 800 to 1,200 finished square feet. Express the median price in terms of a price per square foot and plot how this rate is increasing or decreasing. You would do this for several groups of condominiums.
This greatly reduces errors caused by "skewed data".
And yes, I have several times on this board shown the stats for the above statement.
Siobhan
VREB's graphs are contained in 3 pdf files on their site. I have copied all the VREB graphs and put them in a single slideshow for easy viewing.
Awum
You might like to look around this PCS account for condos in the 400-500K range. Take a look at all the price reductions in the last few days.
VIREB stats are out
They look really strong, good yoy increases and some nice mom ones as well most everywhere. One for the bulls.
Maybe third times a charm for this James Bay condo.
Jan 18 it was mls # 239943 for $288,800 where it sat until Feb 15 where it went off market.
February 15 it came back as mls #241291 for $279,800 with a reduction to $279,700 on February 27. No sale, so it was reduced again on April 25th to $269,800. Then it was taken off market on May 1st.
Then like a bad shrimp it returns on May 2 as mls # 245275 for $268,800.
This is an an entertaining property to watch as the seller follows the market to the basement, always taking off too little too late to get ahead of the declining market price.
Add to that the questionable ethics of three separate listings, and insult of a hundred dollar price drop to get it back to the top of the list I think I am going to enjoy how this story ends.
Futura
sitting pretty,
are you logging in on tax payers time again ? 8 AM on the nose and here you are blogging your useless bear bashing drivel instead of wasting our cash.
VIREB stats are now available as a PNG image or slideshow. If you view in slideshow mode use X in upper right hand corner to go full screen.
vg
I suppose you're on your tea break.
Moron.
You can tell that the Victoria-area realtors are getting desperate when, at a time of opbviously falling sales they *finally* sell a place... and feel they have to sprinkle HALF A DOZEN "SOLD" signs on the property.
Check out the property on the north side of Cedar Hill X (a block or two west of Shelbourne) and you'll see what I mean.
Just the sight of this nonsense is a reflection of realtors fears these day.... So much fear, so much reluctance to reveal to their clients the truth about the Victoria housing market... that when they actually sell a place they blatantly overcompensate for their fears.
"Hey, everybody! LOOK at me! I actually SOLD, Sold, SoLd, sold, sOld, sOLD a property!"
What, was the propery was sold five or six times at once?
Sheesh.
-Percival
Taking up a discussion that was going on in the previous thread...
I definitely agree that it is long past time that the local government imposed a "flipper" tax out there, just like many other local governments.
Not only that, but if they were smart about it the government would guarantee that all proceeds of this tax will only be used to:
(1) reduce taxes for first-time homebuyers (or even any homebuyers of Principal Residences)
(2) purchase and develop more low-income housing
- Percival
Taking up a discussion that was going on in the previous thread...
I definitely agree that it is long past time that the local government imposed a "flipper" tax out there, just like many other local governments.
Not only that, but if they were smart about it the government would guarantee that all proceeds of this tax will only be used to:
(1) reduce taxes for first-time homebuyers (or even any homebuyers of Principal Residences)
(2) purchase and develop more low-income housing
- Percival
VG said:
why are the bulls ignoring all the underlying signs you just posted and that I pointed out ?
I do not know but lately there has been a recurring pattern on this blog. A bear (like me) writes a post pointing to an article, stat or graph indicating a RE downturn and the bulls respond with negative criticism about why the bear is wrong in their assumptions or that their opinion is worthless (i.e "they are just basement renters")
In very few cases do they make original posts of their own clearly outlining why they think the market will continue to go up. Rarely have I seen bulls basing their opinion on stats or facts but instead on cliches (i.e. "everyone wants to move here") and "arm waving".
So I would like to pose some questions for the bulls and kindly ask that the bears do not respond. Let's hear the bulls opinion and their reasons for a bull market.
First the facts:
- Sales of RE in 2008 are down YOY all over Vancouver Island. Here are the VREB YOY sales stats showing 2008 sales down compared to previous years. Fewer SFH homes sold in GV in April (368) than in March (374).
- Variable rate loans in 2008 are at the lowest level in years and 40 year amortizations are available. Fixed mortgage rates have dropped twice this year. No money down options are available.
- In 2008 active listings have increased to levels not seen in 8 years.
- In 2008 there have been more new listings than in previous years.
Now the questions
If the Victoria real estate market is still a bull market then:
1. Why are RE sales in 2008 down considerably from the same months in previous years?
2. Why are active listings at a high not seen for 8 years?
3. Why are there more new listings occuring every month in 2008 compared to previous years?
Bulls - I look forward to reading your answers.
Percival,
I definitely agree that it is long past time that the local government imposed a "flipper" tax out there, just like many other local governments.
I think your comments on flipper tax are right on.
BTW - I think some flippers are going to be in for a nasty surprise when Revenue Canada comes calling. If they find out somebody purchased a house solely for the purpose of flipping any profit from the sale is subject to income tax. Some folks are under the mistaken impression that owning a property for a year or so and living in it entitles them to a principal residence exemption.
Some folks are under the mistaken impression that owning a property for a year or so and living in it entitles them to a principal residence exemption.
They're not mistaken at all. If you own a house and live in it, it's your principal residence. Period.
Obviously you can only have one principal residence at a time.
If you move out of a principal residence and buy another without selling the first, the first property become an investment property for tax purposes at the time you make the move. The market price at that time is considered the purchase price.
Also, if you move into an investment property to live in it, that is treated as a sale at the current market price and yes that is taxable.
But if you want to sell your principal residence every year and buy another one, you're quite entitled to do this. All you're doing is making yourself poorer and the realtors richer.
News is out SP, your bubble is popped, Vancouver average prices are DOWN, look out below beech.
"Average prices for detached homes and apartments, however, were both down from the previous month.
In April, the average detached home across the region was $880,844 in April compared with $919,593 in March. "
Some folks are under the mistaken impression that owning a property for a year or so and living in it entitles them to a principal residence exemption.
Patriotz said:
They're not mistaken at all. If you own a house and live in it, it's your principal residence. Period.
But if you want to sell your principal residence every year and buy another one, you're quite entitled to do this. All you're doing is making yourself poorer and the realtors richer.
Patriotz - sure they can buy and sell but they are not exempt from income tax if their intention was flipping.
David Ingram is a well known tax expert/accountant in Vancouver. The tax implications of flipping are thoroughly discussed on his website here and also here
Some excerpts:
If you only own one house and live in that house, there is no limit on the profit from the sale of the principle or personal residence.
This assumes that you bought the house to live in as a residence and not to flip and are trying to make it "look" like your reason for buying it was to live in it for a long time.
However, if one bought a "fixer upper" and lived in it for four years and sold it and bought another fixer upper and sold it four or five years later and then bought another one, etc., the CCRA would likely try and tax the second and third house if the CCRA became aware of the carpentry/renovations part of the sales. Four or five years apart would likely escape the attention of the CCRA but two or three years would likely get their attention.
Last but not least, any self-help book that says you can sell a principal residence every year should be taken off the shelves immediately.
interesting article on home flipping in Canada:
"We hear complaints all the time about how long you have to wait for a good tradesperson and that the quality is thinning out," says veteran Victoria real estate agent Paul Osborne of Taddy Owen-Flood.
"The availability of trades is just horrible out here because so many properties that look good on paper turn out not to be because of the cost and the time it takes to do it. This is not a market to buy to fix to flip for the faint of heart."
Victoria's flipping frenzy ended about six months ago. After double-digit property increases for the better part of a decade in B.C.'s capital, slowing sales are having an impact on real estate investing - but not renovating.
"The reno market in Victoria now is more about people making their own space special," Osborne says. "Probably only fools are walking around right now thinking they're buying houses here to flip. We've had a terrific long run, but the headspace to buy it and flip it a year from now has ended."
http://tinyurl.com/5nsx2m
Roger I agree, if you are using your house as a business asset in this manner you may be denied the exemption. The first poster did not bring that issue up. But simply moving from one residence another, however frequently, does not alter principal residence status.
The problem facing CRA is that principal residence sales are not reported on tax returns at all, so they would have to go fishing through the title records and find properties where the increase in value was out of whack with the general market, and then determine whether they were someone's principal residences.
Anyway that's a moot question going forward. That game is over, and it's not coming back any time soon.
That's "moot", not "mute".
What exactly is a "mute point"???
Here, I'll make a mute point:
"
,
;
.
!!!!!!!!"
Translation: Real estate is always a good investment, it always goes up, it never goes down, and there has NEVER been a better time to buy, Buy, BUY!!!!!!
Siobhan.
re:
"The best type of anaylsis is to follow a group of condominiums. Such as condominiums in the urban core built between 1980 to 2000 that have between 800 to 1,200 finished square feet. Express the median price in terms of a price per square foot and plot how this rate is increasing or decreasing. You would do this for several groups of condominiums."
According to your rules, you can take ANY group of Condos (or presumably any sub group of any statistical analysis) and analyze till the cows come home, and get results to make a case for anything. You appear to be saying that because its a new condo it will join the other new condos in the toilet, but because its a resale condo it will show a double digit increase. Thats a relative pricing comparison not new vs resale and of course there is more price support at the low end --As I said, you are splitting hairs.
Condo prices up or down??
might be a good time to open up a pawn shop.
from Mish's site :
"People are cleaning out their houses of gold, silver, whatever, to get money just to fill their cars with gas," said Nat Leonard, 51, whose grandfather opened Society Hill in 1929. "People are pawning out like crazy." "I've got business owners coming in to pawn things just to make their payrolls," Leonard said, incredulous. "I've never seen that before."
"Upper-income people are in pawnshops nowadays, needing money right away to meet payments," said Bill Stull, chairman of the department of economics at Temple University's Fox School of Business and Management.
"We are in an economy in which many people are living right at the margins, even middle- and upper-income people. They have little savings, they've borrowed so much, their credit-card bills are high, and their house values are going down.
And the shop is holding 30 guitars, worth $170,000, that a Grammy Award-winning Philadelphia musician owned. "He bought a bunch of properties right when everything in the economy was hitting the fan," Leonard said. "I feel awful about it. I don't want to sell his stuff out."
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
Boomer, Boomer, Boomer
You just don't get it. It's like trying to describe the colour blue to a blind man.
Let's try an example - and YOU do the analysis.
Typically, a sales to new listings ratio between 0.4 and 0.6 and 3 to 6 months of inventory indicates a balanced market between buyers and sellers with generally stable prices.
A sales to new listings ratio above 0.6 and less than 3 months of inventory shows a "sellers" market with increasing prices.
A sales to new listings ratio of less than 0.4 and more than 6 months of inventory indicates a "buyers" market with declining prices.
The following example covers the Victoria City condominium market:
Total number of new and re-sale condominium listings is 452. Sales to new listings ratio is 0.34and the months of inventory is 5.7
Breaking down the above into new and re-sale.
Total number of re-sale condominium listings 235. Sales to new listings ratio 0.43 and the months of inventory is 3.5
AND FINALLY
Total number of new condominium listings is 216. Sales to listings ratio 0.1 and the months of inventory is 17.5
Now, what do the above numbers tell YOU.
Siobhan
Siobhan
Very interesting analysis. Are you at liberty to tell us where you are getting such detailed stats?
Thanks - Roger
Thanks for noticing the "mute" grammatical error!
I would rather you guess where I get the data, because my boss may not be too happy if I were to say. Its a small town and I need the anonimity.
Siobhan
Siobhan,
I give up --what do they tell me?
maybeI'M splitting hairs in even mentioning it.
have a lovely day
(so what color IS blue?)
The stats are showing that the condominium market is driven by the re-sale market, unlike that of the last several years which was for new condominiums. In otherwords, prospective buyers have shifted away from new complexes and possibly the demand by the speculator/investor is not so strong as in the years before.
There are many, many reasons why buyers have shifted - but that is of no concern to me or my analysis.
The fact that buyers have shifted their preference and that new complexes are not selling is interesting and probably fortelling of the immediate future for the condominium market and possibly the direction the unemployment rate for Victoria will be going as those in the building trades have difficulty in finding work.
As these new complexes go into receivership will not these lower prices for new condominiums, drive the price for older suites down.
Then, with the price of condominiums declining, will the trade up market from condominium to homes stagnate?
The book for declining real estate prices has already been written in the US market. In Victoria, where only into the first few chapters. It's like watching a slow train wreck and you can't get off the track.
Siobhan
"The fact that buyers have shifted their preference and that new complexes are not selling is interesting and probably fortelling of the immediate future for the condominium market and possibly the direction the unemployment rate for Victoria will be going as those in the building trades have difficulty in finding work.
As these new complexes go into receivership will not these lower prices for new condominiums, drive the price for older suites down.
Then, with the price of condominiums declining, will the trade up market from condominium to homes stagnate?"
Siobhan,
I think you've provided excellent analysis of the deteriorating conditions in new and, I'd like to add refurbished, product. Look at the units Large and Co have done, they've sold 2 of 7 in the "Victoria's Yaletown" neighbourhood of Central Park and discounted product by over $50K.
Anything new and refurbished is being designed and marketed to Myth number 12 "Oil-soaked boomers from Alberta." It is FTBers and non-oil-soaked local boomers that are propping up the local re-sale condo market. Especially for product that hasn't been "updated" into luxury.
I'm not sure that I agree with the employment issue. I think that much of the trades slowdown will be eaten up through attrition. There are many local 2-3 guy operations that are waiting for this building boom to end before they retire or career change into something less difficult on the body.
I think, especially with the recent announcements both federally and provincially, that there will be plenty of infrastructure construction to keep the big outfits and labourers busy. Gov'ts love to spend during economic tough times to shallow up the troughs.
I don't think this RE boom has been driven by employment numbers despite what is said in the media. It is purely psychological, just like the dot.com era; people generally believed they couldn't go wrong in housing. That's shifting now.
The US is experiencing one of the worst downturns in global housing history and yet still maintain better job creation and unemployment numbers than most of Canada.
"Gov'ts love to spend during economic tough times to shallow up the troughs."
"There are many local 2-3 guy operations that are waiting for this building boom to end before they retire or career change into something less difficult on the body."
Agreed on both counts,governments opened up the navy boat refit contracts recently like they did in early 80's to keep those old tubs running but to keep some sort of work force in place or the that segment would die forever.
I have seen it first hand how hard it is to get competent trades guys to do renos. Plus these 2-3 guy operations work at their own speed,you have to baby sit them in order to get the job done. If you get on them too much to pick up the pace, they walk on you. They are the older guys who are just putting in time,they would never last on a real work site.
A significant correction in the real estate market would most likely lead to an increase in the unemployment rate.
When people stop buying, builders stop building. Home owners are reluctant to remodel when there home price is falling. The construction trade slows down with companies laying off workers. Brokers, agents, washing machine salesman, car salesman, etc. all feel the affect of the loss in home equity and more specifically the loss in the "feel good" affect that an increase in ones paper wealth has on ones spending habits.
I agree with you. A rise in unemployment does not cause a real estate correction. However, a prolonged decline in the real estate market will have a significant affect on unemployment.
One last point. The increase in labour and material costs did help push values higher. The opposite is also true when labour and material costs drop.
Just the views of one person
Siobhan
A significant correction in the real estate market would most likely lead to an increase in the unemployment rate.
Most likely? Dead certainty. BC has a RE bubble economy. All net growth in good-paying (i.e. non-Starbucks) employment has been in RE and construction. Very similar to San Diego.
San Diego job losses
Is anyone else's browser rendering the first chart right on top of the text, making it nearly impossible to read? I would have said something earlier, but thought it was probably just my browser (Safari-Mac)
Nope. I use Firefox for Linux. Firefox is also available for the Mac, perhaps you might want to try it out.
Olives and S2 might like to share this article from the Financial Post with the folks on KIV.
What are you doing for the next 40 years?
Excerpts:
It is amusing to see Canada's mortgage industry extol the virtues of 40-year mortgage amortization schedules. As Burlington-based mortgage consultant Ron Cirotto says, "the best mortgage is no mortgage at all." Homeowners should be thinking in terms of four-year amortizations, not 40 years.
And, as claimed by BCMortgage.ca, extending amortizations to 30, 35 or 40 years lets young homeowners "purchase a more expensive home."
But the price of this affordability is too high.... Of course, the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, which ushered in a global financial meltdown, has revealed the ultimate effect of encouraging consumers to take on more home than they really need.
Too many couples starting out haven't grasped the basic fact that building wealth requires delaying instant gratification. Those who buy too much house in too upscale a neighbourhood end up not just with huge mortgages, but higher property taxes, bigger heating bills and the burden of keeping up with the expensive tastes of well-heeled neighbours. It is what Texans call, "big hat, no cattle."
Greg has some interesting stats over @ Cheap Realty.net
In the range between the median (558K) and $1M there were 156 SFH sales last month and today on MLS there are 591 for sale.
There were 28 sales over a million last month compared to 20 in March. Today there are 294 up for sale over a million so only 1 in 10 sold last month.
Just wondering what's happening in the top end. Is anyone watching the over $1M market on PCS?? Were the properties sold reduced in price or sold well under asking?
"Olives and S2 might like to share this article from the Financial Post with the folks on KIV."
Done. The problem is that so many youngish people see absolutely nothing wrong with that kind of debt. I guess we when the credit contraction really gets going that opinion will change.
What people don't understand in general is the destruction of credit has concsequen es for the price of credit or its availability in the re-mortgage market - that's where the hammer falls on this whole market, that and steadily increasing inventory - the whole thing is set up to feed back into cheaper and cheaper prices, once the market changes direction.
I too figure we are at a tipping point right now. The April numbers did nothing to convince me otherwise.
It is what Texans call, "big hat, no cattle."
I'd say many in this town fall under this segment. Soon it will be "no hat,no cattle".
Those who buy too much house in too upscale a neighbourhood
Actually most people here aren't buying too much house in too upscale a neighbourhood.
The problem in Victoria and Vancouver is that people are paying way too much money for too little house (or condo) in too downscale a neighbourhood.
And the consequences are going to be a lot worse. If you just buy more house than you can afford, but at a fair price, you can always sell it to someone who can afford it. On the other hand if the problem is you paid a ridiculous price for a POS, only bankruptcy is going to get you out of that once the market tanks.
I was out for a drive through Sooke today and I saw a lot of For Sale signs, especially in Sunriver Estates. MLS.CA says there are 165 houses for sale today in the Sooke region. Only 23 sold in April. Here are the VREB stats for the last 12 months.
Month - Sales - Average - Median
Apr. 32 - 426 - 390
May. 45 - 388 - 385
June 30 - 430 - 410
July 35 - 414 - 385
Aug. 28 - 408 - 390
Sep. 25 - 395 - 398
Oct. 39 - 410 - 400
Nov. 28 - 393 - 388
Dec. 12 - 412 - 423
Jan. 18 - 408 - 400
Feb. 22 - 417 - 410
Mar. 36 - 460 - 446
Apr. 23 - 409 - 377
Sales were down 34% from March and 28% from last April. YOY Sooke was down 4% in average price and down 3% in the median.
Anyone know what happened in April and any predictions for this month??
Two days ago, in this thread, I posted some VREB stats about the current market and then asked if there were any Real Estate Bulls that could answer these questions:
If the Victoria real estate market is still a bull market then:
1. Why are RE sales in 2008 down considerably from the same months in previous years?
2. Why are active listings at a high not seen for 8 years?
3. Why are there more new listings occuring every month in 2008 compared to previous years?
To date not a single response.
Real Estate Bulls - It would be nice to hear your side of the story. Can you provide any answers and clarify things for the bears on this blog??
roger,
we were out in Gordon Head/East Saanich and was shocked how many were for sale. Multiple signs on corners competing all over the place,looked like the US in some spots. Panic selling will be coming by mid summer as they realize the jig is up.
Well, if you drive around North and South Oak Bay you will see at least 1 for sale sign on every street. Some have 2, 3 and 4. Their is at least 1 for sale sign on every single street.
I have never seen this before.
Inflation worries will drive interest rates higher: Rubin
Globe and Mail Update
May 5, 2008 at 9:24 AM EDT
Unrelenting upward pressure on food and energy prices will force the Bank of Canada to reverse course and start raising interest rates to combat inflation over the next year, a high-profile Bay Street economist says.
“While the Bank of Canada may still deliver another rate cut, reflation will compel it to raise interest rates by at least 100 [basis points] next year,” Jeff Rubin, chief economist and chief strategist at CIBC World Markets in Toronto said in a monthly report on portfolio strategy.
The central bank has cut its key overnight lending rate to 3 per cent, down by 1.5 percentage points since last fall.
What is more, Mr. Rubin said he now expects U.S. federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke, to stop their rate-cutting drive when the key U.S. rate hits 1.5 per cent, rather than 1.25 per cent as CIBC previously forecast.
http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080505.wrates0505/BNStory/Business/home
"Well, if you drive around North and South Oak Bay you will see at least 1 for sale sign on every street. "
114 listings in Oak Bay, only 16 are condo's so that is alot of homes for sale for the size of the area. 54 are over $1 million. Should be interesting to see how the big bucks area of town plays out,looking very top heavy right now.
Panic selling will be coming by mid summer as they realize the jig is up.
As they say, don't panic, but if you're going to panic, be the first.
Didn't these greedy fools get the message in 2007 - subprime bust, credit crunch, falling prices in Alberta and Seattle.
What made them think they were invulnerable?
Olives.
Did you laugh too at the comments calling me rude. ME! RUDE! Never. :)
I told my DH (Evil Harmony) that someone posted that I was slamming the realtor's knowledge. He said I didn't slam it. I slam dunked it.
I asked and he seems to be okay with being called Mr. Harmony in case you don't want to call him Evil Harmony anymore. :)
I loved your response s2 - Colwood will be the only place in the world spared from the housing correction!
S2 and olives,
I'm also waiting for jj to describe her comment
I think we will be waiting quite awhile.
Wait until you see the answer I have to the Metchosin article that was posted by the realtor. I'm waiting a day or two to post it though.
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