Two Cents
Posted February 12th, 2013 in Community, Observations | 
Treasures
Vancouver’s old houses contain many treasures that hide in walls, behind cupboards or electrical panels chock full of knob and tube wiring.
For no particular reason or at least one that I can figure out, this particular treasure was found stuffed into the corner of a dated, sketchy electrical panel box.
Price of a Stamp
For 53 years the envelope had resided in the dark protected by currents of electricity running through jumbled copper cables. With great care I managed to remove it without being electrocuted. Now out of the darkness and in the full light of the day I question my sanity as I wonder if the exercise was ‘worth the price of this stamp?’
Price of a 1960 Vancouver Home
Relevant accurate information on home prices in Vancouver in the 60′s is a little hard to find. Luckily we can defer to Mike Robinson’s memory of his time in Vancouver.
In his missive published the Winnipeg Free Press he claims that he has “vague memories that entry prices for west side homes in the early 1960s were in the $15,000 to $20,000 range.”
He also tells us that his “folks planned a big move to a larger house on the University of British Columbia Endowment lands in 1967, the price was an astronomical $36,000.”
My Two cents
Those old Vancouver homes have upped their value and so too has cost of mailing a letter which now stands at 63 cents.
My two cent perspective is that if you are new to the prices being asked for Vancouver homes or haven’t mailed a letter lately you may find the price for either ‘shocking’.
Not really an apples to apples comparison, Larry.
The 63 cent letter you are referring to today cost 5 cents in 1960 (and 6 cents in 1968).
They used to have “3rd class” mail as cheap as 2 cents in 1960. That’s been replaced today with bulk mail drops and bulk business reply rates, which any realtor would know are a lot cheaper than 63 cents per.
So if you are implying that housing near UBC going from $36,000 to (~55x increase since 1967ish), is comparable to stamps going from 2 cent to 63 cent (31.5x increase) as if to say, prices are not as crazy as you might think…….think again.
Long story short, the price of a stamp has gone up about 12x, while those houses have gone up about 55x.
It makes one seem more than a little ridiculous.
@rf
Apples or oranges – assumed implications are yours. My observation was that the increases might shock some people.