Feeling Strange
Posted January 9th, 2010 in Real Estate, Sharing the Experience | 
Have You Heard?
You won’t be able to say you were not warned. For a number of months the words proclaiming the end is near have come from the Governor of the Bank of Canada down to lowest of blog Bears who rant on about the impending real estate apocalypse.
Strange Equations
“It’s absolutely not debatable that housing prices cannot rise faster than incomes over the long term.”
We haven’t had a long, hard strike in B.C. since our government got everybody to sign the buy-in for the promise of jobs building the Olympic infrastructure – the legacy. Those relatively short term jobs were delivered and soon the party will be over. No doubt, many of those laid off construction workers will anxiously await their turn to use the luge track or the men’s ski jump. Female construction workers can not share the same privilege. Left you are to ask what will be the true legacy?
Strange Questions
Is there anything sustainable around the next corner or do we just keep throwing parties and charge them to our children’s high interest VISA accounts?
What happens if tomorrow everybody, every single soul finally hears all these dire warnings and decides to stop what they are doing and take a extended house buying holiday just because everybody said so.
Strange-ly Right Answer
‘There are still many good reasons to buy a house,’ “but don’t buy it because you think the price is going to go up”, says Will Strange*.
Thinking of Buying or Selling your Vancouver home? Don’t be a stranger. Put on a cup of coffee and let’s talk.
*Quotes from John Morrissy in the Financial post quoting Will Strange, professor of real estate and urban economics at the Rotman School of Management.
**Looking for a home? Check out the Homes for Sale tab at the top.
Larry,
I’m proud of you, this is one of your best posts ever. You continue to amaze me, given how you started off, first sitting, then crawling, then walking and running – and now nailing down the issues in this bubble we are in.
You make your Dad flush with pride. Keep up the great work son.
Dad
Larry, on a serious note – the tone of your posts (which are great) lead me to conclude that you are bearish – can you outline your views? Time for sellers to hit the eject button?
Somebody’s Dad
Emaculate conception precludes you being my father!
As to your question of tone : no not bearish at all!
Buying and owning property is a wonderful part of life that brings many subjective and financial rewards. Perhaps my muses are more the reflections that result from watching people who, in turbulent, unsettled times appear to be setting themselves up for a potentially nasty financial wake up call. Ironic, is that so much information is out there to help make small “C” decisions that can work within liberal frameworks that deliver the benefits of owning real property.
Stunning is that while they might listen, it would seem few hear.