Leading realtor calls Vancouver's housing market "unhealthy"

Finally, a realtor willing to speak up. thanks Andrew! Seems that even in China there is an awareness of how mainlanders are driving up prices. http://en.21cbh.com/HTML/2011-5-20/wMMjUxXzIxMDIwMg.html

I agree, I think the Canadian government should step in.

Canadian homes should be for Canadians living in Canada and the home is used as a residence by such Canadians.

Financing for these homes should only be mortgaged through a Canadian bank (same rules, rates and qualifications should apply to everyone and why shouldnt our Canadian banks benefit) and if foreign money is used how was this money obtained, to determine if legitimate means, whats the paper trail .... hey rules are rules same rules that applies to any Canadian buying a home, it should also apply to immigrants and foreign investors, we want to know they are not using Canada to hide their money.  We are not a Swiss or Offshore Bank.   Driving prices up by one buyer buying many homes is like "price fixing housing prices" also creating a false sense of market value.  Isn't price fixing illegal in Canada.  Immigrant kids should have the same strict entry levels into our school system as Canadian kids do, they shouldn't be given priority because their parents pocket book is fat ... they should be fluent in English and required to take the same entry acceptance testing prior to acceptance as everyone else.  We don't accept professional degrees & work experience from overseas immigrants to Canada why do we accept high school reports from overseas schools as gospel?   Having a fatter bank account shouldnt be the only criteria for them being accepted here or queue jumping, Immigrants should all wait and go through all the rigid apptitude testing as everyone else.  Canadian Governments shouldnt be so money hungry .... where did our compassion, sense of honesty, fairness, priority and integrity go for our own citizens?

Have a look at any the "investor" class of immigration to Canada and you'll find that all one needs is $200k (the cost of a 5 year $800k loan to the government).

Canada is selling itself to immigrants for this lowly price.  The majority are destined for BC.  The rest of us taxpayers get to foot their healthcare bills for them and their families.  At the same time they drive up housing costs and destroy our neighbourhoods (with empty houses).

This needs to change.  There should only be an "entrepreneurial" class whereby immigrants are required to create jobs that pay income tax for them to settle.

The Government is selling us out to Chinese investors and ruining our quality of life. There is rampant speculation in Vancouver and it is driving many people to leave this city. The quality of life here has deterioated for all but the wealthy.

Re above comment from maggie:

If I was to piece all the information I've read in newspapers and the web I would say they are here to stay for the long haul, or at least for the duration of using our schools to educate their kids then ship them back to mainland, this should probably take about 10 years each child if the kids start in mid school and complete university.   I read somewhere they wanted to get their kids away from the environmental hazards in China???  What I've seen they are targetting the middle class type of homes, i.e.approx  $1 - 1.5 million range  depending on the areas they are invading and in good condition.  Some are purchased over listed price and even as much as 1/3 more than listed price.  I wonder where all the Cdn. sellers are moving too as they will have to buy another property at an inflated price?
They are buying better condition homes for their own use rather than investing to rent out (usually not as in good condition to rent).   My crystal ball says that they are going to house many kids in each of these properties that are going to closeby good schools.   They are buying up too many properties for this to be "playing house".  They have an objective in mind, and me thinks it's taking advantage of our educational system, our Cdn. kids will probably take 2nd place again and perhaps another lost generation in terms of not well educated for job opportunities in years to come.  Probably next will be the renaming of Vancouver.

(RealtorIn Vancouver)

"

Not all realtors are greedy monsters... We all have to live and buy a home here too, raise our children and pay taxes like everyone else. If you think Andrew is one of a few that wants the government to step in and regulate our market that is not the case. The reality is that most of us are low key and don't go on the news, radio or on social media to create a stir. All the public hears about is the opinion of a few of the loudest realtors out there and just assume we agree with them. We all have our own opnions but very few of us feel like we have to share it with the rest of the world every second we have an opportunity.

Also we're not afraid to be out of work if the government steps in to help regulate this market. Family's will still grow and need a bigger space or get smaller and will want to downsize. They will always be someone new moving to town or someone leaving. Realtors that have a good relationship with their clients and offer great service aren't afraid of a slow market."

 

Can't argue with that, I wish Global news would have the guts to interview one of you rather than the likes of Cam Goode

I can empathize with some people who may feel disadvantaged by rising home prices here. However, many of the comments here are misguided. For example:

"Canadian homes should be for Canadians living in Canada and the home is used as a residence by such Canadians." As a Canadian, I disagree with this comment and think it is short sighted. Thousands of BC and Alberta residents own properties in the U.S. I am not one of them, but I sure would not want the U.S. govt to decree that "American homes should only be for Americans living in America."  If you're a snowbird from Calgary, having a second home in a warmer climate is a very common practice.

"if foreign money is used, how was this money obtained, to determine if legitimate means"  For some reason, some Canadians seem to view Asian wealth as inherently suspicious. I don't know if this is because they have read too many articles in the media about corrupt foreign officials and have extended the generalization to the entire citizenry of these countries such that any savings these hard working people have accumulated must necessarily be tainted. Well I can tell you that the media in other countries such as the U.S. and in Europe routinely bash the "dirty tar sands" and "unethical mining practices" of some of the biggest companies and employers in Western Canada. How would you feel if everyone outside of Canada labled your savings as "dirty money" likely derived from tar sands or the pot trade in B.C.?  You would think it ridiculous, the same way I view some of the comments posted here as absurd.

 

Obviously our politicians aren't interested in working for the best interest of the Canadian people that elected them and since they've gone into hidding,  what I am proposing is for all of us, under citizen law (which I am assuming is possible since we can do citizens arrests) to start a petition to change our laws ourselves and hold these politicians, Federal, Provincial and Municipal "personally accountable" for not working in the best interest of Canada and Canadians.  They are "paid" to work in our best interest and they are not.  Any lawyers out there that can clarify if this is possible or not?

Articles like this a re written to create a buzz and unfortunately misrepresenting reality seems to be the preferred method. First, Mr Hasman has made his money selling very expensive housing over the years, much of it selling for amounts far beyond most Vancouverites budgets-why he is bringing this up now only he can answer but there must be something in it for him. Many things have driven up prices in Vancouver over the past 10 years and we need to look at all of them and keep things in context. It is not just Chinese buyers that are bidding up prices -plenty of locals have engaged in that over the past 10 years. Succumbing to this sense that we *must* have a property we 'fall in love with' has caused many an intelligent buyer to ignore their critical thinking skills at times. Then the banks- let us see-historically low interest rates meant they were letting people obtain mortgages that they would not be able to afford if the rates went higher. Oh, the government- until recently changing the mortgage rules to allow people to purchase with no down payment. Add the still unresolved leak condo crises that many have been caught in and left with huge unexpected debt loads-and of course when they sell the repaired condo the asking prices includes at least some of that leaky debt recovery; and yes the government again with the utterly awful transfer tax that gets added on to the cost of used housing every time it is sold and now ta da-the HST on many homes where it did not previously apply. So, we have to consider all of that but perhaps we should also ask ourselves-why have we continued to go along with this? Why do we get sucked into the Bob Rennie style of marketing and line up like lemmings to view mockups of miniature condos that haven't even been built and yes-actually purchase them? Why do we feel such urgency to buy certain properties? Why do we let emotion and slick marketing drive the most expensive purchase we will ever make? Why do we let realtors create biddingnwars-they would stop that nonsense if people simply refused to fall for it and walk away. If a used car salesman used those tactics you would run away abut when a real to uses it-we jump in cheque books first. We are all complicit in this situation. And now here we go - the government needs to fix this? Sure they have a responsibility, as do banks, resolves and yup "we the people"

Hasman: "[Of] single family homes that have sold in the last 18 months, I would say, [buyers from China are] conservatively 70 per cent, probably 80 per cent of the buyers"

That's anecdotal. Any real evidence? Has anyone searched the records? All this reminds me of the time when Hong Kong was about to change from a British Colony and join China... much talk then of "Hongcouver." All rubbish. Let's not get carried away.

Re: realist .... seriously you don't understand the economics of what's happening with the real estate market here?  You can't see how real estate prices can be affected by demand, even fake demand, and the current demand is created by offshore buyers. (Read the papers, watch tv news, it's happening everywhere including White Rock, or is everyone else misunderstanding but you.)So you would drive off a cliff and be in freefall before you realise you are in danger.  Also, you don't have to be born and live in North Vancouver to be a Canadian.   There are many people from other lands that have joined us and are a positive and contributing force in our daily lives, but they are not buying up 4 or 5 houses at a time and leaving them vacant or bidding 30/40 % over listed price.  They are permanent Canadian residents, not offshore speculators parking their money here into housing, spending their kids (non Canadian residents to our schools) and going back home.  Research what's happened in Australia and other countries with this type of trend.  People can learn from their own experiences or they can learn from other peoples mistakes.  Wake up.  I think Andrew did everyone a great service by "whistleblowing" this situation before it got to the point of no return.

Yes, I understand the economics of what's happening here. I saw the same volatility in property prices when I worked in Silicon Valley during the late '90s and in New York City during the early 2000's. In each case, the market eventually corrects if prices get too expensive. Markets self-correct when they get too far out of whack. After every mania comes a crash.  If you know of any "perpetual manias" that never end, please let us know so we can all participate.

As I've explained, I agree that home prices are too expensive in Vancouver. But we need to avoid the knee jerk reaction of crying to the government to step in whenever we perceive that markets are too high or too low. Once the government gets involved, it NEVER leaves.  Remember the "temporary" Airport Improvement Tax at YVR when it was being built? Twenty years later, it's still there every time we fly out of Vancouver.  How about the "temporary" Social Security program started by FDR to recover from the Depression? Still here 70 years later. Time will sort out the housing market here like it has every other time in history.

You're right that shelter is a basic necessity, but home ownership is not.  Nobody is "entitled" to own a home in Vancouver.  Rents in Vancouver are relatively low relative to what it costs to buy the same property. What's wrong with renting a place until prices come back to earth? And if owning your own home is more important to you than living in Vancouver, then there are a multitude of more affordable places to live elsewhere in B.C. and in Canada.

My wife & I sold our home and while looking to buy back in, have seen prices skyrocket $300,000, $400,000, & in some cases $500,0000 or more in only a few months because of Chinese buyers who are over paying and speculating on Vancouver Real Estate. Our family has been priced out of the market in only a few months and now we are looking at re-locating out of the community we have lived in and raised our children for nearly 15 years. This is insane . . . something must be done before more families are forced out of their communities . . .

Either you are purposely being obtuse or you simply do not understand my posts. To guage the cost of living, you must look at both the cost of Renting and the cost of Buying. Renting property in Vancouver is relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of buying. Anyone who wants to live here can rent if they do not wish to buy. Nobody is being "forced to leave Vancouver". In actuality, you're not really arguing that Vancouver has become too expensive a place to live. What you're really saying is that all Canadians should be entitled to own a home in Vancouver, whenever and whereever they want, as though it is some type of fundemental right. I respectfully disagree. 

I am a realtor and anyone with access to Mlxchange could easily see that actually it is more like 90 percent which are Chinese buyers, if not 95 percent of detached homes west of Cambie.