Nairbo posted:

Tough to be making any predictions but there’s a whole lot of condos with cancelled listings over November and December, presumably to be listed in the ‘spring market’ which starts in a few weeks. That, plus the large amount of projects completing in 2024, and tepid incomes vs the asking prices? Even with a potential single .25 cut by June, it’s possibly going to be a bloodbath of supply in the condo market this year -. I’d be surprised if condo prices in Vancouver don’t end up 20% below 2019 levels. Especially the 1BR/studio ‘luxury’ shitboxes coming from Airbnb hosts looking to get out.

Typo posted:

I mean obvsly we are gonna have to see

but antedentolly the condos I've being looking at have all being selling below asking price

some of the "sold" are showing that they are selling for 5-10% above 2019 prices

Purgatory Glory posted:

Google "fake Indian doctor":

Purgatory Glory posted:

I wish I was as optimistic as the shithead above who thinks that infinity is the right number of immigrants.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

quote:

Assessed property values stabilize in parts of B.C., including Metro Vancouver


The latest housing assessment figures in British Columbia show residential property prices have stabilized in several provincial housing markets.

BC Assessment says changes in Metro Vancouver have been “notably less” than previous years, with only single-family homes in the Village of Belcarra seeing a shift greater than five per cent with a nine per cent increase for a typical family home to just over $2-million.

The assessed value of a single-family home in Vancouver which reflected the market on July 1, 2023, rose four per cent to just above $2.2-million, while strata properties remained nearly unchanged at $807,000.

In the Lower Mainland, the Sunshine Coast, Greater Victoria and the Okanagan only single-home values at three communities saw change exceeding five per cent, with Sechelt and Harrison Hot Springs both down six per cent while Hope dropped by 13 per cent.

BC Assessment says north and central B.C. communities did see more fluctuations, with several communities such as Prince Rupert down eight per cent to $409,000 in the plus– or minus-10-per-cent range.

The assessments are used by government to provide homeowner grants, giving some relief on property tax bills ranging from $570 to $1,045 on homes that are valued at under $2.15-million.

Spikes and dips to assessments are also seen in northern and central Vancouver Island, with single-home values at the Village of Port Alice increasing 34 per cent to $349,000.

Overall in the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast, BC Assessment says total assessments have risen to nearly $2-trillion this year from about $1.94-trillion last year.

Assessor Bryan Murao says in a statement that while residential values have flattened, commercial and industrial assessments are rising at a faster pace, especially in the Fraser Valley due to a lack of land.

Nairbo posted:

tepid incomes vs the asking prices

quote:

‘All I’m doing ... is working and paying bills.’ Why some are leaving Canada for more affordable countries

It was a combination of career burnout, watching their friends leave Toronto in droves, and knowing they’d never be able to afford a house that led Slawko Waschuk, 49, and Pedro José-Marcellino, 45, to move to Portugal.

Despite affordable rent at their Little Italy apartment – about $2,200 – they found themselves dreaming of home ownership while watching TikTok videos from MillennialMoron, an account that compares prices of run-down Toronto houses with literal European castles. (Spoiler: the castles are usually cheaper.)

“You look at houses [in Toronto] and say, ‘How can that be $1-million?’ We have good jobs and we couldn’t even come close,” said Mr. Waschuk, a pharmacist.

The couple moved to the Viana do Castelo district in October and are setting up a business they describe as a cultural hub, purchasing their own “castle” to use as a guest house. Mr. José-Marcellino describes the property, which they bought for about $1.05-million, as a “mansion with six suites, three stories, and a Great-Gatsby look.” It’s on a large property five minutes from the ocean.

They say other costs are lower there too, such as food and cellphone service. Mr. José-Marcellino, who grew up in Lisbon and is a Portuguese citizen, will apply for an income-tax break designed to lure citizens back to Portugal. The couple have found banks eager to give them a business loan, and they’re expecting to qualify for a $600,000 grant for restoration of their historic property. They’re still settling in, but expect their expenses to land somewhere around half of what they were in Toronto.

“I am very much looking forward to being able to try new things, set different priorities, and hopefully not feel like all I’m doing, day in and day out, is working and paying bills,” Mr. Waschuk said.

Mr. José-Marcellino and Mr. Waschuk are among those who are leaving the country at a time when Canada is experiencing record immigration.

Statistics Canada data estimate net emigration (which subtracts emigrants who have returned from the number of those who left) at 35,337 between mid-2022 and mid-2023, its highest number since 2017.

Some of those leaving say the high cost of housing and other essentials such as food are among the factors prompting them to seek to live somewhere where their money goes further. Analysis of federal data by the British Columbia Business Council, an association representing about 250 large B.C. businesses, suggests Canadians may be feeling those pressures for some time to come.

“Government forecasts do not expect a recovery in living standards in Canada or B.C. until at least 2027,” according to a recent report by the organization. “Canada’s real [gross domestic product] is now around $1,000 per person, or around $2,500 per household, below what it was prior to the pandemic.”

The council also ranks Canada’s pandemic economic recovery to be the fifth worst among the 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

“Canada is one of only eight advanced countries where average real incomes are lower than before the pandemic, as inflation outpaces growth in nominal incomes, the report said.

According to the United Nations, Canadians were most likely to move to the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand as of 2020. Recent data from Numbeo, an online platform that allows users to compare the cost of living in different cities, shows that after the U.S. and Britain, the countries that Canadians using their service are most curious about are Mexico, Spain, Portugal and France.

Danica Nelson, 33, recently sold her condo in Toronto’s Liberty Village and lived with her mother in nearby Brampton for several months in preparation for a move to Malaga, Spain, in early December.

In addition to the appeal of getting more sun, her decision to move to the coastal city about 140 kilometres east of Gibraltar was largely financially-driven, she said. The cost of living there is about one-third less, according to Numbeo, which she used in her planning. She also recently realized she couldn’t afford to move in with her partner if she stayed in Toronto.

“We want to live together but the rent for a two-bedroom condo in Toronto would be $4,000-plus,” said Ms. Nelson, a content creator and marketing consultant. She was also staring down a mortgage renewal at rates that had skyrocketed since she last locked in. “I would be paying something crazy. It made sense for me to sell it.”

Ms. Nelson and her partner can both work remotely, and got a one-year visa to Spain for people under age 35. They found a two-bedroom apartment in downtown Malaga for about $2,500, including water and hydro.

“The main goal is to see if life in Spain is going to be fulfilling for us in the year we are there,” she said, noting there are digital-nomad visas in various European countries they could apply for next. That type of visa is designed for people who want to live in one country while working remotely for a company located in another. “Is our mental health better? Are we going to be eating healthier? Are we going to be more active?

“Is it enough to consider a permanent move?”

Femtosecond posted:

quote:

said Ms. Nelson, a content creator and marketing consultant.

RealityWarCriminal posted:

hm

qhat posted:

Hi it’s Ms Nelson and this is a day in the life of a marketing consultant, today I went to work the coffee was amazing, I came home but first stopped off at farm boy and bought these amazing egg noodles, they’re the best, had dinner with my boyfriend who just bought property in Portugal, anyway thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time

Femtosecond posted:

First hate read of the year?

We just spent several years wringing our hands about ~foreign buyers~ in Canada have come to the conclusion that the solution to our affordability woes is.... to become a foreign buyer Airbnb landlord in another country. Brilliant.

Also I'm sorry, what a $600,000 grant to clean up this property? Boy that would be pretty nice, but um that is such a large amount of money that I feel there must be more to this story here... Somehow I feel these folks aren't going to have the disposable income they suspect they're going to have...

Mildly concerned about how many people out there might be brain poisoning themselves by doom watching MillennialMoron on tiktok, much in the same way that we gave ourselves some damage by listening to CI in this thread for so long.

Typo posted:

if I spoke Spanish I would probably unironically decamp to Mexico for a years or two lol

the $2500 you are paying for a 1bd apt in toronto/month would go a long way in CDMX

PT6A posted:

Congratulations, a lot of mediocre white douchebags are a step ahead of you and you can easily get by in CDMX speaking only English!

a primate posted:

I even heard this in a TikTok presenter voice

Femtosecond posted:

My cousin working at Meta was angling for something like this, with a plan to move to Valencia but it all collapsed on him when Meta started doing incredible amounts of layoffs and started calling people back to the office. Thankfully for him he didn't execute on any of it and is now back in SF.

Would love to see a Globe article about all the people who ran these sort of schemes and are now being called back to the office.

Heard from my Dad the other day about a son of a friend who bought a $1M+ SFH in Parksville and didn't tell his company he no longer worked in Vancouver and is being called back to the office. Yikes. Well it's ok I'm sure there are plenty of jobs in Parksville... lol

Mr. Apollo posted:

I know a few people who've moved out of the country. As much as they complain about our "communazi" government, they always make sure they spend the correct amount of days in Ontario to maintain their OHIP coverage.

Fidelitious posted:

This reminds me that last year Ontario delayed re-assessments yet again, past 2024. So maybe we'll get it 2025?

Our assessments are still from 2016. It's been so long that I could believe some significant relative changes have happened among the various neighbourhoods.

Rawrbomb posted:

... what? You'd have to spend 5 months (153 days) in the province per year to maintain it. Why even bother moving at that point?

Edit: I guess if they keep proof of residence here they can keep it? That's some hot garbage. https://www.ontario.ca/page/ohip-coverage-while-outside-canada

kaom posted:

lol what? How, why????

"BC posted:

A person must be a B.C. resident to qualify for medical coverage under MSP.

A resident is a person who meets all of the following conditions:

• A citizen of Canada or lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence
  
• Makes their home in B.C.
  
• Physically present in B.C. at least six months in a calendar year*
  

*Eligible B.C. residents (citizens of Canada or persons who are lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence) who are outside B.C. for vacation purposes only, are allowed a total absence of up to seven months in a calendar year

Rawrbomb posted:

... what? You'd have to spend 5 months (153 days) in the province per year to maintain it. Why even bother moving at that point?

Edit: I guess if they keep proof of residence here they can keep it? That's some hot garbage. https://www.ontario.ca/page/ohip-coverage-while-outside-canada

Mr. Apollo posted:

It's only a small group of people that could realistically do this. Even if you're earning "good money", unless you have a job that lets you work remotely 100% of the time you're not going to be able to move.

PT6A posted:

The idea of complaining about residential property tax is so funny to me, now that it's such an insignificant part of the cost of buying a home anywhere in Canada. It's just a bunch of whiners who got exceptionally lucky in the real estate market and are upset that the goose who laid the golden egg for them needs bird feed every now and then.

kaom posted:

What is happening over there. I don’t think BC Assessment missed a single year - why would COVID even delay things, isn’t it based on sales data?

quote:

In making the decision, the Ontario government cites concerns about inflation, financial stress related to mortgage renewals and the need for householders to have budgetary predictability.

Mr. Apollo posted:

They all have "rental agreements" with friends/relatives that they use as proof of residence, and yeah it's primarily for (not paying) income tax purposes.

Lead out in cuffs posted:

Lol I'm pretty sure our landlords are doing this, and they're not exactly friends. Just the landlord's agent being "if there's any mail for the landlords, please pass it on to me". That mail includes all kinds of things - mail from MSP, mail from Revenue Canada for some corporation, property assessments and empty homes tax declarations from the City, etc. I'm pretty sure they're also taking advantage of that thing where the Province gives you an interest-free loan to defer your property taxes if you have kids, because that came up when I searched the land title before signing the lease. They haven't actually lived in Canada for at least three years.

Shofixti posted:

This would be an actually legitimate use case for the barbaric cultural practices hotline.