Cultural Imperial posted:

http://www.remonline.com/treb-competition-bureau-present-final-submissions-to-competition-tribunal/

December 2nd is when we might hear a conclusion to the treb vs competition bureau chief case.

quote:

Jim Born • 20 days ago
I can't believe how far the Competition Bureau is trying to take this argument. The TREB's points are valid and in my opinion the case needs to be thrown out. It is like the Competition Bureau has a personal vendetta against TREB and other real estate boards across Canada. If a client does not give me permission to post their sale price in an advertisement why should I or the board allow others access to it?





http://www.remax.ca/mb/jim-born-104291-ag/

quote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/11/24/joseph-stiglitz-inequality-canada-property-taxes_n_8639052.html

Soaring House Prices Are Widening Inequality, So Raise Property Taxes, Stiglitz Tells Canada

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz is urging Canada to levy a “very progressive tax” on property in order to combat growing inequality caused by soaring house prices.

“If you have a $50-million apartment, the property tax on it should be very large,” Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor and former chief economist at the World Bank, told The Tyee in a recent interview.

“Some of the revenues could go to help subsidize lower-income people to live in the city.”

Under a progressive property tax, homeowners who own larger houses, or whose houses are more valuable, would pay a higher tax rate than owners of smaller or less valuable homes.

Like some other economists, Stiglitz is concerned that an increasingly globalized real estate market is pricing local residents out of their own cities’ homes to make way for the world’s wealthy. That's a trend many fear could damage the social cohesion of the cities affected. In some cities, like San Francisco, rising house prices and gentrification have become a source of social and political tension.

He described the phenomenon of foreign investors buying Canadian homes as “very disturbing. … It's the same phenomenon happening in New York. We attributed it maybe to Russian oligarchs buying multimillion-dollar apartments ... making it unaffordable to live in the city.”



Stiglitz added that “there are very significant benefits to creating communities with diversity, diverse incomes and other forms, that cannot exist if we price ordinary people out of our cities."

Rising inequality in housing can be seen in the ever-increasing condo-house price gap, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver.

As house prices rise, the difference in price between different types of homes grows. In Toronto, the gap between between an average condo and an average single-family home widened by nearly $100,000 in just the past year, according to RealNet Canada.

The gap grew to $343,492 this summer, from $237,301 a year earlier. If that trend were to continue, many condo owners in Canada would never be able to make the jump to a family home.

International surveys show Canadians’ housing costs, overall, trend close to the average for developed countries. But in some of Canada’s most populous cities, they are at crisis levels.

RBC’s Housing Affordability Index shows housing costs now eat up 59.4 per cent of the average pre-tax income in Toronto, while in Vancouver they eat up nearly all of an average income — 88.6 per cent.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. defines an affordable housing market as one that doesn't cost more than 30 per cent of a household's pre-tax income.

Stiglitz has recently focused his attention on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the proposed 12-country trade deal that would encompass 40 per cent of the world’s economy, including Canada.

He has been a fierce critic of the plan, arguing that, far from being a “free trade” agreement, it is, in fact, a “managed trade” agreement that entrenches the interests of certain business groups.

In an article published last month, he argued that the investor-state dispute mechanism included in the deal would allow businesses to ride roughshod over national regulations.

“If you change a regulation — for instance, to prohibit excessive interest rates — you could be sued by an American bank that made an investment and says, 'You've deprived us of our expected profits,'” he told The Tyee.

Rime posted:

Yeah, I always hear about people / goons buying large acreages in upstate New York, or Virginia, or the east coast for, like, $20k or less.

All I can think to myself is "I live in one of the most sparsely populated geopolitical regions on the earth, where the gently caress is my discount?"

Furnaceface posted:

The TPP is a giant steamy bowl of poo poo soup.

Much like the current housing market.

Guest2553 posted:

Almost a shame that the vast majority of people who will get hosed the hardest by it all will be least capable of understanding what happened and why.

Seat Safety Switch posted:

Oh. So it's not like a massive withdrawal to increase cash-on-hand in order to cover default risk or anything, it's just that CMHC was seeing a bunch of really good bets paying off last year that aren't paying off this year. Weird!

the talent deficit posted:

you can get a couple acres on the dark side of the mountain all over bc for about that. if you want utilities or a road it'll be more tho

quote:

Laid-off Calgarians losing hope as prospects dwindle and money runs short

Catherine Appler knew something was amiss that February morning when her boss said hello. He never did that.

The big oil-and-gas firm she worked for had been laying off employees and dropping contract workers as part of an industry-wide wave of job losses precipitated by the low price of oil. Later that morning, she was called in to human resources. Only seven months into her year-long contract, she was told it was over. She had two weeks.

She wasn’t angry. She actually apologized to the woman who broke the news.

“I told her I was sorry she had to go through this,” Appler says with a mirthless laugh. “I’ve been there. I’ve laid people off before. It’s awful.”

Appler had been out of work before in her career, so she didn’t expect to be unemployed long. She moved to Alberta in the 1980s to work as a social worker. When she burned out, she moved into administration of a day-care company. Later, motivated by turning 40, she took a pay cut to get a toehold in the oilpatch as an entry-level clerk. Within six months, she was working as a geological technologist by learning on the job and training at SAIT.

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“I loved it,” she says. “After so many years working in non-profits, I couldn’t believe we would change out our desks for new desks. We had new computers. We had benefits. And I really enjoyed the work.”

For the next 20 years, she sailed through the oil and gas industry with well-paying, satisfying work. She survived company buyouts and mergers. She kept her skills sharp. She developed a reputation as an amiable and capable co-worker. She took pride in her work.

Around the time she turned 60, Appler took her first contract job. She was wary of working without the safety net of a permanent position, but the work suited her. The money was good. Her contract was renewed for several six-month extensions. Then she was offered a year-long contract, which gave her some certainty. Until it ended.

This time, unemployment was different. She lost her job at a time when thousands of other Calgarians had also been laid off. Competition for jobs was fierce. She applied for dozens. Few callbacks came.

It’s been nine months since she lost her job. Money is getting short and she’s beginning to lose hope.

“I’m trying to come to terms with the fact that I may never work again. It’s really hard,” she says. “I’m not ready to be done working. I have more to contribute.”

Appler’s story isn’t unique. It mirrors the experience of thousands of Albertans who have been laid off this year. So far in 2015, 14,472 Albertans have lost their jobs in group layoffs. The number of Calgary-area EI beneficiaries in September was up 95.2 per cent — 9,140 people — from September 2014. Everybody expects more layoffs to come.

Earlier this month, the Herald asked people to share their stories about being laid off. We received dozens — each heartbreaking in its own way. Some wrote of worsening financial hardships. Others wrote of desperately trying to sell homes in a bad real estate market because they could no longer pay the mortgage. Others were stunned to find themselves at the food bank. New graduates fear they will never get a job in their field. Some fear they are slipping into depression.

Several wrote of a pall settling in over their neighbourhoods. Aimless daytime wanderings of newly unemployed engineers and geologists were bringing a morose atmosphere to once-bustling suburbs. Breadwinners struggle to take a back seat, while some part-time workers are desperate to find more fulsome employment to compensate for laid-off spouses. Many wrote of losing a sense of themselves, having crafted so much of their own identity out of their job.

Single parents, who once longed for more free time, now worry about paying the bills. With children nearing university age, other parents wrestle with looming tuition costs just as their income was lost. Thousands of retirement plans have been scuttled.

Immigrants feel particularly hard-hit. With so much competition for jobs, one professional with job experience in Canada fears his name and accent are dooming his chances. One potential employer, under the guise of helping him with straight talk, said it would just be easier to hire an applicant with an “English or a local-sounding name.” He is angry and hurt over racism.

There is a cathartic quality to many of the stories. This doesn’t surprise Dr. Laura Hambley of Calgary Career Counselling. She says sharing stories is an important part of coming to terms with major life changes like unemployment.

“Just like when you’re dealing with grief, you feel shock, anger, sadness and a whole array of emotions,” Hambley says. “The way you deal (with being laid off) depends on your level of mental toughness and resiliency, which is something you can learn.”

Appler knows many people are worse off, but that doesn’t make unemployment any easier to deal with. Her story fits into several themes that emerged from the stories the Herald heard. As a contract worker for the last two years of her employment, she feels robbed that she can’t collect EI after paying into the program for 40 years.

She also worries she’s being overlooked because of her age, like other baby boomers in similar situations. She has tweaked her resume to minimize the emphasis on her age, but employers aren’t stupid, she says. They figure it out.“They could hire someone younger who they can pay less, and will grow with the company,” she says. “I’m 61. Nobody thinks I’m going to be there for a long time.”

She’s widening her job search. She applied for a job at a doctor’s office. She’s thinking about upgrading her driver’s licence so she might drive a truck.

Appler’s husband, also a contract worker, was forced to take a job in Winnipeg, leaving her alone most weeks. She lives on a small farm, so she keeps busy tending her horses and dogs, but loneliness is getting to her. She spends her days looking for work, running errands and doing chores. By 4 p.m., she has nothing left to do. “I’m becoming addicted to television, and television is crap!” she says.

Money is becoming a problem. She and her husband have given up their plans of retiring to a piece of property they purchased outside Alberta when times were good. They are now trying to sell that land, but the market is poor. It’s not moving. She’s considering drawing on her Canada Pension Plan early, but is trying to hold off as long as she can. They have considered leaving Alberta, but this is has been their home for 40 years. It’s not easy to give up.

Appler has curbed her spending dramatically. She rarely goes out. She turned down a friend’s suggestion for a recent trip to the rec centre because she didn’t want to spend the $5 admission fee. She’s grateful for another friend who bought her a $30 monthly membership. It keeps her active and social.

She doesn’t blame anyone for her predicament, and she isn’t looking for a handout.

“Maybe I sound like an old-timer, but I think there was a time when people had more loyalty,” she says. “These days, it feels like nobody is satisfied with a profit. It was to be a gargantuan profit for shareholders. And I have been a shareholder. I get it. But it feels like these days that’s all that matters, not the employees or anything else. It’s all about the profit.”

Appler has a sunny disposition, but it darkens when she talks about the future. She thinks the economy will recover, but worries it will be too late for her.

“When you get to be 61, you never expect to be worried about money, especially when you’ve been middle class your whole life,” she says. “I just never expected it to be this bad.”

quote:

Debt load has many Canadians ‘living on the edge,’ with high housing prices largely to blame: report

Canadians households have become so financially stretched and hooked on debt to get by that, in just the past year, more than a third of us have found ourselves covering expenses by running up credit lines or credit cards, or even selling off investments and hitting up family members for much-needed cash.

That’s according to a new Manulife Bank survey, which also found that 14 per cent of those already stuck in a hole of debt have had to turn to more desperate measures in the past year — liquidating portions of their RRSPs or turning to high-interest payday lenders.

“It does appear there are a lot of people living on the edge,” said Rick Lunny, chief executive of Manulife Bank. And with the possibility of interest rate hikes, after years of historically cheap borrowing costs, there may soon be more people having to resort to more desperate measures.

“It is concerning,” Lunny said.

The blame, he said, appears in part to belong to the high price of houses in Canada’s major markets, which is causing mortgage payments to take up an ever-larger piece of family income, leaving less money for savings. Canadian homeowners carry an average of $175,000 in mortgage debt, with higher amounts exceeding $200,000 in Alberta and British Columbia, according to the Manulife Bank survey.

“We’re seeing that consumers may be keeping up with their mortgage payments, but what they may be struggling with is unexpected expenses and other living costs,” said Scott Hannah, chief executive of the Credit Counselling Society in Vancouver. “We’re seeing consumers who are offsetting those costs by taking on additional debt.”

The latest Statistics Canada census figures available show that more than a quarter of Canadian households were shelling out shelter costs at or above the housing-affordability threshold defined by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation as 30 per cent of their income. That was in 2011; housing prices — fuelled by record low interest rates — have risen by double digits since then.

A recent report from the economics department of Bank of Nova Scotia said that, in the second quarter of 2015, Canadian house prices rose at the fourth-fastest clip among 23 nations.

Those same low interest rates have helped drive up Canadians’ debt-to-income ratios, now sitting at 164.6 per cent, Statistics Canada reported in September. Fifteen years ago, it was below 110 per cent. The September report this year noted that the pace of debt accumulation is outstripping the rate of growth in families’ disposable income.

The prospect of rising interest rates has led to questions about whether Canadians will be able to service their debt loads. And there are worrisome red flags in Manulife’s report, which used an online survey of 2,372 homeowners across the country with household incomes of at least $50,000.

For one thing, many people seem puzzlingly confident in their ability to handle unexpected expenses, with nearly three-quarters of respondents saying they could handle it if they had to replace their furnace or were hit with a major car repair. Yet half of those surveyed said they are already struggling to maintain a cushion of as much as $1,000 in bank accounts. And then there’s the 38 per cent who, at least once, had to borrow from family, credit cards or lenders, or sell investments to cover their bills.

“It does suggest a contradiction,” Lunny said. “They feel they’re prepared, but when life happens, they’re not prepared.”

That said, there are those who manage to walk that fine line with skill: One-third of people who came up short used lower-interest credit lines, rather than riskier forms of debt, and 23 per cent accessed “rainy day” savings set aside for emergencies. What’s more, the survey doesn’t say how many of those who used higher-interest credit cards paid them off in time to avoid any interest charges.

Of course, even those lower-interest credit lines will get more expensive when rates finally rise. Combined with higher mortgage costs, that could really ratchet up pressure on overleveraged households.

“A rate increase of one per cent could be enough to make things difficult, said Hannah, of the Credit Counselling Society. “And certainly a two per cent rate increase would present some challenges for a lot of homeowners.”

But Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, said the key figure to watch is employment, rather than consumer debt levels.

Mortgages have largely been issued to those who can carry them as long as they keep their jobs, and mortgage arrears are at a historic lows, he said.

What’s more, the Bank of Canada “knows about the debt burdens, and will err on the side of raising rates slowly when that time comes, in order to avoid a larger shock,” Shenfeld said.

“Rates will only move up materially when the economy and the job market is stronger than it is now.”

quote:

Everyone wants to be a realtor in Metro Vancouver as licensee numbers explode

With Vancouver’s property market smashing records, there could be more than just one bubble forming.

Prices in Metro Vancouver spiked an alarming 20 per cent from a year ago in October, taking the benchmark detached-home cost to about $1.2 million.

But new figures show the number of licensed real-estate professionals in B.C. has also reached all time highs, while enrolment in the province’s major realtor licensing course has rocketed by 34 per cent.

Dave Moore, director of Licensing Education at the Sauder School of Business, says about 2,000 new licensees are expected to launch careers in B.C. this year.

Sauder administers the licensing exam that all realtors in B.C. must pass and also provides the online course taken by the majority of would-be realtors.

Moore says enrolment was even higher before the global recession in 2008, but the profession is nearing peak attraction again.

The Real Estate Council of B.C. reported a record 22,005 licensees this year. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says licensed members are at an all-time high of 12,200 compared with 10,000 in 2010 and 8,000 in 2005.

Dina Pettenon, who got her license one month ago and has already made a sale, says she’s off to a good start, but doesn’t believe the career will be easy. With so many competitors she knows she’ll have to beat other realtors to succeed.

Her professional mentors say the rule of thumb is about 10 per cent of the agents in the industry dominate sales. And with the record level of realtors licensed in B.C., only about a third are practising.

“It is not brain surgery, but it’s not an easy job,” Pettenon said.“...There is a big attrition rate.”

One successful realtor who has witnessed Vancouver’s wild property market since Expo 86 greeted the new figures with a knowing laugh.

“It’s just ridiculous now. Everyone’s a realtor,” he said.

The professional, who asked not to be named because he said he could face backlash, said he sees lots of lawyers, engineers, nurses, teachers, homemakers and former pro athletes moonlighting in the property market.

Full-time realtors treat part-timers with a mixture of humour and scorn. It’s surprising who can sell homes well, though. He says lawyers often flounder while teachers excel: “It’s like cooking with five pots on the stove. You have to go all the time and carve out a niche. You have to sort of bend with the wind. Lawyers tend to be a bit stiff.”

But when sales drop sharply and homes become illiquid — which happened briefly in Vancouver when the U.S. housing market crashed in 2008 — the ranks of part-timers thin: “When we saw the dip in 2008 realtors had nothing to do. We felt bad for one of the guys because we saw him working in Tim Hortons. We used to joke, ‘Don’t drive over the bridge. You’ll see a realtor ready to jump.’ ”

The top one per cent of realtors in Vancouver can report sales of well over $1 million a year, the agent said. In his best years he says he was making up to 60 sales — or “ends” as realtors call them. These days, with so much competition, he says he completes about 20 sales a year.

“If I was selling around 50 homes I’m claiming about $400,000 per year; but $200,000 of that goes to the taxman,” he said. “And then everyone is in your pocket for fees, from the boards to the Real Estate Council to the brokerages. People think they’re going to take the exam at UBC and they give you an ATM card. But it costs a lot doing business.”

Most realtors know what other realtors are making, says the realtor. He’s seen top sellers burn through their money before getting hit hard by the CRA. The old pros survive busts with hustle and black humour. Humility is important.

“Real estate seems really glamorous, but you’re a glorified waiter,” he said. “You’re doing service for a commission instead of a tip.”

Cultural Imperial posted:

http://business.financialpost.com/n...to-blame-report


Wow, even Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets has no idea how mortgage rates are set.

Get hosed every single loving canadian. Burn this loving country to the ground.

Cultural Imperial posted:

http://business.financialpost.com/news/energy/laid-off-calgarians-losing-hope-as-prospects-dwindle-and-money-runs-short


Do the needful calgarians. Kill yourselves. It's the only way out of this hell.

Femtosecond posted:

Something tells me this guy has never been a waiter before.

quote:

It’s been nine months since she lost her job. Money is getting short and she’s beginning to lose hope.

quote:

Money is becoming a problem. She and her husband have given up their plans of retiring to a piece of property they purchased outside Alberta when times were good

quote:

Appler has curbed her spending dramatically. She rarely goes out. She turned down a friend’s suggestion for a recent trip to the rec centre because she didn’t want to spend the $5 admission fee.

quote:

so she keeps busy tending her horses

The Butcher posted:

Cultural Imperial posted:

http://business.financialpost.com/news/energy/laid-off-calgarians-losing-hope-as-prospects-dwindle-and-money-runs-short


Do the needful calgarians. Kill yourselves. It's the only way out of this hell.

Furnaceface posted:

This isnt just a Vancouver thing. The drive down the 400 between Barrie and Toronto is hilarious, every 500 meters theres a realtor sign along at least one side of the highway. I took a drive out to Alliston and it was even worse.

There are going to be so many people finding themselves without work when the bubble pops from just realtors alone. Add in the construction boom that has come with it and we are going to be in some serious poo poo. Like, youth unemployment is high now, imagine what its going to be like after.

Rime posted:

Is there no way out of poverty (that won't be destroyed in the near future) in this loving country any more?

THC posted:

oh man the comments on that one are choice

donna posted:

I am in my ealy fifties and lost my job in February. I have sent out hundreds of resumes...nothing. Next month I will start to spend my retirement savings. I will continue looking but am losing hope. All those years of saving for retirement are likely to wiped out and I am one of the lucky ones. At least I have some funds to fall back on.

quote:

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/donna-kuryluk-913035ba

Microsoft Office
Microsoft Excel
Research
PowerPoint
Sales
Training
Photoshop

quote:

I am sorry to hear your difficulties donna, I had a real hard time the last time a Trudeau was leading the nation also, that is why I positioned myself and moved assets overseas. Just remember that there is a lot of morally smug Canadians from Toronto to Montreal celebrating your difficulties and reveling in your demise just like they did in the early 1980’s. It is so sad, that the politically correct urban elites think that it is morally justifiable that you be punished for where you live and what you did for a living. I am disgusted that these same elitists are now arguing that the Syrian Nationals are more important, and deserve more resources that all of our fellow Canadians that are suffering in this section of the nation. I guess you could always move to BC and set up a grow operation as that may be the only employment opportunity for quite some time.

Rime posted:

So what you're saying is that a plan to go back to school to get an Ironworkers ticket is probably a bad move in the long term? poo poo.

Is there no way out of poverty (that won't be destroyed in the near future) in this loving country any more?

jm20 posted:

When do these people get the letter from EI to work at McDonalds? I wonder which political party they will blame for that?

sbaldrick posted:

Not really, tradepeople are old.

Rime posted:

Wholesale prices have really tanked since Washington legalized, as US export was far more profitable than domestic distribution channels, and the impending face of legalization in Canada isn't helping matters.

PT6A posted:

"These refugees coming from an active warzone sure are spoiled! Help me and people like me out because I am a big dumb retard who wants to live beyond my means and not take any work that I consider beneath me when I got fired from my ridiculously high-paying job!"

loving people. There are still businesses around here looking for employees. Either they're lying outright, or there's still work to be found.

The Butcher posted:

peter banana posted:

There are so many horses farms for sale in my area, listed in the multi millions. Get hosed, horse farmers. Any cursory research about getting into farming will tell you not to get into horses. If only you could have known you were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to ruin good farmland, build outbuildings no one wants and sink your entire life into an incredibly time-consuming and unprofitable hobby.

peter banana posted:

There are so many horses farms for sale in my area, listed in the multi millions. Get hosed, horse farmers. Any cursory research about getting into farming will tell you not to get into horses. If only you could have known you were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to ruin good farmland, build outbuildings no one wants and sink your entire life into an incredibly time-consuming and unprofitable hobby.

Dreylad posted:

My grandpa did always say that no one's made money from horses since the invention of the automobile. His father knew exactly the time to get out of the business.

I didn't know horse farms were bad for farmland (although watching my parent's neighbours fill in 30 acres with landfill from Toronto condo construction, that probably isn't helping) but given that the alternative is to pave that poo poo it could be worse. Although they're stabling horses which presumably makes money. I always understood that the industry was subsidized heavily by the rich, because no else could possibly be making money from it.

My family went to the Royal Winter fair and the horse show organizers said that attendance was way down -- so I guess the economy truly is hurting horse equity.

cowofwar posted:

There's something about the horse racing industry dying due to regulation or something in Ontario. This has had a knock-on effect on the rest of the horse industry.