We're earning less

[hobbyguy]

dontrump - when I bought my first single family home in North Vancouver in the 1970's it was $36,000. The 15% down payment was the equivalent of very good car - which is why I had the money, I had been saving to buy a Volvo P1800 or BMW 2002. Decided buying a house was a better move.

My income at the time was "middling poor". Not minimum wage, but not making it to median wage either.

The house cost was 4.8 times my annual gross salary. Median single wage earner in BC is $39,800 today. If you take that ratio as an equivalent, you get $191,000. (I was single when I bought my first house - and NOT even making the median wage.)

A couple of years later, I got fed up with not having any free cash, rented out the house, and moved north to work in logging. I made $32,000 in 8 months of work (there was a strike that year, and I was an overtime hog) - almost the price of the house.

If you apply that 4.8 ratio to today's median income, you get $83,200 x 4.8 = $399,000. But the equivalent home in North Vancouver today? $1.3 million. But you can buy a 2 bedroom condo apartment for the $399,000.

[Atomoa]

We all have the power to say no.

Except for the 600 billion dollars a year companies and governments spend indoctrinating people to buy things. If it didn't work that would be a giant waste of money. It also has to work, otherwise everything crashes. The system requires the majority of people to be as weak as you suggest. Predatory.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Advert ... 15/1011691

As another poster pointed out, while we may have the power to say no, if we actually did stop buying things our economy would collapse. The reason that Canadians are 172% in consumer debt is that wages have stagnated and the system must go on. Cash registers must be ringing 24/7. Either employers can raise wages and give up some of that huge inequality pie they are hording or they can sell everyone debt. It's a better business plan to give a worker a credit card so they can go on vacation and buy a TV at Christmas and pay you interest ontop of it, than to give a worker a actual raise.

Right now it's a game of chicken. How long can the debt charade go on?

[hobbyguy]

Until you decide not to participate. It pays dividends, but not much in the way of "retail therapy".

[dontrump]

My opinion is if u live in Vancouver don't buy anything right now.RENT and see what the future brings the old dream was marriage kids and a home
Never was my dream but its what a lot of people want. I say RENT and put you extra cash into a decent investment

[kgcayenne]

I came across this today and decided to share:

http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/photos/c ... g-you-shtI came across this today and decided to share:

http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/photos/c ... ng-you-sht