Are property values truly going up?

[Thinktank]

We didn't crash and burn nearly as much as USA did in 2008. That's why we still
have more room to crash, a bit at a time in the future.

People seem to think things can keep going forever, but nothing continues forever.

[forum]

Have you been out of our market area for the last six years???
We crashed and burned in the summer of 2008 and have not recovered.
If you are talking about Vancouver and Toronto, who cares....the OP was talking about our market.....their is no cohesive "canadian housing market".

There definitely is a cohesive housing market in Canada. Vancouverites are realizing their houses are the highest they've ever been and selling while at the top. Then they take their cash and move to the Okanagan where it's cheaper. This artificial props up our market.

Kelowna has another 20% reduction to go in housing. My contractor friend owns an apartment in rutland and one in big white. If he sold both right now he would owe the bank $30,000. He's owned them both since 2008. In spite of that, his bank is offering him a THIRD mortgage for a house in Black Mountain. Insane...

Credit is a dangerous thing. I wonder how many other people would owe the bank money if they sold right now? Could they afford to buy their own house back?

[Merry]

In spite of that, his bank is offering him a THIRD mortgage for a house in Black Mountain.

The explanation could be that while condo's have fallen in value, single family homes have held their value.

[forum]

The explanation could be that while condo's have fallen in value, single family homes have held their value.

That is the explanation. You nailed it.

But we all know single family home prices are melting like a glacier right now...only a matter of time until he's underwater with three mortgages.

I'll be *bleep* if I have to pay more taxes to clean up this mess on behalf of the idiotic lending decisions made by all the parties involved. Nobody should be offered a third mortgage if the first two are underwater.

[Glacier]

Single family homes have come down (though I think the latest interest rate drops have spurred on more house horniness as Garth Turner calls it). We put in an offer on a place less than a month ago for close to $70G less than asking, and they pretty much accepted our offer. This would not have happened 5 years ago.

Houses are still too high, in my opinion.

[forum]

Glacier, 70 Grand is a really nice vehicle. It's like "Yes! Take the home! Whoa whoa whoa don't leave yet! Let myself and the real estate agent throw in a brand new BMW SUV you can drive to and from your new house...and don't forget your 3 years of free gas!"

Haha, it shows how cheap the money was earned.

[Static]

Update: Prices are not going up. Just saying!

[LANDM]

Update: Prices are not going up. Just saying!

Really?
Sure you don't want to rethink that?

Your forecasting on the forums isn't going too well!

[Glacier]

They weren't going up in 2014, but they have since.

[kgcayenne]

I am not going to go through the hassle of digging for it, but some years ago I suggested that condos and townhouses (wooden shoeboxes, essentially) would come down in price while single-family houses would increase.

Come 2015, I sold a townhouse for 1% less than I paid in 2007, but the house we purchased was more than it would have been in 2007. Come 2016, everything in the area is moving in under 60 days for at least $75,000-$100,000 greater than our 2015 purchase price.

For what we paid last year, this year we'd have been buying a full-time job requiring an additional $75-100k in renovations/repairs, so I'd say prices are going up. Value, on the other hand, is rather subjective.

[Merry]

I can't comment on prices because I don't know what homes round me are actually selling for. But what I have noticed is that everything seems to be selling like hot cakes in this neighbourhood - sold signs are everywhere. And the houses in question weren't on the market for very long. So that would suggest that it's a sellers market right now.

[Glacier]

I would agree. Houses are selling like hot cakes. Some are on the market three days before the sold sign goes up. That said, even in a sellers market you can find a deal. Hard to do, but still not impossible. A friend just low balled a house that has been on the market for 2 years, and got it for that. Even though the seller had put about $50,000 in renos into the place over the past two years, they got it for the assessed value.

P.S.

[LANDM]

There are always deals out there, as Glacier has said. The trick is to recognize them as such.

However, if someone is convinced, forever, that the market will always be going down further, it is pretty hard to recognize a deal. The next step is unaffordability and the final step is a life of renting and justifying that life.

[mexi cali]

People seem to think things can keep going forever, but nothing continues forever.

Sadly, except you.

Good to hear from you but you need to take a longer sip from the happy pool.

[mexi cali]

So, I was going to remove my above post because I was responding to a 2 year old comment by my old pal Think Tank but I decided in the interest of owning my stupidity (which was pointed out by a thoughtful forum member) I am leaving it up as a lesson to myself to pay more attention to details like the one I missed.

Sigh.......................