Kelowna Rent Prices Jump

[Vacancyrate]

The price asked for in a classifieds ad is just that, the ask price. If the market will bear/ support the ask price then it is rented.

You're talking about housing and not movie tickets.

People can't opt-out of shelter. The ask price isn't what the market can handle - either everyone handles the asking price or they live outside in Canada in the winter and die. No choice.

[alanjh595]

The price asked for in a classifieds ad is just that, the ask price. If the market will bear/ support the ask price then it is rented.

You're talking about housing and not movie tickets.

People can't opt-out of shelter. The ask price isn't what the market can handle - either everyone handles the asking price or they live outside in Canada in the winter and die. No choice.

So should the same be charged for a 2nd floor apartment in a 40 year old, low rise as a penthouse apartment in a new all concrete building with a lake view?

[countmeout]

Refer back to my bit on supply. To simply buy into a lie that homeowners can charge whatever they please otherwise people will freeze is ridiculous. If I put up a basic no frills one bedroom apartment for $2000, no one would rent it because the market won't bear that price. Price of a one bedroom is around $1200 right now. If the price goes up, more supply will enter because the risk/ reward is better.

To fix this issue and leave the free market alone, more supply must be opened up for real estate to bring down the real estate price which rental prices are based on. To expect the price of rentals to come down because they are unaffordable without addressing the issue of real estate pricing shows a huge lack of economic understanding with a tendency to vote in NDP platforms who promise more affordable housing out of the taxpayer pocket. A simplistic look at the subsidized housing sounds great but is only a bandaid as more housing becomes unaffordable along the way and we end up like Vienna with over 70% of people living in subsidized housing, leaving only the ultra wealthy with choice of home ownership. No thank you.

The current layout of BC is 4% residential land, 2% commercial/ industrial and 94% crown land; some of this crown land needs to be opened up for sale, Canada has room to grow.

[alanjh595]

No jobs close to most of that Crown Land.

[W105]

exactly Vacancyrate...as for supply, well we have been in a building boom for well over a decade here in BC and obviously the building hasn't been for locals or local incomes..the spec tax, foreign tax & the empty home tax attest to that fact...

$30 million collected on the empty house tax in Vancouver, meanwhile our serious homeless problem is getting worse each day...now that Air BnB'ers are on the radar and are required to get a license and pay income tax on that income, it's all of a sudden not such a popular idea...

and there's no way that Landlords that are renting private suites or rooms in their homes are claiming that income....many actually need that income to be able to stay a Homeowner themselves...(and there's zero data on how many are doing this)

a city cannot thrive without shelter for every type of income...low or high, there has to be a balance otherwise expect more homeless, more addicted (when one loses hope they usually hit the bottle or the drugs) and more crime...

local residents aren't asking for a hand out , they are asking to not have to spend 50% of their income on shelter...2019 is going to be a interesting yr in our RE Market...the cost of borrowing is increasing and the entire housing market is being looked at very carefully...let's see if rents and house prices can handle that scrutiny since it's it's been a free for all up until this past year...

[alanjh595]

exactly Vacancyrate...as for supply, well we have been in a building boom for well over a decade here in BC
Not ALL over BC, just Vancouver, Victoria and the Okanagan valley. Just the most desirable places to live.
and obviously the building hasn't been for locals or local incomes..the spec tax, foreign tax & the empty home tax attest to that fact...
Those taxes are now negatively affecting those that they were designed to help. Thanks a lot NDP.

$30 million collected on the empty house tax in Vancouver,
They haven't collected it yet, don't count the chickens before they are hatched. A change in government could make this a "one hit wonder".
meanwhile our serious homeless problem is getting worse each day...now that Air BnB'ers are on the radar and are required to get a license and pay income tax on that income, it's all of a sudden not such a popular idea...
New potential purchasers will be hurt the most when they were counting on attracting tourist $$ to help with their mortgage. Oh well, the tourists will have to go back to renting hotel rooms, entry level purchasers will have to keep on renting, and the homeless will still be homeless.
and there's no way that Landlords that are renting private suites or rooms in their homes are claiming that income....many actually need that income to be able to stay a Homeowner themselves...(and there's zero data on how many are doing this)
Likewise you have no data to substantiate your claims. You are just guessing.
a city cannot thrive without shelter for every type of income...low or high,
How do low income people contribute to accellerating/contributing to a city that needs a constant cash inflow to progress??
there has to be a balance otherwise expect more homeless, more addicted (when one loses hope they usually hit the bottle or the drugs) and more crime...
What do the addicted homeless contribute? The just take and are degrading the attraction of the city.
local residents aren't asking for a hand out , they are asking to not have to spend 50% of their income on shelter
How is asking for reduced rent at the cost of the landlord not a hand out?...2019 is going to be a interesting yr in our RE Market...the cost of borrowing is increasing and the entire housing market is being looked at very carefully...let's see if rents and house prices can handle that scrutiny since it's it's been a free for all up until this past year...That is exactly why the BoC is raising interest rates at the slow pace that they have been doing ....just to ensure that Canadians can adjust and handle the stress. When the stress becomes too great and it shows a negative effect, they will slow the interest rate increases down.

[countmeout]

No jobs close to most of that Crown Land.

There are large areas of land within 20 min driving to many jobs.

[Vacancyrate]

exactly Vacancyrate...as for supply, well we have been in a building boom for well over a decade here in BC and obviously the building hasn't been for locals or local incomes..the spec tax, foreign tax & the empty home tax attest to that fact...

When people say demand it's not that simple.

There is normal demand for housing for people to live in houses, but because money has been so cheap and wages have been static and pensions are gone, there is much more demand for investment vectors and speculation for profit. Housing speculation and investment and the economic activity surrounding HELOC debt and construction is huge. Outside of criminality and lotto luck, real estate speculation is the middle classes only way of actually having some money and retirement security.

In order for the middle class to keep on showing up for work everyday they need to feel like they are getting somewhere. We are all working longer and harder for less and the only reason people have anything to show for it is debt. That debt is leveraged off over valued Canadian homes and through credit cards. The demand to be able to retire and make enough money to feel comfortable is much greater or at least equal to the demand for actual shelter.

This is why the Government let things get so terrible - because what else are they going to do? Raise wages? Ha!

When people say "We just need to build more" they fail to realize we are not building for families to live in, we are building investment vectors for people and there is no money in selling plain jane homes to blue collar families.

The price of a home isn't what the market can take - it's how much debt Canadians are allowed to go in. People get upset when the Government makes market-cooling measures and "plays with the market" but yet the Government and Banks have been pouring gasoline on it for almost 2 decades now because they don't want to face the music.

[alanjh595]

No jobs close to most of that Crown Land.

There are large areas of land within 20 min driving to many jobs.

Where are they? According to the map? I can put up a map of the area too.

[LANDM]

The price asked for in a classifieds ad is just that, the ask price. If the market will bear/ support the ask price then it is rented.

You're talking about housing and not movie tickets.

People can't opt-out of shelter. The ask price isn't what the market can handle - either everyone handles the asking price or they live outside in Canada in the winter and die. No choice.

The ask price can be anything and isn’t necessarily what the market can handle. But, the final agreed upon price is precisely what the market can handle.
Your comments aren’t accurate at all. People can opt out of hard shelter and do it all the time. There is also the very clear choice of moving to a location that is more affordable. Happens all the time and those choices in life are pretty valid.

[countmeout]

There are large areas of land within 20 min driving to many jobs.

Where are they? According to the map? I can put up a map of the area too.

Lol, that's a map from BC assesment. Any area without a box around it is crown land. West Kelowna has plently of room to grow, so does the area around the airport. Your claim was that there is no crown land left within a reasonably close distance to jobs. This map clearly shows plenty within a 20 min drive and huge amounts within a 40 min drive to downtown.

[alanjh595]

Lol, that's a map from BC assesment. Any area without a box around it is crown land. West Kelowna has plently of room to grow, so does the area around the airport. Your claim was that there is no crown land left within a reasonably close distance to jobs. This map clearly shows plenty within a 20 min drive and huge amounts within a 40 min drive to downtown.

Is there sewer, water, paved roads, cable, telephone, gas ?
Who's going to pay for snow removal, garbage pick-up ?
How many years will it take to develop that land to get it ready for building on ?
How do you know it is Crown land and not already privately owned ?
Will privately owned land need to be crossed to get to this Crown property ?

If you think it is all that easy, make an application to the government and go buy some.Here is the link to their website.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/indu ... esidential

By the way, there is no fire protection or police, or medical assistance should you need help. Good luck.

[Glacier]

Expensive housing is a fact of life in a growing city. Unfortunately, the provincial government is making it worse because they think that housing should be as affordable in Kelowna as Prince George.

They will do their best to make them the same, but all this does is cause even more people from Prince George to move to Kelowna, driving up demand even further, which in turn causes the government spend even more money fighting expensive rents, which causes even more people to move from Prince George, which causes the government to spend even more money, causing more people to move to Kelowna, causing more government spending to fix expensive housing, causing more people moving to Kelowna.... You get the idea.

[Lady tehMa]

Lol, that's a map from BC Assessment. Any area without a box around it is crown land. West Kelowna has plenty of room to grow, so does the area around the airport. Your claim was that there is no crown land left within a reasonably close distance to jobs. This map clearly shows plenty within a 20 min drive and huge amounts within a 40 min drive to downtown.

You might want to look at the RDCO maps, which also provides parcel information. In addition, you can enable multiple layers such as the contour option. A significant amount of land is practically vertical, which renders it unlikely to be used - unless you are a developer willing to create the infrastructure needed and then you'll likely pass it on to the purchaser of the lot.

[countmeout]

Is there sewer, water, paved roads, cable, telephone, gas ?
Who's going to pay for snow removal, garbage pick-up ?
How many years will it take to develop that land to get it ready for building on ?
How do you know it is Crown land and not already privately owned ?
Will privately owned land need to be crossed to get to this Crown property ?

If you think it is all that easy, make an application to the government and go buy some.Here is the link to their website.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/indu ... esidential

By the way, there is no fire protection or police, or medical assistance should you need help. Good luck.

It's not all that easy, which is why it's not done, you see my point. We're (taxpayers) spending millions on "affordable housing" and subsidies for renters when there is available land everywhere around us. Why not spend some money on development?

If we build a few more rows of homes behind Rose Valley or down in Trepanier or up Beaver Lake Road, help is right there. Based on the logic of missing services, its a wonder Kelowna was ever built in as there was no help here in the beginning. Also, the folk out in Joe rich have no sewer, cable, gas, etc. All they have out there is electricity and seem to do just fine. Also have a fire department out there and ROADS!

You won't change my mind on this but I hope to open up yours as I see huge wastes trying to make Kelowna into a vertical city when we can spread out. I'd take a home on septic with a backyard, 30 min from town with satellite internet over a 400 sq ft apartment anyday.