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I would have thought Hawaii was more expensive.
There is another reason why Vancouver's housing market is so high, we have immigrants, many coming from Asia buying up these homes like crazy.Many times they offer more than the selling price and this helps to drive up prices. I live in a suburb just south of Vancouver and the cheaper single family houses are $750 000 but they are older and usually need some or a lot of upgrading. I would love to be able to afford a house where I live now, but unless we win the lottery that we don't play, it's just not going to happen.
I would have thought Hawaii was more expensive.
There is another reason why Vancouver's housing market is so high, we have immigrants, many coming from Asia buying up these homes like crazy.Many times they offer more than the selling price and this helps to drive up prices. I live in a suburb just south of Vancouver and the cheaper single family houses are $750 000 but they are older and usually need some or a lot of upgrading. I would love to be able to afford a house where I live now, but unless we win the lottery that we don't play, it's just not going to happen.
Lots of immigrants coming in? Yes. An additional point is that there's a whole bunch of people who want to live in a small area of land. Yes. the Greater Vancouver region includes the suburbs and the population density (number of people per square kilometre) is roughly 800, but for Vancouver alone the number is well over 5,000. At the end of the day, with lots of people wanting to live in a small area with limited land, prices are going to go up.
I'm like @janacanada - I would have expected the same. On the other hand I do have clients in some upscale neighborhoods and even I wouldn't have believed what some people are paying for a house right here in Vancouver if I haven't seen it for myself.
Last edited by sunshineleith; 02-19-2012 at 05:52 AM..
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I teach immigrants here and I agree that is why the price is going up. They come with cash to buy places. They do not work here, but come for their children's education. I think it is greed from our government to get the short term investment of $800,000 for the investment visa, and the husbands mostly work back in Asia or Iran. Our city is changing quickly, and I am wondering why the government does not have some requirements for immigrants to go to other areas of Canada so we do not keep driving out the locals who can not afford to live here, like my sister who had to move way out to the suburbs and now has this crazy commute into Vancouver.
I have thought to join this market since one of my wealthy Chinese students wants to buy a home with me.. any thoughts on this? I do love our city and I work just in the "burbs", but it does seem like an oppt. to get a home since she wants one for her parents and I to share and she has come to trust me. I know there must be alot to consider before doing this, so I'm putting it out there.
I have thought to join this market since one of my wealthy Chinese students wants to buy a home with me.. any thoughts on this? I do love our city and I work just in the "burbs", but it does seem like an oppt. to get a home since she wants one for her parents and I to share and she has come to trust me. I know there must be alot to consider before doing this, so I'm putting it out there.
If you do buy a home together, consider...
- what is the exit strategy?
- How long do you plan to live in it before selling?
- How will the profits be split?
- Who's qualifying for the mortgage, making the monthly payments?
- What happens if someone wants out early?
- What happens if, heaven forbid, prices decline and you can't sell?
I guess what I'm trying to say is that these things need to be in writing and set forth at the beginning. There's no problem investing with someone in real estate if the intentions are clear. It gets very messy if things aren't set on paper first, and if it's not set in paper, then perhaps it's a sign not to invest together.
Well, most people in New York (esp. Manhattan) don't live in multi-storey houses. They live in maybe 1000 sqft apartments rather than 3000 spft houses.
Also, I bet the top 10% of New York houses are way more expensive than the top 10% here. They have a lot more inequality. There are frequently apartment suites that sell for more than $50M in New York. There's pretty rare here.
But we do need a much better transportation system so that people can commute from further away.
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