Oct 7 Market Update
We’re not even a full week into the month so things will change, but the first week of October was much the same as last year from a sales perspective. Sales and new listings are coming in at about the same rate, while inventory is 9% higher. October was a relatively active month last year, so don’t expect any big sales gains. We’ll see whether things settle down again after October like they did last year, or if this increased level of activity portends a more robust market recovery.
If I was to eyeball that graph I’d say condos have made a more substantial recovery than single family, but that is greatly influenced by the excellent results in September, and could very well be a blip. We’ll see as the month goes on.
October is typically the last month of any substantial activity in the market before it goes to sleep for the winter. If a house ain’t sold by election time it isn’t likely to sell, and that’s where you’ll see the motivated sellers who will keep trying depart from the opportunists who will give up and try again next spring. If you’re in no particular rush to buy the fall is a good time to throw some lines out and see who bites. Keep in mind there’s a reason some of these listings are left over from the spring market, so don’t expect the perfect place.
Here are the weekly numbers courtesy of the VREB.
| October 2019 |
Oct
2018
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | ||
| Sales | 101 | 598 | |||
| New Listings | 210 | 958 | |||
| Active Listings | 2768 | 2510 | |||
| Sales to New Listings | 48% | 62% | |||
| Sales Projection | — | ||||
| Months of Inventory | 4.2 | ||||
One thing I’m musing about these days: What percentage of Victoria’s seniors could afford to buy their house at today’s valuations? Are they mostly the wealthy retirees that we are told are swarming to Victoria, or ordinary people that bought long ago? And if the latter, will the population transition to the former over time?
I guess it helps having a premier from the Westshore 🙂
New pilot project will bring government office to Langford by spring 2020
https://www.vicnews.com/news/new-pilot-project-will-bring-government-office-to-langford-by-spring-2020/
Herpa, why don’t we debate that link you sent, because according to that link the median house hold income in Victoria is $58K or 2 people each making $14 an hour. Are you saying those people should be able to afford a SFH?
So I have notice that everyone is debating the details on chinves estimations.. but no one want to make an estimations..
Before the stress test was in place prices were not $1m+.
The stress test should be removed for mortgages with 10yr term (2.99% ratehub,ca) Because after 10 years you have a higher income and a pile of equity. That would accomplish two good things
1. Allow more FTB to qualify by removing B20
2. Eliminate interest rate risk for first 10 years.
But according to the Victoria electoral riding link
http://338canada.com/districts/59041e.htm
Only 16% house hold income is 125k plus
Real world example
How do you do that. Let’s boost every one to the top ten percent earning .. ..
The “very generous” indicates that this would be the highest down payment in the expected range , not the average. Some people put down 20% as a FTB. Others laugh at that idea.
Patrick, the current rates (sans B20) are low enough that two people with some motivation, moderate work ethic ($60k a year each currently) and normal spending habits should be able to afford a home. Has affordability deteriorated since 2014, of course it has, because back then those same folks ($50k a year each back then) can afford a livable SFH in a semi decent neighborhood.
Chinvas:
While I dont always agree with Patrick e makes a really valid point about the typical size of down payment. Your down payment number is probably more reflective of a first time buyer. I am assuming that you are cherry picking your parameters in order to make a point of some sort.
I have made this point often enough but referring to the City of Victoria as opposed to the GVA simply does not reflect the reality of this city. Nor is looking at medium income really reflective of the typical universe of first time buyers. It has been a reality since even my days as a young man that first and second time buyers are two income families and that the typical first time buyer has one partner who is in their late twenties or early thirties. If you are really measuring affordability you need to look at incomes at certain age tranches
and amongst dual income families. Mixing in a bunch of students or people who have been working for less than five years along with a large percentage of retired people (many of whom can just pay cash for a house) does not provide any meaningful insight into the housing market. Looking at only a part of the city also skews the results. Makes for politically convenient pronouncements but very little else.
Articles like this say you can workaround the b20 stress test and qualify in the mid-3% range at credit unions and non-bank lenders. This may start you out with a mid-3% rate, but you might be able to switch at renewal to something cheaper.
https://www.ratespy.com/could-cmhc-close-this-stress-test-loophole-04178720
“But more and more homebuyers are finding workarounds, and they’re finding them at credit unions and non-bank lenders.. While banks make you prove you can afford a rate that’s up to 200+ basis points higher (5.34% or more), some credit unions are now qualifying borrowers in the mid-3% range.On a $100,000 family income, choosing a credit union can get you approved for up to $118,000 more house”
James, I just quoted what Chinves had mentioned with regards to the B20 income requirements. And maybe it is time to boost your household income to $160k then? Or get a house with a suite?
I don’t think it’s a matter of whether it’s “terribly difficult” according to you. When you want to assess the affordability of the entire market in broad strokes, wouldn’t it be more a matter of what proportion of the population can afford it?
Most households aren’t pulling in 100k/Y, let alone 125k. Despite what some people seem to think, 150k+ isn’t very common. At or near the top of the cycle they can seem more numerous, especially to realtors, as those are the largest cohort of people left that can buy.
You could parse household incomes out by renters versus owners, but that’s not the way the affordability calculation has been done historically. It would probably skew the results compared to most data series established previously.
hahahaha. People I knew who bought 10-15 years ago in their early 20s did so with $5000 down. Clearly people who are living paycheck to paycheck are all saving $150k before buying their first house.
Aside from your math not exactly adding up, with $135k family income we qualify for a $600k loan if we have 20% down.
But someone said a $650k loan requires a $125k income at the stress test, so that is two people making $60k each pre tax. I don’t see that as terribly difficult to do.
We are told that there is an affordability crisis. I point out numbers contradicting that (mortgage is affordable ignoring B20). It seems you are agreeing with me, but saying that the problem is passing B20 stress test. Is that correct?
Patrick, I think you will need to factor in the B20
The Average household can afford that. (Note: I’m assuming that you’re asking about affording the mortgage, if you are instead talking about passing the stress test, you should say that. )
$500k mortgage is $2,249 per month. (2.49% ratehub.ca). That’s about 30% of Median household income (Well below ( better) than the 40% lowest band of affordability in LeoS affordability chart)
It’s comparable to rent in many cases, except (over 25 years) 75% of the payments go to savings (equity).
how are you going to get that 500k equity if you can’t sell your place?
i am only stating my assumptions on numbers – but even factoring in the low end of the price range – lets change the question – how many house hold can afford 500k mortgage?
Probably not many, but they’ve had the majority of their lives to move up the property ladder so the question itself is a bit of a misnomer. Seniors moving here from non-bubble markets may find there are better values for their money than coming here, at least at these valuations.
I don’t believe there’s any wealthy swarm of anyone coming in, but at peak prices the migration may be skewed to those who have more money.
You would need to use the median home price purchased by first-time buyers in your calculations, not the overall median home price. Average downpayments are much more than 20% in typical home buying transaction.
That “ 150k downpayment (very generous)“ would be a typical scenario for a first-time buyer, who isn’t also selling a home so has 0% equity to add-in. Repeat buyers (about 80% of transactions) have much higher downpayments, since they have (on average) 72% equity in the home they are selling. If you’re selling a $1m home and have that average 72% equity , that means your down payment can be (excluding costs) $720k without adding in any other savings.
This means that lots of existing homeowners with low incomes can sell and buy another home and qualify for mortgages under the stress test, because of their huge down payment and resultant low mortgage requirement.
This may all seem obvious, yet we have posters here amazed every time a $2m home sells, asking “who can afford this??”, forgetting that it is likely someone selling a $1.5m home with $1.2m equity that can afford it just as easily as a first time buyer of a $800k home.
When you look for that $800k median home, you are competing against people with (e.g. $500k) equity in the existing house they are selling (perhaps with a lower income than you).
So average first time buyers cannot compete with average repeat buyers for the median home, and should be looking to buy something less in price than the median home.
@Barrister
feel free to put in you % estimate ..
I am only using the approx median single family HOUSE price that patrick been parading around this blog.
I am only using the Victoria electoral riding data acquired for Victoria core area
i am only address the question how many % of victioria owner can afford at today’s price range – with assumption of new buyer starting out in life – to contrast the difference between buy now and 20 years ago.
I am not stating how much people can buy based on networth – the question didnt ask what home bill gates can buy in victoria
and if you move to sooke – i am pretty sure more than 50% house hold can afford it .. but there is a reason not every one is out at sooke
so feel free to give your estimate
Your math may be right but household income is for the cit of Victoria as opposed to greater Victoria. Also there is a large number of retired people in Victoria with a small income but a large net worth.
I am not sure which question you are actually addressing. How many people could afford to buy the house they are in is a bit of a deceptive question. For a start, all the people that dont have a mortgage could, 800k is not a starter home price and is much closer to a last home price for most people. People move up the property ladder.
if the stress test was not involve – for the 650k loan, you get 25% household . but then again .. if stress test was not in place .. house price might appreciate to 1m+.. so you now need 850k loan… just hypothetical ..
http://338canada.com/districts/59041e.htm
I was just browsing election data but they have a house home income chart. So lets do some math
if you want to buy median house here say aprox 800k and have 150k downpayment (very generous) – what income are required to get 650k loan?
Using the CMHC rules 40% at 25 years , 5 year fix , at stress test 5.19% – house hold income needs to be aprox 125k
According to the http://338canada.com/districts/59041e.htm website
only 16% of the households have 125k income …
some one need to check my math .. but this is what i concluded 16% ish
I like to hear from our Bulls here
No one wants to answer the question at in the post? What percentage of Victoria owners could afford to buy at current prices?
@Albertan what do you see in that area and range?
I’m curious as I too have those filters and wanted to know what your take or feeling was and what you are asking about.
FYI Grant, Introvert hasn’t bought recently, and isn’t a long time resident.
So we can safely conclude that her input has no value & is just here to get her rocks off.
Leo S, Can I have your thoughts on $1-$2 million SFH market (Oak & Caddy Bay)? $1+ market seems to be operating differently than “average” Vic SFH based on the alerts I receive. Interested in your view for 2020 for this segment
KPMG came up with these concise tax-related tables with proposed policies in various categories.
http://www.exchangemagazine.com/2019/week41/Tuesday/ca-2019-federal-election-parties-offer-up-diverse-tax-policies.pdf
Two out of three.
Didn’t need family help for the purchase, but the gift raised our down payment to 18% from 14%.
James, I think the only one constantly bragging is Introvert. But that’s someone who admits they needed dual income, family help and a basement tenant to afford a $500k house. So I wouldn’t really put much weight into what he/she thinks.
oops did I just commit a personal attack?
Yep. It doesn’t exist yet publicly. Less than 2 weeks out from the election and no published platform!
Re: the debate
I agree Leo isn’t housing most of the country’s #1 priority atm? Millenials outnumber all other voting segments this election and housing is our main issue, yet no one talked about it. I think with 6 leaders it was too much and everyone got caught up in needing to say their rehearsed zingers and a couple staple messages, and didn’t have the time to dig deep into real issues. The Bloc and PPC should not have been included.
Overall I think Singh and May performed the best, they’re good speakers and know their policies very well. I wish the Greens and NDP would just merge and rock the next election. I’m so sick of people strategic voting to block another party out and the same 2 in charge every time is old, it’s time for fresh ideas.
Scheer and Trudeau just jabbed at eachother, at least I got a better feel for what the Liberals are promising after watching but the Conservatives have nothing besides “reverse what he did”. I tried looking up their platform after the debate and I can’t even find it on their website.
You forgot to commend Michael for his “facts” too Grant.
Personally don’t see more bearish comments at all.
Also not disgruntled, and not looking to piss in everyone’s cornflakes. Just in the ones constantly bragging.
As an aside. Anyone actually eat cornflakes in this day and age?
Number of sales down as well no? Less people are interested in real estate when it’s no longer a lottery ticket.
Yes. Traffic (and comments) definitely down this year. Can’t say I’m entirely sure why. Could be reduced interest in real estate (big surge in traffic from Vancouver readers in 2016/17 that has died down), could be the content is less interesting, could be people are moving housing discussion to FB/Twitter/Youtube. Could be combination of all of the above. I’ll be writing some more for the Capital going forward. May eventually drop back to 1 post a week here so I can concentrate on some other initiatives. It does feel a little like most issues have been covered so focus should be more on how best to explain market factors to new people without having to read the blog back to front and on how to give people access to the up to date important factors at a glance.
How magnanimous.
I won’t speak for Introvert or Patrick, and I didn’t catch what in particular has Rook thinking they are bullies, but personally I think they bring a ton of good to the discussions here. You don’t NEED to be looking to buy a house to contribute here. People who recently bought, or have lived here for a long time add an extremely valuable viewpoint. Besides if we’re going to disqualify current owners who aren’t looking to buy then we should also disqualify disgruntled renters who are just looking to piss in everyone’s CornFlakes.
Leo has always done a top notch job with HHV staying neutral, balanced and fact based. By contrast the comments are almost always filled with more bearish comments – which is understandable. It’s like reviews on websites – people are more motivated to bitch and complain then they are to leave good feedback. C’est la vie.
Personal attacks should always be called out for what they are (and everyone can occasionally let their ego run amok) but without contrary opinions (often backed up with facts which Patrick in particular should be commended for) this place would be a serious echo chamber and of far lesser value to those looking to buy.
They’re not even looking to buy a house Rook. They’re literally here to get their jollies.
Guy I work with would drive to Thetis and bike in from there. Said it way much much faster.
Hey Leo, I assume are you tracking readership rate long term? It could be interesting to see how page hits relate to the market. It could also be meaningless noise.. but no way to know unless you try.
I’d assume there is a correlation between market sentiment and clicks on RE articles.
Dang, all I did was try to remember the “RBC Lady.”
No, I started my hijinks on HHV so, so long ago. I bet I’m one of the longest continually posting people on this blog (maybe not something to brag about).
I don’t participate on other forums and never have.
I don’t have the guts, which is why blogs are great! It’s a feature, not a bug.
Also, this forum is the tamest forum in Internet history, so give your head a shake.
Yes, mass transit to Langford seems like a no-brainer big infrastructure project that should be started ASAP. Not a trivial task, but we did build a railroad across Canada (CPR) in the 1880’s in about 10 years.
Patrick-
No I don’t consider Langford a dump, just the SFH’s in my price range. I actually love Langford & area it reminds me of Calgary. Every amenity, Costco, parks galore, and young parents like me. I just wish our jobs were there because commuting to downtown after our move (plus daycare pick ups) is going to suck so much. I’m glad at least the BC government is considering offices out there… I’m Fed though, so no hope for me. I’ll just keep rallying for a ferry, a train and an HOV lane.
I find the prices out there ridiculous for what you get and they’re still just out of reach for us. But clearly not as bad as Victoria. Will see what the spring brings. Even kettle Creek boxes without a suite or yard are 550k, and West Hills starts at 599k for the same.
Hm, frustrating. I didn’t see it personally, but it does seem that not mentioning that would get people’s attention.
Perhaps it’s one of those things where there’s politically no safe stance to take. Campaigning on mitigating housing seems like a bad idea, campaigning on supporting it seems much the same (at least right now). Their polices I suppose, speak for themselves.
Funny, most of those polices (extended amort, equity sharing) were unsuccessfully attempted in the US a decade ago. In the book House of Debt, the authors actually explore these policies in some detail and their failures, albeit in the American context.
Despite the inability of those policies to uphold the market, we’re trying the same gig up here. But then again, perhaps our leadership must be seen to be doing something, anything, despite it probably being a situation they have little control over.
Yep. Caught about 85% of it. Housing affordability, which is one of the top 3 concerns for Canadians apparently got exactly zero mentions that I can remember. Bill 21 got about 30 min of discussion despite it being a niche issue at best, and every single answer being a nothingburger of “I wouldn’t interfere”.
Stupid stupid stupid.
I actually enjoy Patrick and Introvert’s “bullying” because then I can try to bully the bully. Love how Patrick actually has time to dig up people previous comments from people in prior posts. I wish I had the time to dig up the post where Patrick said a mortgage is 80/20 interest/principal at the start… I guess he has since changed his tone.
Barrister, I don’t think it makes more sense to have the ferries head office in Sidney or Mill Bay since those are just two of the 40+ terminals ferries have. Around 2009 they did a 25 year reverse mortgage lease deal with the Jawls for their current space downtown with the option to buy half of the building at 50% of the original construction cost. So that move has proven to be fairly shrewd in retrospect. In general, having headquarters in the core is a good idea as it makes it easy logistically for meetings etc, you can also view it as a none monetary perk for the employees (nice building downtown). They are after all the biggest “private” company in town.
Did anyone tune into last night’s debate?
While I am not fond of Horgan, I will give him credit for considering moving a number of government jobs out of the core and to the West Shore, For the life of me I dont know why the head office of BC Ferries is in downtown Victoria and not in Sidney or better still Mill Bay. I imagine it is because it is more convenient for the overpaid top management guys.
It all come down to supply and demand, and it wasn’t the foreigners or the boomers that caused the price appreciation.
SFH in the core is more unaffordable now than the past, because in the past the population was smaller and there were more SFH in the core. And, in the past there are young professionals who couldn’t afford a core SFH so they buy something out of town and commute to work.
An example, in 1992 my eldest sister (biomedical researcher) and her husband (software developer) couldn’t afford a house in the core with 1 child so they purchased a starter SFH at 850 sqf 2 bed and 1 bath out in Sooke. The assessment for that house is now $374,000, which still is within range for most first time buyer on this board.
Rook: You might want to just skip reading Patrick and Introvert if they annoy you.Your comment did give me a smile since you seem to be bullying them into changing what they write. I reserve my annoyance for the deer who are eating up my garden. On the other hand we dont have moose running around so maybe we should count our blessings.
Patrick and Introvert, you two are bullies always looking for an quarrel. I feel like you probably started your hijinks on greaterfool and realized there were just too many like you there so you moved over to this site. I actually feel like you really taint this forum with your assness.
People are allowed to share their opinions on here. If you don’t agree with their assessment, ignore it or come up with a valid rebuttal. You seem to find yourselves witty and amusing but I bet only one or two people on here appreciate your comments. I would be curious if we should all meet up in person and see if you guys have the guts to talk to your peers like this in person.
Yes, that’s what it was. The “RBC Lady.” Thank you, Patrick.
Yes, that would be the “RBC Lady” story. Decidedly darker in tone than today’s relatively upbeat “it’s us locals” “Mortgage Lady” tale.
Episode 1: “The RBC Lady”.
From Feb. 2019 https://househuntvictoria.ca/2019/02/28/february-preview-market-cools-further/#comment-57050
….“LF: She opined quite confidently that the market in a year from now was going to be very different, and she was expecting a local and national downfall of the market on the order we haven’t seen in quite a long time.”
No kidding. Likely no one would be inclined to borrow from someone who tells you the housing market is going to crash in a year, only to see you return to sign you up for a big mortgage 7 months later.
Mortgage growth is apparently showing gains as well, but it’s bifurcated on the eastern side of the country. Most of the bump in the west appears to be in condos, where a ton of supply is coming online. It’s why I don’t think it’s investors doing this, at least not the ones paying attention. 😛
Different people. I’m an acquaintance of the bank lady, but was not that inclined to borrow from a bank. The mortgage lady is a broker I had never met before. Glad you like reading my posts by the way. You’re about the only one who does.
Yeah it’s noise. The signal though is that the market has tilted back slightly towards sellers after going the other direction for quite a while. I’ve been yammering on about how MOI levels did not justify price declines so it was a bit surprising to see some in the single family space, but the reason may in fact have turned out to be just the shock of the stress test and not actual market conditions.
Hard to tell at this point how much momentum this has. If I had to bet I would say it’s temporary given where we are in the cycle.
No kidding. Massive difference in pay in SF and Seattle. Like 2x before we even talk USD -> CAD.
We are also richer than my boomer parents. Why?
We are less frugal than my parents, but we live below our means and were lucky enough to be in a position to buy a house before the last runup. Also lucky with no significant health problems so far.
There you have it folks. A permabear comes to his senses. No more boogeymen* as the cause of high prices, it is “mainly due to us locals”.
Remember Local Fool’s “bank lady” story from many months ago?
Let us henceforth refer to this as the “mortgage lady” story.
Affordability has typically not been an issue here in Victoria. It definitely is at the moment.
They’re still in the mood to lend despite the higher prices. We went to a broker several weeks ago and within minutes they told us we could get approved for a purchase price approaching seven figures. I just kind of stared at her in disbelief. I was thinking – what investor would want to loan to us that much, for this market, now? Apparently there’s no shortage of them at the moment. It was actually eye opening in one way.
I asked her if she had a lot of clients that would go and borrow that much, she told me “you wouldn’t believe the things people were doing to get in”, as well as people with incomes under 100k buying homes for nearly 800k. She said B20 curtailed it a bit, but many folks are locking in at a 44% GDS ratio, which is apparently the max. Talk about living on the edge. No room for anything else in that scenario, and I said, geez what if that family needed a new car or had a medical expense, or one of them got laid off?
She told me that car dealerships were loaning out for new cars to folks that had those GDS ratios already, that dealerships “didn’t care”. I don’t know, it sounded odd, perhaps someone else knows better on that. Anyways, despite what she said about B20 curtailing some of the most egregious practices among borrowers, it almost sounded like it wasn’t really much of an impediment to the market anymore. While I’m not sure I believe that, looking at what they were proposing to loan to us, it made me wonder. It was bonkers.
For me, like I said, it was a learning experience that gave me even more of a basis of suspecting that prices are where they are in Victoria mainly due to us locals. If you make under 100k a year, you have no business levering up 7X to buy an 800k house. Maybe they all have juicy inheritances, sugar daddys or a money tree in the backyard. Crazy beavers.
Cadborosaurus, assuming you are putting down 20% as down payment. the $575K with a suite translates to you and your partner have a household income less than $100k. In the core you are competing with households who make 50% more than you for a SFH.
You’re the one forum member who replied ‘yes’ when I asked if anyone is even considering Langford. I’m hoping that you’re not adding “in Langford” to emphasize what a “dump” that would be, as many parts of Langford are beautiful. The good deals are always on the fringes, which is the Westshore now.
Rush4life that’s pretty much our exact same situation… We were qualified for 720k with a suite, pre-b20. Both of us have received promotions since then and have a larger downpayment but are maxed at 575k with a suite now (non-existent) so we get to look at sub 500 dumps with suite potential in Langford.
Introvert I’m from Calgary too, I consider myself a better spender and saver than my Alberta parents but I still think they’re richer due exclusively to housing appreciation. Alot was easier for them too, they told me to get the downpayment for their 1st house they each took a 2nd job for 3 months then bam had the savings. It’s taken me 5 years to do the same and it’s still not going to get me into a house the same size. My dad will need a weed-trimmer or something and just go buy it, I’ll shop around, price compare, the usually decide I don’t actually need it. I save up for vacations, my parents charge it to a credit card and carry a balance. Little things I think overall I’m doing better at but my savings pale in comparison to their house appreciation / doing nothing.
QT I agree with Soper – people might have complained about affordability before but probably more in a comparative historical sense. “This same house 5 years ago was 150K less – things are unaffordable!”. But today it’s different. 5 years ago my wife and I ran a mtg application and qualified for a home with a suite for around 750K – today we make more money, qualify for much less (b20), and house prices are much higher. For a large percent of the working population in Victoria things truly are unaffordable now (especially for a single family home in Greater Victoria).
Hasn’t. My neighbour across the road bought his place for less than what he sold his place in Wynyard Saskatchewan for.
KS 112: The difference is that my dad did not have a high end professional income and still managed to support a house and six kids in Toronto as well as a somewhat ramshackle cottage.
That is a pretty wild assumption.
I’ve been in Victoria for a long time and plan to live here for the rest of my life, hence I don’t want to see the loud lefty new comers or wet behind the ears spoiled brats erode away the beauty, freedom, friendliness, and economy of the city.
Affordability has always been an issue here in Victoria, and my 5 beloved Victoria born millennial nieces and nephews who are now like their peers struggling to find their place in society with out the complaints of how hard they are done by. They are now renters in the core and all working hard, some with 2 full time jobs, and one is working full time and at the same time taking a full course load at UVIC.
I’m just reporting the data. Don’t shoot the messenger, and also don’t immediately provide data-free opinions for why you think they aren’t matching what you want them to be.
These are median sale prices. Of course they could go up and down, but they are very near (0.6%) to all-time high now, up 9% in last 3 months and up 11% from beginning if the year. Have you read those numbers reported anywhere else?
I’m probably in the minority of millennials for whom this is true, but I don’t feel poorer than my boomer parents.
I think my partner and I are more disciplined with money than my parents (and my partner’s parents) were, but that’s not to say that our parents were bad with money or big spenders. They weren’t.
My partner and I were both born and raised in Calgary and our parents were homeowners. But neither set of parents got to experience relatively fast RE appreciation while owning, the way we have.
One of us stays home full-time with the kids, just like both sets of parents did. Only difference is we have suite income, which does help.
Like I said before, I think we’re more careful with money than our parents were, probably out of necessity: millennials don’t have the luxury of being able to pour some money down the drain and still have everything your heart desires.
It has. In the biggest housing market on this half of the country.
Don’t see how you see San Fran & Seattle being in anyway comparable to Vancouver. They actually PAY their employees. Tech workers in Vancouver get squat comparatively.
They are also both twice the size. LA is 6-7 times bigger.
Well Barrister, I think it has been agreed on this forum that 2 average professional incomes (combined ~$160k). does not need to share the space with a tenant to afford a decent house and family. 1 high-end professional income ($200+ plus) can still support a house and a family.
I really liked this:
Boomers gonna boomer
https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/op-ed/island-voices-a-millennial-s-complaint-boomers-gonna-boomer-1.23967738
Thanks again for all the hard work in providing the numbers. What is clear is that the long predicted housing collapse has not happened this year.
It is a rainy day so my mind has wandered into wondering how over the coarse of two generations we have moved from a single income being able to afford a SFH to requiring two incomes and tenants sharing your house. If you feel poorer than your parents it may be because you are poorer.
“Greater Victoria SFH Median Sept 2019 is $820k.
This is within 0.6% of all time high (may 2018 $825k).
Moreover
– this SFH median price is up 11% YTD
– SFH median prices are on a tear for the last three months. up 9% in just 3 months
July 2019 – $750k (Victoria SFH Median)
Aug 2019 – $789k (Victoria SFH Median)
Sep 2019- $820k (Victoria SFH Median)”
Patrick, now you are just being plain greedy in pushing the bull agenda. I suspect the sales mix has something to do with those price increases. I can pretty much guarantee that if you bought a home in July, you will not be able to sell that thing for 9% more now without renos.
As a continuation of the comments from the previous post. I just don’t see a semi decent livable SFH home with a suite in the core of Victoria go below $700k given where current interest rates and wages are.