If there was ever a time when a picture is worth a thousand words, this is it. The only other time I have ever seen grown-ups sleep in a lineup outside overnight was in 1980 -- one block down the street -- at the Bank of Nova Scotia Vancouver Main Branch, waiting to buy their ounce of gold at the top.
As you read the article, you can detect every element found in the Enthusiam phase of the Justin Mamis sentiment cycle. Of course, the buyers of gold became bagholders, but at least they paid for the shiny stuff with cash. I wonder how many people in this lineup were being mindful that it takes 25 YEARS to pay off the debt they will take on, not to mention the fact that the risk for them down the road is upward pressure on interest rates. We won't spoil their fun, I guess.
Going, going, gone!
New record set when 494 Yaletown condos snapped up in one dayVANCOUVER, February 29 (The Province) - Just when home buyers thought real -estate demand couldn't get any higher, the market decided to take another hike up Mount Everest.
Just ask Babak Shahbazi (Teresa: he is pictured above), who slept next to about 150 other prospective buyers on Georgia Street Friday night so he could be among the first to purchase a Yaletown Park condo.
"We weren't planning on coming last night," said the 36-year-old realtor, who was vying for a one-bedroom suite that won't even be completed until December 2006. "We were driving by and saw everyone lining up and then said, 'OK, we have to do it.'"
By 7 p.m. yesterday, 494 of the 608 units were sold, totalling $123 million in sales, said project marketer Bob Rennie, who had pizza delivered at midnight to those waiting on the street.
"This is crazy," said Rennie, known as Vancouver's "Condo King," who sold $274 million worth of property last year -- the North American record. "It's absolutely the most [I've sold in a day], maybe the most in the city."
Andy Paterson, 54, who was first in line on Friday at 1 p.m., was glowing 21 hours later when he finally bought a two-bedroom suite, which were priced between $269,900 and $399,900.
"It's just that I've seen property go up in Europe and people seem to think it's not going to get any higher here but it's going to," said the longshoreman, who immigrated from Britain in 1971.
The situation in the Interior is similar, said Mike Cadieux of Prudential Kelowna Properties.
"We don't really have adequate supply for the number of buyers that are out there. Inventory is low in all the neighbourhoods and, of course, the buyers are out there because the cost of money is really cheap," he said. "It's getting stupid out there, prices are going up because of it."
Dale Quist, also of Prudential Kelowna Properties, said property near Big White is being snapped up by people from around the globe.
"It's extremely active up there," he said. "We have a shortage of listings and, of course, that's forcing the prices up."
And with new mortgage rules to come into effect tomorrow, demand is expected to surge even more. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is now allowing buyers to source the five-per-cent downpayment from credit cards, lines of credit or personal loans rather than their savings.
"It will free up an enormous amount of first-time buyers", said Sheila Francis of Re/Max. "The pressure is really on the market . . . People are just waiting for new listings to come up but we've got very few listings."
Mortgage broker Debbie Twitchell said the change is expected to benefit those who have a steady income but can't accumulate a downpayment quickly because their money is tied up in paying rent. While low interest rates have been tempting prospective buyers (the Bank of Canada is expected to cut rates again this week), high demand has also been making bidding wars common practice.
"Last year, easily 50 per cent of [my clients] just fizzled out, they just gave up," said Maggie Chandler of Chandler Realty Ltd. "They couldn't handle what they had to do to be successful so they just stepped out and said 'Well, I'll wait until things settle down.' But unfortunately when things settle down, the prices are going to be way higher."
Many buyers are wondering if the prices will go down soon, but Ward McAllister, president of the Urban Development Institute, predicts demand will keep rising because of resumed confidence in the economy, a growing population and a lack of supply.
"You look at all those cranes and condos being built and they're predominantly pre-sold," he said.
For demand to equal supply, there needs to be a six-month standing inventory. "But right now, there's less than two weeks of inventory," said Ward.
04.03.02 09:58 #