This is the first version of the grab bag. It's a cheap post today - I have to go and deal with my geriatric dog. Today is her last day on earth.
I came across an old copy of The Province from October 4, 2000 that I must have saved for packing dishes or something.
Pierre Trudeau had just died.
9.11 was almost a year into the future.
The weather was 19 degrees C., and sunny.
Lots of hype in the paper about technology and tech. stocks.
The TSE was trading at 10,456.
Dow Jones was at 10,719.
Nasdaq was at 3,455.
Nortel was up$ 0.95 @ $94.05 (and man, were they pumping Nortel as a new paradigm...).
The U.S. $ was at $1.52.
There were not a lot of houses for sale in the classified section. In East Vancouver @ 37th and Nanaimo, you could get a 3 level character view home with 3 bedrooms and two baths for $245k.
Downtown rentals were pretty "reasonable" too -
And that is the grab bag for December 13th, 2006. What a difference 6 years makes on the Wet Coast.
7 comments:
Hey I am very sorry about your dog. I am sure you gave her a good send off, but it is such a hard thing to do. But the right thing I am sure.
Sorry for your loss.
The 2000 rents are actually very similar to today, especially when you allow for inflation. The suburban rents barely changed at all.
Here is an interesting clipping:
"The median net worth of the country's top fifth came to $551,000 last year. It was $465,000 in 1999 and $336,000 in 1984.
The surging price of housing explains much of the increase. Most of those (95 per cent) in the top 20 per cent bracket owned a home, and the median value of that home grew by $75,000 between 1999 and 2005. Only six per cent of those in the lowest wealth group owned a home."
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2006/12/13/wealth.html
Many upper middle-class Vancouverites are going to take a devestating hit when the bubble bursts. The poor are barely going to notice and maybe even benefit from lower rent.
I'm really sorry you've had to make such a decision for your dog. It's the right thing to do, but that doesn't make it easy.
Farewell sweet Que.. she will be sorely missed...
Thanks for your commiserations all. It sucks to have to do it, but there really isn't much left of the poor old girl.
patiently waiting - I too noticed the likeness in rents. I have only had two increases since 2000. I think that it might be more if I had to start from scratch in a new place, but I'm not sure, and I don't particularly want to find out. I'm hoping to buy soon, and never have to worry about that.
You scooped me on the net worth, etc. (not to hard to scoop me, what with my indolence and all).
What was telling about that is that the top earners' net worth increased by 20% to $800-odd k (counting in retirement packages, etc.)1999-2005, while the bottom 20% saw a decline since 1984, and tended to owe more than they have.
The upper-middles will take a hit, but it is an abstract one. Pity them if they were fools enough to heloc that paper increase they saw though. It will serve to demonstrate the perils of indebtedness IMHO.
"Hot housing market expected to cool . . .
Frenzied pace in Alberta to continue, with resale home prices pegged to rise 12 per cent during the next 12 months"
Here's another article.....on the positive side. Maybe they are in the denial phase of the turn down.
They're predicting 12.6% for Alberta actually.
Yes, three significant figures! Isn't that amazing?
You know, if anyone purported to have predictions like these for the stock market they would be laughed at, but in real estate the press still gives credence to "experts" like this.
This is also a real knee-slapper: "Canadians shouldn't be too hung up over the U.S. housing market fallout". Like Canada doesn't depend on exports to the US or anything.
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