Canadian average weekly wage $909

Quote from StarDust9182:

One disturbing thing I heard last week (visiting friends on false creek)
was that up to one-third of Vancouver condos are unoccupied.
More...

that has to be false. more likely For Sale
it's easy to rent a condo and Many condos are rented since for-rent apartments are
no longer being built except non profit/government type housing
For Sale/Sold stats for condos etc: http://www.dexterrealty.com/current-market-conditions.php

'per capita' - does that mean just the borrowers, or the whole population ?
if it's the whole population then the amounts have to be higher because wouldn't you
have to exclude people on welfare, in nursing homes, in jail, bankruptcies etc ?
 
Quote from Wallace:

that has to be false. more likely For Sale
it's easy to rent a condo and Many condos are rented since for-rent apartments are
no longer being built except non profit/government type housing
For Sale/Sold stats for condos etc: http://www.dexterrealty.com/current-market-conditions.php

'per capita' - does that mean just the borrowers, or the whole population ?
if it's the whole population then the amounts have to be higher because wouldn't you
have to exclude people on welfare, in nursing homes, in jail, bankruptcies etc ?
More...

When I use per capita, I mean the whole population not just some parts.

More information on the anecdote (I find it hard to believe myself and have not personally verified it):

My friends were renting at 5000 a month they said. I said wow these places must be worth a lot and selling like hotcakes. Yes they said but prices have dropped compared to a couple of years ago and they are not moving currently. (1 to 2 million range). They gave me specific examples by pointing at them out their window. They were certainly right about those entire floors being sold but empty.

How could they drop in price I said. These are prime locations and restricted supply. He said it gets worse yet and then gave me the up-to 30% empty number. He then proceeded to point to three whole floors of condos. I could see inside them. There was not a stick of furniture, cheap sheer window coverings, and clearly no one was living in them currently. These have been around for years. That was just in one close building. He was certainly right about that building, but I can't verify the greater Vancouver number. It made me think of China right away.
 
its so hard to talk median home prices in the US. there are a lot of areas in the US people buy a decent home for 100k and there areas 400k+ is the median easy.

Quote from peilthetraveler:

By comparison the US average weekly wage is $773 per week.


Seems like they are making more money until you look at median home prices. In Canada median home prices are $353,000. In the US, its $238,000. Basically all that extra money just goes into housing.
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Quote from peilthetraveler:

.... In Canada median home prices are $353,000. In the US, its $238,000. Basically all that extra money just goes into housing.
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There has been a real estate bubble burst in the U.S. obviously impacting its median price....a 20% to 30% drop (and worse in well pointed out locations.) Helps to explain some of the current 48% difference in median prices between the two countries.

Quote from WS_MJH:
Isn't Canada more urbanized? That's probably the answer right there.
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Location, location, location. Canadians would know better about their country being more urbanized than me. But should this be the case in a large way, then it would indeed affect value.

Aside from the American real estate melt down, the first thing I look at for an answer to why a 48% difference in median price is "demand." Location is the obvious impact here; a significantly more urbanized country makes sense that its median home price would be significantly different from one that is not. The other is the wealth of the nations and its citizens looked at in comparison between countries. Real estate price was not the only melt down in America. Level of employed is another. Also, a younger generation in America coming into the traditional house buying age is disparaged from owning a home and has largely become renters. A significant swing in the pendulum for underwriting standards applied to prospective home purchasers in the U.S. is well known. All of these factors are influence on demand for real estate ownership.
 
Quote from StarDust9182:

.....One disturbing thing I heard last week (visiting friends on false creek) was that up to one-third of Vancouver condos are unoccupied.
More...

I am curious about this. Mid-week this last week, we rented for a short stay, a nicely located two bedroom suite in Vancouver roughly a few blocks away from Stanley Park and the water on one side, and two blocks away from Denman Street on the other side. This was very much like a condo and may have been at one time (recently ?). I couldn't touch the low price I was charged per night compared to any other comparable city in the U.S. It was a head scratcher for me as to how this could be. Corroboration to what was being advised to you ?
 
I googled "Vancouver empty condos" and found several articles. My friend was renting in yaletown and I found this quote from one dated last month:

"In Coal Harbour – an area that boasts some of the most expensive properties in Canada – the vacancy rate sits at 23 per cent, said Yan."

and

"In downtown Vancouver – excluding the city’s West End neighbourhood – roughly 52 per cent of condo units are occupied by owners — while 48 per cent are owned by investors who live at another address."

The vacancy rates were calculated using power consumption from the local utility. Clever method.
 
it gets really pathetic when you get down to El Passo and see how they live on one side of a river and how they live down in Juarez on the other. And the river isn't really that big, you can swim across it (or on most days just walk across it.)

Same goes for Haiti and Dominican Republic

Same goes for California and Arizona

Same goes for Ohio and Michigan

Same goes for Germany and France, just little lines men drew on the map
 
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