ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION
Garth Turner
A best-selling Canadian author of 14 books on economic trends, real estate, the financial crisis, personal finance strategies, taxation and politics. Nationally-known speaker and lecturer on macroeconomics, the housing market and investment techniques. He is a licensed Investment Advisor with a fee-based, no-commission Toronto-based practice serving clients across Canada.
June 9th, 2021 | A Pox on Them
The Greater Fool - A year ago 60% of BCers said heaping more taxes on real estate would make it less expensive, proving many people will believe anything if told it often enough. This year that number is down to 42%. House detached house prices in YVR, meanwhile, have hit $1.8 million, up 23% since last May. As we […]
June 8th, 2021 | Let’s Worry
The Greater Fool - Kelowna has its charms. Hills. A big lake. Aquatic monster. The barmaids at Joey Restaurant. This BC town also looks like Mississauga in a Tommy Bahama shirt and has a real estate market just as nutso. As prices in the 905 have gone ballistic thanks to the unaffordability of Toronto, so has Kelowna erupted thanks […]
June 7th, 2021 | Truths
The Greater Fool - So 68% of the herd is dosed in Canada, at least partially. Provinces are pushing for 75% (Ontario) or 85% (NS) within a few weeks. Reopening will be faster, wider and wilder than seemed possible even weeks ago. Covid will go from pandemic to just endemic. Like the flu. You won’t hear daily case counts […]
June 6th, 2021 | Reptilian
The Greater Fool - Days ago this blog told you about Willow. That’s the outfit seeking to establish a fund which will buy real estate with 100% funding (mortgages and crowdfunding) then pay unit-holders an undetermined return. Willow will make money from real estate fees, transaction charges and a 1% MER. Then it will go to an IPO in […]
June 4th, 2021 | Look Out
The Greater Fool - On Wednesday local Ottawa politicians will thumbs-up an empty-house tax. The average property sells for $742,000 now (+35% in a year), so the tax would be $600 a month on a place not rented or owner-occupied for 184 days a year. Of course, Vancouver does this, too. The tax there is an astonishing 3% of […]
June 3rd, 2021 | Hitting the Wall
The Greater Fool - Tougher stress test. Mortgage creep. Buyer fatigue. It’s all having an impact on the market. See the stats below. But the biggest impact of all? That’s price. Now that less than 16% of all Canadians can afford real estate we’re hitting that inevitable, hulking wall of absolute unaffordability. Governments and central bankers ignored the effects […]
June 2nd, 2021 | Light it up
The Greater Fool - One day this week, I told Dorothy this morning as I left for the wee bank, expect to see a few courier boxes arrive on the porch. Contactless delivery, of course. “Presents?” she cooed, expectantly. Well, kinda, I said. For Canada. Days ago I ordered enough fireworks to win a smallish rebellion somewhere. The intention […]
June 1st, 2021 | Epiphany
The Greater Fool - Will people give up on housing because conditions are, well, insane? The latest real estate board stats (later this week) may shed some light on that. But the anecdotal evidence is sure flooding in. Realtors report fewer showings, a decline in bidding wars and ‘offer nights’ where an expected deluge of paper during a blind […]