Real estate in Calgary - another bubble?

[Cappy]

You would need 1.5 million to renovate that place

[Samonadreau]

I dont mind it.... guess I'm just a poor hillbilly

[ben voyonsdonc]

I don’t mind some of the architectural details but a lot of it is way over the top. A little bit of subtlety and restraint can go a long way.

[Mazrim]

I thought I'd share how my hunt for a home has gone for those might find it interesting. June and July appeared to be the months where everyone slowed down. Things in the sub-$500k detached market were still moving well, but it wasn't a panic or anything. Supply really dried up in the areas I've been looking and it was tough to find anything even worth viewing in-person. I was viewing places that had very little chance of being "the one" just to get familiar with the process and get to know my realtor.

It seems like some people have run out of patience at the end of August here, because more houses started selling in their first day on the market again. Some of them were really bad places in my opinion but they appear to be selling with no conditions. The property would move from "Pending" to "Sold" very quickly or it went immediately to "Sold" on the listing so I'm left to believe there's definitely a group of people hitting a time limit on their search.

I haven't actually viewed a house in a month because of the lack of decent properties and the one place that looked promising sold before I got a chance to view it. I'm sorta hopeful that more properties will show up once kids are back in school, but I have a feeling that the rising Covid cases will keep the market flat. Essentially, I have no choice but to be patient now and keep saving more and more to match the slow rise in prices.

[troutman]

I've also been told people are waiting for the federal election to end, before assessing the market.

[blankall]

I wonder how much of this madness is actually caused by Covid. The Millennials, who are the largest generation ever, are hitting the market in a big way. Boomers aren't selling and downsizing.

What we saw around January could have been the pent up demand after about 10 months of no one doing anything during the more serious lockdown.

I'm just not sure I buy the idea that there was a mass migration to the burbs caused by Covid at the root of the current real estate boom. The millennial demand is only going to increase as more and more start having kids. Boomers are also living a lot longer and seem to have no desire to move into condos.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by blankall

I wonder how much of this madness is actually caused by Covid. The Millennials, who are the largest generation ever, are hitting the market in a big way. Boomers aren't selling and downsizing.

My guess is pent up supply and demand (caused by people waiting for the pandemic dust to settle), as well as increased savings from the lack of travel/spending. Both of those are directly due to Covid. Ultra-low interest rates don't hurt either.

Originally Posted by Mazrim

I thought I'd share how my hunt for a home has gone for those might find it interesting.

Where are you looking? Don't need to be specific -- perhaps quadrant and type of property (SFH? Attached/townhouse? Condo?)

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by blankall

Boomers are also living a lot longer and seem to have no desire to move into condos.

My parents are a great example of this. Retired and in a house that was great when there were also 3 kids there, but now it's way too big for them. They have absolutely no desire to downsize because "what if family wants to visit" and "moving is annoying". I've been gently prodding them about it for years but might need to do some more drastic pushing before their health declines.

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Where are you looking? Don't need to be specific -- perhaps quadrant and type of property (SFH? Attached/townhouse? Condo?)

SFH in the deep-ish South. My wife and I have some pretty specific requirements and this isn't a starter home in the burbs situation. We know the kind of home we want exists and just need to be patient for the right one to show up. We're not picky about it being renovated or new, but the layout has to be right.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

My parents are a great example of this. Retired and in a house that was great when there were also 3 kids there, but now it's way too big for them. They have absolutely no desire to downsize because "what if family wants to visit" and "moving is annoying". I've been gently prodding them about it for years but might need to do some more drastic pushing before their health declines.

I see this everywhere. A friend's parents just recently upgraded to an even larger house with four extra bedrooms.....It's baffling to me. Now that real estate has gone up in price, it's a great time to sell and downgrade. The extra equity can be invested, and boomers could live pretty great retirements, rent/mortgage free, while also bringing in investment income. Most boomer couples selling their primary home could probably afford a really nice 2 bedroom condo in the neighbourhood of their choosing, then use the investment income to go on a fancy trip or two every year, without digging into the capital.

Instead, the norm just appears to be have 2 extra bedrooms designed for children in your house that will almost never get used. After a certain age, what use are you getting from your yard, that you couldn't get from visiting a nearby park?

I guess it's just an ego thing. Boomers don't want to accept having to move into a retirement home. Maybe change just becomes too difficult.

[activeStick]

Just saw this pop up and it seems to fit in here.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1432453008374251522

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

My parents are a great example of this. Retired and in a house that was great when there were also 3 kids there, but now it's way too big for them. They have absolutely no desire to downsize because "what if family wants to visit" and "moving is annoying". I've been gently prodding them about it for years but might need to do some more drastic pushing before their health declines.

My parents have looked into downsizing, but they always decide their house is still the best option even though it's too big... as it's low-cost, predictable, and gives them the space/freedom they enjoy.

They'd like to do something like a smaller bungalow that still has a nice garage for their RV, but those tend to be more expensive than their 2-story house. Nicer 2 bedroom condos, especially with some sort of "senior living" angle aren't cheap either... and once you consider the high condo fees, would be more expensive month-to-month. Add in the fact that after living in a house for so many decades, it would probably be hard to go into to a situation where there are more restrictions and they have to deal with potentially crappy neighbours and condo boards (don't really blame them there).

In the end, I can see their point of view. Downsizing isn't necessary cheaper, and it often just swaps out one set of issues for another. For some people, staying put becomes a bit of a "devil you know" thing.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Downsizing is largely a thing of the past, unless you’re moving into a seniors complex or an independent/assisted living complex, usually when one spouse dies. Once you factor in all those costs and the effort, finding the perfect downsize property, many retirees realize it’s not such a sweet deal.

It’s trending towards just selling and then finding a place to rent. Selling a house for $500k to $1m goes a long way even if you’re paying $2k a month for rent.

[Table 5]

Yeah, I actually think renting when you're older is a good way to go. You offload most of the responsibility and financial headaches, and have more flexibility with your money.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Yeah, I actually think renting when you're older is a good way to go. You offload most of the responsibility and financial headaches, and have more flexibility with your money.

Risk with renting (especially as an older person) is that you might need to move on someone else's timing, which I think has the potential to be hard as a senior.

[boogerz]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

I thought I'd share how my hunt for a home has gone for those might find it interesting. June and July appeared to be the months where everyone slowed down. Things in the sub-$500k detached market were still moving well, but it wasn't a panic or anything. Supply really dried up in the areas I've been looking and it was tough to find anything even worth viewing in-person. I was viewing places that had very little chance of being "the one" just to get familiar with the process and get to know my realtor.

It seems like some people have run out of patience at the end of August here, because more houses started selling in their first day on the market again. Some of them were really bad places in my opinion but they appear to be selling with no conditions. The property would move from "Pending" to "Sold" very quickly or it went immediately to "Sold" on the listing so I'm left to believe there's definitely a group of people hitting a time limit on their search.

It's surprising how many poorly maintained ex-rental homes were listed this spring/summer and the crazy prices they're selling for.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Risk with renting (especially as an older person) is that you might need to move on someone else's timing, which I think has the potential to be hard as a senior.

For sure. There's never going to be the perfect risk/headache free scenario, so in the end it all depends where your priorities are.

[CroFlames]

My perspective might change in the future, but I plan on staying in my current home until I literally can't anymore and I need to be sent to a seniors care facility.

If things go right, I should be able to live comfortably in retirement, even with my current home, which would be "too big" by most metrics for two retired folks. I like have a garage where I can tinker.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by boogerz

It's surprising how many poorly maintained ex-rental homes were listed this spring/summer and the crazy prices they're selling for.

I wonder how many landlords got rid of properties last year after tenants in said crappy homes were unable to pay rent (or get evicted) due to Covid.

I'm sure the mini-boom didn't hurt either...

[blankall]

In North America, we're really used to "new builds", which isn't really a thing in many places of the world. Going forward, the new norm is going to involve a lot more renovation of existing crap holes that were either previously rented or where boomers died with their 70s-90s style interiors.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by blankall

In North America, we're really used to "new builds", which isn't really a thing in many places of the world.

In Japan, houses are completely disposable.