3 ms·
Meanwhile in Vancouver: . 1120 CAD/sqft . median before tax household income (City of Vancouver) 72,585 CAD . ~30pc tax -> ~51k after tax . 400 sqft 1120= 4
by RandyRanderson 5y ago
Meanwhile in Vancouver:
. 1120 CAD/sqft
. median before tax household income (City of Vancouver) 72,585 CAD
. ~30pc tax -> ~51k after tax
. 400 sqft 1120= 448k. 15% = 62k for a 15pc downpayment for a 400sqft condo.
Summary: In Vancouver the median household* would not be able to save 15% of a down payment for a 400 sqft "home" if they spent NOTHING for a year. We'll ignore the fact that housing appreciated for many years here at more than 10%/y.
This is good for ppl like me b/c I own stuff and this situation forces ppl to work more for less money in jobs they hate. For folks starting out (incl new immigrants), it's terrible. The root cause is very high immigration. Sweden (and Canada) have very high rates which puts pressure on the low end of the job market and pushes up home prices.
The US has a much lower rate (0.5%/y) than Canada (1.1%/y), which is likely one reason why homes are still somewhat affordable there.
- beambot 5y agoThis plays out all over the place. Take San Mateo, California: * Median pre-tax household income: $103k * Post-Tax: $70k * Median home price: $1.6M (~$1200 USD per sqft) * 400 sqft: $480k (note: this is without the 20-30% premium you'd pay for smaller properties) * 15% downpayment: $72k Housing prices are broken all over the place...
- RandyRanderson 5y agoMany would say that comparing San Mateo, arguably part of silicon valley (the center of the technology business world-wide), to Vancouver (we have no real industry unless you count tourism or money laundering[0]) is at best disingenuous. [0] https://complyadvantage.com/knowledgebase/vancouver-money-laundering-model https://complyadvantage.com/knowledgebase/vancouver-money-la...
- BadInformatics 5y agoVancouver may have "no industry" relative to SV, but it is a veritable black hole for tech on the west coast of Canada. The same rat race of high-skilled, well-paying jobs only being available in HCoL cities is just as much of an issue north of the border. The even smaller gap between compensation and CoL in Vancouver, Toronto, etc. just serves to make things more miserable.
- beambot 5y agoHuh. I was always told that Vancouver was a staging ground for Amazon & Microsoft folks who didn't want to or couldn't immigrate to the US.
- BadInformatics 5y agoCanadaland did a great series on the pathology of Vancouver real estate recently [1]. TL;DL there is no consensus on the root cause, but the usual suspects of bureaucracy, NIMBYism and foreign investment all make an appearance. [1] https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/real-estate-3-terminal-city/ https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/real-estate-3-terminal-ci...