Chinese Homebuyers Spreading Wealth Make Vancouver Pricier Than Manhattan

7 posts

chairman

Few mindsets are more insidious than that which views personal residential housing as an investment vehicle that must generate ever-increasing returns. It's a place to live. It's clear to me that strict limits on non-citizens buying residential housing must be in place.

Småland
The Danes very wisely have this sort of restriction on buying property. My uncle actually went through the exceptions process with the Ministry of Justice (he's a swede) where he basically had to prove that he was a Danophile and that it was not an 'investment'.
Broseph

Canadian subprime mortgage market finally BTFO. First domino is falling:

Home Capital stock plunges the most on record and drags other lenders down with it

Home Capital Group Inc. plunged the most on record after disclosing that it struck a deal for a $2 billion credit line to counter dwindling deposits, at terms that will leave the alternative mortgage lender unable to meet financial targets.

The non-binding agreement with an unnamed counterparty will be secured by a portfolio of mortgage loans originated by Home Trust, the Toronto-based firm said in a statement Wednesday. Home Capital shares dropped as much as 52 per cent in Toronto to the lowest since 2009, dragging down other home lenders. Equitable Group Inc. fell 16 per cent, while First National Financial Corp. declined 7.6 per cent.

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Home Capital will pay 10 per cent interest on outstanding balances and a non-refundable commitment fee of $100 million, while standby fee on undrawn funds is 2.5 per cent. The initial draw must be $1 billion.

“The company is facing a bit of a liquidity crunch and they felt they needed to resolve it quickly,” said Andrew Torres, founding partner and chief investment officer at Toronto-based Lawrence Park Asset Management, which holds Home Capital’s bonds due May 2017. He said the “steep” commitment fee and the interest rate on the loan “are surprising numbers for a company that was ostensibly investment-grade.”

Dwindling Deposits

The company’s woes stem from allegations by the Ontario Securities Commission that Home Capital misled investors and broke securities laws. Founder Gerald Soloway will step down from the board when a replacement is named and Robert Blowes will assume the role of interim chief financial officer, the company said Monday.

The loan will provide Home Capital with more than $3.5 billion in total funding, more than twice the $1.5 billion in liquid assets it held as at April 24. It also has $200 million in securities available for sale, and high interest savings account balances fell about 25 per cent to $1.4 billion over the past month. Lenders such as Home Capital rely on deposits to fund their mortgage loans.

“The company anticipates that further declines will occur, and that the credit line would also mitigate the impact of those,” Home Capital said.

The company set new performance goals in February after reporting quarterly results, targeting revenue growth of 5 per cent or greater, diluted earnings-per-share of 7 per cent or greater and a return on equity of 15 per cent or more over the long term.

Niccolo and Donkey
Broseph
http://www.greaterfool.ca/2017/07/02/deja-vu-3/

It wasn't the Chinese last time. Canadians spent 71% of pre-tax income to hold a house last time this thing popped. We're doing it again.
Kebab Removal Service
'They are using their religion to victimize me!' Canadian landlord fined $12,000 for not taking shoes off in Muslim tenants' home
  • John Alabi, 52, rented out the first floor of his Brampton, Ontario, home to Walid Madkour and Heba Ismailin December 2014
  • Couple gave their notice two months later and Alabi began showing prospective tenants round the property
  • But Madkour and Ismailin say while doing so he failed to accommodate their Muslim religious practices
  • They say he didn't give them enough warning before entering their apartment, after a 24 hour warning, to give Ismailin time to cover up according to her faith
  • The couple say Alabi also refused to remove his shoes when showing their bedroom, which was being used as a prayer room
  • Alabi claimed 'they are using their religion to victimize me' and says he did everything he could to accommodate them
  • Tribunal court disagreed and ordered Alabi to pay $12,000 to the couple
By Hannah Parry For Dailymail.com
Published: 22:28 BST, 10 July 2017 | Updated: 16:13 BST, 11 July 2017

A Canadian landlord has been fined $12,000 for failing to respect his Muslim tenants' religion by not taking his shoes off when he entered their apartment.

John Alabi, 52, let out the first floor of his Brampton, Ontario, home to Walid Madkour and Heba Ismailin December 2014.
But after a few turbulent months, their lease was terminated on February 28, 2015.

The couple later took Alabi, who is a Christian, to tribunal court claiming he failed to accommodate their religious practices after he failed to take off his shoes when showing prospective tenants, and did not give them enough warning before visits.

And the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario agreed, ordering Alibi to pay his former tenants $6,000 each, the Toronto Sun reports.

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John Alabi, 52, (left) has been fined $12,000 for failing to respect his Muslim tenants Walid Madkour (right) and Heba Ismailin's religion by not taking his shoes off when he entered their apartment

'I was humiliated, I was made to feel I have no rights, I was made to feel that I'm not wanted in society,' Alabi told the Sun. 'I feel powerless. They rented my place for only two months. Two months! It's just not fair, '

The trouble began after the couple gave notice in February 2015.

Alabi, originally from Nigeria, needed to organize viewings for potential tenants but said he did everything he could to accommodate the Egyptian-born Muslim couple.

After they asked him not to interrupt their prayers, they prayed five times a day, he says he acquiesced and would schedule them around them.

He would also give them 24 hours notice before entering the home, which he was allowed to do by law.

But Alabi says the couple made more and more unreasonable demands.

The landlord said that Madkour has asked him not to arrange visits when his wife was home, to which Alabi refused, and had demanded he text them five minutes before he arrived. Alabi said he had begun texting them before he arrived, but stopped after they failed to reply.

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Alabi claimed 'they are using their religion to victimize me' and says he did everything he could to accommodate them but was fined $12,000

He says the tenants even called the police on him when he was shoveling snow outside their apartment, claiming it was harassment.
Officers confirmed that Alabi was legally allowed to show their unit when they were there.

But Madkour and Ismailin gave a very different account. They say they were harassed by Alabi who did not respect their faith.

In court documents, they say that they had asked Alabi to give the five minute warning to allow Ismailin time to cover up according to her faith.

At the tribunal, the couple said their landlord ignored their pleas to remove his shoes before entering the bedroom where they prayed. Entering the room with his shoes on meant extra cleaning for the couple. But Alabi claims the couple never had a problem before when he wore his shoes to make repairs in the apartment, and said he wasn't wearing proper shoes but just ones he wore around his own home.

He was stunned when Madkour and Ismailin filed a complaint against him eight months later.

'They are using their religion to victimize me,' he complained.

But the tribunal panel found in favor of his tenants, ruling he ' discriminated against the applicants by failing to accommodate their religious practices ,' tribunal panel vice-chair Jo-Anne Pickel wrote in the decision, seen by The Star.

'Unfortunately, attempts by Muslims to practice their faith have increasingly been interpreted as an attempt to impose their way of life on others.'

Alabi must now pay both the $12,000 and legal fees - something he says he can ill afford. He added he only ever began renting out the place to pay his mortgage.

'I don't have the money. I work very hard. If they go into my bank account right now, I don't have $12,000 there,' Alabi said.


Broseph

This story could also function as a spark of hope, imho. PoC destroying each others life. Almost too beautiful too be true.
Broseph
It's a different topic, but we have a lot of the right ingredients for sectarian violence to become a thing within a generation. Some catalyst 10 to 20 years from now could make that happen.