Hulver's site || Comments || What happened to all of the other housing bubbles outside America?

The local bubble where I live is still strong by Greener (2.00 / 0) #1 Thu May 08, 2008 at 01:47:49 PM EST

in a small town in western Canada. It helps that this is a very desirable place to live sandwiched between a lake and a mountain with no room to spread out or build more homes. Real estate is still a third the price of equivalent places in Vancouver or Calgary and most of it seems to be fueled by Alberta's oil boom and Calgarians buying summer and investment properties. It's causing huge problems for students (we're a college town) and low income families.

My place has more than doubled in less than four years and If I wanted to I could probably sell my extra lot and pay off my mortgage. This is a large part of why the place is so desirable.

There's legitimate growth in your anCalgary's case by nlscb (1.00 / 1) #2 Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:06:57 PM EST

There is a huge oil boom and houses take time to build. I have no doubt that housing will eventually catch up. In your case, there is simply a small amount of land to build upon due to the mountains.

What concerns me more is when you have a housing bubble in DC, which is 1 hr from the sea, 3 from the mountains, and has a massive coastal plain stretching south of it to Florida. When Minneapolis has a housing bubble, with flat empty habbitable land 1000 miles in every direction, then I get really scared.

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DC's bubble will burst when we have a Conservative by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #3 Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:19:31 PM EST

President who believes in small government and downsizes the government.

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: Yay! by ambrosen (4.00 / 1) #5 Thu May 08, 2008 at 05:44:21 PM EST

I'm doing me some investing in DC property then.

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: this is shortly after china takes over, then? by aphrael (2.00 / 0) #10 Fri May 09, 2008 at 02:31:15 AM EST

If television is a babysitter, the internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up.
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desirable place to live by clover kicker (2.00 / 0) #6 Thu May 08, 2008 at 06:25:29 PM EST

That's putting it mildly, assuming there's any work nearby.

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That's the catch by Greener (2.00 / 0) #7 Thu May 08, 2008 at 06:43:26 PM EST

The main industry around here is tourism and adventure sport. Except for one smallish software company there's no IT work unless you telecommute.

The place went through a massive bust about the same time as Calgary's first oil bust in the early 80s when the mill shut down. At the time you could get a 4000 sq ft Victorian home for under 15k as the place emptied. The town restored it's main street to it's turn of the century look and reinvent itself as a tourism destination. Those big old Victorian houses now go for over 650k and anything on the waterfront is at least a million.

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I'm Down East by clover kicker (2.00 / 0) #8 Thu May 08, 2008 at 07:04:58 PM EST

So I know exactly what it's like to live in a beautiful spot with crappy work prospects.

Once upon a time I had great hope in telecommuting, but it seems mostly practiced by people who work for Toronto companies but live in the remote wilds of Brampton.

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Woah woah woah! by Driusan (2.00 / 0) #9 Thu May 08, 2008 at 10:43:34 PM EST

Crappy work prospects? But you could become a.. a lobster fisherman, or a.. a.. a professional beer drinker! Or even an amateur beer drinker!

The sky is the limit!
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I needed a new sig. And now I have one.
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you forgot lumberjack and potato farmer -nt- by clover kicker (2.00 / 0) #12 Fri May 09, 2008 at 09:52:47 AM EST

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: Let's not get carried away here (nt) by Driusan (2.00 / 0) #13 Fri May 09, 2008 at 04:49:18 PM EST

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I needed a new sig. And now I have one.
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