Employment down, House Prices up and that is good News??

IPG does not equal reality.

Propaganda in order to create a false sense of well being, spend money and raise taxes.

I am not a great believer that house prices are up is a positive sign ......

My reasoning?????

Simple ..... house prices skyrocketed in the USA and parts of Canada for a decade or more ....... and then collapsed.

Thus, by itself, it is not a good indicator of anything.

As far as house prices being up is a good sign ..... as was stated already, with employment being down, we really do not need an increase in housing costs.

Really, the two combined might be more of a sign of the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Why are house prices up locally?

I understand it is lack of inventory. Spec builders are either not financially in a position to build at the moment or they do not want to take the risk.

People who normally might have been interested in selling their house to move to a more expensive house are not in a position to take that risk at the moment.

The real question is how this will shake out over the summer. More new units being built? People getting jobs back again and the blockage will be removed? Continuing increases in price even with greater supply due to increased demand? If so, how long will it continue? If jobs start picking up, it could keep on moving up until eventually prices will be high enough that a move to a warmer climate in BC with a bit of downsizing will move some more older people out of the community.

From what I understand, the existing multi-year contract that the city signed with IPG will expire right around the time the next city council is elected. Anybody considering running for council in the next election will do well to run on a platform of quashing that complete waste of taxpayers money.

It's amazing how so many right-wing types want to preach "capitalism" and a "free market economy"...but have ZERO problems letting the overburdened taxpayer foot the bill for corporate welfare and/or ill-fated attempts at economic development that couldn't otherwise stand on their own via supply & demand and true commercial success (ie. Horizon Air; airport expansion). That is not true capitalism nor is it a free market...it is simply an elitist group of politicians propping up failing businesses that can't make it on their own.

IPG is nothing more than an expensive state-funded marketing tool (and a poor one at that). If Prince George is such a great place to live and invest...let the "free market" work its magic and let capitalism find its own way here. Let Tim McEwan get a real job and save my tax dollars for snow removal, garbage collection, pothole fixing, and clean drinking water.

69 Homes sold for an average of $250,572.00
Because this is an average it doesnt necessarily mean anything. 10 really high priced homes and 59 average priced homes would drive the average up.

The real question is. Who sold these homes and did they leave town, or did they go into retirement, build or buy new homes, or die. The other question is. Who bought these homes. Were they purchased by people already living in the City, or from people outside the City.

As an example, if I sold by house for $225,000.00 and bought a new house for $275,000.00, we would have two sales generated by me. The person who bought my house may very well have sold his house, and the people I bought a house from could have also bought another house, so at the end of the day we havent got a clue as to whats happening in the market as far as house sales go.

Without some indication as to where people are going and what they are doing we know diddly squat.

House sales during a recession is not a good indicator of the state of the economy, at best it indicates pessimism, as opposed to optomism.

Previously lived in homes may go up in price because when the HST kicks in no one will wish to pay that tax.

"if I sold by house for $225,000.00 and bought a new house for $275,000.00, we would have two sales generated by me"

Not quite.

1. you generated a new listing by putting your house on the market

2. you generated a removal from a listing by purchasing a home.

All others who purchase and move from a house they own do the same thing.

Then there are those who move from a rental situation and buy a house.

And those few who move from a house to another purchased house, do not sell their previous house, but keep it as an investment and rent it out .... or, even more difficult, do a title transfer to a family member who moves from a live-at-home or rental situation.

There is a rebate for the provincial portion of the HST for the first $450,000 of a new home.

That will cover most of the new homes in PG quite easily so there should be minimal impact, if any.

Why a rebate? Why not just stop charging the tax? It's criminal the way the covt does things.

My only "economic indicator" is my wallet. Always more empty than not.