I find it very sad the Prince George once again looks like it is being used as a wiping horse for those with the big money and power. Being manipulated for future profit of those that see the big picture.

What do I mean?
Well for the last few days Hits 101 FM and 99.3 the Drive (Jim Pattison Broadcasting Group) have been hammering the ‘So called Real Estate Investment Group’ report that the pine beetle will have an effect on Real Estate values while FM94X and the Wolf FM only used it in their news for one day.
Why is one Radio group making it news one day and the ‘Jim Pattison Broadcasting Group” keeps making it news for 2 days and more now (so far)?

So here is the conspirators,

Jim Pattison business group holds a lot of Real Estate and have been buying up land in Central BC. What better way to say lets get those prices down scare the hell out of those ‘unknowing’ local residence, get them to reduce their prices and they will come in a year or so from now and buy what we need a great prices before the big distribution and manufacturing boom hits PG and central area.
I have noticed the Jim Patterson Broadcasting group is a lot more eager to pounce on negative news than others. Especially when it comes to affecting real estate values.

Also I would like to know who this ‘Real Estate Investment Group’ is. Is it a person, a group of investors, a company? I wonder what the real reason for this report is. Not the obvious one Ben thinks it is used for, but the real long term purpose.

All in all I think we are being manipulated in the big picture for others gain. Prince George is much undervalued in many areas and not just in real estate. This is a great city with great people and great life style and I applaud our MLAs and others to keep the real story that Prince George has a lot to offer and will be the next big distribution center of North America.

This of course is just my opinion….Ain’t it great.

Ah ... another conspiracy theorist .....

I love hearing those. Can we get a contest going to see who can come up with the most outlandish theory?

;-)

I am not quite sure what is news about this story.

Go back to the beginnings of this site and there will be ample posts on this topic. Maybe the "Real Estate Investment Goup" did some walking with their fingers through the Opinion 250 site and found this new revelation a few years too late to advise their members to get out while the getting is good.

"We are heading for a major readjustment in our economy in this region and the longer we delay doing something about it the more likely it will be that when the crash does come it will come hard."

After departing from the Prince Rupert celebration the Premier forgot to stop over in P.G. to FINALLY hand over the money for the airport runway extension!

???

Shirley, John, Pat: what gives?

BTW, there are other reasons why housing based real estate prices go up which were not touched on in the article. In my opinion, it is those reason which are primarily driving those price increases.

Anyone who has been looking at the number of housing units being built in PG knows that we are not building substantially more now than we were prior to the MPB issue and the response of increased industrial activity to get the trees cut down and the products to market.

The increase in actual demand for housing to live in, as opposed to housing to invest in, is driven in a large part by demographics of the city population not an increase in demand from a net population increase.

The cheque is in the mail .....

;-)

The interesting part of the story and that which is probably true is that real estate values that rise when populations decline are purely speculative, and therfore not a good investment. Quesnel and Williams Lake were used as examples, and we know the same thing applies to Prince George.

The Mayor may not buy into the census numbers from either the Province or the Feds, but anyone who knows anyone in this town knows that the population is not growing. There is not one whit of evidence to support growth. Most if not all of the new home building and home buying is coming from people who have grown up in the last 10 years in this town. (approx 10,000 people). This is the same group that is buying cars etc; So in effect you can have a housing boom, and car sales can go up and you have increased traffic, because of more cars on the road, however the population can remain the same. No big mystery.

We all know that house values are highly over rated, and not likely to hold.

How much property does the great Jimmy Pattison hold in Quesnel, Williams Lake, or 100 Mile house???

University enrollments down. School district 57 enrollments down by 500 students this year and 500 students last year. Unemployment rising. Lack of workers because people have left town.

How much evidence do people need?

"The cheque is in the mail ....."

Will it arrive when the Cariboo Connector project is 100% completed?

Maybe.

:-)

If the province coughs up the airport money (they said it was there, did it vanish?). We may be refueling cargo jets, and possibly employ a few more courier drivers and warehouse staff. A manufacturing industry doesn't appear overnight. There is a whole supply, tooling, and support system that the industry requires. Winnipeg, southern Ontario, and to some extent the lower mainland all have these in place. And they are all on transportation corridors. If the manufacturers come....GREAT! But, I wouldn't hold my breath.

As far as real estate, my guess is wait til around 2012 or so when the olympic hangover hits (it happens wherever the games are held. why would BC be any different?) Real estate boomed in the early 80's, early 90's and again right now. Bought my house in PG in 2000 for 150k, appraised at over 350k last week. I think I will probably see it drop to 200K over the next 5 years. I don't really care as its my home.

Now here's the one I didn't see coming. Bought in the okanogan in 2003. Probably would've done better if I bought something in PG and sold right about now. The PG market however is all hype, the OK market is where the majority of CANADIANS want to retire.

I love the pace and people of PG. the city and weather not so much. If my job didn't pay enough to allow me to get outta Dodge for some sun, sports, and travel. I wouldn't live here.

optimist or pessimist remember you can drown in half a glass of water

"I love the pace and people of PG"

The people part of that seems to be the words coming out of everyone's mouth when people wonder why we live "up" here.

I wonder why people live "up" in Edmonton which is flatter and colder than and 4+ hours to the nearest ski hill of any size.

Then there is Saskatoon .... another place in the middle of nowhere with a colder winter than here and it has real estate prices skyrocketing.

Prices are skyrocketing in Toronto as well.

I think people in general in Canada west of Quebec have money to invest and are looking for quick ways of making a few real bucks. Remember, the Canuck Dollar has soared in the last two years. Equity with the US dollar appears closer now than ever before since the mid 1960's.

The MPB will be a blip on the monitor if the trade surplus with the USA will vanish as a result of the Canuck Dollar rise. PG and the Central Interior of the Province will mean zip.

In the meantime, Vancouver will weather that potential storm through the manufacturing powerhouses of Canada - Ontario and Quebec - more gently than the east and probably also more gently than Alberta. They could very well be dipping into their reserves and running deficit budgets for a while.

Perhaps, if Gordo and his corporate owners really want to make their northern M.L.A.'s look like they are supporting the North, they could stop playing silly reindeer games with electoral commissions and ambulances and actually address the major issue of the Pine Beetle. How about it, See no Evil, Hear no Evil and Say Nothing, lets see you address a real issue instead of made up ploys to give the appearance of caring. Now is your chance. Again.

I noticed that in recent years the US was building on average one home for every 150 citizens per year. Due to the recent housing crash that has dropped to nearly one house per 300 citizens.

Even at the drop to one home per 300 citizens that is 270 single detached houses a year for a city of PG's size up to 550'ish per year.

I think PG has a glut of the homes in the $1500-$2500 mortgage payment range, but has very little quality housing in the starter home range under $1000 a month mortgage. Most homes under $1000 a month are 60 years old, or else they are run down crack shacks.

IMO when you limit affordable home ownership; you also limit equality of opportunity in society and encourage a society that is based on consumerism and not saving and investing for future prosperity. The consumer society is a direct result of the under the radar genocide of the Canadian family unit being advocated by the pro-immigration cheep labour organizations and profiteers.

There are a lot of people to blame starting with the banking and real-estate industry which are structured for profits through double digit rising home values; facilitated through speculation (realtors), and low interest lengthy amortization and minimal down payments options from the bankers.

I think an option worth consideration is a cap on the value per square footage of available credit for low down payment, low interest lengthy amortization financed homes that is equivalent across all Canadian markets. Let the markets factor in the correction and if a home is of higher value than the minimum then that would have to be paid for with actual equity paid for through actual paid for amortization payments.

The idea that you could buy a house on speculation with no down payment and no interest loans and flip it in two years for a 150% profit would not be able to be done on the backs of unsuspecting buyers using cheep credit and the idea of further speculation.

The long term result would be price stability of the biggest investment most Canadians will ever make, eliminating the real-estate casino that can ruin a family, or price a family out of the home ownership through market timing. Most just opt not to have a family due to the uncertainty. A policy like this would encourage actual investment and savings and this would be a bedrock of a secure financial future for everyone in Canada concerned about a Canada that is stable for future Canadian generations.

I suspect this will not happen until the baby-boomer generation has moved on and their speculation profits have all dried up.

A tax deductable mortgage (interest) would be nice. Where are ya now, Joe?

"For those folks in the 604 who seem to be beaming at the thought of coming north and making the deal of a life time in the real estate market , look out, you may find that the price will come down, come down dramatically , just ask the folks north of the Pine Pass as to what is happening there ."

Could someone please explain that comment for me?

I think it's in reference to the drop in the housing market that Mackenzie experienced when it was announced that the mill was closing. I assume it's just a reminder of how quickly things can change when the economic driver of an area ceases to be (like what COULD happen here in 5-7 years if the economy doesn't diversify in a significant way).

Caveat emptor :)

NMG

I was under the impression the pine pass is north of Mackenzie and up to Chetwynd, so Ben was referring to something else maybe.

smooth

Had some friends up from Richmond a few weeks ago and they were shocked by the Pine Beetle kill they saw.
They had no idea of the devastation.
It was one of the main reasons for coming as they wanted to see it for themselves.
Took them for a drive from PG to Vanderhoof and throughout the area, and they ended up more than a bit depressed!
As they put it,"it was shocking",and it also left them very angry!
They said they really started to notice it above Cache Creek and from there,it just got worse as they came north.( I guess they don't get out much..)
They went home as very concerned people and I am sure they talked it up when they got back.
More people from down south need to see and understand what has happened to the pine forests, and if enough people do,maybe that will put some pressure on the government.
The Liberal government is careful what they say about it and try to put a positive spin on the issue.
These lower manilanders now know that too!

Waht Ben was referring to is the fact that oil and gas explorations are dropping off. It is a boom and bust cycle as well. The drop of was predicted earlier this year and was reported in the Alberta papers as being a long term thing about to happen.

But, of course, that is local news to Alberta, so papers here would not have picked that up. Not much differnet than people in the lower mainland not having much of an interst in the MPB.

We must remember, we care as little about other parts of the province and other parts of Canada as they care about us. Everyone is into their own thing.

Anyway, the tar sands project will likely continue at a steady pace, especially with the notion of building a nuclear reactor there to provide the vast amounts of energy required which would increase greenhouse gases if the energy extracted from the sands themsleves were used. That level is so high that it would be the most significant single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

I met visitors from Europe during the summer. They were driving from Calgary on the southern route to Vancouver and the Island.

They were wondering why so many trees are brown. They did not realize they were dead since they could not fathom that many being dead. They thought it was something unique to this part of the world - their first time here.

But, after two weeks of travel, no one had told them what it was that they were looking at.

Remember, this was along the trans canada, not in the north!!! I know Kamloops area is now hit quite badly. Sparse trees already, and now they are virtually all dead.

Drive into Wells/Barkerville and you will really see just how bad it is close up.
The government has also put up a very nice sign at the pullout just out of Wells that downplays the issue and attempts to make it sound like it's no big deal!
Also,the drive from Vanderhoof to Fort St.James is a prime example of just how bad it is.
Red pine as far as you can see looking north,east,and west.
Then you can stand on the shore of Stuart Lake and the trees on the hills are dead as far as you can see in any direction.
And guess what?
They are not all pine!
Lot's of spruce too!