Now we are getting tips on the housing market from the pizza delivery person.
Odlum Brown director of investment research Murray Leith says he got a little investment advice from an unlikely source.
“The tip came from the local pizza delivery guy. When arrived with the pizza I had ordered for my sons, he asked if I was interested in selling my house in Vancouver,” Mr. Leith said in a note to clients.
The vice-president of Odlum Brown said the pizza guy relayed he had contacts in China and he should seriously consider an offer because he could get him a good price.
“Equally remarkable, a client who lives nearby had a Chinese person show up at his door with a cash-stuffed suitcase to express his interest in his home,” says Mr. Leith “It is fair to say that the situation is getting a little crazy.”
The Canadian Real Estate Association said this month the average price of home sold in Vancouver was $831,555, a 25.7% increase from a year ago. The pace is picking up because in April year-over-year increases were just 21%.
Mr. Leith says given the state of average housing prices in Vancouver — 11 times the average Vancouver family’s household income — it is hard to make the case for home ownership.
What if you already own and are worried about your exposure to the Chines buyers should something happen over there that would impact prices in Canada?
“If you are like me, and my family, and are not interested in selling your home, you can limit your China risk by making sure that your investment portfolio is sufficiently diversified not overly geared toward cyclical stocks that are highly correlated with growth in China. That is what my family has done,” said Mr. Leith.
gmarr@nationalpost.com
Posted in: Dusty Wallet, Personal Finance, Real Estate, Uncategorized Tags: CREA, Murray Leith, Odlum Brown, pizza, real estate, Vancouver
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