Thread View: bnr.general
5 messages
5 total messages
Started by Louis Leclerc
Fri, 06 Aug 1993 17:16
Re: High Ottawa housing prices due to land cartel?
Author: Louis Leclerc
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1993 17:16
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1993 17:16
58 lines
3679 bytes
3679 bytes
Louis Leclerc writes... > Ottawa seems to be a bit unusual as a Canadian city, because it is small >sized, is not near a "desirable" location (ie. sunny beaches...), yet has >relatively high housing prices and high dwelling density for a city this >size. It also has a much higher percentage of high rise appartment buildings >and condominiums than one would also expect for a city this size. rrosch@bnr (RROSCH) responds... >Subject: OTTAWA REALESTATE PRICES > >There was an article a few years ago in the local paper on exactly this >topic. The gist was that the four big real estate developers of this area >had bought development rights on virtually all Ottawa land, right down >to Kemptville. Amangst themselves, they manipulated the market to squeeze >out the last penny, whatever the market would bear, and then some. >What does not help is that the average civil servant is a meek and obedient >creature and will without question pay the price that is asked. That is >why gasoline and other commodities are more expensive here than anywhere >else in Canada. Is there really truth to this? I heard it once before, but dismissed it, but now that I hear it again I'm not so sure....Does anyone have anything to back this up? Assuming that a cartel is operating...I make the (possibly unfounded) presumptions: Housing prices/appt rents seem to run about 75% to 85% higher than they should be for a city this size and location. It would seem that if a land cartel is really operating in Ottawa, as may be the case, why aren't people complaining about it? Losses due to this must add on the order of many thousands of dollars of extra costs to people's mortgages and rents *each year* (ie. way more loss than the GST, or the social contract which everyone is complaining so much about). I would have expected the public service unions to really jump on this, as if they were able to bust the cartel, real wage gains for Ottawa public servants would jump overnight, making up for any decreases due to the "social contract". The same goes for major private employers in the area. If housing prices were lowered to their natural non-cartel levels, companies could pay employees less money, and also attract/retain good employees as a good standard of living would be possible for people living in the city compared to other cities in Canada (ie. people could afford to buy much nicer houses in Ottawa, or get a house period...) Similar claims can be made for the gas cartel (well documented in "The Ottawa Business Quarterly 1993"), though losses to citizens of Ottawa are less than would be due to this supposed' housing cartel. L. Leclerc -- <><> These opinions are my own. The do not necessarily represent those of Bell-Northern Research.
Re: High Ottawa housing prices due to land cartel?
Author: Michael Baudais
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1993 17:08
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1993 17:08
29 lines
2336 bytes
2336 bytes
>>>>> "leclercl" == Louis Leclerc <leclercl@bmerh136.bnr.ca> writes: leclercl> Assuming that a cartel is operating...I make the (possibly leclercl> unfounded) presumptions: leclercl> Housing prices/appt rents seem to run about 75% to 85% leclercl> higher than they should be for a city this size and leclercl> location. It would seem that if a land cartel is really leclercl> operating in Ottawa, as may be the case, why aren't people leclercl> complaining about it? Losses due to this must add on the leclercl> order of many thousands of dollars of extra costs to leclercl> people's mortgages and rents *each year* (ie. way more leclercl> loss than the GST, or the social contract which everyone leclercl> is complaining so much about). But what would the loss be to all those people who see their house price drop by 75%? What percentage of people who inhabit the city own their own homes? The people who will stand to gain by complaining are renters (a sizable chunk of the population) and home buyers (trivial amounts, relatively) from outside of Ottawa, or who are buying their first house. Mike ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Baudais | These opinions are my own, and do not necessarily Internet: baudais@bnr.ca | represent those of BNR.
Re: High Ottawa housing prices due to land cartel?
Author: Michael Baudais
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1993 17:18
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1993 17:18
29 lines
2419 bytes
2419 bytes
>>>>> "leclercl" == Louis Leclerc <leclercl@bmerh136.bnr.ca> writes: leclercl> Assuming that a cartel is operating...I make the (possibly leclercl> unfounded) presumptions: leclercl> Housing prices/appt rents seem to run about 75% to 85% leclercl> higher than they should be for a city this size and leclercl> location. It would seem that if a land cartel is really leclercl> operating in Ottawa, as may be the case, why aren't people leclercl> complaining about it? Losses due to this must add on the leclercl> order of many thousands of dollars of extra costs to leclercl> people's mortgages and rents *each year* (ie. way more leclercl> loss than the GST, or the social contract which everyone leclercl> is complaining so much about). But what would the loss be to all those people who see their house price drop by 75%? What percentage of people who inhabit the city own their own homes? The people who will stand to gain by complaining are renters (a sizable chunk of the population) and home buyers (trivial amounts, relatively) from outside of Ottawa, or who are buying their first house. Mike ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Baudais | These opinions are my own, and do not necessarily Internet: baudais@bnr.ca | represent those of BNR.
Re: High Ottawa housing prices due to land cartel?
Author: Marc Donovan
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1993 17:40
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1993 17:40
34 lines
2387 bytes
2387 bytes
In article <BAUDAIS.93Aug9120852@bmerha4b.x400gate.bnr.ca> baudais@x400gate.bnr.ca (Michael Baudais) writes: >>>>>> "leclercl" == Louis Leclerc <leclercl@bmerh136.bnr.ca> writes: > > leclercl> Assuming that a cartel is operating...I make the (possibly > leclercl> unfounded) presumptions: > > leclercl> Housing prices/appt rents seem to run about 75% to 85% > leclercl> higher than they should be for a city this size and > leclercl> location. It would seem that if a land cartel is really > leclercl> operating in Ottawa, as may be the case, why aren't people > leclercl> complaining about it? Losses due to this must add on the ...snip... > >But what would the loss be to all those people who see their house >price drop by 75%? What percentage of people who inhabit the city own >their own homes? > >The people who will stand to gain by complaining are renters (a >sizable chunk of the population) and home buyers (trivial amounts, >relatively) from outside of Ottawa, or who are buying their first >house. > Don't forget all the people who intend to KEEP their homes, and would definitely benefit by a lowering of their property value for tax reasons. <marc> -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc Donovan donovan@bnr.ca [Voice: (613) 765-2868 Fax: (613) 763-9250] ---- Disclaimer: I am the only one responsible for my opinions.
Re: High Ottawa housing prices due to land cartel?
Author: Lorne Gutz
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1993 17:55
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1993 17:55
48 lines
3024 bytes
3024 bytes
In article <BAUDAIS.93Aug9120852@bmerha4b.x400gate.bnr.ca> baudais@x400gate.bnr.ca (Michael Baudais) writes: >>>>>> "leclercl" == Louis Leclerc <leclercl@bmerh136.bnr.ca> writes: > > leclercl> Assuming that a cartel is operating...I make the (possibly > leclercl> unfounded) presumptions: > > leclercl> Housing prices/appt rents seem to run about 75% to 85% > leclercl> higher than they should be for a city this size and > leclercl> location. It would seem that if a land cartel is really > leclercl> operating in Ottawa, as may be the case, why aren't people > leclercl> complaining about it? Losses due to this must add on the > leclercl> order of many thousands of dollars of extra costs to > leclercl> people's mortgages and rents *each year* (ie. way more > leclercl> loss than the GST, or the social contract which everyone > leclercl> is complaining so much about). > >But what would the loss be to all those people who see their house >price drop by 75%? What percentage of people who inhabit the city own >their own homes? > >The people who will stand to gain by complaining are renters (a >sizable chunk of the population) and home buyers (trivial amounts, >relatively) from outside of Ottawa, or who are buying their first >house. > >Mike > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Michael Baudais | These opinions are my own, and do not necessarily >Internet: baudais@bnr.ca | represent those of BNR. Now if you have been follow this thread and believe it try and explain the following: 1) why are house prices even higher in the areas just outside the green belt such as Barhaven, Manotick, Richmond, Orleans, Gloucester, Kanata, and Stittsville? 2) why are house prices just as high as those in Ottawa in towns up to 50 Km out. eg Emburn, Almonte, Carlton Place or Arnprior? 3) why have the house prices in Ottawa been stable for more then 50 years with no radical up or downs? ( in other words the cartel has been in affect for more than 50 years) Lorne
Thread Navigation
This is a paginated view of messages in the thread with full content displayed inline.
Messages are displayed in chronological order, with the original post highlighted in green.
Use pagination controls to navigate through all messages in large threads.
Back to All Threads