White Flight

[FuturePorscheOwner]

Hey all,

As you are all aware, was wondering what your thoughts on white flight and what areas are white folks moving to.
Please note this isn't a racist topic, as we are trying to build a home in a more predominantly white area.

Cheers

[westar99]

Langley, Tsawassen, Chilliwack, Kitsilano, Belcarra.

Former areas that are now not so white anymore: West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Kerrisdale, South Surrey/White Rock - yes even White Rock/S.Surrey is changing!

[unicas]

Langley and Maple Ridge, some how they seem to pass North Surrey completely.

[westar99]

Yes - I forgot about Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge - quite correct. Mission is quite white and from what I can see, quite downscale. Note that Abbotsford is not included - it is becoming as Indo-Canadian as Surrey, and South Surrey is attracting some of the wealthier Chinese and Indo-Canadian families. Burnaby - north and south - is almost all Chinese.

[westar99]

Langley and Maple Ridge, some how they seem to pass North Surrey completely.
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Disagree with you there. Lots of white folks from the Downtown Eastside are heading for Whalley.

[jesse1]

Lots of white folks from the Downtown Eastside are heading for Whalley.

City crackheads and country crackheads don't mix. True story.

[eyesthebye]

Langley, Tsawassen, Chilliwack, Kitsilano, Belcarra.

Former areas that are now not so white anymore: West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Kerrisdale, South Surrey/White Rock - yes even White Rock/S.Surrey is changing!

add commercial drive and main areas

not sure why you'd want to be in these white areas...the investment is limited since rich chinese don't want to live there

[hockeyfan]

add commercial drive and main areas

not sure why you'd want to be in these white areas...the investment is limited since rich chinese don't want to live there

Not everyone buys real estate for an investment...most people I know have money and buy because they like the area and want to live there.

How many hours a day do you think about your "real estate investment??"

Get a life.

[vancouverowner]

Save for Kits, all the areas mentioned are cheap (relatively) and getting cheaper. I wonder what that means?

[rofina]

Langley, Tsawassen, Chilliwack, Kitsilano, Belcarra.

Former areas that are now not so white anymore: West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Kerrisdale, South Surrey/White Rock - yes even White Rock/S.Surrey is changing!

add commercial drive and main areas

not sure why you'd want to be in these white areas...the investment is limited since rich chinese don't want to live there

Aren't you the preacher of anti-speculating and how "most" people buying in Vancouver are families looking for a house to live in?

Secondly, many people still covet a neighbourhood feel, with families and kids who know and play with each other. This is rarely the case any more in immigrant rich Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Also, if you're looking for a more expensive area Caulfield will fit that bill. Predominantly white, though there have certainly been some Asian buyers seeking the relative bargains.

[westar99]

Save for Kits, all the areas mentioned are cheap (relatively) and getting cheaper. I wonder what that means?
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It means that much of the rise in the market can be attributed to Asian buyers, both local and offshore investors. By the way, Kits
is full of younger white renters and condo dwellers so it isn't rich white people buying there.

It also says that white people place less emphasis on putting their money into real estate which I think is very true. I'm in a position to see what people put their money into through my work (I'm not a realtor or mortgage broker BTW). A typical rich white person will usually have a big percentage of their money in stocks/mutual funds. By contrast, non whites especially more recent immigrants will have almost everything tied up in real estate and quite little in stocks/mutual funds - like hardly anything at all. This goes for affluent Indo-Canadian families, too. They will have a large main house with usually a number of rental properties with very little in stocks/mutual funds/RRSP's. They might also have a plot of land still in India or whatever the country is of their origin. Oddly enough, this has beem a winning strategy over the last 10 years as the stock market has stagnated or dropped, mutual funds suck a huge amount of hidden fees from the client over time and real estate (at least in Canada) has been rising. My Chinese and Indian clients all tell me that they don't trust stocks or the stock market or products like mutual funds but they trust that real estate will always rise in the long run and it is an asset they can feel, see and control. I have to say I think they might be the wiser.

[rofina]

Save for Kits, all the areas mentioned are cheap (relatively) and getting cheaper. I wonder what that means?

It means exactly what it means... Anglos in the world that have the type of money to buy Van RE are not interested. Plenty of obscenely rich people left in the US and UK, both countries now have comparatively better RE investments than Canada and Vancouver in particular.

[westar99]

Indeed, Rofina, I think the USA right now has great real estate opportunities in almost all of their markets. Phoenix has always been popular with Canadians but the middle states like North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas have very cheap real estate fueled by growing oil production (like Alberta and Sasakatchewan except cheaper real estate) and growing job markets. We talk about the oil sands, but the most profitable oil production in North America is in the Bakken shale oils which extends from Saskatchewan right through the central USA so there is opportunity in those places to catch rising rents and home prices. Even the big expensive cities like New York and San Francisco are much better deals than Vancouver. Cities like those might be expensive but they actually have lots of high paid jobs unlike Vancouver. And if you really must have Vancouver style rain and cloud in an urban setting, Seattle just down the highway from Vancouver, is much, much cheaper.

[jimtan]

Hey all,

Please note this isn't a racist topic, as we are trying to build a home in a more predominantly white area.

Cheers

Right! It's not about racisism. You just prefer white folks, and fish and chips!!!!

[vancouverowner]

Save for Kits, all the areas mentioned are cheap (relatively) and getting cheaper. I wonder what that means?
-----------------------------------------------
It means that much of the rise in the market can be attributed to Asian buyers, both local and offshore investors. By the way, Kits
is full of younger white renters and condo dwellers so it isn't rich white people buying there.

It also says that white people place less emphasis on putting their money into real estate which I think is very true. I'm in a position to see what people put their money into through my work (I'm not a realtor or mortgage broker BTW). A typical rich white person will usually have a big percentage of their money in stocks/mutual funds. By contrast, non whites especially more recent immigrants will have almost everything tied up in real estate and quite little in stocks/mutual funds - like hardly anything at all. This goes for affluent Indo-Canadian families, too. They will have a large main house with usually a number of rental properties with very little in stocks/mutual funds/RRSP's. They might also have a plot of land still in India or whatever the country is of their origin. Oddly enough, this has beem a winning strategy over the last 10 years as the stock market has stagnated or dropped, mutual funds suck a huge amount of hidden fees from the client over time and real estate (at least in Canada) has been rising. My Chinese and Indian clients all tell me that they don't trust stocks or the stock market or products like mutual funds but they trust that real estate will always rise in the long run and it is an asset they can feel, see and control. I have to say I think they might be the wiser.

Good comment.

I had actually not seen ETB's comment before I posted mine, which is largely making the same point; if you are a savvy real estate speculator like FPO I would think that you would take demographics into account when making your investment.

Personally, I think all ghettos carry added risk, be they white, Chinese or whatever. I prefer mixed ethnicities. Nature does too.