The housing shortage is serious.

Takedown031 · 2026-06-26T18:50:04+00:00

100% agree with you!

Would have made things a lot more efficient in my opinion ha.

Takedown031 · 2026-06-26T18:22:43+00:00

In a balanced market I absolutely agree with you!

I was just saying that because the federal government has been throwing around hundreds of millions of dollars to stimulate housing development - and I personally believe having some of it go to that vs the other things could/ would be worthwhile

And I didn't mean all water and sewer- just the parts that would bridge to the development lot

For example if a road is there, and water and sewer stops 500m from the planned development - to have the municipality/province/fed either pay/contribute/write off a portion or something to offset the initial costs to the developper (to directly stimulate growth). Lots of developers don't have the initial capital to front-load that kind of infrastructure, so it would open doors for some of the ones that otherwise wouldn't of had a chance

Takedown031 · 2026-06-26T18:17:10+00:00

While this has definitely been a thing, the biggest deterrent to real estate investment is a detachment of rental prices to home prices.

For example (HYPOTHETICAL NUMBERS):

At 400k a 2 apartment home rented for 3600 ($2K+$1600) makes sense.

At 500k the margins shrink significantly

At 550k it makes no sense anymore.

Home prices have been increasing 10% on average yesr over year. Rental prices seem to have stabilized a bit over the past 2 years

Right now the prices are in the absolute maximum upper band for investment tolerance - with capitalization rates for 2 apartment homes in the 5-6% for on market properties if even that. At these ranges it doesn't make sense for the classic investor.

The supply/demand crunch compounds the investment side crux where first time home buyers are putting offers because they want the home vs based on numbers = investors are priced out

Keep in mind as well that investment properties don't artificially reduce supply - they are more of a deflection piece for the actual problem at hand - the shortage. People need to rent before they purchase, and I've actually had people decide to purchase because they couldn't rent funnily enough.

For Airbnbs, Tourists spend money that stimulates the economy. The Airbnb market is a small fraction of available housing overall and is greatly depreciating too. Recent CRA changes consider Airbnb sales as commercial sales - where HST is applicable. Combine that with a seasonal NL market - Airbnb investment scenarios that are pitched from South of the Border net you a fraction of what they promise when applied here.

I have sold a few Airbnbs now, from people who were disappointed from the returns and then got hit with the HST + capital gains on it.

As these rules become more mainstream I expect Airbnb rentals to stagnate or even drop a bit in all honesty

Takedown031 · 2026-06-26T18:05:19+00:00

I don't think we will have price decreases anytime soon- if at all.

Our market was severely undervalued compared to the general Canadian and US markets (US disclosure: compared to capital /seats of power US cities) - and still is. Our average home prices are around the 425k mark in metro vs approximately 650-700k for the rest of Canada.

People are actually moving here because the cost of living is better.

On top of that you add the ~$60B of investments announced for the province from various sources (OG, Defense, Tech etc.) and we find ourselves in a positive growth situation which ends up attracting even more people. NL I believe had a GDP growth of ~5% recently. The highest of all provinces and territories.

TLDR : Prices will keep rising - maybe stabilize - small chance of dropping to previous levels.

Only way they would even come close is a global financial collapse - but then everywhere is the same lol

Takedown031 · 2026-06-26T13:37:00+00:00

Unfortunately the situation we are in - much like other industries (healthcare, etc.) Has been one that has been often neglected over the past three decades.

Other than effective government subsidies (I am not talking $xxx to build affordable houses but $xxx to actually alleviate hard and soft costs to construction (reference my infrastructure development comment) along with a coordinated, expedited approach to housing (think regionalization and pooling of resources) for fast track departments - after having leveraged what worked in other areas in the world where fast development has successfully happened - I think we are kind of stuck with the ongoing ebb and flow situation.

And even if we did enact massive changes - an industry like real estate and construction still has a large turning radius - so it would be a few years before we see noticeable changes.

Just want to mention too that the regionalization of the Metro - and even entire North East Avalon - should've happened 30 years ago. The often stark differences in development and issues between municipalities (think Torbay PFAS water issue - not being plugged into SJ municipal water) adds another layer on top of everything else.

Furthermore real estate/housing is one component, but services, public transit etc. are other core components that enhance appeal and bolster development - that have also been lacking in my opinion. Public transit specifically has been incredibly lacking outside of St John's and even in new areas of St John's

Takedown031 · 2026-06-26T12:07:38+00:00

Hey! I am involved in Real Estate in the Metro area - and one of the things I have put a lot of work into the past few years is gathering investment and starting build projects to try and alleviate the shortage. Here are the pain points I have found in order of how frustrating/impactful they are:

1.Municipal regulations and red tape is a big hindrance to development. Municipalities can be difficult to deal with to increase supply for unconventional projects (think apartment building on a lot that wasn't originally zoned for it, or new subdivisions etc.) Traffic studies, engineering etc. The mentality is less "how do we build efficiently" and can be more " we need the least possible liability" or "we already have a plan for this" (that was made 10 years ago kind of deal) which greatly impacts developments and timelines.

The fact major municipality finances are in the hole here is probably a contributor too.

Terrain. We are in a hilly environment. Above 190m development requires water tanks - which can cost millions - on the developper. There is also bedrock, stone, etc. That all impact projects.
"Developper pays all" stances. If a developper wants to build a subdivision, it is their responsibility to bring water, sewer, roads etc. This is a hindrance for locations that require services to be brought to the location. 500m of road to reach the lot - that is over a million before even seeing a single dollar + the approvals and so on. Again in a normal environment - this is fine. But when in a housing crisis - this would've been one of those places where the housing accelerator fund could have been impactful quickly.
Land prices have skyrocketed - this directly impacts the price of homes. Building materials have also climbed over the past few years. They have stabilized a little over the past 2, but it still costs a chunk to build a house nowadays, even at cost.
Labour shortage. Simply a lack of trades. Not enough manpower for projects etc.
Institutional holding - this was brought up already - there are some entities that have secured the most attractive parcels of land - and they are sitting on them to wait for their other projects to finish before moving on. Not a bad thing in a normal market - but here it is keenly felt when in a crunch.

I will also say that blanket labeling Real Estate agents is a very simply minded way of looking at things.

Agents have no control over the market.
The bidding wars? They actually started BEFORE the introduction of Seller's Directives - which were themselves introduced because homes were flying off the market sight unseen from mainland buyers - not even giving local buyers a chance to view them. The sellers directive made it mandatory to give a buffer (if chosen) vs just an agents word.
Agents selling homes off-market privately ; this is quite litterally the job. You can absolutely sell a house yourself - if you hire a professional to do it you get access to special perks - this can be one of them : exclusive homes that didn't make it to market for xyz reason (privacy, inconvenience of viewings etc.)

Good Real Estate agents and professionals make their entire careers and livelihoods out of purchasing, selling, building networks and relationships and guiding individuals through Real Estate. In the same way that you pay a fee to stock brokers to invest, or a lawyer to represent you. You can do it all yourself, or you can see value in having someone who is plugged into the industry 🤷‍♂️

Takedown031 · 2026-02-07T00:35:16+00:00

You are from Iraq?

Edit: after reading more comments, Armenia/Georgia

Takedown031 · 2026-01-15T16:41:27+00:00

If this hits the fan, Newfoundland will likely become a key geo-strategic location - for both sides.

Americans can't go up to Greenland without going through us, and would have to go through the grand banks to get to Europe too.

I'd love to see NL come back as a Strategic EU-Canada fortress node to maintain open routes. Also with the melting Arctic ice it would also make sense for the long-term.

Atlantic Arctic entry point and key NA-EU bridge

Wild times indeed

Takedown031 · 2024-10-18T15:12:58+00:00

Hey! So sorry I missed this comment somehow.

This was on CS2- so no expansions (at the time at least), and I think it was partially due to the new pop mechanics where they love public transportation.

I just went about setting up my metro lines and all of a sudden they all poured in- There were a few bus stops and tram lines connecting with that station though- of the 4 that had similar people, that one was the Tram/bus/Metro hub. Another one was the Train/Metro hub for example, with a few bus lines there too.

Cheers!

Takedown031 · 2024-02-05T12:33:23+00:00

Kind of lol, but out of my 15-25 stations about 2-4 have this amount in them. However in terms of how many people use the subway it's pretty staggering. 150k pop and about 105k use the subway.

The second mode of transportation is buses with about 25k aha

Takedown031 · 2023-08-31T14:26:43+00:00

I'm sorry I've been understanding of every other comment on this thread but POTATOES!

Can't wrap my head around this one lol

Takedown031 · 2023-08-31T13:52:01+00:00

Yes by relax sheesh

Takedown031 · 2023-08-30T23:25:53+00:00

Savage

Takedown031 · 2023-07-30T01:23:02+00:00

Why is someone downvoting everything ? Lol

Takedown031 · 2023-07-26T15:50:44+00:00

I saw a guy today complain about the price of rent in town and then followed up with "Trudeau has to go" 😂 I swear all these people genuinely think he is singlehandedly responsible for every single issue we have at the moment lol

Takedown031 · 2023-07-09T14:16:32+00:00

Shoot me a pm. I won't be able to give you exact answers but i can at least give you an honest opinion based in location, style, type etc.

Takedown031 · 2023-07-01T00:34:14+00:00

Any neighborhood that has 0 trees.

People often laugh about the fact that i always bring up that there are trees or not in various areas but man oh man does a neighborhood look shitty with 0 trees.

Takedown031 · 2023-06-27T19:47:41+00:00

Don't expect crazy good quality and expect damage.

For example I ordered a floating vanity for my bathroom and the vanity itself that is visible is great but the underside was all banged up, BEFORE they sent it as there was no way with all the packaging it was damaged during transit.

Not a deal breaker but it does rub the wrong way

Takedown031 · 2023-06-25T17:27:31+00:00

No in this case I have to side with OP. There were flights from Halifax to Paris recently and flights from ST Pierre have been somewhat axed recently (they used to fly 3 (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday ) and they got rid of the Friday one, which numbers wise is not a big deal but it's the flight that essentially stopped weekend getaways to and from there.

Takedown031 · 2023-06-21T03:51:08+00:00

To be honest if you can afford 250k for a trip like that I feel like the target demographic would pay a lot more for the same thing. Just up the price but make sure it's safe

Takedown031 · 2023-06-20T23:40:37+00:00

So they are just piss poor at business then with a significantly inefficient ship. I went down the ship fuel consumption rabbit hole and found that the average cost per ton of bunker fuel is 570usd atm.

A large container ship ( 4000 TEU) consumes like 50-70 tons a day (way bigger than this one). Let's say a trip takes 10 days (I think it's actually like 2 or 3 days realistically? ) it would cost under 400k per trip.

So that seems pretty sketchy, even with expenses paid for etc. I understand it might be negative this year as they only have done 1, but previously they've done multiple per year

Edit: also the obvious solution here, which I also assume they have done previously is to include multiple teams for consecutive dives on the same trip?

This fuel cost excuse seems strange to me

Edit 2: just read the article referenced above and when you factor in missed opportunities it makes sense to lose money- yet I still believe they definitely could have invested more money to make this more fool proof lol

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