Taking refuge in Montreal

Well, I'm fed up with the Vancouver RE madness, and decided to hide in Montreal for a couple years for this bubble to blow up. Rents in Vancouver are under serious inflation pressure, and I expect that pressure to continue for the next couple years, until the current batch of constructions finally come online. Currently the free market is having a hiccup, as the medium term feedback mechanism of construction is actually fueling the bubble, due to delayed completions and raising construction wages. So for now, I'm in Montreal.

One can easily tell that RE is not exactly booming simply by the lack of construction cranes and Realtor ads. One thing that's plentiful is for rent signs, especially for apartments. In Van, multi-unit rental vacancies are very low, and the bulk of rental is expensive condos or basement of Vancouver Specials. In Montreal I see tons of ads for student apartments in Downtown area. In Vancouver it's usually "Professionals only". The relative strength of housing market is obvious.

One drawback of a non-bubble housing market seem to be, if something burns down, it doesn't get rebuilt. I guess the price of property is not high enough to afford construction labour and supplies in Canada. Oh well, I can live with that.

For now, living close to downtown and in a walk-up apartment is not bad for me. My rent here would get me a East Van basement, and likely moldy. So no complain so far. Let's see how I like the winter before I make any conclusions, though.