Although the Lower Mainland's real estate market is cooling, home prices remain sky-high. Combine this with the Canadian's government's ever-tightening mortgage rules and the constant threat of interest rate hikes, and even established professionals are finding themselves priced out of the market. With stagnating household incomes and some of the highest living expenses in Canada, it seems impossible to break into the housing market. And for those who do, the large mortgages that are so commonplace here eat up family budgets and impact quality of life. Perhaps the old mantra of "work hard and save" before buying has become unrealistic in the context of today's Lower Mainland. Are new ownership models such as co-ownership the key to getting a foothold in the market? How can we overcome the region's affordability issue?

Join us in Richmond as we discuss the real estate realities of the Lower Mainland.

When:
Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Registration: 7:00pm
Program: 7:30pm
Reception: 9:00pm

Where:
The John M.S. Lecky UBC Boathouse
7277 River Road
Richmond, BC - map

Moderators:

Chris Brown - National Reporter, CBC News

Penny Gursetin, BArch '76 - Professor and Director, UBC School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP)

Lynn McLellan - Mortgage Broker/Specialist, Dreyer Group Morgages Inc. 

Helmut Pastrick, DULE '95 - Chief Economist, Central 1 Credit Union

Tsur Somerville - Associate Professor, Real Estate Foundation Professorship in Real Estate Finance; Director, UBC for Urband Economics and Real Estate

RSVP:

RSVP Online by Sunday, October 7, 2012.

For more information contact Nicola Wootton at 604-827-5831 or nicola.wootton@ubc.ca.