More Of My Views

I know that I am not supposed to write much anymore about the weather but, seriously, I cannot help it. I just find it so amazing.

It is probably because for the first time I have the opportunity to follow what is going on. I am not working anymore and have to sit in an office all day doing my work or travel around to visit the client.  No, when I can, I go outside several times a day for a walk and just feel what the weather is like and usually enjoy it. Or, the odd time, have to hurry back home just because the rain is about to start.

So if I do write something about the climate, dear reader, please forgive me. However, it is just so much that I like to experience and let others know about.

IS A NEW DOWNTOWN LAW SCHOOL REALLY COMING NOW

Who the heck knows what's going on anymore in Windsor! Why did the Ontario Government change its position? Earlier in the year, it did not seem as if the project was going to go ahead. Now, some money apparently is available:

"The provincial government is committing $20 million to help convert the Paul Martin Building into a law school for the University of Windsor.

The university abandoned that concept last year, and was in the process of choosing an architect to design an on-campus law school.

University of Windsor President Alan Wildeman said the investment came "completely out of the blue." (CBC News, May15, 2018)

Back in January, $20 million was not enough money:

"At that time, Wildeman said if he were told the province had agreed to chip in, he would tell them $20 million is no longer enough because construction costs have risen so dramatically since the proposal was first presented five years ago."

It still is not enough money but it is hoped that the Province will contribute more and the Federal Government will put in a whole bunch of cash.

Perhaps the Province already knows that it has no more money to put in and the Feds are not going to do so either. Perhaps the Province, through the actions of the Liberal Government, is doing all this in the hopes that it will get a Liberal elected in this area.

Of course, it can always back off from its promise after the election if the Feds don't want to put in any more money. They can blame it on the Conservative Federal Government just in time for the next Federal election!

IS THERE AN ELECTION RACE NOW

How could this be possible?  How could the Progressive Conservatives, who seemed to be in such a big lead in the Provincial election, be at risk of losing to the NDP. How could this happen so quickly now? Is this for real or just something to keep the customers taking look at the various media outlets in town? I wish I knew the real answer.

I am making this comment because of the material I read recently:

"It’s early, only one week into the official campaign, but this provincial election has changed. The NDP has surged to second place in the polls, and it has the momentum.

Initially framed as a race between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives, it’s shaping up to be a race between the Conservatives and the NDP. There’s even speculation about the possibility of an NDP government or an NDP-led coalition.

Could Windsor and Essex County go from three third-party MPPs to three government MPPs?" (Anne Jarvis,Windsor Star, May 15, 2018) 

Of course, it may be that, with all the negative stories being written against the PCs, people will not want to vote for them to make them the leaders in the Province. It seems unlikely that people will vote for the Liberals. Therefore, it seems that the only alternative is to vote NDP. If that happens, we could see either a minority government with the NDP having the most seats or a majority NDP Government.

I have to admit that I do not know what the answer is. However, I do expect that most people really do not follow too closely the affairs around the next provincial election. I expect that most people have already decided for whom they are going to vote. I do believe that most people really have little interest in what is set out in the media these days, whether it is good news or bad.

Unless there is something dramatic, I just don't see the NDP being successful politically after the votes are counted. That is notwithstanding what the media does trying to convince people to take a look at their services.

HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF

I am really amazed at what is happening these days. For people of my age, it is not all that new to us. We have seen it before and probably were involved in what is similar to what is going on now. It happened to me around 30 years ago:

"Home sales in Canada fall 14 per cent, lowest level in 5 years." (Canadian Press, May 15, 2018) 

All of this happened after house prices increased dramatically over the last year or so. I am very interested in finding out what happens next in the real estate market based on what I experienced many years ago.

My first home was a two-bedroom condominium in Toronto that I purchased when I was single and lived alone. It eventually became the home with my wife when she moved there after we were married.

I had a very similar experience then compared with what is going on today. Very soon after I bought it, the real estate market there skyrocketed upwards. Believe it or not, the price being asked for condo units similar to mine in my building and especially for new condo units in new sales in buildings all over went up so high it nearly blew my mind! I just could not believe it.

As one example, a new condominium building complex that had about twice number of units that mine had and was built by the same developer who had built mine sold out almost completely in one weekend after it entered the market at outrageously high prices. Some people in fact bought more than one unit at the time on a speculation basis expecting to be able to sell their new purchases all at a big profit very quickly thereafter.

Unfortunately for them, the Provincial Government made some changes in the real estate market that literally killed the prices so that they fell dramatically lower almost immediately after the announcements were made. It took many years before those prices ever increased.

It should be interesting to see what happens here now when the weather improves. Will house prices now crash again? Will people still be interested in looking for a new place to live? Will people who own homes in the major cities still be willing to sell them at the very high prices that the units are now worth and then move to a place like the Windsor area to live? They will be buying a new home here that would be similar to where they live in their city now but the price for the new local unit would be a small fraction of their house now. They would have a new home here, probably without a mortgage on it, and a lot of extra money in their new bank account in this area.

We should see very soon what happens with real estate prices and whether they go up, stay in the same range as now or fall dramatically. If our economy in our area remains firm, then, notwithstanding what may happen in other areas, I would not see a significant fall here at all in the price of units because their prices are so low compared with those in other regions. In fact, we could still see the price increase in our part of Ontario.