Debacle. Moral hazard.
Outspoken U.S. short-seller Marc Cohodes uses frightening words to describe his outlook for Vancouver real estate in 2016.
Since The Province’s story in June featuring Cohodes — a prominent investor who bets on the collapse of speculative bubbles — the stock price of the Canadian subprime lender he is targeting has been cut in half. And that loss was despite double-digit price gains in Vancouver and Toronto homes.
But for several reasons Cohodes and a group of U.S. investors believe a rot of bad loans will spread and drag home prices down in 2016.
They believe their Canadian housing research was validated in December when the federal government announced policy changes aimed at reducing excessive borrowing and fraudulent loans.
Full story: http://www.theprovince.com/business/Will+2016+year+Vancouver+housing+bubble+bursts/11603582/story.html