Grinding halt/sudden bust is looming.

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In residential construction - which is a massive industry here. Large renovations are slowing right down with interest rates up as people can't justify borrowing $100k+ at more than twice the interest rates. Residential starts are apparently about to come to a screeching halt. Everything under construction will be completed.. but with interest rates high, developers can't make money borrowing to build, especially when buyers can't qualify for the enormous mortgage loan values required to buy a home of any kind here.. almost everyone who's bought anything is doing it with an inheritance for a down payment and then absolutely maxing out what they borrow based on the monthly payment they can qualify for.. but with rates high, people qualify for much lower loans at the same payments = something's gotta give.

IMO, government will need to step in and allocate crown land for building social housing apartment blocks. They haven't built any for nearly 30 years and that's part of the problem. So the pendulum swings way too far and then they need to take drastic action to try to correct things. IF they try.

Contractors and tradesmen are running out of work and seeking work more and more - I see their posts. Residential construction will all but stop. I'll still be able to get work with some guys that build mansions, because the truly rich aren't bothered by peasant things like interest rates all that much. But there will be more and more crews bidding for those jobs, too. And I have the option of going back to commercial union work and getting up and punching a clock early mornings - which I might do I dunno yet we'll see. Or maybe going out of town at some point if I get a few duckies in a row.

Anyways, if you're in construction at all... prepare for some drastic changes and tough times ahead. Especially all across Canada, but it's bound to affect much of the world, too. Times are about to get very tough and there are going to be a lot of people losing their shirts.. mortgage payments have doubled for some people, and then if they get hit with an income stoppage at the same time it's not rocket surgery math to figure out that there are going to be people losing their homes.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

We're building a house in the Philippines.

The first set of electricians walked off the job a few weeks ago.  No explanations.  We found replacements (for higher wages).  The first group came back and expected to pick up where they left off, for an exorbitant increase in pay.

We told them that since they had deserted the project without explanation, that was tantamount to resigning.  Then we told them they were trespassing.  They acted like WE were the bad guys, then they claimed to have no money for transportation back home.  I told them "Not our problem".  They finally left.

Rumor has it that they were hoping to extort higher pay from us, not knowing that other electricians in the area would jump at the chance for an already well-paying job.

Sucks to be them, I guess.

That’s shady af. A deal’s a deal, F off.

Bit of an inverse situation when they had work but refused it in an attempt to extort additional funds. We’re in a construction economy that’s about to shut off like a tap.

It’s also quite the clusterF because we’re smack in the middle of a housing crisis with nowhere for people to live.. but prices have been bid up so high that with increased interest rates no one can afford to build nor buy.

I think we’ll see a massive pendulum swing to government developing crown land into rental apartment blocks. I think we should see that, anyways. Hasn’t been any social housing built for 30 years which has contributed to the housing crisis problem. Only the government is going to be able to afford to build and rent places out with a very long term payback period. Further, if they don’t, they risk losing even more skilled workers as people flee to markets with work and affordable housing for their families. It won’t exactly be a Great Depression eta make-work project as it’s necessary to build social housing, but it will be a significant government investment.

*shrug* Maybe I’ll go back to Union work and build out commercial spaces and hospitals - there are a few new hospitals going up shortly.. enough work for some tradesmen to almost make an entire career of building hospitals around the Province.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.