A running joke in Canada is that BC stands for "Bring Cash". This is what happens in a completely unregulated market. Good in the short term, disastrous in the long.
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The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
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Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
#22A running joke in Canada is that BC stands for "Bring Cash". This is what happens in a completely unregulated market. Good in the short term, disastrous in the long.
Isn't BC vast and mostly empty though? Last I looked purchase prices in Vancouver island (aside from Victoria maybe) were about the same as or lower than rural areas in Germany.
Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
#23A running joke in Canada is that BC stands for "Bring Cash". This is what happens in a completely unregulated market. Good in the short term, disastrous in the long.
It's racist, but after Hong Kong and Macau, Vancouver was readily referred to as Hongcouver. The money spilling in from Asia has been going on for a long time. 16+ years.
The difference is that the first wave of foreign money that came into the city was from Hong Kong. Generally a lot of these immigrants started businesses in the city and contributed to the economy. This is not the case with the current influx of cash. Houses are sitting empty and there is evidence that it is really hurting the economy.
Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
#24Holy - I live 5 blocks from the C$64M home mentioned in the article and pay a rent of 1200$ every month.
Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
#25Isn't pretty much the same thing happening in San Francisco, too? Alongside all the other drivers of increased home prices there. I think SF has shot up the ranks to become one of the most expensive cities in the world now, right?
Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
#26The interesting parts about foreign buyers is that the best story always seems to highlight the super rich, but its not like mansions are the only things going up in price.
I'm sure that a price increase in land results in a "rising tide" effect for all homes, but because someone is willing to spend 64M on a mansion, does it mean condo's should be worth more too?
The city is pretty, but there aren't exactly a massive pile of high paying jobs, nor do we have much of an economy beyond resource extraction, satellite offices, etc.
Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
#27Isn't pretty much the same thing happening in San Francisco, too? Alongside all the other drivers of increased home prices there. I think SF has shot up the ranks to become one of the most expensive cities in the world now, right?
The hole bay area is like that. Ive heard of like whole housing projects getting bought out by foreign investors out in Santa Clara, stable place to keep money I suppose.
Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
#28I think that the real problem is that so many people are trying to concentrate into the densest areas. That creates huge pressures, which are reflected in the price of space. Take a look at the cities with populations below 100K. You will find lots of people who live great lives, despite not being rich. For those of us who grew up in these little island towns, living in a place like Vancouver is downright depressing,…
I used to think you had to live in an "it" city to make it. Then I realized that I could make my life whatever I wanted to be more easily in a less expensive place. The chains were in my head.
Yes, until you have a family. Then suddenly you need a good school nearby (and good luck bringing children to school in car if they have serious case of motion sickness).
Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seems like the Canadian government is responding: > Foreign investors will have to pay an additional 15 percent in property-transfer tax as of Aug. 2 and city of Vancouver was given the authority to impose a new tax on empty homes. The additional tax on foreign investors is a good idea, but I wonder how it will be enforced, especially when ownership is often hidden behind trusts.
>>and city of Vancouver was given the authority to impose a new tax on empty homes. I wonder how they will actually enforce this. I mean, one can furnish a home, have utilities remain active and leave a few lights on and make it look like someone is actually living there. Add some random noise generation (pretty easy to set up with home automation or other, similar methods) and you can fool basically anyone who isn't…
IIRC they're planning to use a number of sources. Things like utilities - so at a minimum you'd have to pay for and use a reasonable amount of electricity, water, etc. in the home. Even garbage/recycling collection would be a give-away. Insurance companies will also be a source of info, as insurance rates differ based on occupancy, so the companies have an incentive to determine the same. Finally anonymous reporting (ie from neighbours). Sounds like it should be pretty effective to me. The last bit least so, but utilities + insurance should go a long way. It's going to be a lot easier to just find a decent tenant (easy to do when housing is in such short supply; charge slightly below market rent if you want your pick from many applicants) than to do all the work to fake occupancy.
Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires
#30What isn't talked about in this article is the effect this is having on the other industries in the city aside from real estate.
I believe that Vancouver has potential to be THE tech hub in Canada. Unfortunately, wages are very low compared to the cost of housing, and so the cost of living is super high. Combine that with extremely low vacancy rates, and it is very hard to attract talent from out of town. In fact, many young, smart and talented people just head south to Seattle or the valley because the wages are so much higher, and the economics of staying in Vancouver just don't make sense.
The other industries that could be thriving and building up a real economy in city are some of the biggest casualties in this whole mess. Unfortunately, all of the politicians from municipal to provincial are in bed with the real estate industry, so nothing truly effective and meaningful will be done.