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Billions in 'unknown' funds flowing into Canada's housing market [video]

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Re: Billions in 'unknown' funds flowing into Canada's housing market [video]

#21

Post by exporectomy »

sunstone wrote: post #11
tolbish wrote: post #3

Should housing be a primary vehicle for investment and the de facto way of making money? Or should it serve as a necessity and basic aspect of life?

In Australia if I recall correctly, foreign buyers are only able to buy newly built homes. Canada would benefit from a similar rule, it would stimulate more housing and not impact the demand for existing homes.

Isn't the problem in Australia (and New Zealand) mainly caused by first home buyers? They seem to pay the maximum the bank will lend them with no regard for being profitable or a good investment. Just get the best house possible at any cost. Once they own them, they fill them with lower occupancy than investors do, so the supply of housing effectively decreases. I'm one of those people. My house used to be a rental with 5 people in it. Now we have only 3. My neighbor owner has 1 person in a 3 bedroom house.

Re: Billions in 'unknown' funds flowing into Canada's housing market [video]

#22

Post by runako »

MattGaiser wrote: post #12
tolbish wrote: post #3

Should housing be a primary vehicle for investment and the de facto way of making money? Or should it serve as a necessity and basic aspect of life?

How does people investing in housing change how much housing is available? They just rent it out.

> They just rent it out.

This is not the case in some prominent housing markets (London & NYC come to mind). There are owners who purchase the properties as a way to store wealth in the US. These dwellings frequently sit empty most of the time.

Re: Billions in 'unknown' funds flowing into Canada's housing market [video]

#24

Post by exporectomy »

gota wrote: post #16
tolbish wrote: post #3

Should housing be a primary vehicle for investment and the de facto way of making money? Or should it serve as a necessity and basic aspect of life?

What happened to the punitive taxes for unnocupied homes I read about a couple of years ago? If I recall it was a "tax" 1% of the property value every month after the first 12 of vacancy I can't imagine that going into effect and rent/house prices _not_ going down

If the problem is caused by too many people wanting to live there, rather than empty houses, it wouldn't help. Nobody likes to blame themselves, but everyone living in a high-priced area is partly to blame for the high prices, not just some faceless evil baddies.

Re: Billions in 'unknown' funds flowing into Canada's housing market [video]

#25

Post by fastball »

sunstone wrote: post #11
tolbish wrote: post #3

Should housing be a primary vehicle for investment and the de facto way of making money? Or should it serve as a necessity and basic aspect of life?

In Australia if I recall correctly, foreign buyers are only able to buy newly built homes. Canada would benefit from a similar rule, it would stimulate more housing and not impact the demand for existing homes.

In Indonesia, only citizens or businesses with part ownership by citizens are allowed to own property, and I think this is probably the right way to go for most other countries as well.

Unlike the vast majority of other human endeavors, land actually is a zero sum game, at least until we are a space-faring species.

Re: Billions in 'unknown' funds flowing into Canada's housing market [video]

#29

Post by sk0g »

mths wrote: post #13
sunstone wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Australia if I recall correctly, foreign buyers are only able to buy newly built homes. Canada would benefit from a similar rule, it would stimulate more housing and not impact the demand for existing homes.

I'm not sure Australia should be held as an example of a healthy housing market.

The apartment I lived in before had a few hundred sold, with most sitting empty. The building managers mentioned most of the owners were Chinese, and would rather not rent it out than drop the rent prices, so they had to constantly carry out inspections on apartments that had never been lived in, for a few years now.

Absolutely depressing. The bit that weirded me out most was the post boxes. They were quite big, but about half of them were overflowing, which had to have been the result of a few years of accumulation at least.

If the buying price was 40-50% lower, I could save up for a deposit in a year or two, but the crazy house prices here in Australia are not getting any better at all. It also feels morally wrong to be investing at the cost of someone being able to afford a roof over their heads, so maybe renting it is for me.

Of course, the city also is going to be hosting the Olympics in a while, so that solidifies my moving away plans!

Re: Billions in 'unknown' funds flowing into Canada's housing market [video]

#30

Post by fredophile »

gota wrote: post #16
tolbish wrote: post #3

Should housing be a primary vehicle for investment and the de facto way of making money? Or should it serve as a necessity and basic aspect of life?

What happened to the punitive taxes for unnocupied homes I read about a couple of years ago? If I recall it was a "tax" 1% of the property value every month after the first 12 of vacancy I can't imagine that going into effect and rent/house prices _not_ going down

That tax applies to the city of Vancouver. Most houses in Canada are outside of Vancouver.
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