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Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

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Re: Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

#21

Post by mymythisisthis »

exporectomy wrote: post #14
dontparticipate wrote: post #10

Maybe I don't know enough about how this works in Canada in particular, but will this do anything? I thought a lot of the issue was from housing as an investment vehicle, and not specifically foreign investment. And are foreign investors really buying the real estate directly, or are they purchasing REITs and the trusts are buying them on their behalf (laundering the "foreignness" of the investment)? And, as always,…

We had this in New Zealand a few years ago too. Prices kept climbing regardless (in my area, prices have doubled in the 3 years since the ban). The real problem is normal owner-occupier homebuyers since they do most of the buying. But they're also the common people and the "victims" so they can't easily blame themselves for their own greed and need a scapegoat like foreigners or investors.

I feel that normal people just don't have anywhere to invest. People are scared of inflation. Don't trust other financial investments, like stocks. They're putting money into buying 2nd, 3rd and 4th homes to rent out.

Re: Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

#22

Post by epa »

krickkrack wrote: post #11

Typical - print 100s of billions, when assets inflate blame x, y or z. How about Justin explains how foreigners owning 2% of homes in Canada has ANY impact whatsoever on prices?

It has been an issue in the Canadian market for 20 years now and has had a material impact on housing prices in certain big markets.

Re: Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

#23

Post by jseliger »

rubayeet wrote: post #19

Foreign ownership of houses comprises only small % of the housing market [1]. The measures promised (but all political parties, not just Trudeau) have been applied in New Zealand and their housing market still remain white hot. The root cause is low supply of houses in Canada, the red tape around land / property development keeps construction of housing slow and costly. [1] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-626-…

The housing discourse has long since reached the point of satire: Canada will try absolutely anything to lower the price of housing except build more housing: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-will-do-anything-to-en....

Meanwhile, https://www.worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-e...

Re: Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

#24

Post by exporectomy »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #18
exporectomy wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We had this in New Zealand a few years ago too. Prices kept climbing regardless (in my area, prices have doubled in the 3 years since the ban). The real problem is normal owner-occupier homebuyers since they do most of the buying. But they're also the common people and the "victims" so they can't easily blame themselves for their own greed and need a scapegoat like foreigners or investors.

If that’s the case, with enough housing supply prices would be stable. Both can’t be true however.

Not entirely. In NZ, people really favor single family homes near or in big cities. That just doesn't scale because of finite land. Nobody wants to settle for a duplex or worse, an apartment. Perhaps eventually prices for those high density homes will be stable and single-family-home owners will be super rich.

Re: Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

#25

Post by exporectomy »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #16
dontparticipate wrote: post #10

Maybe I don't know enough about how this works in Canada in particular, but will this do anything? I thought a lot of the issue was from housing as an investment vehicle, and not specifically foreign investment. And are foreign investors really buying the real estate directly, or are they purchasing REITs and the trusts are buying them on their behalf (laundering the "foreignness" of the investment)? And, as always,…

Buying expensive apartments and letting them sit vacant for money laundering purposes is a well-known phenomenon by now. This has significant effects on prices from increased demand, while also a detriment to resulting empty neighborhoods. Foreign investment of construction is a thing but I’ve not seen any studies on the net effect.

Any data to back that up ("significant effects on prices")? Otherwise it may just be news-hyped outrage mongering.

Re: Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

#27

Post by baybal2 »

lwansbrough wrote: post #17

Nice, this will curb the unacceptably high 4% of home buyers who are foreign who are definitely responsible for driving the market prices up. It certainly couldn't be driven up by the fact that if you ask virtually any person under 40 if they will purchase a home once they can afford one they will say yes. If only there was a way you could put more than one home on a single lot so you could actually meet demand witho…

I lived in Vancouver for 6 years.

> Nice, this will curb the unacceptably high 4% of home buyers who are foreign who are definitely responsible for driving the market prices up.

These 4% are driving up prices of the most elite real estate, and crowding out rich elite upper-middle-class Canadians, who invest in real estate, and live in big cities (read Toronto, and Vancouver.) That's the real problem for them.

So, these unacceptably high 4% is mostly visible on West Georgia, and Cambie, and then DT Vancouver, and Toronto.

Most people unhappy about it are rich recent immigrants wanting to buy a house themselves. Please make a distinction in between migrants with Canadian passport, or PR, and foreign buyers without any relationship to the country.

Re: Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

#28

Post by itake »

anon7725 wrote: post #26

Immigration is likely a much larger driver of housing price increases than foreign ownership. Canada admits 300k immigrants per year, 2/3 of those are economic/skilled entrants who will be looking to buy property 3-5 years after arrival.

yelp is shifting their engineering office to canada for the cheap talent and friendly immigration laws.

Re: Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

#29

Post by baybal2 »

anon7725 wrote: post #26

Immigration is likely a much larger driver of housing price increases than foreign ownership. Canada admits 300k immigrants per year, 2/3 of those are economic/skilled entrants who will be looking to buy property 3-5 years after arrival.

Yes, and not to say, Canada grants PR, or Citizenship very fast. 2-4 years in most cases.

Re: Justin Trudeau Vows Two-Year Ban on Foreign Home Buyers in Canada Election

#30

Post by khuey »

bushbaba wrote: post #15
bllguo wrote: post #7

the blame-the-foreigners narrative has always sounded too convenient to be entirely true. People used to love saying this in California, when there clearly are so many other problems with housing like Prop 13 and zoning. Is there any data from reputable sources that actually quantifies this effect?

Prop 13 protects existing long-term home owners. Ive seen no solid report that it has impact on current prices. I’d wager CEQ and zoning laws have done more harm than prop 13. Government backed lending is a primary cause. Just like how student loans enabled university costs to skyrocket.

"protecting existing long-term home owners" is another way of saying "reducing available supply" which is absolutely going to have an impact on prices.
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