Does Canada have the same problem as the US with "big corps" buying houses to rent out?
Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
431–440 of 1001 posts
Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
#432Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nothing is better than sprawling outwards. Most of the white collar jobs can be done remotely , so commute is not needed. Most of groceries and other stuff can be delivered. A truck doing 100 deliveries is surely less traffic than everyone going to the supermarkets. And most importantly with sprawling outwards citizens can enjoy the outdoors and take care of their health. And even more importantly high density of pop…
Service availability decreases with population density, and relying on subsidized last mile delivery for the economic elite is not a sustainable model for an entire society. The road network alone is a funding quagmire, to say nothing of hiding the infrastructure burdens of servicing sprawl into the eldritch horror that is the municipal bond market.
> Service availability decreases with population density, and relying on subsidized last mile delivery for the economic elite is not a sustainable model for an entire society.
I don't think this is strictly true. I don't like the model, but big box stores seem pretty sustainable (everyone drives to a distribution center for their goods). An actual last mile distribution system (a la Amazon) also appears to work pretty well. Neither of these are exclusively available to the economic elite.
> The road network alone is a funding quagmire, to say nothing of hiding the infrastructure burdens of servicing sprawl into the eldritch horror that is the municipal bond market.
I don't doubt that infrastructure costs decrease with density, but density doesn't keep urban municipalities from building infrastructure that they can't afford to maintain any more than other places. Quality of governance and density are almost certainly independent variables.
Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
#433I'm a homeowner in Toronto and I don't think this will help. They've eliminated a small number of buyers from the market but have added other incentives like a first home buyers tax credit that will only fuel the fire - Australia tried this with tragic results. >> working with provinces and territories to develop and implement a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights and bring forward a national plan to end blind bidding. Blind…
>> Australia tried this with tragic results Australian living in Canada here - unsure what the tragic results were? It’s helped a number of my friends buy their first home - with a small (~$10k) credit /reduced stamp duties and taxes on the first home owned and lived in (ie not an investment). Negative gearing has been far more impactful in increasing the cost of housing, with people buying multiple homes for investm…
Would you say it's easier or harder to buy your first home after 20+ years of all these first home owner policies?
Find it hard to believe anyone could say such a thing with a straight face. Every time these subsidies are announced the median price rises.
Negative gearing is a distraction that completely skirts the real issues regarding supply, density and infrastructure.
Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
#434Im one of those 'greedy' old farts who owns more than one home. We have one for ourselves and 5 rentals. Im starting to agree with those who are feeling priced out of the market. What would make me stop buying homes? A graduated tax would. If there were no sales tax on the first two, and then 15% tax on the third, 25% tax on the 4th, and going up by 10% for each subsequent house, it would definitely make me quit buyi…
Don't see why the government deserves to profit off it.
Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
#435Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's both supply and demand. You need construction and limited immigration. That's why for example Tokyo is so cheap.
Technically you just need construction to outstrip people looking for homes. One of the problems is people can move quite quickly from one side of a country to another, it's a matter of weeks. But from empty lot to new house is a matter of months at best, years at worst.
Immigration must be limited to the degree that construction can happen. Because it can be raised almost to an arbitrarily high degree it's very easy to overwhelm domestic home production.
Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
#436I think this will me largely ineffective but I’m glad it’s happening. Why? Because it’s acknowledgement that there’sa problem.
Housing should he first and foremost by the locals for the locals.
On the owning side, treat any owners as tax residents and tax their full worldwide income.
S much as people hate landlords, someone needs to provide rental units. The solution isn’t for everybody to buy. Not everyone wants that. Not everyone is in a position to do that.
But you can give landlords the same treatment: treat them as tax residents and tax their worldwide income. If they’re already local this is no different.
Property tax should he based on assessed value. There should Mee no caps (eg Prop 13). If you want to aspire seniors not to be forced out of their homes (a common defense that results in Dismey’s property tax bill in California being straight or if the 60s) then you can carve out exemptions and rebates rather than also including the Larry Ellisons of the world.
Second and subsequent properties should have much higher property taxes. Having a property without a beneficial owner should be illegal.
Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
#437Earlier quoted context omitted.
The theory of that, and the reality of it are two different things. As someone who has been on both sides of this in Ontario, I can tell you for a fact that blind bidding results in people over paying, and never knowing by how much. The stress of buying a home in the GTA has lead people to stretch their budgets beyond reasonable limits, and realtors have only made it worse now. In recent years it's started to become…
This is wrong on a few levels. 1) as someone who has been on the ground as well, I’ve lost a few offers because I was worried about over paying. On multiple occasions, after seeing what it sold for we thought “damn, we woulda paid another $25K on top to get it had we known.” 2) Canadian banks has a very conservative “stress test” for securing mortgages. This includes qualifying at much higher rates then is being offe…
This part:
Canadian banks has a very conservative “stress test” for securing mortgages.
Please stop gambling on housing as an asset class.
The middle class doesn't do it in France, Germany, or Japan. In those places, housing prices are kept _fair_ through clear, transparent planning and a blend of free market and regulation. What the hell is wrong with US/UK/AUS/NZ that allows insane leverage to middle class house buyers that drives up the price of houses? It's all silly to me. (I'm less familiar with how much CAN allows middle class people to gamble on housing.)
Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
#438Earlier quoted context omitted.
The norm in Canada is 30 year term, with a variable rate. It's the second part that can really get you...
30 years hasn't been possible in Canada for several years now (thankfully).
What is normal? It's hard for middle class people to afford normal housing stock in highly advanced countries without 30 years of amortizing debt. Yes, I understand that some countries force you to chain bullet mortgages over ~30 years to achieve a similar effect.
Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
#439Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is plenty of housing for plenty of people in most parts of North America. The 'problem' is that what people _want_ is cheap housing in urban centers, a.k.a cool spots. Because that doesn't exist, we claim to have a housing shortage.
I'm not in Canada, but I am in the NYC region, and your comment is absurd. Assuming you want to live in a safe area, but not live inside the 5 city boros, you're looking at 1MM for a house, and an hour+ commute. But yeah, "cool spots". /s
There’s certainly an element of ignorance in their comment, but there’s also some truth.
I am originally from a rural area in the Midwest USA. I know a statistically significant number of people from high school and college who purposely moved to bigger cities because of “the culture” or “there’s so much more to do.” They are right. I live in a much bigger city now for those exact reasons, but the demand justifiably has resulted in wildly more expensive houses. I could buy a modest house in my hometown for $85k right now. That same house where I currently live would easily be selling for $300-350k. You make more money here, but not by much.
We need to work on improving our housing density issues, but there’s an undeniable element of “I don’t want to live there” going on.
Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years
#440Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's stopping Canada from increasing its housing stock? Surely Canada has plenty of space for its 30M citizens, right? (Yes, I understand that much of the territory is uninhabitable, but even still...).
There is plenty of housing for plenty of people in most parts of North America. The 'problem' is that what people _want_ is cheap housing in urban centers, a.k.a cool spots. Because that doesn't exist, we claim to have a housing shortage.
People don't want to live in cool spots, people want to live in spots where there is work.
Since agriculture industrialized, rural Canada has no work.