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Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

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Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#591

Post by danbolt »

cosmiccrisp wrote: post #565
huevosabio wrote: post #493

These are boogieman policies that have zero influence on the root cause. Foreign investors jump into the housing market because the current system ensures that the supply of housing is limited so it is an attractive way to park your wealth. But that is not the root cause. The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting,…

>The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting, NIMBYism. I don't agree that this is the root cause. The root cause is the artificial demand on housing created though our mass immigration policy. Canada accepts _at least_ 500,000 people per year through various channels, "temporary" foreign workers, international stud…

> And I am low balling that number. It could be closer to 1 million.

Canada's population has increased around 4 million over the past ten years, so I don't know if that velocity of closer to million tracks.

Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#592

Post by oneoff786 »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #557
huevosabio wrote: post #493

These are boogieman policies that have zero influence on the root cause. Foreign investors jump into the housing market because the current system ensures that the supply of housing is limited so it is an attractive way to park your wealth. But that is not the root cause. The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting,…

We really should follow Japan on this: (a) National zoning (b) A culture that abhors second hand housing (so structures don't appreciate like land does). Housing that depreciates is no longer a sound investment. (c) Liberal definition on minimal standard housing to rent (central heating not required, toilets can be shared, no personal shower or even a shower at all in the building you are renting a room in, small spa…

e) a land value tax

Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#593

Post by seanmcdirmid »

3pt14159 wrote: post #568
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #557

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We really should follow Japan on this: (a) National zoning (b) A culture that abhors second hand housing (so structures don't appreciate like land does). Housing that depreciates is no longer a sound investment. (c) Liberal definition on minimal standard housing to rent (central heating not required, toilets can be shared, no personal shower or even a shower at all in the building you are renting a room in, small spa…

Or we could, you know, intelligently tax property nationally and tie it to a national dividend that directly goes to landed immigrants and citizens in the form of a basic income. It will make sure that the poor and lower middle class don't get hosed and simultaneously make property a less attractive investment for foreigners or would-be mansion builders. I don't want to live in the same place my whole life and I don'…

Property taxes should be doing that already, maybe we just need a national property tax? I'm all for basic income as a form of wealth re-distribution (as long as the money does't come from nowhere and stoke inflation).

Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#594

Post by mikepurvis »

cosmiccrisp wrote: post #565
huevosabio wrote: post #493

These are boogieman policies that have zero influence on the root cause. Foreign investors jump into the housing market because the current system ensures that the supply of housing is limited so it is an attractive way to park your wealth. But that is not the root cause. The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting,…

>The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting, NIMBYism. I don't agree that this is the root cause. The root cause is the artificial demand on housing created though our mass immigration policy. Canada accepts _at least_ 500,000 people per year through various channels, "temporary" foreign workers, international stud…

I assume the response would be that with policies that allowed for rampant building/sprawl, the market would sort this all out regardless of the population.

However, these kinds of price spikes still happen in lots of places that have neither a ton of immigration or constraints on building, so it's not clear to me that either one is really a singular root cause.

Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#595

Post by eertami »

domlebo70 wrote: post #250
michaelje wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> 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…

It artificially drives prices up. This is not a good thing for housing

Exactly. Which makes the subsidies a funnelling of taxpayer money into the pockets of landowners - obviously this is not good, but if you have a population of majority landowners, then this is a sure-fire way to get votes.

Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#596

Post by seanmcdirmid »

admax88qqq wrote: post #573
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #557

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We really should follow Japan on this: (a) National zoning (b) A culture that abhors second hand housing (so structures don't appreciate like land does). Housing that depreciates is no longer a sound investment. (c) Liberal definition on minimal standard housing to rent (central heating not required, toilets can be shared, no personal shower or even a shower at all in the building you are renting a room in, small spa…

> A culture that abhors second hand housing (so structures don't appreciate like land does). Housing that depreciates is no longer a sound investment That sounds tremendously wasteful. All housing will have to be built new now? > (d) Not very open to immigration at all, have a decreasing population. This is probably the biggest reason housing is depreciating in Japan, especially outside of Tokyo.

> That sounds tremendously wasteful. All housing will have to be built new now?

Well ya. You don't build to have your home last for more than 30-40 years, which can save some materials. We should get better at recycling and renewing building material, maybe the Japanese counteract things that way?

Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#597

Post by MAGZine »

cosmiccrisp wrote: post #565
huevosabio wrote: post #493

These are boogieman policies that have zero influence on the root cause. Foreign investors jump into the housing market because the current system ensures that the supply of housing is limited so it is an attractive way to park your wealth. But that is not the root cause. The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting,…

>The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting, NIMBYism. I don't agree that this is the root cause. The root cause is the artificial demand on housing created though our mass immigration policy. Canada accepts _at least_ 500,000 people per year through various channels, "temporary" foreign workers, international stud…

In what world are "temporary" foreign workers buying homes in Canada? With what salary? Same with Refugees, students.

Funny how in the first hundred years in Canada, we didn't have any issue with housing costs, despite accepting vast amounts of refugees. I'm not saying it's not making the problem worse, but to SOLELY pin it on them is IMO willful ignorance.

if we banned all immigrants, of any kind, tomorrow, would Canada's housing prices collapse? I'd suspect not: credit is still cheap, and every day canadians still want homes.

Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#598

Post by oneoff786 »

vkou wrote: post #546
huevosabio wrote: post #493

These are boogieman policies that have zero influence on the root cause. Foreign investors jump into the housing market because the current system ensures that the supply of housing is limited so it is an attractive way to park your wealth. But that is not the root cause. The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting,…

> The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting, NIMBYism. You're conspicuously avoiding low interest rates and 30-year mortgages from that list. When people can borrow against their entire life's earnings to buy a home, the price of a home will trend towards that of a person's entire life's earnings. Limiting maximum…

Would it? Or would it simply push home ownership further out of reach and favor landlords with capital?

Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#599

Post by twblalock »

cosmiccrisp wrote: post #565
huevosabio wrote: post #493

These are boogieman policies that have zero influence on the root cause. Foreign investors jump into the housing market because the current system ensures that the supply of housing is limited so it is an attractive way to park your wealth. But that is not the root cause. The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting,…

>The root cause is the system that is geared to keep houses always appreciating via supply constraints: aggressive zoning, discretionary permitting, NIMBYism. I don't agree that this is the root cause. The root cause is the artificial demand on housing created though our mass immigration policy. Canada accepts _at least_ 500,000 people per year through various channels, "temporary" foreign workers, international stud…

When more people show up, you should build more housing. Canada is a big place with a small population relative to its size — you have plenty of space. Your argument might work if Canada was a small island like Singapore, but it is one of the largest countries by land area in the world.

What prevents you from just building more housing in all that extra space you have? Zoning laws and nimbyism.

Re: Canada bans foreign home buyers for two years

#600

Post by seanmcdirmid »

idiotsecant wrote: post #566
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #557

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We really should follow Japan on this: (a) National zoning (b) A culture that abhors second hand housing (so structures don't appreciate like land does). Housing that depreciates is no longer a sound investment. (c) Liberal definition on minimal standard housing to rent (central heating not required, toilets can be shared, no personal shower or even a shower at all in the building you are renting a room in, small spa…

In what sane universe is not requiring toilets and showers a solution to housing issues? I'm reasonably sure we can meet housing needs and still maintain basic human dignity.

A $250/month room with a shared toilet is better than living in a tent somewhere. Also, the need for showers can be mitigated with public bath houses, we used to have more of those...again...it makes lower end housing more viable, but most people will probably want their own toilet and shower and will pay for it.

> I'm reasonably sure we can meet housing needs and still maintain basic human dignity.

The proof of your hope would be in the pudding, and right now we have no pudding.

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