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Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

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Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#521

Post by scrappyjoe »

Negitivefrags wrote: post #219
plantain wrote: post #140

I really don't understand why governments around the globe just throw their hands in the air and pretend housing is an unsolvable problem for which they have no obligation to fix. It wasn't always like this - in 1922 in Australia we realised there was a shortage of 25,000 homes, so they just made it happen [1]. Why are we so impotent today? Do we just not care enough? Are the vested interests too powerful? [1] https:…

There seems to be a general lack of political will for big projects in the west. Looking at Asia now is like what the west used to be like. I am unsure about the cause but I suspect that a lot of it is that people seem a lot more worried about consultation with locals and such. In the past the government might just decide “we are building a highway here” or “we are building all this infrastructure for houses there” a…

A lot of late 20th century legislation has focused on eliminating corruption and taking all affected parties into consideration.

The practical effect has been the establishment of very complex supply chain management systems in all levels of government.

The outcome has been a dramatic increase in the cost(monetary and bureaucratic) of doing business for government.

Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#522

Post by SyzygistSix »

arcticbull wrote: post #163
plantain wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What changed? Governments used to aggressively intervene in the housing market.

My hypothesis has been that renters stopped voting. They tend to be transient, younger, non-voters while landowners tend to be older, rooted and vote fervently. Density hurts landowners by decreasing property values and landowners vote.

I think non-participation has been the standard since primary elections were established. The 20% who do reliably vote in them tend to be home and business owners, whose concern over their housing investment has increased.

Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#523

Post by aliqot »

throwaway_paris wrote: post #517
mancerayder wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paris is definitely not a place where you can point to an example of abundant, affordable housing. Are you kidding me? Adjusted for wages, Paris purchase prices are more unaffordable than London or New York.

I moved to Paris to start a new job recently, and the housing situation sucks so much. The prices in Paris are fairly high, 1000€ for a 30m² flat. But that's the relatively small heart of "Paris intra muros", excluding the "banlieues" (suburbs) which are cheaper and 30 minutes to an hour with the Métro (or the RER). That doesn't sound more unaffordable than London, not on a tech salary and colleagues have told me co-…

> For the record, I'm an EU citizen and I have a doctorate in a tech subject. My French colleagues have shared similar rental horror stories. I have no idea how people manage who are worse off financially, or come from outside the EU.

Having read all of this, I have no doubt that the experience you're relating is true, nonetheless, it makes me wonder how Paris's immigration boom is happening. When I was last there, most of the people I spoke to didn't have Parisian accents, and were mostly recent immigrants. There is no way all of these people outrank someone with a doctorate in a tech field, statistically speaking. I'm curious what other factors are at play here.

Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#524

Post by bsaul »

throwaway_paris wrote: post #517
mancerayder wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paris is definitely not a place where you can point to an example of abundant, affordable housing. Are you kidding me? Adjusted for wages, Paris purchase prices are more unaffordable than London or New York.

I moved to Paris to start a new job recently, and the housing situation sucks so much. The prices in Paris are fairly high, 1000€ for a 30m² flat. But that's the relatively small heart of "Paris intra muros", excluding the "banlieues" (suburbs) which are cheaper and 30 minutes to an hour with the Métro (or the RER). That doesn't sound more unaffordable than London, not on a tech salary and colleagues have told me co-…

I feel your pain. And you still don't realize the worst part: things are going to get far far worse thanks to the new laws regarding energy "performance".

Basically, laws now mandate every flat to have good thermal isolation, otherwise you can't rent them. Which means approx 30% of the housing in Paris will be banned from the renting market in the next 3 years. It started this very year.

PS: and because we're french, the diagnostic for "energy performance" of a housing is full of boggus formula which overestimate the consumption of your flat by a factor of 3 ( at least).

Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#525

Post by dsfyu404ed »

asdff wrote: post #485
dsfyu404ed wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely you’re talking about all those wealthy HNers who vote for higher taxes on themselves. Why is it that when some people vote for their principles but against their wallet it’s a good thing but when others do it it’s a bad thing?

If you think being taxed is a bad thing then you don't really understand what taxes do

If you think being taxed is a good thing you really don’t understand what taxes do. I’m very sympathetic to the argument that they are a necessary evil of a functioning society but to call taking peoples resources under threat of violence good implies a perverted moral compass to put it mildly.

Regardless, that’s not the point. The point is that there’s a double standard.

Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#526

Post by distances »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #504
rowanG077 wrote: post #475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes exactly. Paris is honestly one of the greatest shitholes in the EU.

> Paris is honestly one of the greatest shitholes in the EU. Berlin would like to step up as a challenger for that title.

To each their own, Berlin is probably my favourite European city!

Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#527

Post by phpisthebest »

llampx wrote: post #491
phpisthebest wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) I agree here but I have a feeling it would be unpopular policy on the democratic side of the asile if it tried to be done here in the US. 2) I am unclear why one would cap the number of houses or prevent rental. Or how that would solve the problem. Affordablity is only one reason people rent. There are alot of people that do not WANT to own. Hell I am a home owner and have often thought about selling and going bac…

I am wary of any arguments that suggest deregulating is the answer. Deregulating has practically never gone well. The answer might be to have regulations that fit the current needs and constraints, not the ones from 60 years ago.

Well, from my point of view, regulating has never gone well. There are all kinds of example that can be cited, often called "unintended consequences" which I believe are not actually unintended at all

Government: If you think you have problems now, wait until you see our solutions

Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#528

Post by Ziomislaw »

asdff wrote: post #485
dsfyu404ed wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely you’re talking about all those wealthy HNers who vote for higher taxes on themselves. Why is it that when some people vote for their principles but against their wallet it’s a good thing but when others do it it’s a bad thing?

If you think being taxed is a bad thing then you don't really understand what taxes do

taxes give more money for politicians to steal, whats good about it?

Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#529

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

distances wrote: post #526
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #504

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Paris is honestly one of the greatest shitholes in the EU. Berlin would like to step up as a challenger for that title.

To each their own, Berlin is probably my favourite European city!

I like it too but only to visit and party every now and then, since, due to the massive liberal and expat/immigrant population there, it's the only place in Germany where I feel comfortable and at home, and not in a conservative conformist dystopian nightmare, despite me being fluent in German.

But with the general poor state of the city despite the high income taxes, and that terrible housing market over there I can't ever see myself moving there to live permanently today. In hindsight maybe 4-5 years ago, when housing was still easier to find, would have been the better time for that but not in the current housing market. If you lucked out and got a nice flat before housing went to hell, good for you. But then good luck next time you need to move again.

Unless all you care about is tech start-ups and wild parties with drugs and cheap food and beer, the housing market there and general poor state makes it a bad place to live if you're used to high quality of life cities that are well kept, like Vienna for example.

I'd like to live in a place where finding housing that isn't overpriced and poorly maintained, isn't a full time job in of itself where you waste dozens of hours calling agents and fighting with hundreds of people hunger games style just for the opportunity of living in an overpriced shitty uninsulated flat that hasn't seen any renovations or modernization since the early '80s (if you're lucky).

Maybe I'm getting old, but since I'm not a student anymore, the party scene doesn't make up for that huge hassle.

Re: Canada bans most foreigners from buying homes

#530

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

aliqot wrote: post #523
throwaway_paris wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved to Paris to start a new job recently, and the housing situation sucks so much. The prices in Paris are fairly high, 1000€ for a 30m² flat. But that's the relatively small heart of "Paris intra muros", excluding the "banlieues" (suburbs) which are cheaper and 30 minutes to an hour with the Métro (or the RER). That doesn't sound more unaffordable than London, not on a tech salary and colleagues have told me co-…

> For the record, I'm an EU citizen and I have a doctorate in a tech subject. My French colleagues have shared similar rental horror stories. I have no idea how people manage who are worse off financially, or come from outside the EU. Having read all of this, I have no doubt that the experience you're relating is true, nonetheless, it makes me wonder how Paris's immigration boom is happening. When I was last there, m…

> it makes me wonder how Paris's immigration boom is happening [...] There is no way all of these people outrank someone with a doctorate in a tech field, statistically speaking. I'm curious what other factors are at play here.

Because a lot of immigrants who come to Paris (and any other big metro areas like London, Berlin, New York, San Fran etc.) have no standards regarding housing and don't care about these issues. They're just happy to be in a big rich city with economic opportunities (legal and otherwise) so they can make some money and send to their families back home, regardless if they live in slum like conditions.

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