Billions in 'unknown' funds flowing into Canada's housing market [video] • Hacker News Board

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

#391

Post by BelenusMordred » Mon, Aug 02, 2021, 12:59 PM UTC

CTDOCodebases wrote: post #125

BelenusMordred wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> foreign buyers are only able to buy newly built homes In theory, yes, in reality the largest single residential purchase in the country was $35m and splashed all over the front page of newspapers. It took them 5 years later to realise it was an illegal purchase by a foreigner after he had a different dispute with the tax office. If that sale slips through what hope do you actually have for any others?

For wealthy individuals they can basically buy their residency by operating/investing in an Australian business. After that they apply for a Permanent Residency visa. Once they are a resident they can purchase whatever property they wish just like an Australian Citizen.

Yes but that's tangential, this person outright bought an existing property as a foreigner knowing full well he's not allowed to. Not a single agent, conveyancer or bureaucrat in the entire process ever tried to stop it from happening. The millions of people who looked at it on the front page of paper didn't think twice.

You can buy citizenship or residency anywhere and get the perks, but that has nothing to do with the point I was making here. The point is that laws are useless until they are enforced.

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

#392

Post by gremlinsinc » Tue, Aug 03, 2021, 3:31 AM UTC

syshum wrote: post #182

pkorzeniewski wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm disgusted by the whole real estate market, people buying dozens of apartments and houses just to rent them - and hence increasing prices for people who just want something on their own instead of making rich people richer - is destructive for society, especially for young people. Owning a roof over your head shouldn't require an average person to work their ass for half of their lives.

Historically the price of the Average Home should be about 2x average household annual income. We are way off that good median today, so either prices have to fall or incomes have to go up. However the causes of this can not be simply explained away by "people buying dozens of apartments and houses just to rent them" the reality is far more complicated than that. even if you put a ban or cap on the number of rentals…

What if we could stage a rental strike with teeth?

Buy up some land in multiple states to build a "campground" that has Yurts for office space (work from home), plenty of places to pitch your own tent, showers, bathrooms, etc... it'd be somewhat less comfortable than 'normal life' but in the end if rental units sit vacant long enough it'll drive prices down, no?

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

#393

Post by CTDOCodebases » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 6:00 AM UTC

BelenusMordred wrote: post #391

CTDOCodebases wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For wealthy individuals they can basically buy their residency by operating/investing in an Australian business. After that they apply for a Permanent Residency visa. Once they are a resident they can purchase whatever property they wish just like an Australian Citizen.

Yes but that's tangential, this person outright bought an existing property as a foreigner knowing full well he's not allowed to. Not a single agent, conveyancer or bureaucrat in the entire process ever tried to stop it from happening. The millions of people who looked at it on the front page of paper didn't think twice. You can buy citizenship or residency anywhere and get the perks, but that has nothing to do with…

I agree. I was just adding that even though the laws made to appease the public were created there are still loopholes that invalidate the claim that “only new properties can be sold to foreign citizens.” It’s untrue and even if it was it still ignores the fact that the property market doesn’t distinguish old from new.

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

#394

Post by dudzik » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 7:08 PM UTC

yardstick wrote: post #335

Nelkins wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Make housing abundant by building more of it, like we used to.

It’ll be snapped up by all the landlords who have had years of profit taking to build up cash reserves to buy additional stock at a premium. That’s what is happening now.

Let them. This would increase competition and drive down the rent. Making it less lucrative to own property.

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

#395

Post by digislave » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 11:21 PM UTC

fuzzybear3965 wrote: post #126

digislave wrote: post #120

In my country, there are cheap houses in the countryside, and housing in attractive locations is very expensive. Perhaps the factor of demand is underrated in the discussion of housing prices.

Which country?

Germany