4 ms·

I thought the Canadian citizen part was more in line with money laundering and being a safe haven. I'm sure he's part of the contributing force on real estate

by vecinu 10y ago

I thought the Canadian citizen part was more in line with money laundering and being a safe haven. I'm sure he's part of the contributing force on real estate increases in major cities across Canada (Vancouver/Toronto) mainly due (to my understanding) to being able to move money out of China and into something more stable, like Canadian real estate. It really pains me that people use Canada as a crutch to do their dirty deeds or even to have "as a backup".

sanswork 10y ago
The billionaires increase the housing supply(see Cityplace) or are buying such high end properties that the worst they do is make life a bit more expensive in the Bridle Path.
- esja 10y ago
  Where do the people who can no longer afford the high end go? And what about the people they displace when those people move into the "medium end"? There is only one market for housing - over-paying at the top end causes a ripple effect which impacts everyone. Aside from that, a lot of foreign money is buying existing property and not adding to the supply. In many cases properties are left empty, i.e. they are reducing supply.
  - sanswork 10y ago
    Typically they buy land up in like Aurora/Stouffville and build their mansion there. >There is only one market for housing - over-paying at the top end causes a ripple effect which impacts everyone. This is wrong. There are lots of housing markets at all levels of cost and very few of them overlap. On the higher end if you can't buy your mansion in the area you want you're not going to be content with a slightly oversized house elsewhere. >Aside from that, a lot of foreign money is buying existing property and not adding to the supply. Maybe(reports indicate this is way below the level most Canadians think it is) but this isn't the billionaire class. They have too much money to get away with buying a bunch of houses. They have better ways to invest in property in Canada.
- vecinu 10y ago
  I don't think this is correct and the other person who responded to you seems to have the right idea. Look at San Francisco, my friends and coworkers are renting/buying crappy 1943-built, non-renovated 1br units that cost $3k to rent or $700k to buy. They could afford to throw out some more money for something slightly better but it's already a lot of money and pricing everyone out.
  - sanswork 10y ago
    Right and in San Francisco there is a ton of people making around the same amount as your friends likely which means there is a lot of competition in their demographic. Now look at the houses priced $10-20m. If you can afford one of those are you going to start buying up the $1m stock because you can't find the one you want or are you going to build the one you want elsewhere?
    - vecinu 10y ago
      "San Francisco doesn't allow new construction." as the other poster said, so you're going to buy up the $1m stock of houses. I also think this "competition" is artificial as a lot of people are signing 30 year mortgages but I highly doubt their salaries will continue growing or even staying at the level they're at now. Most folks aren't spending within their means.
  - aianus 10y ago
    San Francisco doesn't allow new construction. Toronto, on the other hand, is filled with glass 40+ story condos constructed in the last 10 years and there are many more being constructed all the time. We can keep building and exporting new condo units to rich foreigners indefinitely, no different than Boeing constructing and exporting new 787s.
    - vecinu 10y ago
      Except by "exporting" those units to foreigners you're not allowing communities to build and that's why you're seeing a huge divide in Toronto between folks. When I lived there, I felt there was a lot of hidden hatred that won't be painfully obvious to outsiders until something goes really wrong with the economy/foreign policy.

by vecinu 10y ago

sanswork 10y ago

The billionaires increase the housing supply(see Cityplace) or are buying such high end properties that the worst they do is make life a bit more expensive in the Bridle Path.

esja 10y ago
Where do the people who can no longer afford the high end go? And what about the people they displace when those people move into the "medium end"? There is only one market for housing - over-paying at the top end causes a ripple effect which impacts everyone. Aside from that, a lot of foreign money is buying existing property and not adding to the supply. In many cases properties are left empty, i.e. they are reducing supply.
- sanswork 10y ago
  Typically they buy land up in like Aurora/Stouffville and build their mansion there. >There is only one market for housing - over-paying at the top end causes a ripple effect which impacts everyone. This is wrong. There are lots of housing markets at all levels of cost and very few of them overlap. On the higher end if you can't buy your mansion in the area you want you're not going to be content with a slightly oversized house elsewhere. >Aside from that, a lot of foreign money is buying existing property and not adding to the supply. Maybe(reports indicate this is way below the level most Canadians think it is) but this isn't the billionaire class. They have too much money to get away with buying a bunch of houses. They have better ways to invest in property in Canada.
vecinu 10y ago
I don't think this is correct and the other person who responded to you seems to have the right idea. Look at San Francisco, my friends and coworkers are renting/buying crappy 1943-built, non-renovated 1br units that cost $3k to rent or $700k to buy. They could afford to throw out some more money for something slightly better but it's already a lot of money and pricing everyone out.
- sanswork 10y ago
  Right and in San Francisco there is a ton of people making around the same amount as your friends likely which means there is a lot of competition in their demographic. Now look at the houses priced $10-20m. If you can afford one of those are you going to start buying up the $1m stock because you can't find the one you want or are you going to build the one you want elsewhere?
  - vecinu 10y ago
    "San Francisco doesn't allow new construction." as the other poster said, so you're going to buy up the $1m stock of houses. I also think this "competition" is artificial as a lot of people are signing 30 year mortgages but I highly doubt their salaries will continue growing or even staying at the level they're at now. Most folks aren't spending within their means.
- aianus 10y ago
  San Francisco doesn't allow new construction. Toronto, on the other hand, is filled with glass 40+ story condos constructed in the last 10 years and there are many more being constructed all the time. We can keep building and exporting new condo units to rich foreigners indefinitely, no different than Boeing constructing and exporting new 787s.
  - vecinu 10y ago
    Except by "exporting" those units to foreigners you're not allowing communities to build and that's why you're seeing a huge divide in Toronto between folks. When I lived there, I felt there was a lot of hidden hatred that won't be painfully obvious to outsiders until something goes really wrong with the economy/foreign policy.