5 ms·

There was a good article about that yesterday: http://www.sightline.org/2017/07/05/stop-blaming-foreign-home-buyers/ http://www.sightline.org/2017/07/05/stop-b

by davidw 9y ago

There was a good article about that yesterday: http://www.sightline.org/2017/07/05/stop-blaming-foreign-home-buyers/ http://www.sightline.org/2017/07/05/stop-blaming-foreign-hom... tl;dr - that's not really the problem. It's a supply issue.

mistermann 9y ago
Well sure, it's a "supply issue" in that demand exceeds supply, but that avoids the important question, which is why does demand exceed supply? The author is quite frank that the exact nature of the excessive new demand is not known, but he presents several theories, each of which contributes to an unknown degree.
- davidw 9y ago
  Supply is lagging because of zoning and NIMBYism, in large part. Demand has always moved around in the US, as industries and places come and go.
  - mistermann 9y ago
    There is an unknown amount of foreign demand that is amplifying the lack of supply to an unknown degree. Saying it is "just a lack of supply" is disingenuous. With a relatively small amount of effort the government could dramatically improve the amount and quality of data on the topic, but it is very clear their goal is to obfuscate what is really happening as much as possible while giving the appearance of transparency. See: the ridiculous 5% foreign transactions claim.
    - davidw 9y ago
      Did you actually read the article I posted?
      - mistermann 9y ago
        I read the entire article, yes. Read it again yourself and pay attention for words like "may", and "might". Those words are used because it is inconclusive, and it is inconclusive because the government refuses to publish and often even collect the data that would be required to come to a reasonably accurate conclusion. This is crystal clear to anyone actually paying attention, but don't worry because almost no one is - the majority of Canadians are profiting from it. Here is one example: someone that buys citizenship in Quebec and then purchases a house in Vancouver is considered non-foreign. Here is another example: wife and kids get citizenship or permanent resident status, and the husband does not. This way, the wife can buy a house with overseas money and make tax free capital gains, plus the whole family gets free medical, dental, welfare cheques, GST rebates, and they don't even have to declare overseas income because the husband is not a citizen (not that the CRA would even check, because front line auditors have been told clearly that auditing certain people is not allowed.) To be fair, Canada does (I think) receive sales tax on the purchase of a few Mercedes, Ferraris, Porsches, etc. This second approach is a common strategy because it's easy and foolproof - there's actually a guy on reddit that posts the various different ways around the various laws that are supposedly intended to stop this sort of thing, there is always a gigantic easy to work around loophole. Whether that is accidental or deliberate, no one knows, and there's no way of knowing. So, any "stats" that anyone quotes might as well just be made up. They're not "wrong" or "lies", but the specific stats they quote are meaningless considering the exceptions I've noted.

by davidw 9y ago

mistermann 9y ago

Well sure, it's a "supply issue" in that demand exceeds supply, but that avoids the important question, which is why does demand exceed supply? The author is quite frank that the exact nature of the excessive new demand is not known, but he presents several theories, each of which contributes to an unknown degree.

davidw 9y ago
Supply is lagging because of zoning and NIMBYism, in large part. Demand has always moved around in the US, as industries and places come and go.
- mistermann 9y ago
  There is an unknown amount of foreign demand that is amplifying the lack of supply to an unknown degree. Saying it is "just a lack of supply" is disingenuous. With a relatively small amount of effort the government could dramatically improve the amount and quality of data on the topic, but it is very clear their goal is to obfuscate what is really happening as much as possible while giving the appearance of transparency. See: the ridiculous 5% foreign transactions claim.
  - davidw 9y ago
    Did you actually read the article I posted?
    - mistermann 9y ago
      I read the entire article, yes. Read it again yourself and pay attention for words like "may", and "might". Those words are used because it is inconclusive, and it is inconclusive because the government refuses to publish and often even collect the data that would be required to come to a reasonably accurate conclusion. This is crystal clear to anyone actually paying attention, but don't worry because almost no one is - the majority of Canadians are profiting from it. Here is one example: someone that buys citizenship in Quebec and then purchases a house in Vancouver is considered non-foreign. Here is another example: wife and kids get citizenship or permanent resident status, and the husband does not. This way, the wife can buy a house with overseas money and make tax free capital gains, plus the whole family gets free medical, dental, welfare cheques, GST rebates, and they don't even have to declare overseas income because the husband is not a citizen (not that the CRA would even check, because front line auditors have been told clearly that auditing certain people is not allowed.) To be fair, Canada does (I think) receive sales tax on the purchase of a few Mercedes, Ferraris, Porsches, etc. This second approach is a common strategy because it's easy and foolproof - there's actually a guy on reddit that posts the various different ways around the various laws that are supposedly intended to stop this sort of thing, there is always a gigantic easy to work around loophole. Whether that is accidental or deliberate, no one knows, and there's no way of knowing. So, any "stats" that anyone quotes might as well just be made up. They're not "wrong" or "lies", but the specific stats they quote are meaningless considering the exceptions I've noted.