4 ms·

Normally the news articles say its Chinese investors parking their money in Vancouver housing since it is likely to be stable compared to the yuan, etc.

msie 9y ago
Ah yes, the Chinese investor bogeyman. Apparently there are enough millionaires to cause problems in so many cities around the globe. Yet latest figures put foreign ownership at around 10% max. Let's ignore low interest rates and Canadians bidding against themselves in a hot market.
- toasterlovin 9y ago
  I also think the foreign investor thing is overblown, but it’s always the marginal demand that causes prices to go up. Take 10% of the property owners out of a market and prices will go down.
  - pesfandiar 9y ago
    You can say that about any non-zero share of the market; take it out and it becomes cheaper! I believe the reason we even talk about foreign investors is that the collective mind would like to attribute the mess to "them" versus "us".
- refurb 9y ago
  Exactly! I would guess that another driver of high prices is speculation by Canadians. Low interest rates and the "real estate always goes up" mentality has created a ton of panicked buyers who are willing to extend themselves financially in order to prevent being priced out of the market forever.
- soperj 9y ago
  Let's also ignore that before the foreign investor tax over 20% of purchases were being made by foreign investors in places like Langley and Richmond. That is insane when you think that these people aren't selling at the same time, and is just pure demand.
- CPLX 9y ago
  10% foreign ownership of a major city housing market is an extraordinarily high number that will certainly change the market dramatically.
- mistermann 9y ago
  Those figures are estimates. Blind trusts and proxy buyers are two ways to hide ownership. Protest all you want, but with current available data, all the public can do is speculate, only the government has access to the data necessary to have a deeper understanding.

msie 9y ago

Ah yes, the Chinese investor bogeyman. Apparently there are enough millionaires to cause problems in so many cities around the globe. Yet latest figures put foreign ownership at around 10% max. Let's ignore low interest rates and Canadians bidding against themselves in a hot market.

toasterlovin 9y ago
I also think the foreign investor thing is overblown, but it’s always the marginal demand that causes prices to go up. Take 10% of the property owners out of a market and prices will go down.
- pesfandiar 9y ago
  You can say that about any non-zero share of the market; take it out and it becomes cheaper! I believe the reason we even talk about foreign investors is that the collective mind would like to attribute the mess to "them" versus "us".
refurb 9y ago
Exactly! I would guess that another driver of high prices is speculation by Canadians. Low interest rates and the "real estate always goes up" mentality has created a ton of panicked buyers who are willing to extend themselves financially in order to prevent being priced out of the market forever.
soperj 9y ago
Let's also ignore that before the foreign investor tax over 20% of purchases were being made by foreign investors in places like Langley and Richmond. That is insane when you think that these people aren't selling at the same time, and is just pure demand.
CPLX 9y ago
10% foreign ownership of a major city housing market is an extraordinarily high number that will certainly change the market dramatically.
mistermann 9y ago
Those figures are estimates. Blind trusts and proxy buyers are two ways to hide ownership. Protest all you want, but with current available data, all the public can do is speculate, only the government has access to the data necessary to have a deeper understanding.