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Absolutely. One of the reasons the real estate prices are so detached from local salaries is that there is a lot of suspected money laundering and Chinese specu

Absolutely. One of the reasons the real estate prices are so detached from local salaries is that there is a lot of suspected money laundering and Chinese speculators buying up properties and leaving them empty.

AzzieElbab 7y ago
How is this Alphabet's fault?
- baudehlo 7y ago
  It’s not, but Google/A came in with great fanfare and seemed to get more leeway than other constructions do due to their name and their sci fi promises. But it’s important for people outside of Toronto to understand that this isn’t what most people would call “downtown” either. It’s in one of the least accessible parts of the city, that for that reason has historically only been used by industry. Transit is improving there, but it’s not somewhere I’d want to live. So maybe low rise is all that can be sold there? I don’t know but there are other high rises going up now in that area. How are their sales?
  - wolco 7y ago
    This is a jewel by the waterfront. Transit will be built with condo development in time.
  - wmil 7y ago
    The lack of transit is bit of a misdirection. It's very easy to run bus routes once there is an residential population. Setting up transit in advance doesn't make much sense. Also it's been primarily used by industry because it was zoned as industry, because industry needed access to the docs for shipping. Look, It's a 15 minute bike ride to union station. You can walk to the financial district. People will buy whatever units they build there.
Redoubts 7y ago
Honestly, if outside speculators can wreck your housing prices, then your local government ducked up zoning and development laws really badly.
- ip26 7y ago
  How do you figure? A blind flood of money breaks most markets.
  - Redoubts 7y ago
    Because they should be a small fraction of your market. If they have outsides weight like this, then you’ve been constraining your housing for decades.
    - ip26 7y ago
      I'm not familiar with Toronto but foreign speculators are reportedly about 10% of real estate transactions in Vancouver. Just how much more housing were they supposed to have built?

AzzieElbab 7y ago

How is this Alphabet's fault?

baudehlo 7y ago
It’s not, but Google/A came in with great fanfare and seemed to get more leeway than other constructions do due to their name and their sci fi promises. But it’s important for people outside of Toronto to understand that this isn’t what most people would call “downtown” either. It’s in one of the least accessible parts of the city, that for that reason has historically only been used by industry. Transit is improving there, but it’s not somewhere I’d want to live. So maybe low rise is all that can be sold there? I don’t know but there are other high rises going up now in that area. How are their sales?
- wolco 7y ago
  This is a jewel by the waterfront. Transit will be built with condo development in time.
- wmil 7y ago
  The lack of transit is bit of a misdirection. It's very easy to run bus routes once there is an residential population. Setting up transit in advance doesn't make much sense. Also it's been primarily used by industry because it was zoned as industry, because industry needed access to the docs for shipping. Look, It's a 15 minute bike ride to union station. You can walk to the financial district. People will buy whatever units they build there.

Redoubts 7y ago

Honestly, if outside speculators can wreck your housing prices, then your local government ducked up zoning and development laws really badly.

ip26 7y ago
How do you figure? A blind flood of money breaks most markets.
- Redoubts 7y ago
  Because they should be a small fraction of your market. If they have outsides weight like this, then you’ve been constraining your housing for decades.
  - ip26 7y ago
    I'm not familiar with Toronto but foreign speculators are reportedly about 10% of real estate transactions in Vancouver. Just how much more housing were they supposed to have built?