Quote:
Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor
Supply and demand is still a factor. With so little land available and so high of demand, theres no way we can go back to that price range.
The only way to cause prices to drop, or stabilize, is to encourage denser living.
We cannot easily stop foreign investment, this is a global problem. Vancouver gets hit worse than elsewhere since we make it easy and we also restrict development.
I won't deny Vancouver most definitely was a better city when homes could be had for $200k, but that was a LONG time ago and theres no way we can go back to that without detrimentally screwing with our local economy.
Likewise, many countries have attempted over seas speculation restrictions and have failed to stabilize or cheapen their markets, in particular Australia.
We should allow this investment to occur (we don't have much choice) but we should tax all foreign transactions and use those taxes to start an affordable housing fund that the city and province can use to fund social housing.
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So your solution is rapid densification and you think this will be the answer based on...supply and demand? Yeah, this is what they teach you in introductory economics, but land scarcity is not why the real estate market has gone bonkers over the past 2 years.
We are currently seeing densification at a steady pace, and 2 bdrm condos in Yaletown are surpassing 1.5 mill. Hell, there have been several 1100 sq/ft "penthouse suites" being sold for over 2 mil along Cambie. Densification will do little to curb the cost of housing and offset the number of investors that will come into the region and buy multiple properties. The only thing this will do is allow for more "vacation" properties or investment opportunities for foreign investors.