Chinese Investors Driving Up Metro Housing Prices

[st7860]

Originally Posted by cornholio

This is not legal but the drag net that has been put out just over a year and a half ago has not been reeled in yet. We along with the Americans begun collecting (and sharing with all government agencies) all exists, and tax/EI/citizenship/PR etc fraud is the main reasons why. Along with the new PR rules where a person now (as of last year) must be physically in Canada for 1460 days within a period of 2190 (6 years) expect a blitz in about 3.5 years (just before the 2019 election would be my guess). Lots of people will lose their PR status, lots of people will lose their citizenship status, and lots of people will face major fines and forfeitures from the CRA, because people are stupid and Canada has been very lenient in the past and only now started to monitor exits while purposefully not advertising this fact.

Also fun fact is that now you have to be a resident and pay full taxes for 4 of every 6 years that you hold your PR, and are guaranteed to pay taxes for 4 of 6 years if you want Citizenship. And now the CRA knows exactly how much time every person spends out of the country, before it did not and that was a major major stumbling block for them (and every other government entity). No one wants to mess with the CRA.

I may not be a fan of the conservatives but what they are doing here is brilliant and needed. And I am sure they are not done prepping legislation aimed at punishing those that get caught, up to now they seemed to have been more busy making sure the net is cast.

I am not referring to people with a PR card lying on their Citizenship applications. However, where does 1095 days come from? And did you know people can keep their residency active if they're working for a Canadian company while not in Canada?
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizen...ligibility.asp

You're saying that its illegal for a couple to immigrate and later on for one spouse to disavow(ie: deliberately give the PR Card back) and then visit Canada ?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Hourglass

Reread my post. Whatnext made a claim about housing costs 12 years ago without also acknowledging lower median incomes at that time. I don't like semi-misleading blanket claims unless there is something to back them up.

In point of fact, average Canadian household incomes in 2003 were $46,000. In 2014, average salary (not household) reached $49,000 per year. So yes, assuming a proportion of two-income households, average income has increased significantly over the past 12 years.

But I'll help Whatnext (and you) and point out what everyone knows. Affordability has decreased. Ownership costs in Vancouver as a proportion of income for a bungalow has increased from roughly 60% in 2003 to roughly 80% in 2012 (source: RBC economics). But Vancouver has been the most expensive housing market in Canada since the 1990s. Again, I point out that affordability in housing has been an issue for a long time.

LOL, you're equating a 6.5% increase in the median wage over 11 years with what's happened to housing prices?! Give it up.

I always wonder what posters vested interests are in trying to downplay the reasons Vancouver has become so unaffordable.

[st7860]

Originally Posted by Hourglass

Reread my post. Whatnext made a claim about housing costs 12 years ago without also acknowledging lower median incomes at that time. I don't like semi-misleading blanket claims unless there is something to back them up.

In point of fact, average Canadian household incomes in 2003 were $46,000. In 2014, average salary (not household) reached $49,000 per year. So yes, assuming a proportion of two-income households, average income has increased significantly over the past 12 years.

But I'll help Whatnext (and you) and point out what everyone knows. Affordability has decreased. Ownership costs in Vancouver as a proportion of income for a bungalow has increased from roughly 60% in 2003 to roughly 80% in 2012 (source: RBC economics). But Vancouver has been the most expensive housing market in Canada since the 1990s. Again, I point out that affordability in housing has been an issue for a long time.

Yes, for sure. Metro Vancouver residents have been supposedly priced out for a few decades already. Some people believe that wages should be linked to housing prices..

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I always wonder what posters vested interests are in trying to downplay the reasons Vancouver has become so unaffordable.

It was unaffordable in 2003.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by whatnext

LOL, you're equating a 6.5% increase in the median wage over 11 years with what's happened to housing prices?! Give it up.

I always wonder what posters vested interests are in trying to downplay the reasons Vancouver has become so unaffordable.

6.5% over 11 years doesn't even keep up with inflation.

I assume everyone defending the current situation is either a realtor, the son of a millionaire, or a naive student who thinks they're going to be a millionaire as soon as they land their dream job, which of course never happens in this city.

And this whole "Vancouver has always been relatively unaffordable" is true but not to the scale it is now. My parents bought a four bedroom house in a desirable neighbourhood for $230,000 in 1988 which is worth $1.5 million now. I bought a shitty 600 sq foot condo in a shitty neighbourhood for $230,000 back in 2005 which is worth $210,000 now. Almost everyone born after 1980 is fucked.

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by Pinion

6.5% over 11 years doesn't even keep up with inflation.

BC median household income 2003: $53100
BC median household income 2012: $71660

That's 35%.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by Porfiry

BC median household income 2003: $53100
BC median household income 2012: $71660

That's 35%.

Still barely keeping up with inflation, and since that's provincial I wonder how much of it is inflated by resource extraction jobs outside of Vancouver.

[st7860]

All of you discussing income levels are assuming that high incomes are what made property prices rise lol

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by st7860

All of you discussing income levels are assuming that high incomes are what made property prices rise lol

Our point is that incomes are not rising at a similar rate and therefore the price of housing is artificial and dangerous.

[Sheba]

Developers say foreign investors still a small segment of condo market

Some of the country’s leading developers Tuesday shared their own statistics on the composition of today’s condominium buyers and the consensus is foreigners are a small minority of the group.

“There are a lot of myths in the condominium industry,” said C. Hunter Milborne, of Milborne Real Estate Inc., at the Queen’s Real Estate Roundtable in Toronto. “One of the myths is that the predominate buyers are foreign investors.”

The subject has long been the source of speculation with the fear that foreign buyers are propping up the high-rise sector, inflating prices and could ultimately fuel a crash if they suddenly moved out of their investments.

In late 2014, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. produced data that showed 2.4% of Toronto high-rise units and 2.3% in Vancouver were in foreign hands, figures that many still dispute.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/other...ket/ar-AA9BYAd

[Pinion]

Well gee whiz, if a developer says everything's a-ok, then I guess it is! Canadians are just magically making millions of dollars and spending it on housing somehow, I guess. And everyone who buys new condos recently immigrated from the same country, which is obvious from any sales centre photo, but they're all technically Canadian, so it's ok.

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Canadians are just magically making millions of dollars and spending it on housing somehow, I guess.

It's called debt.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by Porfiry

It's called debt.

It is for people who made their money in Canada, sure. I was approved for $500k and there's no way I could afford that, but I'm sure some people jump at it.

But the people buying up the high end market and causing the ripple effect through the whole valley, whatever their official residency status, are not making their money here, and they are buying houses with suitcases full of cash.

[VarBreStr18]

Originally Posted by Pinion

6.5% over 11 years doesn't even keep up with inflation.

I assume everyone defending the current situation is either a realtor, the son of a millionaire, or a naive student who thinks they're going to be a millionaire as soon as they land their dream job, which of course never happens in this city.

And this whole "Vancouver has always been relatively unaffordable" is true but not to the scale it is now. My parents bought a four bedroom house in a desirable neighbourhood for $230,000 in 1988 which is worth $1.5 million now. I bought a shitty 600 sq foot condo in a shitty neighbourhood for $230,000 back in 2005 which is worth $210,000 now. Almost everyone born after 1980 is fucked.

since you make it look so grim buying into condo vs buy a house, wonder what is the future of condo market?
I love to hear people's opinion and their prediction. Anyone?

[VarBreStr18]

Originally Posted by VarBreStr18

since you make it look so grim buying into condo vs buy a house, wonder what is the future of condo market?
I love to hear people's opinion and their prediction. Anyone?

I for one do not have stacks of cash to buy into a house now

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Pinion

6.5% over 11 years doesn't even keep up with inflation.

I assume everyone defending the current situation is either a realtor, the son of a millionaire, or a naive student who thinks they're going to be a millionaire as soon as they land their dream job, which of course never happens in this city.

And this whole "Vancouver has always been relatively unaffordable" is true but not to the scale it is now. My parents bought a four bedroom house in a desirable neighbourhood for $230,000 in 1988 which is worth $1.5 million now. I bought a shitty 600 sq foot condo in a shitty neighbourhood for $230,000 back in 2005 which is worth $210,000 now. Almost everyone born after 1980 is fucked.

Would your parents relinquish the $1.27mil and sell their house to the poor naive student for $230,000, out of compassion? No? I guess they also belong to one of those "defending the current situation", eh? Funny that so many conveniently forget that demographic group and love to demonize just a particular group. In the world of capitalism, for every buyer, there is a seller.

Without attracting foreign investments and funds, how would a country that produces little compete with the rest of the world? Would you rather we descend into the likes of Greece, Spain or Ireland? The government can take steps in addressing this situation by continuing to attract the right kinds of foreign immigrants/funds, but at the same time introduce protective measures such as a high tax regime for foreigners/newly landed immigrants (for a period of 5 years min.). They can also attract more innovative and low-polluting industries from all over the world (eg. green tech companies) to set up shop here by giving more time-limited tax breaks. Most importantly, residents living here need to learn how to compete globally, such that one day, we are the ones buying into foreign properties. Blaming China/rich immigrants alone just doesn't cut it: it's borderline racism.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by VarBreStr18

I for one do not have stacks of cash to buy into a house now

Buy elsewhere cheaper with growth potential, let it sit for a few years, and then sell and bring the money back to buy that house, someday. There's always a way, but it takes work, and it won't be easy.

[quobobo]

Originally Posted by Vin

Would your parents relinquish the $1.27mil and sell their house to the poor naive student for $230,000, out of compassion? No? I guess they also belong to one of those "defending the current situation", eh?

^Amen. For all the lip service that politicians pay to housing affordability, does anyone actually think they would be willing to do something that significantly cut housing prices? Most homeowners benefit a lot from the status quo, and they deliver reliable votes and campaign funding.

(Also, the constant focus on foreigners is so dumb. They're just people who want to live here for most of the same reasons we do, and zoning to allow enough housing for everyone is a much better solution than pulling up the gates behind us.)

[Pinion]

Vin, yes my parents and in-laws love the status quo. They got in when things were cheap. What's your point? I'm not going to let injustices stand just because they benefit me. If anything it takes guts to point out the flaws in a system that will ultimately help me more than most. I'm gonna inherit millions and would already be driving a lambo to Holt Renfrew every day like the rest of the trust fund babies if my family's culture didn't believe in teaching hard work and character and contributing to society.

(JK I still wouldn't shop at Holts)

[st7860]

Originally Posted by Vin

Buy elsewhere cheaper with growth potential, let it sit for a few years, and then sell and bring the money back to buy that house, someday. There's always a way, but it takes work, and it won't be easy.

Yes, also I don't go around making racially motivated comments lol