Chinese Investors Driving Up Metro Housing Prices - Page 32

Caliplanner1 · #**621** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 2:36 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by st7860

That's one of the key differences I've noticed between Canada and the US. In the US they don't care if a foreigner buys things you use or dont use including housing since they understand thats money for their city, but in Canada people would rather those buyers spend the money elsewhere.

The U.S. is also much bigger in terms of population and alternative urban spaces in which to live and find cheaper housing or better jobs! If (for example) one wants warmer weather in which to live/work in the states one can live in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, California, Hawaii and even further in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands etc.. If one wants to live in a "warmer area" here in Canada one really only has a choice between Vancouver and Victoria/Nanaimo etc.. So if every "warm weather" immigrant rushes to Vancouver what do you think will happen to house prices (a case of supply versus demand)???

Caliplanner1 · #**622** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 3:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by st7860

Yes the US could raise rates, then Canadian rates may rise. In that case get a 10 year locked in rate if that is a concern. If the US buys less exports yes that would cause problems but then in Vancouver/Toronto there aren't many industrial workers directly contributing towards exports to the US anyway.

Isn't Canada supposed to be the largest trading partner with the U.S.?

memememe76 · #**623** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 5:00 AM**

Yes, all Americans love those foreign buyers:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...x-them-for-it/

Quote:

Foreign investors are making housing more expensive. Should we tax them for it?

http://www.psmag.com/business-econom...ve-homes-76854

Quote:

While gentrification is pointed at as a driver of urban change, the term doesn’t really begin to describe what’s actually going on. When real estate is looked at simply as a way to make money rather than homes, new communities aren’t being created. Properties flip and rents rise too quickly for tenants to stay long. As corner dry cleaners are swapped out for clothing boutiques, rents rise exponentially, and owners are motivated to swap out their renters for a higher-paying batch. Meanwhile, empty buildings are traded like cattle.

I also recall some grumblings when Canadians were buying up properties in Phoenix and Vegas.

dleung · #**624** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 5:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatnext

The Vancouver Sun reports today on the curious case of Richmond's Thompson neighbourhood, which has some of the Lower Mainland's priciest homes, yet income statistics show a level of "poverty" second only to the DTES:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business...169/story.html

By curious coincidence, 6 out of 10 residents in the area are from China.

I'm sure this is the reality to a lesser extent for most of Metro Vancouver. But ssiguy keeps going on about the affordability crisis and the impending apocalypse "incomes don't match housing prices!" lol. Now you know the issue really isn't the affordability.

Caliplanner1 · #**625** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 5:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung

I'm sure this is the reality to a lesser extent for most of Metro Vancouver. But ssiguy keeps going on about the affordability crisis and the impending apocalypse "incomes don't match housing prices!" lol. Now you know the issue really isn't the affordability.

Rich people pretending they are poor and poor people pretending they are rich!

Xerx · #**626** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 6:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caliplanner1

The U.S. is also much bigger in terms of population and alternative urban spaces in which to live and find cheaper housing or better jobs! If (for example) one wants warmer weather in which to live/work in the states one can live in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, California, Hawaii and even further in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands etc.. If one wants to live in a "warmer area" here in Canada one really only has a choice between Vancouver and Victoria/Nanaimo etc.. So if every "warm weather" immigrant rushes to Vancouver what do you think will happen to house prices (a case of supply versus demand)???

Well, this is a crazy fantasy of mine, but I'd hope that that situation would create enough political pressure to finally annex the Turks and Caicos.

casper · #**627** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 12:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caliplanner1

Rich people pretending they are poor and poor people pretending they are rich!

Canada does not tax wealth it taxes income. Someone who has a lot of money tied up in a private business may well have a low family income if they only take out what they need and the result is reinvested in the business.

Caliplanner1 · #**628** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 2:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by casper

Canada does not tax wealth it taxes income. Someone who has a lot of money tied up in a private business may well have a low family income if they only take out what they need and the result is reinvested in the business.

But then what about "the rich" who increase their wealth by not effectively declaring income so as not to be effectively taxed (after gaining all that wealth via the benefits afforded by a government sponsored/protected political economy)?

st7860 · #**629** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 2:28 PM**

One other difference also is that Canada doesn't have an estate tax

Vin · #**630** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 3:52 PM**

Is family pocket money considered "income"? Maybe that explains why that part of Richmond is so "poor". There are mostly the young or the retired immigrants living in that part perhaps. By "young", I do mean those as old as folks in the 30s and even 40s, who don't necessarily need to work with the family wealth tied up elsewhere.

WBC · #**631** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 4:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xerx

Well, this is a crazy fantasy of mine, but I'd hope that that situation would create enough political pressure to finally annex the Turks and Caicos.

Just a first step on our unstoppable march down Caribbean. We also may want to annex Yucatan (the good part next to the beach) and then reach out to Pacific and add Cook Islands.

twoNeurons · #**632** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 9:33 PM**

Any limitations on tear-downs or other ways to mess with the market will end up in failure. Just ask Australia.

Why?

Real estate, despite the hype, is still local. The RE Board doesn't publish numbers of foreign owners (except Victoria) but most real estimates put it under 5% foreign ownership. It's curious that they don't publish these numbers. They'd be easy to gather from their data. NOTE: Real estate is an industry which regulates itself. Several years ago, data in the US was required to be publically available. It adds transparency. It's why sites like Zillow exist in the states, but not Canada. RE boards don't give out data. Really, it should be part of the public record.

What's fuelling real estate in Vancouver is what is fuelling it in the rest of the country. Cheap money, debt-culture, and inter-generational money transfers ( The bank of parental units ).

Essentially, if we want to cool the market, we have to increase the cost of debt or put stricter controls on banks giving out mortgages. Or better yet... remove the CMHC insurance requirement for people with less than 20% down and make the banks accept the full risk of giving money out freely.

The more you try to control, the more unintended consequences you will have.

Pinion · #**633** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 9:52 PM**

Then why is Vancouver so much more expensive than the rest of Canada with coincidentally a lot more recent Chinese immigrants during the same time as the spike in cost?

They don't publish the numbers because they don't want to stop the money flowing in from Asia, obviously.

st7860 · #**634** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 9:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

Any limitations on tear-downs or other ways to mess with the market will end up in failure. Just ask Australia.

Why?

Real estate, despite the hype, is still local. The RE Board doesn't publish numbers of foreign owners (except Victoria) but most real estimates put it under 5% foreign ownership. It's curious that they don't publish these numbers. They'd be easy to gather from their data. NOTE: Real estate is an industry which regulates itself. Several years ago, data in the US was required to be publically available. It adds transparency. It's why sites like Zillow exist in the states, but not Canada. RE boards don't give out data. Really, it should be part of the public record.

What's fuelling real estate in Vancouver is what is fuelling it in the rest of the country. Cheap money, debt-culture, and inter-generational money transfers ( The bank of parental units ).

Essentially, if we want to cool the market, we have to increase the cost of debt or put stricter controls on banks giving out mortgages. Or better yet... remove the CMHC insurance requirement for people with less than 20% down and make the banks accept the full risk of giving money out freely.

The more you try to control, the more unintended consequences you will have.

Yes. Low down payment mortgages are what's happening. Its difficult for haters to grasp though

s211 · #**635** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 10:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by st7860

Yes. Low down payment mortgages are what's happening. Its difficult for haters to grasp though

For the love of all things holy, grow up and drop the "haters" schtick. Your, um, lack of experience points (that's a gamer thing, right?), is showing.

st7860 · #**636** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 10:33 PM**

Haters will hate. When I see a nice house I don't think wow omg it costs a million holy lord!. It's just a house that someone bought .

whatnext · #**637** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 10:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by st7860

Yes. Low down payment mortgages are what's happening. Its difficult for haters to grasp though

Spare us. Some of us know exactly why you deny, deny. Just curious, is it daddy's sweatshop or yours?

st7860 · #**638** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 10:49 PM**

The recent report says foreigners are a minority in the vancouver market.

Pinion · #**639** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 11:07 PM**

The term "haters" should be reserved for the people who benefit from destroying the housing market for regular people who just want to make an honest living in their home city. e.g. st7860. You hate Canadians.

st7860 · #**640** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 11:17 PM**

The term "haters" applies to the individuals who whine about people buying things they can't afford.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hater
"A person that simply cannot be happy for another person's success. So rather than be happy they make a point of exposing a flaw in that person.

Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesnt really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock somelse down a notch."