I recently found relevance in an article on the financial post relating to the volatile nature of Vancouver’s real estate market. As a Vancouverite, I have a growing concern for the rapidly climbing house prices. The influx of foreign buyers has driven house prices in “the 2-5 million range up by 49% since 2009”. Large amounts of foreign buyers utilize the security of the housing industry to invest their money outside of their country of residence. Although this is perfectly legal, it appears to be a flaw in the system. All of the benefits go to people without Canadian citizenships. For the people of Vancouver, all this does is it makes the purchasing of homes extremely difficult. As of now “Angell Hasman and Associates. Hasman said Asian buyers accounted for roughly 90% of sales of properties costing $5 million and more.” I believe there should be some sort of screening process for the legitimacy of the buyer. If a large amount of these real estate “investors” are spending next to no time in their homes, let alone the country, then I believe there should be an extra charge on the purchase of the home. This would make the higher priced housing market of Vancouver more advantageous to Canadian citizens. If industry growth rates continue, I will unfortunately be living with my mom for longer than expected.