Inflation Here in Vancouver
Vancouver is definitely not top of the list for most affordable living right now. A major contributing factor to the real estate bubble is foreign investors.
Tourists viewing house (from Richmond News)
We can see why Vancouver real estate is appealing to foreign investors, but this makes it hard for locals to afford housing in our own city. Why isn’t anyone doing anything about this? The government and real estate agencies may view this as an opportune time for profit and aid in the economy, but is this fair for locals? Is there a way to regulate the housing sales so foreigners are still able to invest but not have locals struggling to compete in this inflated market? Just putting an idea out there, if locals get priority on residential real estate and the properties that don’t sell, then it goes on the international market. This way, we find balance in all this commotion about our beautiful properties and satisfy both parties.
(update)
what if we :
-put a limit to the number of houses foreigners can purchase?
-add a luxury tax to houses over a certain price? (They have this tax for vehicles, why not houses)
-used the additional tax from luxury expenses to increase the benefits we provide for first time house buyers?
For more information:
http://renewscanada.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/vancouver-housing-fueled-by-chinese-buyers/
