“Think of it this way. If it were rich americans or rich british buying up real estate, and they were before the chinese, you would rarely hear these kind of comments coming out from people.”

Because rich Britons and Americans wouldn’t be bureaucrats finding a safe haven for their money. They would be successful in their own right and have something to contribute.

Tell me, with all these “investors” coming from China, where are all the new startups and businesses?

They’re getting a passport and free healthcare for life in exchange for what.

“People actually understand that HAM is a serious problem and it’s not racist to discuss.”

It may not be racist to discuss it, but it tends to end up with some racist overtones and off topic discussions (see this blog).

Think of it this way. If it were rich americans or rich british buying up real estate, and they were before the chinese, you would rarely hear these kind of comments coming out from people. Would you hear that guy on CKNW say something like lets call it London House or NY House instead of Vancouver House. etc etc.

Also, look at how noone ever mentions locals as being a possible cause of the bubble. Easier to demonize a visible group.

@#27 Ponzi. Re: “From 2005 to 2012, 36,973 millionaire migrants arrived in B.C”

That’s about 5,200 per year. There’s 30,000 new people arriving every year to Metro Van, and over 40,000 sales a year in Metro, both sides of the Fraser. They may effect some areas but there is no way that 10-15% of the buyers are not going to cause prices to more than double throughout the whole market in a decade. Especially as new homes have been created at a average rate of 17,000 year.

Stating that number is not informative unless you place it in context, then you realize that its’ significance is not that great.

I am Chinese immigrant, but I treat Canada like a home, work here and pay taxes here. But I hate those suddenly rich Chinese people, they either made the money thru their overheated real estate or corruption, then illegally move the dirty money to Canada and park the money in residential houses. Am I considered like a racist? But looks like Canadian government likes the money and never questioned about the sources…really make me want to move somewhere….

“Rennie, Ransford, Sommerville and Muir are race-baiting scumbags.”

Kettle meet the pot…

Pats and Mainlander! Take your heads out of the “Tofu Soil” —————— The sheer number of millionaire migrants who have poured into Vancouver is also compelling: From 2005 to 2012, 36,973 arrived in B.C. under the now-defunct immigrant investor program, which imposed a wealth benchmark of $1.6-million on applicants. Before being frozen in 2012, the scheme was the world’s most popular wealth-migration device, with Chinese immigrants planning to settle in B.C. submitting 65 per cent of all applications in 2011. Chinese domination of wealth migration to Vancouver is a statistical fact that belies widespread belief in other reservoirs of rich newcomers. B.C. admitted 30,013 millionaire migrants from Greater China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong) from 2005 to 2012. In that period, there were 242 from Britain and 160 from the United States. Thousands of the rich have also moved to… Read more »

Two days later, University of British Columbia professor Tsur Somerville – whose Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate is sponsored by developers Grosvenor and Henderson Development, as well as the Commercial Real Estate Development Association – told CKNW Radio that although ignoring the issue would be “foolish,” the debate risked descending into “prejudice, stereotypes and racism.”

Why do they even listen to Tsur when his institute that is supported by developers. It’s like asking a scientist supported by the tobacco industry if smoking is bad for people!

I just read through the comments on that G&M article. Wow! I don’t give the public nearly enough credit. People actually understand that HAM is a serious problem and it’s not racist to discuss. The comments are overwhelmingly critical of HAM and the politically correct developer friendly spin of our politicians. I had no idea so many people awake!

That Globe and Mail article is awesome! The politically correct are not going to be able to get away with dismissing criticism of foreign investment as racism much longer. Best line in the article: ““Let’s leave it to the rich white dudes to decide what’s racist, right?”

@#15 The local Chinese-Canadians, like David Wong, are like the rest of the local population, and they, too, can be suckered into the propaganda that Van is special and the whole world wants to buy here, while ignoring the class-wide asset inflation that has occurred in all major Canadian cities in the last decade.

Being a Canadian of asian descent doesn’t mean you can’t be sucked into the spectre of being ‘priced out’ by your overseas ethnic compatriots.

Chinese getting tired of white people deciding who’s a racist.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/real-estate/in-vancouver-race-undercuts-the-discussion-on-affordability/article19873510/