BC, data, equity, opinion, prices

Majority of BC supports absentee homeowner tax

71
71 Comments

A recent poll by Insights West says that 73% of people polled believe that levying a tax on those who buy homes in BC but don’t live in them is a ‘very good’ or ‘good’ idea.

It also suggests this sentiment is strongest among residents of Metro Vancouver (77 per cent), people aged 18 to 34 (76 per cent) and those in the highest annual household income bracket (76 per cent.)

Mario Canseco, vice-president of public affairs at Insights West, says it shows that even homeowners, who stand to make a lot of money on the resale of their home as foreign ownership drives up prices, are concerned about the negative effect on the community.

For instance, 86 per cent believe that absentee homeowners are speculators and not really part of the community, and that number jumps to 92 per cent for those with higher incomes.

That’s despite a high number of homeowners (76 per cent) saying they believe when foreigners buy homes the value of their properties go up.

“To have (developer) Bob Rennie tell you that a condo is the best thing to do is kind of like having the CEO of McDonalds tell you that their burgers are nutritious and they are the only thing you can afford,” Canseco said in an interview.

They also addressed the racism angle by breaking down responses by ethnicity and asking if they feel that the debate on foreign real estate ownership in BC is inherently racist.

They only divide ‘ethnicity’ into ‘white’, ‘east asian’ and ‘south asian’ because … ?

Read the full article over at the Vancouver Sun.

71 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
trackback

[…] -We lack the facts -Vancouver Realtor Hunger Index 38% -4 proposals for housing affordability -New West addresses affordability -Did it work in Toronto? […]

0
0
Slagathor

””How could they back out after insisting on oil tank removal. Who drafted the crappy contract of purchase and sale for your in-laws? Presumably not a lawyer but that other more highly paid professional with the 4 week course.”’

Agree. The contract should have been written such that the buyer paid for the tank removal and associated costs, the total of which would have been deducted from the agreed purchase price.

0
0
Shut It Down Already

“Stop allowing capital gains tax on homes to be free. Why should it? No other investment gets no tax.”

A home is meant to be a home, not an investment. You still don’t get it, do you?

0
0
w

Hey guys, remember when patriotz still had credibility? I’m waiting for him to reappear after he thinks people have forgotten how wrong he has been about everything.

0
0
Fookem

Here is the problem. Our city like many others in the world has become the recipient of hot corrupt money from some of the biggest sharks in the world. In some countries like Singapore or Australia or the Uk, the central Government has taken control and tried with varying success to impose some control on this money which is destroying communities. In Canada the Government in Ottawa could not care less. So it is left to very mediocre politicians like Clark, Rich and Robertson who have never dealt in International business and really have no idea how to respond to this. They feel the frustration of locals but haven’t a clue what to do. The suggestion from Robertson on a speculative tax is just such evidence of this impitence. he probably got it from Rennie and that shows you how… Read more »

0
0
Softy

“As of today, the initial would-be buyers have pulled their offer, so the house is back on the market.”

How could they back out after insisting on oil tank removal. Who drafted the crappy contract of purchase and sale for your in-laws? Presumably not a lawyer but that other more highly paid professional with the 4 week course.

0
0
Softy

“New Westminster makes affordable family housing units mandatory in new buildings” They tried this in Toronto and it failed. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/condos-for-families-without-the-space/article22602785/ The three-bedroom condominium Krishna KC owns on the 21st floor of 126 Simcoe St. was ostensibly built for a family. When developers tried to build the tower, they agreed to make 10 per cent of units from floors 19 and above three-bedroom ones, a condition applied by the city in order to create new dwellings for families. Mr. KC, a property investor, bought the unit preconstruction and rents it out – but not to whom the city had in mind. His current tenants are a trio of roommates in their early 20s with jobs in marketing and sales. They’ve turned the condo into a bachelor pad: there are two flat-screen televisions, an Alexander Keith’s chalkboard – the kind pubs use… Read more »

0
0
paulb

New Listings 263
Price Changes 73
Sold Listings 146
TI:13209

http://www.paulboenisch.com

0
0
Many Franks

New Westminster is the first to move in what I predict will be a series of minor regional bylaw tweaks: New Westminster makes affordable family housing units mandatory in new buildings The City of New Westminster is coming down hard on developers with a new law that forces them to include affordable family housing units in new buildings. Mayor Jonathan Coté says it passed a law to mandate minimum percentages of three-bedroom units. “We are often finding that the units are getting a lot smaller, and the number of bedrooms are getting smaller, and even though the return on investment may not be the same with three bedroom units, we are not just building housing developments in our city, but we are building communities, and we want to ensure there are housing options for a variety of different family types.”… Read more »

0
0
Bull! Bull! Bull!

@oneangryslav2

should have priced it low, let the offers compete with each other and give it to the person with ‘no subjects’.

0
0
Diadora

@59
You will have the government to thank for this. They felt we need more and more immigrants and standards has been dropped in-order to reach the quotas. A lot of these immigrants are criminal or just immigrants of connivence. During the last 20 years of wide open immigration policy, our lives have not improved but has deteriorate through overcrowding and higher cost of living. Please adopt a immigration policy like Japan and the society will be more harmonious and happy.

0
0
oneangryslav2

UPDATE 4: A quick update on my in-laws’ house (2BR post-WWI bungalow in the PNE area. About 1100 sq. ft. on the first floor, unfinished basement, with no attic, and typical 33X122 foot lot): When I last checked in, the back yard was being torn up because the would-be buyers (young family with 2 small children who had offered $1.05 million for the house to live in!) had insisted that the property be checked for an abandoned heating oil tank. Alas, there was one found and it has cost my in-laws about $6000 thus far to have it removed and the soil tested. That was last week and they are waiting for confirmation as to the extent of the soil contamination. As of today, the initial would-be buyers have pulled their offer, so the house is back on the market.… Read more »

0
0
Yunak

@56

have you signed up for mandarin lessons?

In the last couple of years whenever i go to the BMO bank on Burrard and Dunsmuire to take some cash from a teller machine everything on screen is written in Chinese by default, and later on switch to English. It is fucking like being in China in the middle of the core downtown of major Canadian city. It is so fucking frustrating with so much collective suck-up to our “dear fellow investors and the new most welcome citizens”, fuck them off eventually, it’s boring.

0
0
vangrl

While the number of condos sold in May was up 17.6 per cent, the median price actually fell 7.6 per cent, to $360,500.

– See more at: http://www.richmondreview.com/news/real-estate-market-remains-red-hot-1.1955849#sthash.3l5PXiGD.dpuf

0
0
Cat in the hat

My-best-friend-is-gay is here to stay, argument is so vague, could gauge every other trades, cloth or not cloth, use at will I said.

Why not visit Asia, and never come back, like you said.

0
0
Bull! Bull! Bull!

vancouver sun business site, now with chinese language articles

http://i.imgur.com/jG8MeN5.jpg

have you signed up for mandarin lessons?

0
0
Oracle

@cat in hat

You are so naive. My grandparents were from Asia.

What we here are talking about is illicit money, uncontrolled immigration, no exit controls, and lack of assimilation.

Ever notice why the elderly from India can wear western clothes while the women can’t. Start to learn.

0
0
Best place on meth

@43

“Ironic, isn’t it, that despite all the vitriol directed against Chinese-Canadians, it took two people of exactly that ethnicity (Young and Eveline Xia) to spark some awareness and turn the tide against this debacle.”

The vitriol is directed at PRC Chinese (thieving locusts), not Chinese-Canadians.

On another note, the US 10 year yield finally busted through massive overhead resistance at the 2.27% level and now sits at 2.38%.

This is a huge hurdle cleared, the next big targets are 2.62 and 3.00.

0
0
Cat in the hat

hi O Oracle

Would you could you move to San Franscco, Oh, those Asians have occupied there from ocean to the moon, o o oh mine oh mine. You could ve moved back to Nineteen four o and ooosh hilter and wipe his ass and kill some jo. you a-hoo.

0
0
Bull! Bull! Bull!

@Shlomo

because they are immune from accusations of racism. all the caucasian reporters were wise not to touch the subject

0
0
Shut It Down Already

Oracle doesn’t see the irony in moving to another country to escape the foreigners.

0
0
Son of Ponzi

Roubini says even a Houdini will not be able to untangle this mess.

0
0
southseacompany

“Nouriel Roubini: A market ‘time bomb’ is raising the risk of a dramatic collapse”, Financial Post

http://business.financialpost.com/business-insider/nouriel-roubini-a-market-time-bomb-is-raising-the-risk-of-a-dramatic-collapse

“Nouriel Roubini, one of the few prominent economists credited with predicting the 2008 financial crisis, thinks more trouble could be just around the corner.”

“Unconventional monetary policies have created a massive overhang of liquidity.”

“Roubini thinks that is a recipe for disaster: “Macro liquidity is feeding booms and bubbles, but market illiquidity will eventually trigger a bust and collapse.””

0
0
southseacompany

In Toronto;
“Toronto home prices soar: ‘No relief’ to meet pent-up demand”, Globe & Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canadians-now-owe-a-record-182-trillion/article24755595/

““The Bank of Canada’s decision to cut interest rates in late January led to mortgage rates being notched downward and likely contributed to the revival in activity,” Royal Bank of Canada said in a report today”

““Another annual rise in average home prices would exert pressure on affordability; however, the deterioration will likely be limited by historically low interests,” its economists said.”

““In 2016, the combination of price gains and rising rates will likely put sufficient stress on affordability levels that resale activity will begin to soften.””

0
0
southseacompany

In the US;
“Weekly mortgage applications plunge 7.6% on higher rates”, CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102727895

“Total mortgage application volume fell 7.6 percent from one week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis”

“”With mortgage rates above 4 percent, refinance volume continues to decline, and with the refinance share at its lowest level in over a year, we have again crossed over into a purchase-dominated market,””

0
0