BC, economy, hype, opinion, predictions, prices

Let’s confuse the public.

82
82 Comments

Frances Bula has some comments about a recent proposal to tax vacant properties, pointing out the bizarre lack of logic in most arguments against:

… Real-estate marketer Bob Rennie said it would kill foreign investment in everything, since it would inevitably lead to a tax on foreign investment in manufacturing or other sectors. (Never heard of that in other jurisdictions with housing taxes.)

The mystery documents from the finance ministry surfaced again, claiming it would kill off $1 billion and 4,000 jobs related to construction. (Puzzling claim, since this surtax wouldn’t affect, say, foreign investors who are putting capital into major construction projects.)

And Premier Christy Clark claimed again that somehow this could end up targeting seniors who spend part of the year in the hospital or vacationers. Yet the proposal clearly stated that people who do or have contributed to the local economy (in other words, people collecting pensions) would be exempt.

Read the full comment here and Bulas’ article in the Globe and Mail here.

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

[…] of the low dollar –good for boats –bulls right, bears wrong –legalize squatting –free markets […]

0
0
david

Isn’t it great!? Prince Justin just re-branded Canada as a new Seattle. No more dirty old oil, or mines, or any of that stuff we used to do. Just good intentions, super-minds and happy things.

Canada’s back!….to the future!…that the guy who never owned a screwdriver or held a shovel or balanced a chequebook just made up!

1
0
w

Low Canadian dollar helping film industry, manufacturing in B.C.

‘We’re just licking our chops,’ says film agent as B.C. industry profits from low Canadian dollar

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canadian-dollar-film-manufacturing-bc-1.3392704

0
-1
Hçistory

Yu Yongding: 98 Financial Crisis May Occur in HK This Year

Yu Yongding, a former member in Monetary Policy Committee of the People’s Bank of China, mentioned that China’s key problem was the persistent economic downturn and its structural issue was long-term. He estimated China’s GDP growth in 2016 to be 6.5% or less.

He added that the financial crisis in 1998 may occur in Hong Kong again this year and the challenges will be more severe.

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/aafn-content/NOW.714492/popular-news

0
0
ostritch

Hair splitting! He’s clearly saying it may be used as a safety deposit box as much as a speculative play. And we don’t know that he’s not right because we don’t have all the facts on HAM do we?

0
-1
Confucius

Buying real estate and leaving it empty is absolutely idiotic. It’s essentially a ponzi scheme. It looks like everyone is making gains in prices as people buy into it, but if everyone tries to cash out the ponzi collapses.

China has unsophisticated ponzi gamblers that think they are investing. This is due to their immature experience. I remember when I first started trading stocks during the 90s. I estimated that I could make a conservative doubling in my stocks every year and become mega rich easily. Was I ever wrong and these immature investors will learn the same hard lesson.

0
0
ostritch

Who actually thinks the Mainlanders coming here are immature or even amateur investors? I certainly don’t. Especially don’t think that of the huge development companies now “out” and operating here as Chinese-owned. Coromandel etc. They and others have bought up a ton of land – commercial and residential – in the past two years for development. Way beyond the SFH stereotype of mainland investors. They are long Vancouver in the most serious way.

0
-1
patriotz

@51: “Somebody buying a condo to keep it empty is still demand. It still removes one unit from the overall supply, just like any other purchase. You might think that’s people being speculative. Maybe maybe not.”

Buying housing and leaving it empty might be speculative? Might? I think you’ve got a second career waiting for you at Yuk Yuk’s.

1
0
paulb

New
183
Sold
110
TI:7282

http://www.paulboenisch.com

1
0
w

Speaking of the head tax. This primary source the BC legislature 1884, says that the Chinese “systematically evade taxes”.

I guess somethings never change.

http://tc2.ca/sourcedocs/uploads/images/HD%20Sources%20%28text%20thumbs%29/Chinese%20Canadian%20History/Reasons-for-the-Head-Tax/Reasons-for-the-Head-Tax%202.jpg

0
0
Barb Rennie SS

you are a bitter loser ! Look in the mirror

0
-1
Best place on meth

Oh good lord, it gets even worse.

The race-baiting fat fuck just had to mention the head tax:

“While Asian and other foreign investors are clearly partly responsible for the large rise in Vancouver home prices in recent years, they are not the only, or even the primary, cause. Blaming “the Chinese” and targeting them with what could be viewed as a 21st Century head tax isn’t right.”

These greedy lowlifes are about one thing and one thing only, encouraging the money laundering to continue so they can make out like bandits – all while screwing over future generations of locals.

They have no shame, they have no ethics, just like the vermin that are bidding up their houses.

Just die already, Gord.

1
-1
space889

@BPOM – and you are an even more pathetic moron who thinks that levying an extra $50K or $100K tax on someone who can afford to pay $5M cash for a mansion is going to decrease demand. It is not.

However, it does bring in some nice revenues for the city councilors to waste and line union pockets.

1
-1
space889

Barbara Yaffe: B.C. strata councils in ‘critical’ funding state
Owners ‘just don’t have the money’ for proper contingency funds

http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/barbara+yaffe+strata+councils+critical+funding+state/11663067/story.html

1
0
space889

Shelley Fralic: Heads up, Metro Vancouver mayors: A revolt is brewing

That something in the air? It’s anger

Read more:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/shelley+fralic+heads+metro+vancouver+mayors+revolt+brewing/11660313/story.html

0
0
space889

German billionaire to buy Vancouver’s coveted Royal Centre office tower for more than $400 million

0
0
Best place on meth

What a sad, pathetic op-ed piece in The Province today by entitled boomer Gordon Clark:

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2016/01/20/gordon-clark-property-tax-surcharge-wont-bring-down-prices/

He misses the point in each and every sentence and is a reminder of the “I got mine, screw the rest of you” attitude from metro Vancouver homeowners.

It appears he hates his children as well.

Does he have any family relation to the crooked, traitorous piece of garbage that is governing this province?

2
-1
would-be buyer

It makes me laugh when home owners talk about “free markets” when the government steps in and tries to curb runaway housing prices, but its okay when the government loosens regulations to stoke the market. Anyone remember 0/40 mortgages? The argument is always “people will lose money on their biggest investment”. Where does it say that it is the governments roll to protect your “investment”? No one is protecting my stock investments from declining. And, if your home is your primary “investment” then it should be taxed like any other investment vehicle. Do away with the capital gains exemption on housing and we’ll see how fast flipping stops.

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2016/01/20/gordon-clark-property-tax-surcharge-wont-bring-down-prices/

1
0
Shut It Down Already

IMHO, centrally-located condos (west of Main and north of King Edward) probably have some ways to go before they reach the top. I don’t agree that prices were anywhere near “normal” before they started their climb a decade ago – they’re were significantly underpriced. SFH have gone a bit too far, but I suspect the gap will close over the next couple of years by an increase in condo prices and a fall in SFH.

Condos here are quite cheap relative to other countries and cities (including regional cities, and leaving aside any debates about “world class” centres)…

1
-2
Hçistory

https://www.mptrader.com/middayminute/The-Canadian-Dollar-Might-Be-Providing-Clues-About-the-Direction-of-Crude-Oil-201601213306.html

counter trend rally imo, like the Powerball hopefuls on January 12, there will be plenty of commodity punters tomorrow… going long…

0
-1
ostritch

Patriotz we know what you think already. No need to explain it again. At least Dave has been right, in part, but then sold at the wrong time, which is too bad. It’s very hard to time both the buying and selling side. I don’t think a 33% increase is necessarily the sign of a top. But it could be. That’s not even important anymore. I think the intention from the P-O-V of rich foreigners was to take our very small westside SFH market and corner it. Bid it way up and once it’s there it’s free from most of the market forces that could cause it to return to historic prices based on incomes and the economy. It’s just played and flipped between friends. (Or whatever you would call the 1% global rich). Congrats to them. They’ve done it.… Read more »

0
-2
UBC in Crisis Mode

David Ley, Geography, UBC Coach House, Green College, UBC The Next Urban Planet: Rethinking the City in Time This talk examines the role of international investment in the construction of a local housing market in Vancouver, Canada. The background political economy included the attempt by Canadian governments to reboot a troubled regional economy through an infusion of activity from the growth region of Asia Pacific. An important investment tool was a Business Immigration Programme (BIP), which welcomed capital and invited capitalists to transfer their entrepreneurial skills to Canada. The BIP was very popular in Greater China, attracting wealth migration to Vancouver from Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s, and from Mainland China since 2000. An intricate trans-Pacific real estate market developed, with off-plan sales and offshore marketing of Vancouver property in Asia Pacific, and sales to wealthy… Read more »

0
0
would-be buyer

– The question is what type of housing is being built. SFH are being torn down for mostly 1 br condos because that’s what investors want. This is why I am not so certain that SFH will correct unless we limit or ban foreign ownership. As for strata homes, I think they will turn out to be a brutal investment and are at most risk for a massive correction. I almost feel sorry for couples who will find themselves trapped in $300K condos with $400K mortgages shoving their kids into den/storage rooms.

0
0
VanRant

Chinese banks are delaying and even blocking some foreign exchange transactions under a decision by the central government to limit capital leaving the country, a move that could hurt demand for foreign assets including Australian property.

http://www.afr.com/news/world/asia/china-tightens-controls-on-moving-money-overseas-20160120-gma7g3

Now change Australian to Vancouver.

1
0
Doomcouver

I think instead of taxing vacant units, we should just legalize squatting. Other cities have squatters rights on vacant property, why not us? If you’re wealthy enough to own an empty house, a small tax increase isn’t a sufficient deterrent. The threat of having a squatter move in to your empty McMansion will definitely force you to rent or sell your property though. Plus Vancouver has a massive homelessness problem, so this will kill two birds with one stone.

0
0
crabman

Dave said, “Somebody buying a condo to keep it empty is still demand. It still removes one unit from the overall supply, just like any other purchase.”

This is not true. When a local buys a home, they usually sell one or vacate an apartment, leaving the available supply unchanged. An empty home reduces available supply by one.

0
0
southseacompany

Housing Supply;

“Housing completions is the most reliable measure of the increasing the
supply of housing across the region.
Data reported by CMHC for the period 2005 to 2014 (10 years) shows
170,134 completions, with an annual average of 17,013 completions
per year.”
http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/regional-planning/PlanningPublications/MV_Housing_Data_Book.pdf

Housing Demand;
“The net change in households between 2001 and 2011 is 133,160 households,”
http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/regional-planning/PlanningPublications/Census2011-Families.pdf

2001-2011: 170k new homes for 133k new households.

Seems like some oversupply.

0
0