It's really painful.
Having average home price of $1.8m while the median salary is at $60k. Something really needs to be done to help out Vancouverites.
Having average home price of $1.8m while the median salary is at $60k. Something really needs to be done to help out Vancouverites.
As a city, Vancouver has the ability to vote for significant property tax increases. Which would encourage investors and speculators to rent out more of their (currently empty) property in order to offset the yearly cost of ownership. Right now, it probably is more expensive to sell property that currently has renters living in it, because evicting people is a messy, expensive and difficult process. But higher property taxes make it more expensive to own: a tax of 3% per year completely eats up a 3% yearly increase in property value. Unless you offset the tax through other income.
The other thing I keep seeing is "in Quebec it's much more affordable..."
Yes, and your salary would be much lower and your taxes higher. Apple and oranges?
I make about 100k. I've had job offers for Quebec that are 100k. Seriously - there's absolutely no payscale advantage or allowance for living in Vancouver. And provincial taxes in Quebec aren't much different at that tax bracket either.
Mansions do throw off the average, no doubt, but there's no denying that the typical house price for a typical Vancouverite is now north of a million dollars:
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/01/vancouver-homes-valued-1-...