[1] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-626-x/11-626-x2017078...
Meanwhile, https://www.worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-e...
This is absolutely not true. Canadian policymakers are willing to do almost nothing that could reduce housing prices– instead they try to induce prospective buyers to take on even more debt under the guise of "making housing affordable". Just look at every major party's housing platform in the current election– besides some very hand-wavy notions of bringing on more supply, and the LPC's plan to eliminate blind bidding, the "solutions" are almost universally focused on further stoking demand
Same thing for appropriately taxing seniors living in now multi-million dollar hovels.
but that's fine right? The people rich people moving into the "luxury" apartments will free up the "nice" apartments for middle class people to move into, who will subsequently free up the "okay" apartments. Building $30k cars also doesn't help the college student/single parent who has a budget of <$3000, yet we don't try to outlaw those cars or mandate "affordable" cars because "people who don't want that luxury will end up stretching their budgets to buy it due to a lack of options in their price range".
So a key part of the picture this kind of argument misses out is that price appreciation is primarily an effect of *marginal* demand and supply, not inventory. To put it another way as long as there's even a little bit of demand exceeding supply, prices will go up till sufficient marginal buyers drop out of the market. A very small imbalance is enough to push prices up. To begin appreciating how and why this happens, you may want to analyze a granular item level time series dataset of a market or auction (I once looked deep into a course auction at my alma matter) - it's quite eye opening.
In this case, there's presumably fairly price in-elastic foreign buyers and/or corporate structures like REITs buying into the residential buying market. Note that at any time, the entire market is never at play as most families wouldn't want to sell and move or change their lives - personal risk plays a factor - if we sell now & prices keep rising, how will we afford a house in the future etc. So prices keep rising.
Note that interestingly housing market is asymmetric in the sense that prices don't fall quite as much when marginal supply out-strips demand. Potential sellers who occupy their own houses generally prefer to stay in their homes and simply go out of the market. That's why prices drop in a big way only during major economic crises when people lose jobs, are unable to fund their mortgage and are forced to sell or let the banks foreclose.
In terms of fixes, creating additional supply by easing restrictions will definitely help. An additional way would be to disallow or disincentivize non-resident ownership. Eg. By banning price inelastic absentee overseas owners and investment companies from residential properties, taxing second and third home purchases by individuals with high duties etc but the key thing is to codify regulation at the "intent" level rather than at execution level so parties exploiting loopholes can be prosecuted and enforcing them.
Assuming they don’t work around it through straw purchasers…
Our housing prices are wildly high, partially or even significantly, because of very wealthy foreign purchasers who often don't even live in the homes they buy. They jack the price up and sell them to other very wealthy people from their respective home countries. Rinse and repeat. It affects the prices of homes all around the property in tandem.
Basically those wealthy people who aren't contributing to the economy outside the house they bought, are making housing outrageously expensive for the people who do live here, because regular people can't financially compete with the wealthy purchasers that see the home as nothing more than a money maker to trade in overseas properties stacking.
Having foreign buyers buy very so-so, if not shitty for the price houses with 20% 30% premiums is a story which many realtors in Vancouver can talk about.
Although, I admit, the root cause is still the understudy of housing in big, fast growing cities.