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Comment by purim | Hacker News Reader

Still waiting for Vancouver real estate to follow suit but feels weird that in Vancouver its' socially acceptable for people without homes single out a certain ethnic group every cycle. Used to Japanese in the 1980s, Hong Kongers in 90s, Taiwanese in 00s and Chinese in 10s. This type of scapegoating doesn't seem prevalent in other real estate markets like California, their money is correct on high wage disparity between tech workers and those with stagnating wages. In both markets there is surprising silence on REITs and corporations buying up residential living spaces and flipping it. Wouldn't be surprised if those special interest groups also own/influence local media as well.

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> This type of scapegoating doesn't seem prevalent in other real estate markets like California

At least from 2012-2018 - in my circles - everyone was blaming "Chinese cash-buyers" for a lot of problems.

I think 3 things:

1) Vancouver has a MUCH higher ratio of immigrants - especially immigrants that feel comfortable enough with their long-term situation - to purchase than in LA or San Diego. The Bay area might be close.

2) Although the percentage of foreign buyers is less than 10% in Vancouver and not the actual reason for the problem - that ratio is a lot higher than in LA, San Diego, or The Bay. It's closer to 1% in CA.

3) Most importantly, Vancouver's price to rent & income (after taxes) are BAT$HIT insane compared to California.

So although it's not the reason for Vancouver's high prices - and no one should be talking about it - it's not surprising that people talk about it more in Vancouver than in LA.

The impact of foreign investment has been much greater in Vancouver, though. 40% of the population was born outside of Canada.

Not saying it’s a bad thing, but it’s not just seething racism at play, there were major waves of immigration into the city, which drove up housing prices.

> In both markets there is surprising silence on REITs and corporations buying up residential living spaces and flipping it. Wouldn't be surprised if those special interest groups also own/influence local media as well.

I imagine that they're all financing YIMBY organizations, whose aims would do nothing but increase the value of their holdings.

Makes sense, buy wholesale, arbitrage, and deflect blame by creating scapegoats through mass media.

Hold up, since when do YIMBY organizations increase the values? Isn't NIMBY all about protecting home values, and YIMBY about actually building more homes?

YIMBYs increase land values, decrease property values.

Yes, YIMBYs are notorious for wanting housing to be scarcer and more expensive...

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