Comment by pkaler | Hacker News Reader

Comment by pkaler | Hacker News Reader

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>> A little insight on Vancouver: PRC investment firms decided that the steady growth of the North American real estate market looked to provide great returns on investment. So, these firms started buying up large numbers of single-family homes in Vancouver.

Reference required. Empirical evidence does not support your claim.

The PDF in the parent’s comment shows there were 1010 vacant homes in 2017 and 502 vancant homes in 2022.

Jens Avon Bergmann of MountainMath.ca did analysis after the 2021 numbers were released. His takeaway:

>> “The results demonstrate very little “toxic demand” leading to vacancies in BC, and provide valuable checks on estimates of “foreign” ownership.”

https://doodles.mountainmath.ca/blog/2021/11/21/three-years-...

Please stop spreading this disinformation unless you have actual references with actual empirical evidence. It is actively harmful to supply-side solutions.

I am open to have my mind changed if you have evidence that toxic demand is actually causing significant harm. With significant harm defined as being one magnitude greater than the 500 vacant homes in the above PDF from the City of Vancouver.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5df7c3de2e4d3d3fce16c...

"Analysis of land title records by TI Canada found that nearly half of the 100 most valuable residential properties in Greater Vancouver are held through structures that hide their beneficial owners. Nearly one-third of the properties are owned through shell companies, while at least 11 percent have a nominee listed on title. The use of nominees appears to be on the rise; more than a quarter of the high end homes bought in the last five years are owned by students or homemakers with no clear source of income. Trusts are also common ownership structures for luxury properties; titles for six of the 100 properties disclose that they are held through trusts, but the actual number may be much higher as there is no need to register a trust’s existence."

This is exactly why the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act and considerably stricter source of income requirements went into effect this year. The reality is nobody really knows, people have a hunch one way, numbers show another, context another again. It's difficult to say.

Disinformation? Come on, man.

Here's articles on what the situation was.

2015 - "Vancouver house-buying frenzy leaves half-empty neighbourhoods": https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancou...

2016 - "One-Third Of Vancouver’s Real Estate Market Is Owned By Chinese Buyers": https://www.fortunebuilders.com/one-third-of-vancouvers-real...

2016 - "China is buying Canada: Inside the new real estate frenzy": https://macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/chinese-real-es...

Today, the situation is under control because Canadian governing authorities appear to have implemented effective policies.

2022 - "'Astonishing' drop in number of empty homes not occupied by 'usual' residents in Metro Vancouver: Census": https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/astonishing-drop-in...

2023 - "Chinese Real Estate Investors in Canada – Is Their Ownership Now Less than 4%?": https://precondo.ca/chinese-investment-in-canadian-real-esta...

>Empirical evidence does not support your claim.

Actually, empirical evidence does support my claim, further supported by clear and effective policy reactions taken by Canadian governing authorities.

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