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Comment by rvnx | Hacker News Reader

In Canada potentially Chinese immigrants in Vancouver/Toronto, in the US it's an over-generous monetary policy (through low interest rates, especially during COVID)

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One should also add that (at least in Canada) newer buildings are not built for families but for investors. Who needs all of those 30 square meter studios?

they've slashed immigration, so I guess we'll find out. BC is also going to tax any sales after less than 2 years of ownership; I'm doubtful this will increase affordability or supply, but it will essentially kill the economic model of renovation & flipping.

I don't think it will kill "reno and flip" market. It will become "reno and rent-to-buy later", or "reno, hold and sell".

Seems Canada has a similar money-printing MO as the US. CAD money supply doubled in the past decade.

in Canada, like in the US, it's a lack of supply mostly because of draconian zoning and land-use policies. Chinese immigrants are NOT the primary cause of housing cost inflation, and are likely not even in the top 10 causes.

I don't know or claim that it's any truer, but I thought the oft-reported reason, for Vancouver/BC especially, was Chinese investment, and explicitly not immigration even, the chief complaint that the growth has been/is expected to be such that they're left unoccupied?

This is my experience. The two houses that I share a backyard fence with are empty. A caretaker comes by once a month to have a look around one of the houses but otherwise they're unoccupied.

>for Vancouver/BC especially

The ALR bans any and all significant development in BC.

Land is not scarce in BC; land that it's legal to build on is.

Ok - I'm not Canadian, idk what ALR is - I'm just saying what's disagreed with up-thread isn't what, in my experience, is the common claim (whether it's correct or not).

The Agricultural Land Reserve prohibits farmland from being sold for housing development. It's one of the oldest modern NIMBY policies.

Most of the land in BC is classified in this way.

Well that's not obviously bad I don't think? If Canadians want to be mad about pro-farm regulation, they should look to dairy; milk tokens, cheese availability, etc.

Are you saying prices didn't go up because of Chinese investors, or Chinese immigrants? I haven't heard anyone discussing immigration as a root cause

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