Canada Overwhelmed By 100,000 Chinese Millionaire Immigrants

[Alydael]

The problem is that less that Chinese people buy houses (they own less houses than European or American interests do) but that many buy them purely for speculating, letting them sit empty as prices skyrocket. Vancouver got hit by this very hard, and so did Toronto recently. They've begun regulating, with the biggest one being a tax on foreigners buying houses in these cities.

In comparison, most Chinese couples buying houses in Montreal actually live in them, so it doesn't contribute to a housing bubble anywhere near as much albeit it does drive up prices near good centers of education, as Chinese are particularly fond of living near these. But rich, skilled people settling here is definitely a good thing overall so long as the speculation is kept in check.

I would be fine with it as long as they were actually living in those houses as a place of residence.

I wouldn't allow it for: speculating. Why would you let foreign citizens buy out your land and drive the prices so high that even your own citizens can't afford them. That just sounds crazy.

And I wouldn't allow it for: turning it into a tenament or something. When I worked in construction, I worked in many buildings in which there 20 or more people living in a one family house. They were renting it by rooms (under the table of course) and sometimes even 1/2 rooms. Different people rent rooms as people move in and out and it becomes a sort of flop house. I wouldn't allow that either.

[DJ117]

Oh Canada... you're killing yourself for short-term greed.

[Clone]

Yeah.. duh?

So it's not really about men being free.

[Rasulis]

Yeah Canada (Some cities no all of Canada) added a tax on unoccupied property to discourage this (1% of property value per year). Frankly, that tax should be higher. Whether Chinese or not, the habit of millionaires buying homes that they barely or most probably never use always fuck up everyone in the city. Real estate in cities should be highly regulated as it's people homes on the line; you can't leave that the free market.

One percent additional property tax probably means very little to somebody who can pay cash on a multi-million dollar property, and then not even bother to rent it out.

[Lynarii]

As a person living in Vancouver, I really don't care where the person who lives in any given house is from, so long as they're living in the house. A Chinese immigrant? Sure! Why not? If they're actively living there, then they're contributing to the local economy, and I'm not super interested in trying to start laying down a lot of laws as to who does and doesn't have a right to live in any specific location.

The problem I have is in speculation and investment properties that are vacant. And I have just as much of an issue with Canadian speculators as I do Chinese ones, because they both impact the local environs similarly. It's sad to see nice houses rotting with a 2 million price tag on the front, it's sad that small businesses are closing up because they can't afford to pay their employees enough to live in the city (Seriously, the livable wage here is almost $21 an hour, nobody can pay unskilled labor that much).

People are only really throwing a fit about the Chinese right now because A) It's easier to point fingers at foreigners than citizens and B) There's been several news reports recently detailing how foreign criminals are using the Vancouver housing market to stash and launder illegal money (we kinda have really lax reporting laws). Obviously the criminals need to be dealt with, but after that I simply don't see a problem with a Chinese family buying a home near UBC for their child to live in while they go to school there. Fulfills the whole point of having homes built near the university.

[kubasniak]

I live in Mississauga, Greater Toronto Area and prices here are fucked up too. Fucking "barn" or "dog house" costs you half a mil. Canada is fucked for young people.

[sonololo]

Why regulate against a booming housing industry? Price hikes are a temporary blip until housing production can catch up.

In that situation its best to DEregulate the housing industry. Main problem with the booming prices is the zoning laws, which are very harsh on zoning new land for residental.

When you can't get permissions for building new houses, the production will never catch up.

That's simple, and that's the case in the NZ.

[ifrah]

I live in Mississauga, Greater Toronto Area and prices here are fucked up too. Fucking "barn" or "dog house" costs you half a mil. Canada is fucked for young people.

Check out another place which is slowly fucked up by mainland Chinese, Hong Kong. Chinese tax evaders or whatever most likely totally legit people not only pumping up the house prices through the roof but also making sure the city is fucked for all people.

[dextersmith]

They have that many millionaires?

[Rasulis]

They have that many millionaires?

And Billionaires. They are second only to the US.