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Oh, I won't necessarily blame foreign investors for skyrocketing house prices in those cities. They've been known to be astronomically expensive since before the Chinese got rich. It's all about supply and demand.
You hear more complain about Vancouver but not about those cities because people in US have plenty of choices to live and find work with affordable housing + good weather. Not so in Canada.
in reality none of the American cities which are safe, urban, walkable and vibrant in the core is affordable. Sometime I say to myself houses in America are so cheap but on second thought I don't really want to live in any of those cheaper cities such as Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix or Philadelphia. Look at NYC, Boston, west LA, San Fran and the better part of Chicago or DC you get the idea. Seattle doesn't even have a subway so really not my type of ideal urban living.
Yes the Chinese are to blame. Don't construe that at racism either. It's more a culture problem. They can't just monopolize the entire city with their money. Canada needs to put its foot down.
everything in the Us is cheaper, why do we compare real estate in a different country? How does that ever make sense? Why not Norway or Monaco? Should the Chinese compare house price with Korea or India?
Botti, Vancouver is expensive even just related to Canada...that is the entire point. Yes you can find a way to spend less than the sensational price tags that make the news...that does not make things cheap or easily affordable anyway.
Yes the Chinese are to blame. Don't construe that at racism either. It's more a culture problem. They can't just monopolize the entire city with their money. Canada needs to put its foot down.
How? I wonder how?
Unless Canada stops immigration. You can't continue to have immigrants but forbid them to come to Vancouver; Vancouver can't continue to accept immigrants just not the Chinese. It can't forbid immigrants to buy houses once they move to Vancouver. You can't say the Chinese can only buy a certain number of houses a month in Vancouver either, can you?
The thing is, the Chinese are buying a lot of the properties world wide, they are a major force in luxury product sales, the driving force of world tourism, and you want to reverse that trend, sure, but how?
Unless you put an end to the market capitalism, but I don't know how well that will go. The truth is, the US and China are the only two major countries that are doing well economically right now, and the Americans have no interest in buying expensive houses in a city with mediocre weather, nor do they have the cash.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saturno_v
Botti, Vancouver is expensive even just related to Canada...that is the entire point. Yes you can find a way to spend less than the sensational price tags that make the news...that does not make things cheap or easily affordable anyway.
I don't deny that, but every country has an expensive city. Was Vancouver affordable before the Chinese influx? I thought it was always the most expensive city in Canada. No, Vancouver is not affordable, neither is London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris or even Mumbai. The solution? instead of complaining about those who buy, build more and increase the density.
Last edited by botticelli; 07-10-2015 at 07:25 AM..
I don't deny that, but every country has an expensive city. Was Vancouver affordable before the Chinese influx? I thought it was always the most expensive city in Canada. No, Vancouver is not affordable, neither is London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris or even Mumbai. The solution? instead of complaining about those who buy, build more and increase the density.
We are going back to square one...Vancouver has always been more expensive than its economic weight would suggest because it has one of the mildest weather in Canada, it was already attractive to retirees and relatively well to do well before the "Asian wave"...it is one (of the many) factors that makes California desirable to live (for Americans) as well....Californians call the cost of living there "the sunshine tax".
Yes the Chinese are to blame. Don't construe that at racism either. It's more a culture problem. They can't just monopolize the entire city with their money. Canada needs to put its foot down.
Money has no nationality and will flow anywhere it could where there is a safe haven and decent return. In today's world, Vancouver is a beautiful place in a stable country that it is open to immigrants so it is no wonder Asian money has flowed in and, yes, propped up real estate prices to a point where it is higher than it should be (a trend happening all over the world). Local middle-class people will bear the brunt unfortunately but "Chinese" people are not to blame per se. You or others would likely behave no differently if you had to deal with the same circumstances. Europeans came and settled in North America and they weren't there first inhabitants either. Besides, overpaying for housing is not breaking the law so you cannot blame individual people, blame the government and lobby the government if you can think of beneficial changes for all. If you want to curb immigration then locals need to procreate more to reach their replacement rate, otherwise immigrants are necessary to maintain the population. Would you rather have wealthy immigrants who bring money int he country and will integrate over the next generations or impoverished, uneducated farmers from rural China coming in droves? End of the day, Vancouver is probably the most Asian city outside of Asia and will eventually become majority Asian if current trends hold. And I don't see why they won't.
We are going back to square one...Vancouver has always been more expensive than its economic weight would suggest because it has one of the mildest weather in Canada, it was already attractive to retirees and relatively well to do well before the "Asian wave"...it is one (of the many) factors that makes California desirable to live (for Americans) as well....Californians call the cost of living there "the sunshine tax".
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