As much as 20% of all homes in Canada are vacant, bought as an investment by speculators, most of whom have never set foot in the country. It's a huge part of the reason the cost of housing has become pretty much unaffordable for most people who already live here, immigrants and old stock both. Something needs to be done about real estate speculation, although just tacking on another tax isn't going to achieve much of anything.
You know this isn't going to affect any of the many Chinese nationals who bought homes in Canada to preserve their wealth away from the CCP's grasp, it's going to be enforced against white people who keep a single condo vacant for their kids to move into and don't want to rent it to niggers.
The housing price increases are due to the same thing across all these pozzed Western countries - letting infinite immigrants in and letting wealthy foreigners park their money in real estate.
The issue is the fact Canadian real estate is seen as an investment. This is the case because our governments keep doing things to prop up the prices instead of doing things to increase supply of housing or to reduce the demand to drop the prices. If Canada deported 1,000,000 immigrants then housing prices would start going down and investors would get out of the market. Trudeau keeps signaling new policies that will increase housing prices so speculators get in the market.
For nearly 15 years, the Bank of Canada (Canadian Fed) has kept interest rates as low as they can go. This means banks are handing out mortgages like candy at very generous rates. Couple this with government incentives which only help the rich (first time homebuyers deal) and the fact that we import 1% of our total population every year and you have our ridiculous housing bubble.
The solution is simple: raise interest rates and lower immigration to replacement levels. That's it. That kills the incentive to sit on properties as prices cease to skyrocket and supply becomes available as Boomers die off.
This has already started as interest rates are up nearly 500% over the last three years and we're starting to see vacant houses (and land) come back onto the market.
The Liberal government, of course, is doing everything in their power to create a supply/demand crisis by both increasing immigration (of people who can't afford homes, for some reason) and creating Federal "housing programs" which will take up land that could have been used by private developers, and take five times as long as they should to develop it, while going far over on costs.
Simple: non-citizens should be prohibited from owning property. Most countries do this, including shitholes like Mexico. China (the country of origin for most of these homebuyers who are just using them to stash assets out of reach of the CCP) doesn't let anyone own property-you just lease it from the government.
Give them 1 year to sell it, and after that the state sizes it and auctions it off. Problem solved.
just tacking on another tax isn't going to achieve much of anything.
If it's a vacancy tax, renting it out becomes the rational choice, which would lower rent prices when everyone does it. Perhaps that would also affect property prices on a longer term. I think it could work, if it's done right.
Silver lining: if this vacancy tax is enough to make sitting a monetary loss, this will drive down rent prices as landlords will actually be incentive to rent out their properties, rather than sit on them for investment.
There aren't many places that are meant for rental, that are sitting empty. If there's already partial capacity met, they're not going to lower their prices just... because. And the ones that aren't meant for rental... aren't meant for rental. Opening it up to rental lowers its value SIGNIFICANTLY.
A landlord charging too much to get tenants is already making a monetary loss: They're losing money every month they're not collecting rent. Opportunity cost AND real costs like utilities they need to keep supplying.
Yeah, but that's already happening because interest rates have risen from ~0%.
The people sitting were doing so using low interest mortgages, they don't buy property outright. All it takes is a slight bump in rates and they start unloading.
What's this BS about forcing homeowners to annually submit a proof of occupancy notice?
You can fuck right off with that.
The onus of proof should be for the municipality to show the property is vacant, not the creation of a new bureaucracy with hundred of thousands of households submitting applications for permits that they fucking still live in their house.
As much as 20% of all homes in Canada are vacant, bought as an investment by speculators, most of whom have never set foot in the country. It's a huge part of the reason the cost of housing has become pretty much unaffordable for most people who already live here, immigrants and old stock both. Something needs to be done about real estate speculation, although just tacking on another tax isn't going to achieve much of anything.
You know this isn't going to affect any of the many Chinese nationals who bought homes in Canada to preserve their wealth away from the CCP's grasp, it's going to be enforced against white people who keep a single condo vacant for their kids to move into and don't want to rent it to niggers.
Yeah, if they really fucking cared about foreign groups owning Canadian land, they would just... ban them from owning land in Canada.
The housing price increases are due to the same thing across all these pozzed Western countries - letting infinite immigrants in and letting wealthy foreigners park their money in real estate.
I'm always amazed at the ethnic demographic makeup of both shoppers and staff at the local Wal-Mart and how much it has changed.
I live nowhere of note, but the aisles and parking lot of big box stores suddenly have the same racial breakdown of a Toronto subway car.
While mine is filled with joggers and coal burners
The issue is the fact Canadian real estate is seen as an investment. This is the case because our governments keep doing things to prop up the prices instead of doing things to increase supply of housing or to reduce the demand to drop the prices. If Canada deported 1,000,000 immigrants then housing prices would start going down and investors would get out of the market. Trudeau keeps signaling new policies that will increase housing prices so speculators get in the market.
When our politicians say immigration is a must and then proceed to stop housing development or put pricing caps... Yeah, that happens lol.
This is the correct answer.
For nearly 15 years, the Bank of Canada (Canadian Fed) has kept interest rates as low as they can go. This means banks are handing out mortgages like candy at very generous rates. Couple this with government incentives which only help the rich (first time homebuyers deal) and the fact that we import 1% of our total population every year and you have our ridiculous housing bubble.
The solution is simple: raise interest rates and lower immigration to replacement levels. That's it. That kills the incentive to sit on properties as prices cease to skyrocket and supply becomes available as Boomers die off.
This has already started as interest rates are up nearly 500% over the last three years and we're starting to see vacant houses (and land) come back onto the market.
The Liberal government, of course, is doing everything in their power to create a supply/demand crisis by both increasing immigration (of people who can't afford homes, for some reason) and creating Federal "housing programs" which will take up land that could have been used by private developers, and take five times as long as they should to develop it, while going far over on costs.
Simple: non-citizens should be prohibited from owning property. Most countries do this, including shitholes like Mexico. China (the country of origin for most of these homebuyers who are just using them to stash assets out of reach of the CCP) doesn't let anyone own property-you just lease it from the government.
Give them 1 year to sell it, and after that the state sizes it and auctions it off. Problem solved.
If it's a vacancy tax, renting it out becomes the rational choice, which would lower rent prices when everyone does it. Perhaps that would also affect property prices on a longer term. I think it could work, if it's done right.
Silver lining: if this vacancy tax is enough to make sitting a monetary loss, this will drive down rent prices as landlords will actually be incentive to rent out their properties, rather than sit on them for investment.
There aren't many places that are meant for rental, that are sitting empty. If there's already partial capacity met, they're not going to lower their prices just... because. And the ones that aren't meant for rental... aren't meant for rental. Opening it up to rental lowers its value SIGNIFICANTLY.
A landlord charging too much to get tenants is already making a monetary loss: They're losing money every month they're not collecting rent. Opportunity cost AND real costs like utilities they need to keep supplying.
Smells like redditor in that op comment
More like Louis Rossmann, as in NYC, there absolutely are wealthy people squatting on vacant areas
isn't 70% of nyc basically empty due to sky high rent for a building that is breaking every fire code besides being on fire
Yes, but this is why rent is so high in the first place
Democrat policy. You need 30 permits to fix the building each costing an insane amount and the first one is expired before you can get the last permit
Yeah, but that's already happening because interest rates have risen from ~0%.
The people sitting were doing so using low interest mortgages, they don't buy property outright. All it takes is a slight bump in rates and they start unloading.
While this is likely the aim, there's nothing specific about giving these places to immigrants.
Contrast this to Holland where they are explicitly seizing farmland to build 15 Minute Cities.
What's this BS about forcing homeowners to annually submit a proof of occupancy notice?
You can fuck right off with that.
The onus of proof should be for the municipality to show the property is vacant, not the creation of a new bureaucracy with hundred of thousands of households submitting applications for permits that they fucking still live in their house.
Wow, this is going very fast.
Why do we even allow anything east of Manitoba to even exist? It's just poisoning Canada.
I'm in Ontario and I endorse this statement.
Some states are doing this with Section 8 as well, others had in the 90s when Clinton was bussing them everywhere.