Ideally we see a 50% reduction in values to get rid of the swarms of people that buy housing as an investment, and not a place to live.
Realistically, there might be a brief and shallow pullback before another head first dive into a bull market.
I would say that is wishful thinking, a 50% reduction would bring more investors, since Cap Rates would increase dramatically and the prospect of large gains would drive a new round of capital into the market. Also wishful thinking to say real estate shouldn't be used as an investment in a Capitalist society. If that were true we would have no builders, no commercial real estate, nor any rental properties.
I said ideally, not realistically.
I know far too many owners who treat our housing stock with $$ in their eyes. One Asian invested owns 80 condos, air B&B sucking up our rental stock, the tax evasion. The outright fucking greed. A home is a place to live, stability for your family.
greed. A home is a place to live, stability for your family.
Yes you are not incorrect, but an Asian investor who owns 80 condos is not an investor, he's a corporation. Tax evasion should be stopped, but the Feds need to put some basic rules in place and stop allowing foreign capital to leave the country on assignments, flips, etc. These deals should be taxed the same as if a Canadian was making the trade. We as Canadians are required to report the Capital Gain (perhaps some Cdns are also cheating) but the fix could be accomplished quite easily by withholding 30% of the proceeds of any sale, or assignment when a corporation or foreign entity is selling, or maybe everyone. For sure the government should also stop allowing permanent residents to not report worldwide income and get GST Rebates and social assistance while living in 10 million dollar homes. We should also stop forcing realtors to be the money laundering police. They are paid based on sales, but yet are required to police their clients and track money laundering. This is like putting the so-called fox in charge of the hen house. As a realtor am I going to raise a potential red flag, or turn a blind eye in order to cash in on my commissions???
I have run a short term accommodation in
Whistler for over 10 years, Airbnb is a great facilitator in assisting me with this business.
Whistler is built and zoned for this type of accommodation. Although
Whistler has an extreme shortage of affordable long term accommodations, this is not the fault of the successful vacation rental by owner / operator. Its the fault of the corporation that owns the ski resort and the municipality for poor planning and greed to maximize profits over long term sustainability of the community. Metro Vancouver is no different in this regard. If I want to rent out my basement suite, or even a full condo (that doesn't restrict Airbnb through bylaws) on a short term basis then why should the city stop me?
The planning departments are clueless and have allowed affordable housing to be wiped out in the name of new developments, while also driving out small business through zoning changes that are designed to push for new development as quickly as possible. Instead of grandfathering existing businesses, they force them into a much higher tax rate, which forces them to close, thus allowing new developments to proceed much faster.
As well the basement suite is an endangered species as land assemblies proceed at a lightning fast pace, scooping up "single" family homes and turn blocks and blocks into expensive townhomes and condos. The small basement suites are disappearing rapidly, which allowed so many people an affordable rental space to call home. Ironically with the current zoning and community plans, the more we try to build our way out of this crisis the worse its going to get for low-end affordable housing.
Thus my point is you can't blame the small guy who happens to buy a second, third...80th property to try and get ahead. When corporations, developers and other elites are bending our politicians and city planning departments to their will, in order to add another 100 million to their balance sheets. This is the true greed that needs to be stopped.
Folks like you and I who have worked hard, saved our money and invested in real estate will end up being the ones paying in the end, but its naive to say Real Estate is not an investment and should be considered a home. Last time I checked no one is guaranteed anything in this world, we are extremely lucky to have been born into a society that allows us to be in the 1% (globally) and afford to buy a home and have stability for our families.
