2014-02-11

Vancouver Housing Bubble in Trouble?

Canada is slamming the door on investor visas.

Canada scraps millionaire visa scheme, 'dumps 46,000 Chinese applications'

Why does this matter for Vancouver?

Exclusive: Vancouver facing an influx of 45,000 more rich Chinese
The queue of millionaires at Vancouver's doorstep has major implications in a city where housing is rated the second-least affordable in the world, behind Hong Kong. Census data shows 96 per cent of all recent Chinese immigrants to British Columbia live in greater Vancouver and the proportion among the wealthy is even higher.

Kerry Starchuk is a lifelong resident of the Vancouver satellite city of Richmond, the most Chinese city in the western hemisphere and a favoured destination of wealthy mainland Chinese. She fears the potential impact of the visa queue.

"Money is taking precedence over everything," said Starchuk, 56, who has campaigned for increased English signage in Richmond. "It's taking over the social fabric, Canadian culture … You can see [the wealth disparity] in the houses that are being built - it's no longer a single-family home, it's a mansion with gates and security."
Those tens of thousands aren't coming now, and that could spell the end of the housing bubble as the marginal buyer pool loses the wealthiest of home buyers.

No comments:

Post a Comment