The Stream - Vancouver's housing crisis 

This problem is actually easily fixable but only IF the government actually wants to solve it. The BIGGEST problem is that the government doesn't want to solve it because they are getting rich out of it! Even the mayor of Vancouver invests in housing market, so why on earth would he support any policy that would potentially harm his own investments??

Vancouver is essentially Cayman Islands 2.0. Scratch that, I think the Vancouver Housing Market is even better than the Cayman Islands. Why? Little to no questions are asked when a house is being purchased. The best part? Not only can foreign buyers safely store their wealth in Vancouver homes, but they can see their wealth appreciate in value. My heart goes out to the young families, young people, and the ones who was born / will be born in Vancouver, knowing that they won't have a chance to afford to live in the city they grew up in. Al Jazeera, thank you so much for making this video.

To say a single family detached home now costs over a million dollars is a vast understatement. The shittiest, tear down, rat infested crack shack costs 1 million. If you want a house that you can actually live in try 1.5 - 2 million

Auckland is the worst. My cousin replaced the welcome mat on new property, and was able to on-sell for and extra $70 000 a month later.

Vancouver wouldn't be in this mess if they limited home ownership to citizens only. Foreign buyers and government greed are the root cause of the housing crisis in BC.

I live in Australia & we have the same problem. Sydney & Melbourne are way overpriced. We haven't had a crash in 20yrs & that bubble is gona burst real soon its unsustainable!

that awkward moment you're making $100,000 a year and still can't afford to live in Canada.

Add 60% to housing and rental prices mentioned in this video which is 3 years old.

In terms of the problem with foreign investors is the former federal policy where you make an investment of a certain amount in Canada and they get Permanent Residency. This for the longest time was used as a way by the Chinese to skip the immigration waiting list (as well as have an escape route should things go awry in China.).

Same thing happening in Auckland, Sydney & Melbourne, and problem is Chinese investors, but I guess part of the problem is our generation too which is excessively consuming and most of that is consumed, made in China? So what we were expecting?? Our countries to maintain the status quo, even when our toilet roll is made in China?

A house is shelter to live in and raise a family not to get rich off of. Just wait like any other market price fluctuate and when are too high(over valued) there is what is a called a market bubble, wait for it too burst and then start the cycle all over again thats speculative world we are living in. Unless there is a change in mindset, this will happen every 20 to 30 years over and over again!

Vancouver is surrounded on 3 sides by water and one side by a boarder (Burnaby) .. it is limited space so I can see that price rises to crazy level if people are willing to spend to live there.. I live here all my life so I know what it was like 50 years ago and what it's like now.. my issue is not Vancouver prices, my issue is BC property prices and TAXES... we have more empty space than most places on Earth and even poor people should be able to afford a piece of property in this province.....

You're officially in a bubble when the average price of a home is above 9 times the average income. There was a brilliant UK economist who created a formula to determine a housing bubble and the catalysts that determines when it pops.

I am from Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Beijing. When I was in middle school in HK around 1980, I remember some of my relatives join the then immigration rush to Vancouver. The rush was caused by the anxiety of China Britain talks over the issue of HK returning to China. I remember always miscalling Margaret Thactcher as the Queen. The house my aunt bought in Vancouver was like 300,000, a normal sized home in Richmond. It guessed it is now worth more than 2 million. I moved to LA at age 18 for 13 years. After college I bought a condo in 1990. It was Japan bubble years plus high interest rate years, market prices in the US dropped 35% from 1989-1996. Then came the low rate years and prices went up 400% in the next 20 years, just like Vancouver did. Similar swings for HK and Australia. HK housing is now the highest per sqm or per square feet in the world, more expensive than Vancouver. However HK also suffered the biggest drop in 1997-2003 during Asian Financial Crisis and SARS endemic crisis. It was a 65% drop in home prices! I moved to Beijing in 1997. People had not yet had home ownership. Then government market reform began in 2000. Like kids wanting cars, every one in China wants a home. Home prices generally grew with the economy in annual double digit increase for 20 years. Especially when people started to get rich from their first home, they can borrow money to buy the 2nd and 3rd. There was an obvious multiplier effect on prices. Apartment units in Beijing was up 500% from 2008-2018. Houses in Beijing considered as rarity was up 1000%. Average 100 sqm / 1060 sq feet apartment unit in Beijing is now 9 million RMB or 1.7 million CAD. And many other cities in China have price range of 50%-80% of Beijing’s. Conclusions: No matter the country, in a market economy home prices will swing, for the US in the last 60 years average 7 years up followed by 7 years down-14 year cycles. Plus there are other factors affecting prices, interest rate, financial crisis, Chinese rush...If you graduated in year 2005, bought a house in Vancouver in 2010. You are lucky. For millennials you are only 19 years old. You will graduate in 2023, work and try to buy your first home in 2026 or so. I believe that will be a good time to buy because prices should be hitting the bottom. Anyone in between that needs to buy now is unlucky because prices will continue to drop for a few more years. Vancouver homes are not cheap even for the Chinese. Governments of both sides are curbing Chinese buyers. From experience I say prices will bottom out in 2025 and it will be a good time to buy. For now it is better to consider renting. You lose money if you buy now or next year or next next year. Home prices are not like stocks; they don’t change overnight but take a few years. Just rent; and good luck.

Sydney is worse. Foreign investors pouring in with the tacit enabling of government who refuse to enforce existing laws to limit overseas speculation.

The greedy government

People from other countries have the potential to wipe out local cultures . Our people and our lifestyles are not wanted here thats why things are changing at blink of eye. our land is our land but not for long .

That was 7 yeara ago and still relevant nothing has changed. Infact it got worse

Low interest rate iz the big factor. One can afford more high price house in low interest market.

All of the problems with living in Vancouver would just DISAPPEAR if We took foreign money out of the canadian housing market, EVERY PROBLEM WOULD DISAPPEAR . that is the truth , what is destablizing our housing is THAT and THAT alone.But the pills too big to swallow .

supply and demand Canada has tons of land zone it for residential housing and have the city build it cheaply

low interest, low Canadian Dollar, what do you expect?

I live in Canada and I feel so poor despite working full time making average salary. I am jealous of my friends who live in other countries (including so called third world) who are always eating out, taking vacations etc

This is the way the market works. one need the govt to get involved and build price controlled home. This woman looks like ananda lewis though

This was a great vid, however Andy definitely seems adverse and biased to avoid the big issue of Foreign Real Estate Investment. To pretend Foreign Investment isn't a serious issue, is turning a blind eye to a very obvious issue, which diminishes the validity of the rest of his comments.

Canadian government needs to help out Canadians who live there! Why not meet demand by encouraging more suites in houses (instead of red taping them) quadruplexes should be encouraged. Also Why not encourage more home building by zoning for more suites in more areas. Also why not have less property taxes and sales taxes for your primary residence (There is first time homebuyers but it is not enough )... This will discourage more landlords and renters and encourage locals to own at least one place. I like the idea of foreign ownership for new units only. Also, bubbles will burst when interest rates go up by more than 2%... ... Either way, it is sad that it seems the government would rather support foreign bankers than the masses of its own population.

And who let the Chinese in huh???

idonthaveamillion; maybe you shouldnt live in vancouver, abbotsford and langley has many houses under 500k. Why not just hold a sign in west Vancouver that says "donthave10million"

The problem is that Vancouver is getting an influx of new residents (mostly immigrants) and with higher demand comes higher cost. The only solution is to send immigrants to other parts of Canada to soften to blow for us Vancouverites.

The fact is, Canada has embraced globalization because it was seen as the way to promote wealth, If you have a well-paid job today, chances are you work for a company that trades with the world. So restricting trade or investment will affect your income. Globalization without movement of people and capital makes no sense. You only look at one side of the equation. I for one would have liked a more prudent approach 20 years ago, but what was done was done and undoing it will just leave us worse off. Every individual needs to make the best choice for themselves, see where things are going, move, train for a better job etc.. whatever it takes, not wait for the government to make it easy for them.

Vancouver is sooooooo overrated .

a govt cant move a market--you re dreaming--musical chairs in a way

Why should I pay for stolen land?

so nearly 2 years passed, so what? lol

Yeah... Blame the foreigners, blame the government. Heck, why not blame the dog next door for barking to loud? It's 2021 now and we're 4 years into the foreign buyer tax, how is that working out for you whiners? Sydney, AU, has 78 suburbs with median home price over 2M since 2017, possibly pushing to 4M now. Does taxing the capital to death works? I digress. I am 35, with no degree and working in a factory, yet I am buying my 3rd property with a more than 2M assets under my name. Go figure.

Just move away

poor ppl and losers left the negative comments here, and it wont change anything, lol

Living in Vancouver is a privilege. If you can't afford it you are free to look elsewhere.