Conservative pledge to collect data on foreign homebuyers gets mixed reception

While the Government is playing on fears (an election theme), there is considerable merit in having better data either to confirm, or as suggested in this article, debunk this myth (see earlier Millionaire migration to Canada didn’t fall after investor scheme’s axing – it rose, new data reveals):

In his speech Wednesday, Harper referred to estimates that “as many as 15 per cent of the condos in Vancouver sit empty” “No dreams are living there,” he said, vowing to “take action to ensure any foreign, non-resident investment supports the availability and affordability of homes for Canadians.”

The estimates he cited are from a 2013 analysis by BTAworks based on 2011 census data and apply only to the downtown core. For Metro Vancouver, the numbers are closer to six per cent, according to that study, and five per cent, according to the B.C. Real Estate Association. The idea that large swaths of Vancouver are sitting empty, robbing Canadian families of the dream of home ownership, is largely a myth, Bell said.

“The Saudi prince buying a $19 million penthouse — that’s going to sit empty,” he said. “What is sitting empty, I believe, is the high end, where people are saying, ‘Vancouver is a beautiful city. We want to go there for one month out of the year.’

“It’s sort of like Canadians buying in Palm Springs or Florida.”

Foreign ownership affects prices at the top of the market and trickles down to the average homebuyer only in the sense that “people that used to buy at the top end of the market are now having to move into the mid-range, so everyone is pushed down a little bit,” he said.

“The baby boomers who are downsizing are able to pay more than the people that are moving up.”

He said the anxiety over foreign ownership has less to do with xenophobia than skyrocketing house prices, which are affected by a lot more than a buyer’s citizenship.

“The baby boomers’ kids are now starting to buy properties — generational wealth transfer is taking place; low interest rates; urbanization — young kids don’t want to live in small towns anymore. So, the discussion that would be really interesting is to try and look at all the factors in play,” Bell said.

Now if only this evidence-based approach could lead to the restoration of the Census.

Conservative pledge to collect data on foreign homebuyers gets mixed reception – Business – CBC News.