Current Events > Liberals and conservatives in Canada want to ban foreigners from buying property

(+) Yeah! (+)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to introduce a two-year ban on foreign home buyers to tackle housing affordability in Canada if hes re-elected.

The proposed restriction is an attempt to cool a housing market that has soared during the Covid-19 pandemic. Surging prices have become a central issue in the campaign for the Sept. 20 vote, in which Trudeau hopes to regain a majority in parliament, with all three major parties promising crackdowns.

You shouldnt lose a bidding war on your home to speculators. Its time for things to change, Trudeau said at a campaign event in Hamilton, Ontario, about 40 miles southwest of Toronto. No more foreign wealth being parked in homes that people should be living in.

Outrage over housing affordability is increasingly directed at foreign buyers, especially in Vancouver, whose real estate has become increasingly popular among non-resident buyers from China and Hong Kong.

While the number of houses changing hands has declined in recent months after a pandemic-driven boom in activity, prices remain near record levels. The average cost of a home was C$669,200 ($529,840) in July, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association -- up 16% from a year ago.

The Liberals are also proposing a ban on blind bidding, tax-free savings accounts for first-time buyers and more oversight of the real estate industry to fight money laundering. Theyre also vowing to add or repair 1.4 million homes over the next four years.
Its not OK that the communities you grew up in arent in places where you can build a life, raise a family or grow old. Its because the deck is stacked against you, Trudeau said at the campaign event.

Erin OToole, leader of the Conservatives and Trudeaus biggest rival in the election, put forward a similar plan last week. His partys platform would ban home-buying for foreign investors living outside Canada for at least two years and refurbish 15% of federal buildings into housing.
Mr. Trudeaus had six years and has failed, OToole told reporters in Ottawa. We have a housing crisis thats exploded in the last three to four years under his leadership.

The left-leaning New Democratic Party, meanwhile, is proposing a 20% tax on homes bought by people who arent Canadian citizens or permanent residents and a reintroduction of a 30-year mortgage.

Recent polls show the race between the governing Liberals and their Conservative challengers is narrowing, dimming Trudeaus prospects for regaining a majority. Some economists say the next government should, indeed, adopt policies to reduce foreign enthusiasm for the Canadian housing market, though any permanent solutions would take time.

I think the way everyone, political parties and Canadians, should think about housing is there is no short term solution, Benjamin Reitzes, rates and macro strategist at BMO Capital Markets, said by phone. Its a long term issue. They arent going to fix it in one year or with one policy.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-24/trudeau-vows-two-year-ban-on-foreign-home-buyers-if-re-elected

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We need to ban real estate speculation in America as well. It's total bullshit.

We don't allow scalping tickets, but we allow scalping houses? Makes no sense.

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Good. Hope it happens

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Needs to be just more than foreigners.

You know how many people living in California have bought up low income housing around here in North Carolina? Just so they can flip the house and charge insane rent for it. A normal person of low-income can't even afford to buy these houses

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Robot2600 posted...

We don't allow scalping tickets, but we allow scalping houses? Makes no sense.

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Have you guys considered looking into this?

Questionmarktarius posted...

Have you guys considered looking into this?

yeah, just bulldoze all Canada's natural beauty

lmao (i don't know if i would be against that- just weird to even think about it, we like our wilderness)
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Cpt_Pineapple posted...

If Trump did this people would cry racist

If you seen real state market prices in Canada you would also be asking for a ban on Chinese speculators.

That is actually a great idea.

We don't need the overseas 1% and big corps fucking up home prices even more.

If you aren't a citizen or long term resident why the fuck do you own housing?

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Vancouver has a massive real estate shortage as shitloads of properties are owned by Chinese nationals and holding companies as a way to basically hide their money.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Have you guys considered looking into this?

Only sensible that the vast majority of Canadians want to live as close to the good old USA as possible.

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Questionmarktarius posted...

Have you guys considered looking into this?

It looks like mold pressed tight against the US seeking warmth and nutrients.

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same needs to happen in america China and Russia buy alot land and property and sit on it

The Chinese have ruined the housing market in Vancouver and several other cities
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China with slow moving coups in western countries till they eventually own us all

Maybe they could make it so foreigners can buy houses but only if they will be living in it.

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Buying an election by putting a freeze on international house buying. Nice guy.

I would be all for disallowing non-citizens from buying land in the US.

of course you would

FortuneCookie posted...

of course you would

Indeed.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Have you guys considered looking into this?

Yeah, we all want to live in the warmest parts of the country. Do you know what winter is like in most of the country? It gets so fucking cold you can throw a bucket of boiling water at someone and it will literally turn into snow before it hits them.

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CADE FOSTER posted...

China with slow moving coups in western countries till they eventually own us all

It's only being done because there aren't very good investment opportunities in China due to the legal environment there. People still buy extra houses in China but flipping them isn't nearly as easy as it is in the West and although renting conditions are more favorable to landlords in China most people's extra homes are in literal ghost towns where no one wants to rent them.

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I dont blame them. For one thing, we have these Chinese companies buying up all the property in the United States just to rent it for obscene prices. Taking American dollars straight back to china at the cost of putting American citizens in the poor house. Then we have the fact that the population more than doubled within most of our lifetimes, so theres this mad rush to go anywhere and everywhere and use up their natural and government resources.

Makes sense to me.

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Robot2600 posted...

We need to ban real estate speculation in America as well. It's total bullshit.

We don't allow scalping tickets, but we allow scalping houses? Makes no sense.

I agree. If you're not a citizen, you shouldn't not own land in America.

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deoxxys posted...

Needs to be just more than foreigners.

You know how many people living in California have bought up low income housing around here in North Carolina? Just so they can flip the house and charge insane rent for it. A normal person of low-income can't even afford to buy these houses

Pretty much happening up here too. While it's good to stop foreign purchases at this time, it's pretty much applying a band-aid to an amputated arm at this point. Pointing the finger solely at the foreign boogeyman while ignoring that the domestic population is doing this shit as well.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/toronto-developer-buying-homes-anti-poverty-group-1.6066903

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TerraSeeker posted...

I agree. If you're not a citizen, you shouldn't not own land in America.

You might want to think more about that considering how many people live and work in the US but are not citizens (there are over 13 million green card holders, permanent residents, alone). People with work visas are likely buying a home to live in.

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ssjevot posted...

It's only being done because there aren't very good investment opportunities in China due to the legal environment there. People still buy extra houses in China but flipping them isn't nearly as easy as it is in the West and although renting conditions are more favorable to landlords in China most people's extra homes are in literal ghost towns where no one wants to rent them.

Too bad get fucked.

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Good. But 2 years is too short. Should be 10 at least

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