Ex-ambassador on foreign ownership of housing

[Gay Boy Roberto]

Canada's former ambassador to China, David Mulroney, has delved into the debate around foreign ownership in Vancouver's real estate market and how it affects affordability in his new book, Middle Power, Middle Kingdom.



"Mainland Chinese buyers are really driving markets from Sydney through New York to London, and Canadian cities like Vancouver — particularly Vancouver — are no exception," Mulroney, who served as Canada's ambassador to China from ​2009 to 2012​, told The Early Edition's Rick Cluff.



He said it's difficult to track the actual number of foreign owners — and their impact on the housing market — but he believes it has been huge force in the lack of affordable housing in Vancouver.



"Is it having an impact on price? I know there's a lively debate in Vancouver about that. I'm on the side of those who think it is having an impact on price, but that debate should continue," he said.



Mulroney said other cities around the world have policies to account for foreign ownership, and said Vancouver should follow their lead.



Mulroney gives the example of Australia, where foreign investors have to register, and owners aren't allowed to buy existing housing, with the idea that they should contribute to growing the country's housing supply.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/foreign-ownership-on-vancouver-real-estate-needs-creative-policies-david-mulroney-1.3014710">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3014710">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/foreign-ownership-on-vancouver-real-estate-needs-creative-policies-david-mulroney-1.3014710

[Gary Oak]

There is more to this than meets the eye. I met a woman in Shenzen, she drove a Mercedes. Now years later I am in Canada and she calls me and lets me know that she has moved to Vancouver. Well she didn't have a job and her husband  was a student at UBC. Well how is it that all these Chinese can just plunk a million or two down while in their country a doctor makes about the same as a Canadian welfare cheque ? Bo Xi Lai's salary was about a thousand Canadian dollars a month yet while he raised his family on this salary his son went to prestigious western universities and drove a porche. Is the Chinese government funnelling a fifth column into Canada through the investor visa program ?

[Romero]

Mulroney gives the example of Australia, where foreign investors have to register, and owners aren't allowed to buy existing housing, with the idea that they should contribute to growing the country's housing supply.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/foreign-ownership-on-vancouver-real-estate-needs-creative-policies-david-mulroney-1.3014710">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3014710">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/foreign-ownership-on-vancouver-real-estate-needs-creative-policies-david-mulroney-1.3014710

Yes. We should have some policies on foreign investment instead of this current free-for-all.

[Berry Sweet]

Vancouver is slowly turning into an underdeveloped overpriced shit hole.  None of the people in power have any clue wtf they are doing.  As a matter of fact..i dont think any of them even know what they are doing or even care...they're  just passing by to make some fast big cash and then move on to the next.  I dont trust any of their campaigns or plans for the future of this city cause all i have seen over the years is constant fuck ups and stupidity.   Too many dumb decisions and no success.  Vancouver "the hest place on earth" my ass.

[Anonymous]

Just so you know, wealthy mainlanders are driving HK's RE prices through the fucking roof. Much worse than here. The resentment from average Hong Kongers about their mainland compatriots pricing them out of housing is so thick you can cut it with a fucking knife.