Quote:
Originally Posted by 4444
a little over 10 years ago, Vancouver was very affordable. Vancouver has not always been a renters market, and outside of our current situation, there is nothing to say it will continue to be so into the long term future (if it were, then people would only ever buy based on speculation of increasing prices - that's just crazy, nothing goes up forever when it generates negative earnings.
whilst there are many factors in play today in Vancouver, there is a global phenomenon whereby real estate has become a commodity. you see it all over the world. housing will become way more volatile due to its semi-commodity nature.
|
With respect to detached homes in Metro Vancouver, I'm not sure if you understand the traditional "Asian" mentality about land. The reason why the whole flipping/assignment thing has blown up over the last couple of weeks is that there is someone who is willing to pay an overinflated price for a house. And that buyer is typically Chinese. I would imagine that the typical mainland Chinese buyer would rather preserve wealth in a house or land because Canada has laws to protect that land/house from sudden seizure or expropriation. Property rights have no history in China and the concept is largely novel, unlike in Europe and North America. For the typical investor, housing is a commodity like any other, but for the Chinese investor, housing in a country with the rule of law is a safe way to preserve wealth.