Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The open house is all set up, but nobody's coming. There’s plenty of foot traffic outside, but those are mostly Airbnb guests, wheeling bags in and out of the building, and they’re not here to buy a home — just to occupy one for a few days while they still can. In October, the B.C. government announced a ban on short-term rentals that are not in the owner’s principal residence ... ... now the clock is ticking down to May, when these condos’ ability to earn money as short-term rentals will evaporate. That’s leading to a rush of units hitting the market as owners try to get out of pricey investments that seem destined to plummet in value. So far, listing prices haven’t reflected this new reality. Hence the empty open house. “I think a lot of these owners are still in denial,” says real estate broker Dustin Miller ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Property wealth has become a massive source of inequality in B.C. as home prices and rents have risen dramatically amid a severe housing crisis and shortage. A consequence of high prices has been an explosion of residential real estate wealth now totaling over $2.1 trillion in the province, a stock of wealth that remains only lightly taxed.   In less than two decades, just the increase in residential property wealth has amounted to a staggering $1.7 trillion. Even the most equally distributed segment of property wealth — owner-occupied principal residences — is highly concentrated. As of 2019, the top two-fifths of British Columbians (by net worth) held almost 80 per cent of principal residence asset values.    While the B.C. government has taken some worthwhile steps towards taxing the most expensive properties, these have only scratched the surface of the enormous property wealth gains in B.C.    In this report, I examine provincial...