Bob Rennie and Urban Development Institute

Vancouver: And the condo marketer thought grants for first time buyers could encourage them into the market, according to Vancouver Observer. International capital flowing into Vancouver received has received more attention than usual since last month when Laurence Fink—the head of Blackrock Inc., the world largest asset manager—told investors to abandon gold for Vancouver condos. In a speech to the Urban Development Institute on Friday, Bob Rennie suggested a speculation tax that would penalize flippers for quick buy and sell transactions, an idea that Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who has received extensive support from Rennie, endorsed in a news release shortly after the talk. Rennie said that while this movement away from the precious metal would be a big win for rental supply, it would exert added pressure to Vancouver. Unreasonable demands for detached homes Aside from speculation, the address—titled Can we solve affordability without density —focused primarily on what Rennie characterized as unreasonable consumer demands in the face of a dwindling supply that needed to be replenished with more densely developed housing. Rennie disregarded recent calls for taxes on foreign investment in housing as something that he feared would scare off needed capital in other sectors. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.