House Price Increases and British Columbians

Toronto: Read: Four-in-Five British Columbians Back Absentee Homeowner Tax High house prices making home ownership an unaffordable dream in Toronto and Vancouver Bank of Canada says house price increases in Vancouver, Toronto likely unsustainable The idea has support across all age categories, with the 18-to-34 year old demographic registering the most support at 89 per cent in favour of a tax on absentee owners, according to CBC. The survey also showed that 83 per cent of British Columbians of East Asian descent support such a tax. An Insights West online survey reveals 80 per cent of respondents think levying a tax on people who acquire properties but don't live in them is a good or very good idea. Respondents also expressed a high degree of anger at how all three levels of government are dealing — or not dealing — with the housing affordability crisis, with most of the blame directed at the provincial government. "The level of animosity towards the provincial government is high," said Mario Canseso, vice president of Insights West. "The fact that this is shown across all age groups, both genders, all levels of household income and ethnic groups is significant." Some other findings of the survey: 87 per cent of respondents believe that people who own homes they don't live in are speculators, and not really part of the community. 79 per cent believe that when foreigners buy homes it boosts the market price of homes owned by Canadians.25 per cent believe the debate on foreign real estate ownership in B.C. is inherently racist.40 per cent believe real estate is the best long-term investment. A probabilistic sample of this size would yield a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Eight hundred British Columbians were surveyed May 31 to June 3. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.