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Comment by rdlecler1 | Hacker News Reader

I've lived in Vancouver. There are really only three industries: (dodgy) junior mining, retail, and real estate. Property is bought by absentee owners who take supply out of the market, drive up prices, but do not contribute to the economy. The city is more expensive than NY without the amenities (except the outdoors), culture, or opportunity. The city should be Canada's powerhouse but it's turned into a high price vacation area without tourism.

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Property is bought by absentee owners who take supply out of the market, drive up prices, but do not contribute to the economy.

I've heard that said many times without any hard stats behind it. How many absentee purchasers would it take to drive prices up? What about the effects of low interest rates and everyone desiring to get in the market before it gets hotter? Everyone seems to be an expert on this, and I highly doubt that.

How do you expect there to be stats about this? You don't have to register somewhere that you're an absentee owner.

So what's the motivation to buying property you don't live in. Are they renting it out? The OP made it sound like many units are vacant. Are they buying and holding hoping to sell later for more?

Normally a boom in high-end housing is good for local trades (plumbers, electicians, carpenters, painters, decorators, etc) as the first thing most upper-tier home buyers do when they buy a place is renovate, remodel, or at least redecorate.

The motivation is often wanting to move assets to a location out-of-reach for the Chinese government to potentially seize.

So these homes are vacant? From my experience in the Bay Area, these homes house their wives and small children; or their adult children. When you think about it this makes more sense than leaving them empty considering China's environment pollution.

Some of the owners move their families over. But they often own more than one property, so the unused ones are completely vacant.

I still don't understand why they don't want the rent money on those properties.

It's possible that they are so wealthy that their income from other sources far outswamps whatever rent they would accrue from the properties, so it's not worth the inconvenience of renting them out. Remember, many of these properties are purchased outright (no loan) and held as long term investments.

Because they also flip these properties on regular basis (anywhere from 3 to 24 months) and it's significantly harder to do that with people living in.

It's an inside job thing. These people basically trade within themselves to prop up the property price.

This happens in Beijing a lot: many chinese see property as a store of value like gold or something like stock that appreciates and don't even bothering renting it out. I live in a nice beijing complex that is only around 60% full, all apartments are sold of course.

A good real estate crash should clear out the speculators.

In China the middle class would get screwed too much. They might just inflate to spread the pain around making everyone losers.

Recently it was revealed that Vancouver police actively works with Chinese secret service of some sort to track down the dirty money and send them back to China where they are promised humane treatment but as soon as they land in China they are executed.

/Property is bought by absentee owners who take supply out of the market, drive up prices, but do not contribute to the economy./

This has been thoroughly debunked many times. Real estate agents are hiring helicopters filled with asian actors to drive fear. The actual number is something like 3% foreign buyers.

Now, if you look at our mortgage rates - the lowest ever in history with the loosest requirements ever, you'll see why prices have skyrocketed.

We're following the US housing bubble, but about 7 years late.

This very article linked addresses the 3% figure.

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