Toronto's soaring housing prices and Ontario budget - We need foreign buyer tax..

[xpers3312]

21 hours ago, CITIZEN_2015 said:

Using the simple supply and demand principal it makes every sense for the logical minds to promote the foreign buyer tax in GTA. It will adversely affect the demand side at the very least and hence prices as well. It may not be enough by itself alone to cool down the housing market in very hot GTA area at least not enough so the something needs to be done to supply side too. Likely all some or all restrictions on new construction removed and incentives to build new homes and condos.

Exactly, there is a serious supply issue. you open supply and the market gets flooded, forcing the hand of speculators too.

It will come also a point in time when people will walk into the banks and the bank will say hey, you cant afford this mortgage.

More and more people will start experiencing this and the market automatically adjusts itself as well.

Does anybody really think the average home will hit $2M in the GTA? Absolutely not for the above reason, unless wage stagnation is corrected or our dollar devalues more.

As a matter of fact, why are the Banks lending $1million dollars to people with less than a $100k household income anyway?

 

Why does the market need cooling by further taxation?

 

Oh I forgot the Canadian Motto. We Tax our way to Success.

 

[blackbird]

Isn't it odd that in a country like Canada which covers a vast geographic area with a very low population per square kilometer yet has a housing crisis in the major cities.  House price are really through the roof.  What average Canadian can afford to buy a home for a million dollars?

In B.C. part of the problem is most of the province is very mountainous and there are limited valleys where people can live because of the need for employment.  The Fraser Valley where greater Vancouver is situated has some good farmland that is constantly under pressure to be turned into some form of development or industry.  I feel sorry for young people in the lower mainland to need to find a home and need to work somewhere in the lower mainland.  The government has neglected this looming crisis for decades.  We also don't have much choice in the coming election.  We have the Liberals which mean more of the same but they favour the Trans Mountain Pipeline which I think is a good thing.  The NDP I think is a poor choice because of their anti resource development ideology.  They oppose the Trans Mountain Pipeline into Burnaby.  I think this will cost them the election again.  At least the Liberals are pro development and industry which means lots of jobs for B.C. workers even if they can't solve the high cost of homes in the lower mainland.

[Topaz]

One person from TO said they on the day this announcement was made, ( talk radio, Windsor ON, had this for a topic) and  who sold their house said the real estate  person told them to bid 20,000 over the asking price if they really wanted it. I'm wondering if some of these high prices are dues to sales person trying to make as much money as they can by telling buyers to really up their bids?  One person said they got 160,000 OVER THE ASKING  price in a bidding war. Many from TO. are buying houses to have for their kids  who go to university OR for future retirement homes.

[taxme]

On 4/7/2017 at 9:31 AM, CITIZEN_2015 said:

The Toronto Real Estate Board on Wednesday said prices climbed 33.2% across the GTA in March from a year earlier to an average of $916,567 and the city seems poised to climb past Vancouver as the most expensive housing market. The critical issue for policymakers, both federally and provincially, is how to cool the GTA and the surrounding GGH without damaging the more delicate parts of the country where housing markets are in recovery mode.

The solution to this crisis is NOT another round of Mortgage regulation as this affects the whole country and housing market is already slow in many parts of the country including Western Canada, Easter Ontario, Quebec and Maritime. In fact I think it was even a mistake the last time Federal finance minister imposed new mortgage regulations as it affected the whole country not just the heated markets in Toronto and Vancouver. So what is the best solution?

In my view the foreign buyer tax in Greater Vancouver has reduced the massive price gains and slowed sales there, We need a similar tax for GTA so that ONLY the heated area is affected and soaring housing market is best addressed rather than the whole country where twp-third of market exists and is cool already.

Less immigration should solve that problem. 

[hot enough]

5 hours ago, taxme said:

Less immigration should solve that problem. 

Or just deport the racists. 

[CITIZEN_2015]

21 hours ago, hot enough said:

Or just deport the racists. 

The quoted statement by itself does not indicate racism because he didn't say less black or Arab or Jewish immigration but rather less immigrant which means of all races and to some extend I agree though Selectivity must play a role based on cultural compatibility which will exclude many immigrants from mid east, Africa and Asia. Does that make me racist? i don't believe so.

Edited April 23, 2017 by CITIZEN_2015

[taxme]

22 hours ago, hot enough said:

Or just deport the racists. 

The racists as people like you like to call true patriots are not the ones that need to be deported. On the contrary, the ones that need to be deported are the illegal criminals, and the leftists liberals that are ruining Canada with their multicultural, and diversity is strength nonsense. That would be a great start to get to make Canada great again. And boy do we need a brand new start from this nasty and destructive thing called liberalism. 

[taxme]

2 hours ago, CITIZEN_2015 said:

The quoted statement by itself does not indicate racism because he didn't say less black or Arab or Jewish immigration but rather less immigrant which means of all races and to some extend I agree though Selectivity must play a role based on cultural compatibility which will exclude many immigrants from mid east, Africa and Asia. Does that make me racist? i don't believe so.

It doesn't make you a racist for saying what you just wrote. Matter of fact it makes you appear to be able to use more common sense and logic rather than emotionalism and foolishness. Indeed, cultural compatibility is the proper way to go as far as our immigration policy should be. Bringing in immigrants that have nor want to have anything to do with assimilation needs to be stopped. Our politically correct pro-multicultural politicians have opened up a can of worms as a result of their present day immigration policies that are turning Canada into a hodge-podge of many unneeded, and unwanted new immigrants, and their culture. And if anyone wants to call me a racist for saying what I said, then go ahead, make your day, but I will wear it as a badge of honor. The word racist is becoming old hat now. Only losers use that word because they cannot win the topic at hand. 

[Argus]

A new report is out on the housing 'crisis' around the Toronto area and, I know this will be a shocker, it lays the blame not on foreign buyers, not on those greed speculators, but on... yes, the Liberal government and it's frantic and brainless environmentalism.

Frank Clayton, senior research fellow at the Ryerson research centre, said soaring prices in recent years can be directly traced to the new development policy adopted by the province’s Liberal government in 2006 for the “Golden Horseshoe” region around Toronto.

The growth plan was aimed at encouraging denser development in the Toronto area and reducing the environmental impact of urban sprawl, but Dr. Clayton argues it has had the unintended consequence of driving prices higher by creating scarcity.

He said the province’s policy assumed more people would be willing to live in high-rise developments if they were built in transit-accessible areas, even though forecasts at the time suggested a large majority of housing would still need to be ground-level family homes.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/torontos-low-rise-home-demand-not-matched-by-supply-report/article34801918/

 

[xpers3312]

On ‎4‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 9:09 PM, hot enough said:

Or just deport the racists. 

we have to admit this is a hilarious zing, no matter who you are.

Edited April 25, 2017 by xpers3312

[Charlie]

On 4/23/2017 at 5:05 AM, taxme said:

Less immigration should solve that problem. 

Less immigration results in Japanese economy: 20 years depression and continuing. 

[Charlie]

On 4/24/2017 at 6:17 AM, CITIZEN_2015 said:

The quoted statement by itself does not indicate racism because he didn't say less black or Arab or Jewish immigration but rather less immigrant which means of all races and to some extend I agree though Selectivity must play a role based on cultural compatibility which will exclude many immigrants from mid east, Africa and Asia. Does that make me racist? i don't believe so.

Cultural compatibility is not the problem, cultural insensitivity is the problem.  

Having lived in many countries with different cultures, I can tell you one thing for sure. Humans are all very much similar. If you give them respect, show them that you care, be friendly towards them, they will reciprocate.  All of us want to be respected, want to be seen as important: basics of human psychology. Cultural compatibility narrative does have a racist angle to it. Humans are more driven by their basic instincts than their cultural influence.

I don't know how you feel. But the best thing I like about Toronto is this feeling of being part of a unique place where you get to experience the whole world within one single city. You meet all kind of people, enjoy all types of food, express yourself and your roots while learning from people different from you.  Not a single city on this planet has the same vibe. 

 

 

 

 

 

[CITIZEN_2015]

5 hours ago, Charlie said:

Cultural compatibility is not the problem, cultural insensitivity is the problem.  

Having lived in many countries with different cultures, I can tell you one thing for sure. Humans are all very much similar. If you give them respect, show them that you care, be friendly towards them, they will reciprocate.  All of us want to be respected, want to be seen as important: basics of human psychology. Cultural compatibility narrative does have a racist angle to it. Humans are more driven by their basic instincts than their cultural influence.

Respect is a mutual thing. Some culture or cultures don't have respect for ours and they don't deserve respect. Read about what some refugees have done in Europe or the North African French immigrants in France. It is not a lot of respect when they come here and wish to impose their way of life upon people born here or impose their laws or refuse to assimilate or continue to live their own ways and disregard equality based on gender and respect for other culture and be tolerant.  Oh before I am accused of being anti-immigrant, i am an immigrant myself. Yes long time immigrant but nevertheless not born here.

Edited April 26, 2017 by CITIZEN_2015

[Michael Hardner]

Here's the discussion on comparing cultures:

 

[Argus]

11 hours ago, Charlie said:

Less immigration results in Japanese economy: 20 years depression and continuing. 

Not necessarily true. He said less immigration not no immigration. And 'depression' is a pretty poor term to use for Japan. I don't think you're going to find any breadlines or homeless camps there.

Edited April 26, 2017 by Argus

[Argus]

10 hours ago, Charlie said:

I don't know how you feel. But the best thing I like about Toronto is this feeling of being part of a unique place where you get to experience the whole world within one single city.

Suppose you're someone who wants to live in Canada around Canadians, much like they grew up in?

[CITIZEN_2015]

Right immigration policy is the key. Selectivity based on cultural compatibility (Not necessarily regional  selection as I know many from certain middle eastern countries like Iran and Turkey, Lebanon, and Morocco who are very compatible with western culture) regardless of skin color, national origin, or race.

[Michael Hardner]

Let's try to get it back to the topic.

[CITIZEN_2015]

Yes I hijacked my own thread. I still think foreign buyer tax would work in Toronto or GTA as it did in Vancouver, If I am not mistaken I believe that tomorrow April 27 it is scheduled to have the Ontario budget and it has been long promised that some hopefully effective measures would be announced in that budget to deal with this crisis.

[CITIZEN_2015]

It appears Ontario Liberal budget did nothing to address the GTA soaring house prices. When are we going to have an election in Ontario to kick out this do nothing liberal government?

[Rue]

Hey a townhome around the  corner from me in Mississauga sold 135 thou over the asking price at 920 thou today. That is nutz. The new Canadians in my neighbourhood from India and Pakistan are their own worst enemies allowing themselves to be pushed into buying wars with each other.  Its not racists driving up the prices but new arriving immigrants having sold their farms in India and the Punjab  and moving to  neighbourhood where their fellow ethnics rip them off. . That population is making mass moves to Canada due to water shortage. They've drilled out all the water and the farms are being bought out by developers in India, etc.   I hope by the time I retire soon I can sell my house to these idiots and go live in a small town and have something to live on. I can't work my old job street walking anymore the new comers want their own kind to screw. Fine with me. You seen one cluster f...you've seen them all.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Rue

[Rue]

2 hours ago, CITIZEN_2015 said:

It appears Ontario Liberal budget did nothing to address the GTA soaring house prices. When are we going to have an election in Ontario to kick out this do nothing liberal government?

Unless you stop mass movement of immigrants coming in to just cities  this will continue  in Toronto, Van and Montreal. We know that aint happenin in Justin Trudeau's world.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Rue

[Michael Hardner]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/housing-costs-are-rising-but-its-not-a-supply-issue/article30380106/

We hear a lot of noise about lack of supply but they tend to come from vested interests.  Immigrants who live in one home are not the same as foreign buyers who speculate by buying and holding onto empty units.  Now that the government smell tax revenue on this, we hopefully will see a reduction in this kind of speculation.

[CITIZEN_2015]

On 4/27/2017 at 8:45 PM, Rue said:

Unless you stop mass movement of immigrants coming in to just cities  this will continue  in Toronto, Van and Montreal. We know that aint happenin in Justin Trudeau's world.

I do agree that Pakistan and India (and worse Somalia and Arabia) are the least compatible people to be brought over but I don't believe they are heavily responsible for GTA housing crisis (and one reason is that we have same immigrants in Montreal but there is NO soaring housing crises in Montreal). What is heavily responsible is the foriegn and domestic speculators who buy and keep the unit empty and make huge profit in a short time. They should have been hit very heavily by the government and the government(s) do nothing likely out of self interest for corrupt or inactive and not caring politicians who may have houses (interests) in pushing prices sky high but as always the middle class and poor and general public pay the heavy price in this perceived democracy we have. Heavy foreign buyer tax (which worked in Vancouver very effectively) and very heavy tax on empty units would have been (and still is) the answer.

[Michael Hardner]

1 hour ago, CITIZEN_2015 said:

They should have been hit very heavily by the government and the government(s) do nothing likely out of self interest for corrupt or inactive and not caring politicians who may have houses (interests) in pushing prices sky high but as always the middle class and poor and general public pay the heavy price in this perceived democracy we have. Heavy foreign buyer tax (which worked in Vancouver very effectively) and very heavy tax on empty units would have been (and still is) the answer.

You're behind on the news: Ontario put in such a tax, I believe.  We finally reached a point where such speculation was disrupting things for renters to the point where there was a demand for action.