Ban on foreign investment won’t help real estate prices long-term: expert
Posted May 25, 2015 6:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Some people frustrated by Vancouver’s pricey real estate market have been demanding government step in and regulate foreign investment, but an expert cautions even an all-out ban wouldn’t solve all our problems.
Thomas Davidoff with UBC’s Sauder School of Business says up to 50 per cent of buyers in some neighbourhoods are foreign, so there would be a major short-term effect on home-owners in those areas.
“In the short run that would have a huge impact on price, now if you can hang on Vancouver is going to be an expensive place to live,” he explains. “If foreign buyers exit, wealthy Canadians are going to step in so I don’t think in the long run there is a lot of risk that somebody over a 20 or 30 year horizon is going to have horrible investment performance.”
He adds the real winners would be condo owners who probably won’t see their homes depreciate as much and can take advantage of lower detached-home prices.
